As you run your business, you’ll receive loads of data from multiple sources. You need this data to make informed business decisions. However, you can’t make sense of every bit of data coming in, which is why you need an advanced data tool like Power BI from Microsoft to help you collect, clean, transform, and visualize your data so that you can come up with useful insights that will help you make the right business decisions.

But what is Power BI, and how much does it cost? The good news is that Power BI is available for free. You can download it for free from the Power BI site; however, if you want a more advanced version of it, you have to opt for Power BI Pro.

To use this advanced version of Power BI, you’re required to obtain a licensed subscription. But even before you start considering the cost implications of incorporating this data tool into your business, you need to understand what it is and how it works.

Power BI Explained

Power BI is a business intelligence (BI) program designed by Microsoft to help organizations collect, transform, clean, and visualize their data from multiple sources and come up with insights to inform serious business decisions. BI is the process of turning raw data into practical insights that help decision-makers in an organization to make informed business decisions.

This suite comprises several important tools that enable you and your data professionals to carry out this process quickly and effectively. So, when did Power BI come out? This program was officially launched by Microsoft in July 2015. Since then, it has grown to become an integral part of every organization and the preferred choice for many data professionals.

Although Power BI’s user interface is user-friendly and straightforward, there are some complex aspects of the program underneath the interface that require in-depth training before you start using it. If you’re a data professional looking to advance your career, you need to have in-depth knowledge of every aspect of Power BI to remain competitive.

After training, you’ll want Microsoft Power BI certification to prove to potential employers that you have extensive knowledge of the program. This certification makes you a more valuable asset because it shows that you can use the program to perform complex data cleaning and visualization tasks.

For organizations, Power BI is an essential data tool because it helps them to turn raw, useless data into valuable insights that inform every critical business decision. When you receive raw data from multiple sources, it remains useless until you process it by analyzing it and creating clean data sets that can be evaluated and organized into usable acumens.

This data tool supports the entire process of processing data, ensuring that data is sourced and processed (cleaning and aggregation) correctly. It also supports the creation of data visuals and insights. The main data sources that you can connect with through Power BI include spreadsheet files, databases, folders, webpages, Azure services, and indirect connection through other services like Microsoft Azure Data Factory.

Detailed Review of the Cost of Power BI Pro

The Power BI Pro is included in the Microsoft 365 E5 subscription and offers access to the mobile app. Without an E5 subscription, Power BI Pro is available for $9.99 per month per user. 

Power BI Pro also allows you to publish and share reports with other people in your organization who also have a Power BI Pro license. Its model size limit is one gigabyte with a refresh rate of eight times a day.

Power BI Pro allows you to use the latest self-service analytics to easily visualize data with live dashboards and reports.

Power BI Pro can connect to over one hundred data sources ensuring that you will have access to all of your organization’s important data. You can also customize your reports and visualizations by embedding APIs and controls.

About The Author

Microsoft Certified Trainer and Consultant specializing in Office 365, Microsoft SharePoint, Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Office Development, and Crystal Reports

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