Exploring The Disparities Between Microsoft Excel And Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI is a business data tool that is constitutes of apps and software services which convert raw data (which could be unrelated) into interactive and actionable insights. It is easy to use and is built to service organizations. It is also designed to connect to multiple data sources, including Microsoft Excel, flat files, and the cloud.

On the other hand, Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application that captures data in the form of rows and columns although its recent versions boast a myriad of features and applications that allow you to turn data into insights better. It can handle modern formulas and complex calculations and is comprised of a wide variety of visuals that could be used to represent data graphically.

If you have been wondering how tools like Excel, Power BI, work in comparison with each other, we will in the post, examine the differentiating line Power BI and Excel.

Top Best Differences between Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Excel

The difference between Power BI and Excel is similar to the difference between a Toyota Tacoma flatbed and a Maserati. In this context, Excel is the Toyota truck that is designed for the more rugged tasks like combining a bunch of files, data massaging, and all manner of tabular data.

Power BI is the classier Maserati that combines power with ease. It is best for KPIs, Dashboards, and visual analysis of data. Sharing high-level analysis, reports, cross-filtering, and beautiful branding are just some of the things that you can do if you have the requisite Power BI training

With its advanced features, Power BI allows users to connect to multiple data sources and generate visually appealing reports and dashboards. Power BI report builder by EPC Group, for example, enables users to create custom, professional reports with ease. Additionally, Power BI enables collaboration, allowing team members to share analysis and insights with each other in real-time. 

Excel also has its redeeming qualities. Excel allows the saving and sharing of queries via the data catalog. You can also filter your data using Power Pivot. You could also explore your data by loading it into the data model from which you could build pivot tables.

Nonetheless, Excel reports are limited users while Power BI can cater to a broad range of readers who may not be on the same level, technologically. Power BI can build complex data models easily while being also able to handle larger datasets. This shouldn’t be a big deal so long you have sufficient Power BI training to get the job perfectly done.

Excel focuses on simple data models and handles fewer data.  Excel shows duplicate tables, handles tabular reports, and is great for deep driver analysis which may not be done with Power BI.

Both tools are Microsoft products, each with a different approach to handling and reporting data. There are specific tasks that even the more advanced Power BI cannot handle which Excel handles with ease and vice versa.

Interestingly, both tools can be integrated to handle particular tasks too. Thus, it is down to your preference for data presentation. Although Power BI has the edge when it comes to the visual aspect of presenting data, Excel is one tool that will be around for a while.  Both admittedly still form the bedrock of collaboration in today’s workspaces.