Choosing Microsoft Reporting and Analysis Tools

 

The following table maps workloads for data analysis and reporting to the Microsoft BI tools that are best suited for those workloads.

The intent is to help you choose the tool that best meets your needs. For more information about a product, click the product link in the table.

If you’re looking for a brief overview of these tools to help you decide which tools are right for you, see Introducing Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) Tools.

WorkloadsUserBI Tools
ExcelSharePointSharePoint OnlinePower BI for Office 365SQL Server
Self-Service BIAnalyst/End User
Easily discover, and access public and corporate dataPower QueryData Catalog

 Admin Center
Create powerful data modelsPower Pivot
Perform self-service predictive analyticsData Mining Add-Ins for Excel
Visualize and explore dataPower View

 Power Map
Ask questions using natural language queryQ & A
Access reports using mobile devicesHTML 5 (supports viewing <10MB files)HTML 5 (supports viewing <250MB)

 Power BI for Windows app

 iPad app for Power BI
Collaborate and shareSharePoint SitesSharePoint Team SitesPower BI Sites
Corporate BIIT Pro
Create multi-dimensional/tabular corporate modelsAnalysis Services
Create ad-hoc data visualizationsPower View for SharePoint
Create dashboardsSharePoint Dashboards

 PerformancePoint Services
Create operational reports1 Reporting Services
Create custom and embedded reports1 Reporting Services
Advanced AnalyticsData Scientist
Perform self-service predictive analyticsData Mining Add-Ins for Excel
Use data mining algorithmsData Mining in Analysis Services

1 Reporting Services has a number features that support delivering operational reports and custom reports, such as subscriptions and data alerts.

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