What is Power BI?

Power BI is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together to turn your unrelated data sources into coherent, visually immersive, and interactive insights. It provides business analytics tools for analyzing data and sharing insights.

Main Features

- Interactive dashboards and reports for data visualization

- Connect to hundreds of data sources, both on-premises and in the cloud

- Automated data preparation and modeling

- Secure report publishing and sharing within your organization

- Natural language Q&A to ask questions about your data

Use Cases

- Creating executive dashboards for real-time business performance monitoring

- Sales and marketing analysis to track campaign performance and revenue

- Financial reporting and budgeting for automated consolidation and analysis

- Operational monitoring to identify trends and inefficiencies in processes

- Supply chain analytics for tracking inventory levels and logistics

Common Questions

- What is the difference between Power BI Desktop and the Service?

- Power BI Desktop is a free authoring tool for creating reports, while the Service is a cloud-based platform for sharing and collaborating.

- Can I use Power BI for free?

- Yes, Power BI Desktop is free, and there is a free version of the Service with limited sharing capabilities.

- Is my data secure in Power BI?

- Yes, it offers enterprise-grade security, compliance, and data protection features.

Pricing Plan

- **Power BI Free**: For individual users to create and share reports with basic capabilities. Cost: $0/user/month.

- **Power BI Pro**: For individuals to collaborate on reports, share insights, and access advanced features. Includes per-user licensing. Cost: $10/user/month.

- **Power BI Premium (Per User)**: For individuals requiring advanced AI, larger data capacity, and more frequent data refreshes. Cost: $20/user/month.

- **Power BI Premium (Per Capacity)**: For organizations requiring dedicated cloud compute and storage resources, enabling widespread report distribution without per-user licenses for viewers. Pricing is capacity-based and requires contacting sales.

- **Power BI Embedded**: For developers to embed analytics into their own applications. Pricing is based on Azure resource usage.