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What can you do with Power BI, and when do you need more underneath?
Power BI turns data from your source systems into figures people can steer on, in one place and refreshed automatically. What it does not do is fix data that does not hold, and that is where most of the work sits. You need more underneath once several reports read the same source, or you want history the source overwrites.
What it does well
- Connecting to ERP, finance, webshop, marketplace and spreadsheet
- Modelling data so a figure means one thing
- Refreshing on a schedule, without anyone stitching files together
- Showing the same figure to everyone, with permissions per user
Where it stops
Power BI is a visualisation layer. Put business logic inside it and the report stops being transferable; every next report gets its own slightly different definition. That is the point at which a data layer underneath becomes cheaper than another workaround.
Read on: what a data model should look like, Fabric or your own warehouse, and what it costs.
Half an hour is enough to know whether we fit
No slide deck and no quote at the end. We walk through your sources, your definitions and your biggest frustration.
Book half an hourFrequently asked questions
What can you do with Power BI?
Turn data from your source systems into figures people can steer on, in one place, refreshed automatically. It connects to ERP, finance, webshop and spreadsheet, models the data, and presents it. What it does not do is fix data that does not hold, and that is where most of the work sits.
When do you need more than Power BI?
The moment more than one report reads the same source, or you want history the source system overwrites, or the refresh starts loading your production system. Then a data layer underneath is cheaper than working around the limits of the report.
Is Power BI enough for a small company?
Often yes. One ERP, a modelled data set and a handful of reports gets many companies a long way. The line is not company size but the number of sources and how much they disagree with each other.
How do you keep it maintainable?
By keeping business logic out of the report, keeping definitions outside the file, and putting the work under version control. Then a report is a view onto something durable rather than a thing that only its builder understands.
Where do you start?
With half an hour on your sources, your definitions and your biggest frustration. That is usually enough to tell whether you need a dashboard, the layer underneath, or first an agreement about what a figure means.