Power BI vs Tableau in 2022

Power BI vs Tableau has been a contentious issue in the enterprise business intelligence circle. As we enter 2022, the debate on these dominant data visualisation tools will only intensify. The primary reason for this is the big data explosion. This includes organisations leveraging big data by getting their business intelligence strategy for 2022 right.

Microsoft Power BI and Tableau both bring something unique in the landscape of BI and data analytics. Unsurprisingly, both tools will play a significant role as the global business intelligence market reaches a value of $30.9 billion in 2022.

Hence, knowing the difference between Power BI and Tableau is essential for companies to decide the best one for their requirements.

In this article, you will learn about the distinguishing features of Power BI and Tableau. You will also get tips on making the right selection, Power BI training and Tableau training.

Power BI vs Tableau at a glance

Connectivity, visualisations, AI and ML-based data analytics and actionable insights will be critical to your 2022 business intelligence strategy. The good news is that both Power BI and Tableau have rich features and premium functionalities to meet your business needs. Let’s take a look at both tools.

• Power BI

Microsoft Power BI is a great blend of data preparation, interactive dashboards, visual-based data discovery, and analytics. It is a desktop app for Windows and is a part of the Office 365 E5 suite. Some of its key features include ease of data uploading from Excel or web and simplified shared dashboard creation from Excel data. Power BI also has readily available visuals and graphics. Ideal for Microsoft shops and enterprises, Power BI, is mobile-accessible. It also enables real-time analytics presentation by connecting to data sources.

• Tableau

The Salesforce-owned Tableau is the market leader in business intelligence software. Tableau is ideal for creating marketing dashboards that consolidate every marketing data in one place. Apart from offering business intelligence, Tableau also has robust marketing and enterprise product features. It also specialises in the customer journey, social media presence, and web performance insights. It supports both cloud-hosted and on-premise deployments. Tableau provides an intuitive and smooth analytics experience thanks to the VizQL engine. Users can augment their data analytics thanks to Tableau’s support for HADOOP, SAP and DB Technologies.

Power BI vs Tableau – Features comparison

A great way to figure out the Power BI vs Tableau dilemma is to compare both tool’s features and how they can enable you in 2022.

• Data visualisation – With Tableau, you get up to 24 different visualisations that do not require complex coding. These include Heat Map, Symbol Map, Scatter Plot, Histogram, etc. You also get querying functionalities and the ability to ask ‘what if’ questions. Power BI is geared more towards reporting and predictive modelling. It has simple drag-and-drop features, making data upload very easy. Visualisation types include different types of charts like Area, Bar, Doughnut, Funnel, etc.
• Deployment – Power BI only comes in the form of a SaaS model, while Tableau can be deployed both on-premise and cloud.
• Functionality – Tableau has more sophisticated data discovery capabilities compared to Power BI.
• UI – Tableau’s UI is quite comprehensive for ease of customised dashboard creation but is difficult to get a grip on for new users. Power BI is more intuitive, making it very simple to operate.
• Bulk Data Handling – While Tableau can handle huge volumes with relative ease, Power BI works well only when using direct connections and not import functionality.
• Programming Tools Support – Both tools are easily integrable with various programming languages, although Tableau is better with R Language.
• Product Support – Both tools are comparable when it comes to supporting end-user communities.
• Integration – Tableau benefits from a variety of connectors and integrators, especially out-of-the-box ones. Its dashboard provides a quick view of all connections included at the account level. Power BI can easily connect to Salesforce, Microsoft products or Google Analytics. APIs with pre-built dashboards are also readily accessible.
• Cost – The cost difference between Power BI and Tableau is quite conclusive. While Tableau’s pro version stands at $35 per user month, the Power BI pro version is available at $10 per user per month. Moreover, Tableau also incurs additional data warehousing costs. Hence, Tableau is recommended for large enterprises. But if you’re just starting in 2022, we recommend Power BI.

Power BI vs Tableau – Training

To keep up with the demands of enterprise business intelligence in 2022, you must consider Power BI training and Tableau training. Certified professionals in both tools develop world-class expertise in modelling, visualising, and analysing data for value optimisation. RPS Consulting’s OEM-certified courses offer on-demand learning with certified instructors. Master the skillsets of business intelligence and data visualisation with up-to-date course content and hands-on lab training.

Conclusion

So, how do you decide between Power BI and Tableau in 2022? Tableau operates as a BI tool to manage data flow and turn the data into actionable insights. On the other hand, Power BI is a product of Microsoft, playing a pivotal role in visualising and analysing data, extracting insights, and even sharing them with key decision-makers.

One thing that gives Power BI edge over Tableau is that it enjoys all the benefits of Microsoft business analytics, involving multiple platforms. These platforms include SQL Server-based Analysis Services, Azure Machine learning, real-time data streaming, Azure database, etc.

After deliberating over the pointers outlined in this post, you can select one that complements your business requirements.