Is Power BI the next step for Excel Users?
As Data Visualization grew in popularity, Microsoft jumped on board with their Power BI program. I saw this is a progression from the dataviz in excel to something more accessible.
Lets start with the Pros:
Accessibility: With Power BI, you are not sending out these massive files. you are providing a link to database. This is especially important when you are updating a report with any kind of regularity. You no longer have to worry about readers having outdated information because the link will always have the info you updated.
Visuals: This is probably my favorite part of Power BI. When it comes to Excel, Microsoft gives you the bare bones of a report and then gives you all the tools to bend that report to your whim.
Reports like Slopegraphs and Gantt charts are not available in excel and so you need to manipulate charts to get the visual you want.
Slopegraph
Gannt Chart
Power BI gives you a wealth of data viz:
And then you are given hundreds of downloadable visuals. Eventually, you will find the perfect visual
And now the Cons:
Less formulas: the more advanced you become in Excel formulas, the more formulas you find you cannot use in Power BI. I use a lifespan report to show how long cases take to complete. I have built it to exclude weekends, holidays, and only count hours from 7am to 6pm, our working hours. Exceljet does an excellent job of how to create this: https://exceljet.net/formula/get-work-hours-between-dates-and-times
And then the visual looks something like this:
In Power BI, this is nearly impossible. There is many more instances of it: Averageif, Date formats, and Large
Merging Graphs: This is just a pain in the ass. If I want all opened cases verses all closed cases, this cannot be completed within the same visualization without building a table
Crossing Years: This is unnecessary hard in Power BI. To make Weeks match in your visuals, you need to update different your tables with the same date format to get your dropdowns to work.
Non-Data Visuals: Most Microsoft programs has a handy ribbon available for Pictures:
In Power BI, this is notably absent, creating an annoyance of opening another program to create a visual that can be added to your report.
But if you can slog through all this, you can end up making some pretty neat reports like I did.
