What Is Power BI and What Is It Used For?

Updated

Power BI is Microsoft's business intelligence (BI) and analytics service for turning raw data into interactive reports and dashboards. You use it to connect to data sources, build visualizations, monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), and share insights across a team or organization. It fits best when you need interactive, self-service analytics rather than static, pixel-perfect printed reports.

The Three Main Components

Power BI is not a single application. It is a set of tools that cover authoring, publishing, and viewing.

Component What it is What you do with it
Power BI Desktop A free Windows authoring tool Connect to data, model it, and build reports and visuals
Power BI service The cloud (SaaS) publishing and sharing layer Publish reports, build dashboards, schedule refresh, manage access
Power BI Mobile Apps for phones and tablets View and interact with reports and dashboards on the go

A typical workflow: build a report in Desktop, publish it to the service, then let colleagues view it in a browser or on mobile. The Desktop tool is where most authoring happens; the service is where distribution and collaboration happen.

What People Actually Use It For

  • Connecting to data sources. Power BI can pull from databases, spreadsheets, cloud services, and many other sources, then combine them into a single model.
  • Building visualizations. Charts, maps, tables, and cards turn columns of numbers into something a non-technical audience can read at a glance.
  • Monitoring KPIs. Dashboards track metrics over time so you can spot trends and outliers without rebuilding a report each period.
  • Sharing insights. Reports and dashboards can be published to a workspace and shared with specific people or groups.
  • Self-service analytics. Business users can explore data and slice it themselves instead of requesting a new report from IT each time.

How Power BI Differs from Crystal Reports and SSRS

Power BI, Crystal Reports, and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) all deliver information, but they were built for different jobs.

  • Interactivity. Power BI reports are interactive by default — users filter, drill down, and cross-highlight. Crystal Reports and SSRS are traditionally oriented toward formatted, paginated output.
  • Self-service vs. authored reports. Power BI supports business users building their own analysis. Crystal Reports and SSRS are typically authored by developers or report specialists.
  • Delivery model. Power BI centers on the cloud service for sharing and refresh. Crystal Reports and SSRS are often deployed through report servers or portals.

This is why many organizations run them side by side rather than replacing one with another. A distribution platform such as Reportal, for example, is positioned as a single web portal for publishing, scheduling, and securely distributing Power BI, Crystal Reports, and SSRS reports together — useful when you have a mix of interactive dashboards and paginated reports and want one place to manage access and delivery.

Adoption Considerations

Before rolling Power BI out broadly, think through:

  • Licensing. Power BI has multiple tiers with different sharing and collaboration capabilities. Confirm which tier matches how you intend to distribute content.
  • Data refresh. Decide how often datasets need to update and whether an on-premises data gateway is required to reach internal sources.
  • Governance. Plan who can publish, who can see what, and how you will manage workspaces and permissions as usage grows.

None of these are blockers, but they shape how quickly and safely you can scale from a single analyst's report to an organization-wide deployment.