Power BI – Disadvantages and Limitations

Microsoft offers a set of business analytics tools called Power BI that assist enterprises in data analysis and insight sharing. Users can generate interactive reports and dashboards by connecting to multiple data sources, transforming the data, and visualizing it. 

Some of the main attributes and elements of Power BI are listed below:

1. Data Connectivity: Power BI offers connectivity to many different types of data sources, including databases, Excel files, cloud-based applications, and other sources. Users may now import data into Power BI and use it for analysis thanks to this.
2. Data transformation: Data transformation is possible with Power BI because of the robust data transformation language M. M lets users clean up their data, reorganize it, and construct computed columns and measurements. 
3. Data Visualization: Charts, tables, and maps are just a few of the many visualization possibilities offered by Power BI. The Power BI marketplace has per-made visuals that users can utilize or develop new visualizations. 
4. Reporting: Users of Power BI can design interactive reports that can be viewed on desktop computers or mobile devices. To acquire insights, users can filter, drill down, and slice and dice the data. 
5. Dashboards: Key indicators and KPIs can be viewed at a high level using Power BI dashboards. Users can design unique dashboards that provide real-time data updates and live data. 
6. Collaboration and Sharing: Users can collaborate and share their reports and dashboards with other users using Power BI. Users have access to a range of channels for sharing their reports and dashboards, including email, social media, and web publishing. 
7. Security: Power BI has strong security features to guarantee the protection of sensitive data. Users can build up data loss prevention rules and manage access to data, reports, and dashboards. 

Power Bi Disadvantage:

While Power BI is a powerful tool for data analysis and visualization, there are a few potential disadvantages to using the platform. Here are some of the most commonly cited disadvantages of Power BI:

1. Cost: Power BI is a premium service, and the cost might vary depending on the version and features needed. Although Power BI provides a free version, it has limited capability and is not appropriate for larger enterprises or more intricate data projects. 
2. Steep Learning Curve: Particularly for individuals who are unfamiliar with Microsoft products or data analysis techniques, Power BI has a steep learning curve. Learning how to utilize the platform efficiently and acquiring the skills needed to produce intricate reports and visualizations can take some time. 
3. Limited Customization: Although Power BI offers a large variety of visualization possibilities, some users can discover that the tool only offers a few customization options. Power BI development environment expertise and advanced abilities are needed to customize graphics or write custom code. 
4. Limited Data Sources: While Power BI offers connectivity to a variety of data sources, some specialized data sources or data types might not be supported. This may make it more difficult to interpret and display some sorts of data. 
5. Online-only: Because Power BI is a cloud-based application, users need to be connected to the internet in order to utilize it. This could be a drawback for businesses with sluggish or inconsistent internet connections or for consumers who want offline access to data and reports. 
6. Performance: Power BI may take longer to process data or produce reports than other data analysis tools, depending on the size of the data set and the complexity of the study. Those who need to work with huge or sophisticated data sets or who need real-time analytics may find this to be a drawback. 

Power Bi Limitations:

Here are some of the limitations of Power BI:

1. Data Volume: Power BI has restrictions on the volume of data that may be fed into the system, despite the fact that it can handle massive data sets.
   The kind of Power BI licence being utilised determines how much data may be loaded. For instance, whereas the Power BI Premium licence can accommodate up to 100 TB of data, the Power BI Pro licence has a maximum data capacity of 10 GB per user. 
2. Data Complexity: Very complex data models are not intended to be handled by Power BI. The tool does not facilitate the establishment of complex hierarchies and links and functions best with data that is arranged simply. 
3. Data Processing: When working with big data sets, Power BI’s lack of in-memory data processing can affect speed. When dealing with complicated data, this might lead to lengthier processing times and sometimes even the need for more hardware resources. 
4. Limited Visual Customization: Power BI offers a variety of visuals, but there are limits to how much customization is possible. Users can alter fonts and colours, but they might not be able to make more extensive changes without developing custom code. 
5. Custom Code: Power BI’s functionality can be expanded using custom code, however writing and debugging this code can be difficult. It also calls for an extensive understanding of ideas in programming and data analysis. 
6. Data Security: Although Power BI has strong security capabilities, the amount of data that can be secured is constrained. For instance, Power BI does not allow row-level security on Excel files or other specific types of data sources. 
7. Compatibility Issues: There’s a chance that not all data sources and other applications will work well with Power BI. This may cause problems when attempting to connect to specific types of data, export data, or communicate data between Power BI and other programmes.