MSBI vs. Power BI: What is the difference?

Online IT Guru
6 min readAug 26, 2021

Because data is growing at an exponential rate every day, business intelligence is critical for businesses to manage this data. This intensifies the fight between MSBI and Power BI. In today’s field of Business Intelligence, these are the most highly regarded services. MSBI and Power BI. But, each offers its individual set of benefits and drawbacks. We’ll compare MSBI with Power BI in this article. Msbi Online Course

What is Business Intelligence (BI)

Business intelligence is an abbreviation of BI. It is a collection of procedures, structures, and technologies that use many tools to analyze data and turn raw data into useful insights. To handle and manage its data, every other company needs BI tools. As a result, Power BI and MSBI introduce. These technologies assist businesses in making fact-based decisions rather than assumptions based on previous data. To better read the data, we may generate reports, dashboards, summaries, maps, and infographics.

For example, utilizing specific tools and algorithms, Business Intelligence assists us in making decisions to buy or sell trades in the stock market.

What is MSBI?

MSBI (Microsoft Business Intelligence) is an ETL-capable software. It can display and organize multidimensional data. Also, extract, transform, and load (ETL) data points. It converts raw data into actionable business knowledge.

To assist the user in implementing ETL capabilities, MSBI contains three major components:

• SSIS/SQL — It stands for Server Integration Service. The component acts as a data integration service and performs some ETL functions. SSIS collects data from a variety of sources and organizes it into a structured format.

• SSAS/SQL — It stands for Server Analytics Service. SSAS provides the OLAP service. It allows users to do online analytic processing and uncover data patterns that might avoid by the product’s other data mining features.

• SSRS/SQL — It stands for Server Reporting Service. SSRS allows users to produce server-based reports. It is a component of Microsoft SQL Server Services. It is useful to create visuals and printed reports via online interfaces.

What is Power BI?

This Microsoft Business Intelligence tool includes modeling features. Such as data discovery, data preparation, and the development of interactive dashboards. Power BI can assist you in making informed business decisions. Also, It can show data in any format. So, it includes pictures, Excel sheets, videos, etc.

Power BI consist of a few different parts:

• Power BI Desktop: Once installed on your computer, this free tool allows you to connect, change, and visualize your data. Data modeling can complete by combining data from many sources, producing visualizations and reports. Also, sharing these with people in your company.

• Power BI Service: This is a Microsoft online service that makes it easier to share and collaborate on reports. It assists in bringing all essential facts together in one location.

• Power BI Mobile Apps: These apps allow you to use the service while on the move. Instead of waiting until you get to your computer to get started. On Windows 10, Android, and iOS devices, this feature is available.

Which is better MSBI vs Power Bi?

With so many alternatives to select from, deciding which one to chose may be difficult. This distinction will aid you in identifying the best tool for a company. The characteristics used to distinguish them are as follows:

Definition

MSBI is a Microsoft tool that uses SSRS to produce reports from SQL Server-based data. It’s a complete platform for testing and distributing reports on the server. Hence, that combines data processing and programming interfaces.

Power BI is a set of Business Intelligence tools and procedures that allow users to pull raw data from a variety of sources. Also, turn it into dashboards or reports for improved insights. A user may use Power BI to produce reports and share them with other business users and stakeholders in the cloud.

Implementation: Microsoft Business Intelligence vs. Power BI

There is a significant difference between MSBI and Power BI in terms of how they install. MSBI is a client-side application that installs on local servers and workstations. But, Power BI, is a vendor-hosted cloud-based service that users may access via software, web browsers, and apps.

MSBI and Power BI both include components that assist users in implementing ETL capabilities. SSIS and SSAS are two MSBI technologies for extracting and analyzing data. But, Power BI offers tools like Power Query and Power BI Service.

Mechanism of Operation

With the development of cloud-based services, the danger of data theft and other issues has become more prevalent. Many IT executives think that the growing use of cloud-based services would make security a nightmare for them. MSBI has decreased issues with information security and cloud protection as a solution.

But, even if your on-premises facilities have a hardware breakdown, your data is safe in the cloud. Furthermore, Power BI has many cloud-based capabilities. Hence, it allows you to access data and distribute reports over the Internet.

User Interaction

In comparison to contemporary BI software, MSBI is a little more complex and manual.

It was created by Microsoft in 2004, at a time when user experience was not valued as it is now. But, Power BI was created in 2017 to give an interface that even non-technical users can understand. Also, it is useful to build & design reports and dashboards.

MSBI vs. Power BI Advantages

MSBI with SSRS uses a drill-down method for comprehensive information based on certain criteria. It allows the user to make better decisions and assess a product’s success in the market.

But, Power BI was built to enhance the capabilities of SSRS in MSBI. So, to provide a powerful visual representation of data. Its data modeling features and rich graphics enable even non-technical users to create and share reports.

Data Handling

MSBI does not place much strain on the data engine when it comes to data handling. Because it only works with organized and semi-structured data. When compared to Power BI, SSRS allows you to produce bigger reports.

Power BI, But, can handle organized, semi-structured, and unstructured data up to 33K rows or 10 MB of data. If your file has more rows or is greater, you may use Power Query to execute direct queries and get the results.

Curve of Learning

Power BI’s AI capabilities enable users to execute queries by entering them in natural language. Its drag-and-drop capability also allows you to generate spectacular reports. Hence, without having to understand how the data changes in the background.

In MSBI, but, you must code and design the reports from the ground up. To work with MSBI, you’ll need to understand data analysis and be able to write in languages like SQL and Python. In a nutshell, MSBI is a game for business analysts, whereas Power BI allows non-technical people to alter raw data without scripting.

License

MSBI offers a free version for 180 days. The user must then pay US$931 to complete the transaction. MSBI costs US$10 per user each month for the Pro version. But, the Premium version requires a payment of US$5,000 for unrestricted access.

The free edition of Power BI, so, is only available for 60 days before the user must pay US$9.99 per user. Every month, Power BI Premium costs US$20 per user and US$4,995 per capacity.

Power BI Desktop, So, is a free tool that allows users to generate and share reports online.

Conclusion: Microsoft BI vs. Power BI

SSRS is for operational reporting that is pixel flawless. Power BI is primarily an analytical tool that helps you to display your data in a variety of ways to have a better knowledge of your business.

SSRS has had a large presence up until now, but Power BI has now established itself across all domains. The decision between Power BI and SSRS is likely to be simple and driven by requirements. If your company only utilizes paged reports on-premises. Thus, you’ll find SSRS to be the most cost-effective alternative.

If you want to generate some interactive or analytical reports on-premises. Hence, Power BI Reporting Services is likely to be your best option.

To get more information, join MSBI Online Training at Online IT Guru.

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