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Power BI vs Google Data Studio

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To keep it simple, both Power BI and Google Data Studio are Business Intelligence tools. Such tools are used by every type of organization when they want to make the right decisions about business problems. Through these tools, the process of decision making gets easier for them as they work by delivering data-driven evidence. Due to the advancement in technology, anyone can have access to such tools. Even the basic level in the organizational hierarchy is leveraging BI tools to delve into the data that they need.

Why is a Business Intelligence tool so useful for a Company?

The reason why such tools are so useful is that they have the capabilities to identify trends and patterns in your data. Additionally, using these tools can help the companies to track their performance metrics, and visualize data. Last but not least, BI tools can help when tracking bottlenecks and managing operations.

Power BI vs Google Data Studio

There are lots and lots of great BI tools in the market. But in this article, we will look at Microsoft Power BI and Google Data Studio. Both of these are the most used BI tools.

What is Power BI?

Since it is a business tool, so Power BI is a cloud-based analytics software developed by Microsoft. It’s very talked-about within the BI market. Moreover, it’s also very powerful. Similar to any other Business Intelligence tool, Power BI is employed to get interactive, appealing reports and dashboards to share your data story.

Moreover, Power BI helps in making connections to numerous on-premises. Moreover, it is a cloud-based source. You can import or upload your files for conversion and analysis. Furthermore, you can even mix the data, model it, and build schemas too. Enhance your reporting skills by discovering Top Data Visualization Courses, including comprehensive guides on Power BI.

This tool also has a lot of elements like Power Query for data transformation, Power Pivot for tabular data modeling. It also has features like Power View for visualization, Power Map for geospatial data, and Power Q&A for questions and answers.

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What is Google Data Studio?

Data Studio is Google’s cloud-based visualization tool that allows you to create sleek and compact reports with the assistance of its interactive dashboard. It firmly coordinates with Google-based information sources like Google Ads, Google BigQuery, and Google Analytics.

Google Data Studio inherits Google’s intuitive interface. Moreover, t’s aimed toward giving non-technical users the power to visualize data. Data Studio has 17 connectors provided by Google. There also are several other connectors provided by Google’s partners that are mostly paid utilities. Once connected, you’ll be able to add data sources to Google Data Studio, and employing a point-and-click interface, generate charts and tables. You’ll be able to build interactive reports and share them along with your team or clients.

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Let us look at some of the differences between both of these tools:

1. Data Sources

Power BI

  • This tool has alliances with Microsoft products such as MS Office, Excel, Azure, SharePoint, etc. Power BI also works with some really good marketing applications such as Google Analytics, Salesforce, Zendesk, Marketo, Facebook, etc. Power BI is also helpful as it can also be connected to some databases, CSV files, etc. It can also scrape data from a web page.

Google Data Studio

  • As Google Data Studio is a google product, it can easily be integrated with Google products such as Google Analytics, Ads, BigQuery, Sheets, etc. The software does not support other cloud-based sources. When using this BI tool, you can develop connectors, but they are normally paid utilities.

2. Scheduling

Power BI

  • If you want to work on Power BI by scheduling work, then you will be needing to purchase the Pro version. The feature for schedule functionality is not available in the free version.

Google Data Studio

  • Using this tool, you can easily schedule the process of downloading the report in PDF and sending it to your customers or employees.

3. Data Transformation

Power BI

  • When it comes to data transformation or cleaning it, Power BI features work well for it. Power BI provides the features of Power Query. It can be used for data connection technology that lets you clean your data. Moreover, due to it being an ETL tool, you can connect it to several types of data. The feature of DAX can help with building formulas and expressions. Last but not the least, Power BI can perform a lot of complicated data transformations. You might also be interested in Qlikview vs Tableau vs Power BI.

Google Data Studio

  • For the process of Data transformation, google data studio lacks behind. The only transformation feature that this tool provides, is the blending of data from different sources using a JOIN key.

4. Sharing

Power BI

  • In order for a better and correct way to handle the rights and share, you will be needing to pay. When using the Power BI free version, you really can not manage users. The only way through which the data can be shared publicly is if anyone has the link, only that person can see the report and access it.

Google Data Studio

  • Google data studio provides free access to Google Docs and Sheets. Anyone can share dashboards, set up views, or edit user rights. Moreover, anyone can share the shared report via a link.

5. Ease of use

Power BI

  • The ease of use award definitely goes to Power BI. The reason why it is easier to use is because it shares UI features with familiar services like Excel and Word from Microsoft. Moreover, Power BI’s interface has drag-and-drop features that easily allow the addition of graphics and information areas to a report with just some mouse clicks.

Google Data Studio

  • It is not as user-friendly as Power BI. Unlike Power BI, where you can simply drag and drop graphics and data to create quick reports, but people who have never worked with Google Analytics may find it difficult to steer the menus and adjust the visuals and charts.

Final Thoughts

We just looked at both Power BI vs Google Data Studio. Each of them has limitations, and each of them has some places where they lack. Anyone can use any one of these tools or even both. You can choose any of these tools depending upon your use or your company’s use. Stay safe and keep learning.

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