Business Intelligence software comparison: Looker versus Power BI

Looker and Microsoft Power BI are two popular business intelligence software solutions. Each software has robust features so companies can make better decisions based on their data.

Here, we compare Looker and Power BI on several factors.

What is the difference between Looker and Power BI?

• ​While both software solutions are deployed in the cloud, Power BI is only available in the Microsoft Azure environment. Looker, on the other hand, can be deployed in multiple cloud environments (e.g., Azure, Google Cloud, AWS).
• Looker requires a custom price quote, but Power BI’s pricing is displayed on its website.
• Both vendors offer similar customer support features. However, Looker has built-in live chat, while Power BI doesn’t.

Product Overviews

The following excerpts from our Looker and Power BI reviews summarize each software solution:

Looker

Google Cloud’s Looker Data Platform is a data-discovery platform that helps companies make better business decisions through real-time access to data. Data, no matter the size, can be analyzed within Looker’s 100% in-database and 100% browser-based platform. Looker analytics integrate with any SQL database or data warehouse, such as Amazon Athena, Greenplum and Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse.

The platform is accessible on any browser as well as on mobile devices  – reports and data can be shared via email or URLs. Data can be integrated into different applications such as Google Docs, Excel, and even customer and third-party applications. It can also be manually exported in .csv or text files.

Power BI

Microsoft Power BI is a cloud-based business intelligence and analytics service that provides users with a full overview of your most critical data. Connecting to all of your data sources, Power BI simplifies data evaluation and sharing with scalable dashboards, interactive reports, embedded visuals and more.

There are several versions. Power BI Desktop is an on-premise solution that connects to a cloud-based service to easily upload and share data and information across the company. Power BI Mobile has the same capabilities, but in an app, so you can have a 360-degree view of your company anytime, anywhere.

Power BI has two additional versions with advanced features: Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium. Power BI Pro allows users to share insights with collaborators. They can analyze data by using conversational language (the Q&A feature) and get insights from pre-built visualization and reporting templates. Users can share data in other Microsoft platforms like Teams or Dynamics 365. Power BI Premium allows an organization’s internal or external users (e.g., clients) to view Power BI reports without a license. It also empowers users to prepare and transform big datasets.

Features Comparisons

Data Preparation

Looker

Looker connects with over 50 SQL-compliant databases (e.g., Google BigQuery, Amazon RedShift, Snowflake). Its proprietary LookML data modeling tool lets users develop custom data models. After connecting with a SQL database, Looker automatically creates a basic LookML model. Users can then build on that model by adding in their own code or by selecting from over 100 pre-built Looker Blocks, as well as customizing the model with unique metrics. The LookML model can be saved for future use, so users won’t need to write SQL queries each time. LookML can also perform any data transformations at the time of the query, so users won’t need to manually store the data elsewhere.

Power BI

Power BI connects with over 100 cloud-based and on-premise data sources (e.g., Excel, Salesforce, Azure SQL database). It includes automated daily refreshes, so data stays up to date. Note that the amount of daily refreshes depends on the tier: Power BI Pro performs up to eight refreshes per day, while Power BI Premium refreshes data up to 48 times daily. Users can prepare their data with the Power Query tool. Power Query has prebuilt transformation functions (e.g., removing columns, filtering rows) that users can simply select from within the interface. If a user needs to add a new transformation function, Power Query automatically adds in an M code, so the user doesn’t need to write any new code.

Bottom Line

Both software solutions connect with a variety of data sources. However, their data transformation features are different. Users won’t need to perform any data transformation within Looker as the software handles that automatically. But there’s minimal data transformation work that Power BI users will need to perform manually.

Data Visualizations and Dashboards

Looker

Looker has interactive visualizations and dashboards that let users drill down into the data at row-level detail. It includes a library of visualization templates in different formats (e.g., timelines, funnel, combined charts, treemaps), but users can build their own visualizations, too. It also includes a drag-and-drop functionality for users to explore and ask questions in their data. Users can also take action or complete a task directly in their data, such as sending an email or a Slack chat, with the Actions feature that has prebuilt integrations for third-party software systems.

Power BI

Users can create visualizations using the drag-and-drop tool by choosing from many templates from Microsoft and third-party providers or by creating their own. They can create mobile-optimized reports by selecting the Phone Layout button, and then adjusting the chart or graph. The Power BI Pro tier lets users share the reports with their external or internal colleagues. Those colleagues can add comments to the visualization, as well as subscribe for updates or alerts.

Bottom Line

Both software solutions have robust visualization and dashboard options, but Looker currently doesn’t offer the ability for other users to add their comments to the visualization, while Power BI does. We do want to note that due to its Actions features, Looker users can perform tasks in their data without logging onto their third-party system account, while Power BI doesn’t have this functionality.

Embedded Analytics

Looker

Companies can offer their clients and employees the opportunity to analyze data within their existing third-party application. Developers can build their app with Looker’s native integrations and public APIs, and they can also collaborate using Git version-control and workflow features. Companies can grow their revenue streams by offering product tiers that feature customization, ad hoc analysis, data granularity and admin reporting functionalities.

Power BI

With Power BI Embedded on Azure, developers and software vendors can insert Power BI into their software application using JavaScript SDK, and monitor performance and automations with REST APIs. Some of its features include custom-built visuals, the ability for end users to create and edit dashboards, and single- and multi-tenant deployment with row-level security.

Bottom Line

Looker has a multi-cloud data platform, but Power BI can only be deployed in the Microsoft Azure environment.

Pricing

Looker

Looker provides custom pricing that’s tailored to each organization based on deployment scale, number of users and other factors. Prospects will need to contact the vendor directly for a quote. Looker does offer discounts to nonprofits and schools.

Power BI

Power BI Desktop is free to individual users. Here’s the pricing for Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium:

• Pro – The Pro version costs $9.99 per user, per month and includes a mobile app, the ability to publish and share reports, a 1 GB model size limit, eight data refreshes daily, the ability to connect to over 100 data sources, embedded APIs and controls, AI visuals, data security and encryption, metrics for content creation and publishing and up to 10 GB per user maximum storage. Pro is available for free for companies that have the Microsoft 365 E5 solution.
• Premium (per user) – The Premium per user plan costs $20 per user, per month. It includes all of the features of the Pro plan, plus paginated reports, a 100 GB model size limit, 48 data refreshes daily, advanced AI features, XMLA endpoint read/write connectivity, data flows, the ability to analyze data stored in Azure Data Lake Storage, application lifecycle management and up to 100 TB of maximum storage.
• Premium (per capacity) – This version starts at $4,995 per month, per dedicated cloud compute and storage resource. It includes all of the features of the Premium per user plan, plus on-premise reporting, a 400 GB model limit, multi-location deployment management, Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) and autoscale add-on.

Bottom Line

Looker prefers to provide custom quotes to prospective clients, while Microsoft displays its pricing up front, which may be preferable to some customers.

Customer Support

Looker

Users can access Looker’s Help Center to:

• Browse articles
• Submit a support request

In addition, the Looker Community allows users to network with other users and receive troubleshooting tips, ideas and best practices.

Users can also email the support team or contact them via live chat directly from the Looker platform. Looker has the following response times based on severity (during normal business hours):

• Severity 1 (critical) – Up to one hour
• Severity 2 (urgent) – Up to four hours
• Severity 3 (tolerable) and Severity 4 (non-critical) – Up to one business day

Finally, Looker offers guided learning paths via its Looker Connect solution for users to grow their BI skills.

Power BI

Microsoft offers several resources:

• FAQs
• In-depth documentation on tools and features
• Guided learning courses
• A community forum
• Samples of Power BI reports and dashboards

In addition, Power BI Pro users can submit a support ticket.

Bottom Line

While both vendors provide customers with a help center and community forum, Looker has live in-app chat, and Power BI doesn’t offer this feature at all.

Author: Melissa Pardo-Bunte

Source: BetterBuys

Understanding Power BI Embedded in Azure for Interactive Data Reporting and Analysis

Introduction to Power BI

Power BI data-driven decision-making (DDDM) is being used in a variety of business sectors as a direct result of recent expansions and developments in existing information technology. It is a strategy that guarantees choices made inside a firm are not only based on personal views or an inclination but rather is supported by concrete evidence derived from a variety of sources.

You may get a better understanding of your data with the use of this refined tool Power BI development. It is possible to utilize it to generate reports, dashboards, and graphs that can then be included in the Azure websites and apps you have. This is an excellent method for making judgments and insights that are driven by data easily accessible to your consumers. The use of data obtained from a variety of sources necessitates the collection of data, the computation of data, and the image processing of data to supply decision-makers with all of the necessary analytics. This enables decision-makers to have the best possible understanding of what the subsequent step in their business should be. Businesses that adopt a data-driven culture using Power BI Azure see a fourfold increase in their revenue performance and a significant improvement in their customers’ levels of satisfaction.

Azure on the other hand is a firm that focuses on applications and cloud computing as its primary areas of expertise. They provide services and products that are ground-breaking, advanced, and user-friendly all at the same time. 

What is meant by the term “Power BI Embedded”?

To begin, Power BI Embedded is the service provided by Microsoft Azure which allows programmers to incorporate or embed Power BI dashboards and reports into its apps (Websites, Portals, CRMs, etc). Because it is free, simple to set up, and comes with a large number of capabilities already built in, Power BI Embedded has become one of the most popular solutions for sharing data with other applications. It is possible to use it as a laptop, to incorporate reports, a tablet, or even a desktop computer. These are only some of the numerous uses that are possible. People who operate on the move or who want a gadget that can be used in a variety of contexts will find it to be an ideal solution.

In addition to this, it keeps the great functionality and features of visual analysis that it originally had.

This online analytical tool Power BI Embedded in Azure offers a solution to the difficult data challenges that you encounter regularly in the course of your job. Power BI Embedded in Azure is an excellent tool for gathering and analyzing data, and it can be used by organizations of all sizes, including those in the public sector and private industry. Power BI Embedded in Azure is compatible with a wide number of data sources, including SharePoint, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Analysis Services.

Deploying Power BI Embedded in Azure

It is now much simpler to design, deploy, and manage embedded services when you make use of Azure’s newest capability, which is known as Power BI Embedded.

ISVs and app programmers now can expose Power BI data inside their apps thanks to a new service offered by Azure called Power BI Embedded. Users of the software developed by the ISV or app development may benefit from end-to-end experiences that are made possible by this service. This entails providing consumers with a comprehensive analytics experience, as well as data-driven insights and the capacity to build interactive visualizations for user consumption.

How to utilize the embedded version of Power BI?

1. Embedded Power BI for your Company or Organization (Internal)

To incorporate dashboards and reports, the Power BI REST API services are used. You can examine data and dashboards from a variety of different sources inside a single location thanks to the Power BI Embedded solution. In addition, you may utilize Power BI Embedded for your Organization to access all of your organization’s reporting, analysis, and dashboards inside an app that is designed for usage on a variety of devices. Your company will have the ability to better display its data and improve its decision-making with the assistance of Power BI Embedded for your Organization (Internal), a solution that is both powerful and versatile.

2. Embedded Power BI for your Company’s Customers (External)

It is possible to get information that is current with the help of Power BI Embedded for your Customers (External), which is an excellent method. Power BI Embedded gives you access to the information you want, whether you are looking for a new marketing plan or attempting to locate your high-value consumers. People can design and distribute apps to users outside of their organization, such as clients and partners, using Power BI.

The Premium edition of Power BI Embedded in Azure incorporates all of the features that are available in the Basic version as well as additional ones.

1. You can do the following with Power BI Embedded on Azure:
2. Explore and analyze your data with cutting-edge graphics.
3. Develop your hypotheses and projections.
4. Gain new perspectives by analyzing data that may or may not be stored in a data warehouse.

What is the Licensing for the embedded version of Microsoft Power BI?

You can get the ability to gather data from a variety of resources and license the program for your microcontrollers thanks to the newly introduced licensing alternative for Power BI Embedded.

Access tokens are generated by Power BI Embedded with the help of Azure Active Directory. Once you get the access token, integrating or embedding the reports into your app will be straightforward. The following procedures are included in Power BI Embedded:

1. Initiate the creation of a workspace inside the Power BI online service.
2. Insert your records into the workplace you generated in the initial phase of the process.
3. Integrate an application with the domain controller of Azure (To get the Access token from the Azure Active directory).
4. Integrating the report will need that authorization to be granted.
5. After this, you can use utilize the Dot Net SDK or the REST API to integrate the report. Both of these options are available to you.

In addition, you will get the report ID, as well as an entry token, an embed token, and an Embedurl. When you embed a Power BI report in your application, you have a choice of options available to you for using that report. You are free to construct your reports and visualizations based on the data that it provides. It also allows you to engage with your data in a more meaningful manner, which is another purpose for it.

Bottom Line

The proficiency of Power BI Embedded in Azure to facilitate the sharing of interactive reports with various stakeholders in your business is among the most significant advantages offered by this product. If you are working with a remote client, using this service can help you save a significant amount of time.

Author: Daniel Jacob

Source: Datafloq