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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft BI (MSBI)

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft BI is a business intelligence product used for data analysis and generating reports on server-based data. It features unlimited data analysis capacity with its reporting engine, SQL Server Reporting Services alongside ETL, master data management, and data cleansing.

    $14

    per month per user

    Yellowfin

    Score8 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Yellowfin is a cloud-based business intelligence and dashboarding platform.

    $250

    per month

    Pricing
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Yellowfin
    Editions & Modules
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Yellowfin
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Yellowfin
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Each of the solutions has their pros and cons, but Microsoft's BI offerings provide the best "bang for the buck." Few solutions available offer the breadth of feature functionality in a single package, with BI and database generally being sold as separate offerings. However, …
    Incentivized
    Yellowfin
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    67%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    63%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    11 Answers
    67%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    9 Answers
    67%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    71%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Yellowfin
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Yellowfin
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    48 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Yellowfin
    6.1
    12 Ratings
    29% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports9.041 Ratings5.85 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards8.048 Ratings6.212 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates9.046 Ratings6.411 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Yellowfin
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.8
    48 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Yellowfin
    6.6
    12 Ratings
    20% below category average
    Drill-down analysis9.043 Ratings6.611 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.048 Ratings7.112 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages9.038 Ratings6.38 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration9.048 Ratings6.511 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Yellowfin
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    47 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Yellowfin
    5.9
    11 Ratings
    34% below category average
    Publish to Web9.043 Ratings6.311 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.043 Ratings6.211 Ratings
    Report Versioning9.039 Ratings5.89 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling9.042 Ratings5.611 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers9.023 Ratings5.55 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Yellowfin
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    47 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Yellowfin
    5.8
    12 Ratings
    32% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.046 Ratings5.912 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization9.043 Ratings5.712 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics9.041 Ratings5.810 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Yellowfin
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    48 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Yellowfin
    6.2
    11 Ratings
    31% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.045 Ratings6.311 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.042 Ratings6.510 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.045 Ratings6.310 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.027 Ratings5.94 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Yellowfin
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    38 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Yellowfin
    6.7
    8 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access8.035 Ratings6.25 Ratings
    Mobile Application8.026 Ratings6.38 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile10.035 Ratings6.28 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Yellowfin
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.8
    20 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Yellowfin
    6.1
    5 Ratings
    24% below category average
    REST API9.018 Ratings6.15 Ratings
    Javascript API9.018 Ratings5.45 Ratings
    iFrames9.017 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Java API9.016 Ratings6.35 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)9.017 Ratings6.55 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.016 Ratings6.55 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Yellowfin
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zendesk Explore
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Zendesk Explore
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score9.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Yellowfin
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (72 ratings)
    6.2
    (12 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (14 ratings)
    6.3
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    5.6
    (7 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Yellowfin
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Microsoft BI is well suited for Stream analytics, easy data integration, report creation and UI/UX designs (limited but what all available are great ones) Microsoft BI may be less appropriate for handling huge number of datasets and difficult queries. It may also be difficult for a company with heavy data.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    We can recommend this software without hesitation, as it has the ability to generate reports and data analysis, as well as process the data automatically, which saves time. It is ideal for small and medium-sized companies that wish to improve their services in the business world
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Comparatively easy to use compared to other data analytics solutions, collaborating with other colleagues on data work is simple.
    • Using Visual Studio for database, ETL, reporting, and analytics development save time and money.
    • Transfer of data from one application to another via Excel and comparison of data attributes between applications
    • Dashboard functionality, as well as Python support, are available, allowing you to add additional charts and graphs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    • Yellowfin’s Storyboard, Timeline and Collaborative tools make it easy to share data and insights across an organisation.
    • Strong Operational and Executive Dashboards that reflect the business KPIs and can send out prompts to people within the business based on rules.
    • Yellowfin makes it incredibly easy to create dynamic reports and dashboards which incorporate maps through locational intelligence functionality.
    • Yellowfin is a single license and all access is via a web browser making it perfect for both on-premise and cloud deployment. Mobile apps are also available.
    • User roles and source filtering allows Admin/IT to offer different functions/views by user group/role.
    • Mobile BI applications to support any device ..
    • API connectors ( YF 7.2 on the way in Mar16 ) for a range of third-party Web-based applications, data sources, Enterprises CRM/ERP apps & open data platform apps, including Salesforce, Google Analytics, Twitter, Youtube , Zoho CRM, XE.com & more coming to make endusers to integrate their applications for better benefits
    • Yellowfin Integration with Predictive analytical and Big Data processing tools like R, UDF, Spark to build rich applications for end users
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • The race to perfect gathering of Non-Traditional datasets is on-going; with Microsoft arguably not the leader of the pack in this category.
    • Licensing options for PowerBI visualizations may be a factor. I.e. if you need to implement B2C PowerBI visualizations, the cost is considerably high especially for startups.
    • Some clients are still resistant putting their data on the cloud, which restricts lots of functionality to Power BI.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    • The ability to predefine a colour for a specific graph as a selection option dynamically.
    • The ability to customise the label of a chart, especially with respect to performance related reporting graphs we need an increase in dynamic charting options to meet our more specialised requirements.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    Microsoft BI is fundamental to our suite of BI applications. That being said, Northcraft Analytics is focused on delighting our customers, so if the underlying factors of our decision change, we would choose to re-write our BI applications on a different stack. Luckily, mathematics are the fundamental IP of our technology... and is portable across all BI platforms for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Microsoft
    The Microsoft BI tools have great usability for both developers and end users alike. For developers familiar with Visual Studio, there is little learning curve. For those not, the single Visual Studio IDE means not having to learn separate tools for each component. For end-users, the web interface for SSRS is simple to navigate with intuitive controls. For ad-hoc analysis, Excel can connect directly to SSAS and provide a pivot table like experience which is familiar to many users. For database development, there is beginning to be some confusion, as there are now three tool choices (VS, SSMS, Azure Data Studio) for developers. I would like to see Azure Data Studio become the superset of SSMS and eventually supplant it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    As mentioned previously, if a newer company is looking for a strong, polished BI tool, Yellowfin would be a great software vendor to consider. Unfortunately, the high cost might be a barrier to these newer companies who dont have any legacy software/agreements such as an EA agreement with Microsoft.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    99.9% availability
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) can drag at times. We created two report servers and placed them under an F5 load balancer. This configuration has worked well. We have seen sluggish performance at times due to the Windows Firewall.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    While support from Microsoft isn't necessarily always best of breed, you're also not paying the price for premium support that you would on other platforms. The strength of the stack is in the ecosystem that surrounds it. In contrast to other products, there are hundreds, even thousands of bloggers that post daily as well as vibrant user communities that surround the tool. I've had much better luck finding help with SQL Server related issues than I have with any other product, but that help doesn't always come directly from Microsoft.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    They have good support in what they provide. But what they provide is not what is promised. I would stay with them if I can. Be very careful before signing up with them. They are not what they seem in the sales pitches. Be very careful and make sure you test and test before you sign up.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Yellowfin provides 3 levels of training to support consumers, business analytics, developers and Administrations :
    1. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 1 (Exploration)
    2. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 2 (Advanced)
    3. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 3(Expert)
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Microsoft
    I have used on-line training from Microsoft and from Pragmatic Works. I would recommend Pragmatic Works as the best way to get up to speed quickly, and then use the Microsoft on-line training to deep dive into specific features that you need to get depth with.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Web-based training for large audiences for Level 1 and Level 2 I would suggest
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    We are a consulting firm and as such our best resources are always billing on client projects. Our internal implementation has weaknesses, but that's true for any company like ours. My rating is based on the product's ease of implementation.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Design the data model and views for each dashboard is very important and it is the success factor Configuration of cluster for large implementation
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    We have used the built in ConnectWise Manager reports and custom reports. The reports provide static data. PowerBI shows us live data we can drill down into and easily adjust parameters. It's much more useful than a static PDF report.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Yellow Fin platform is browser agnostic and is accessible from desktops as well as mobile devices. It is very simple and fast, it is integrated with Big Data, clients do not require a great training. It just works. But it’s easier to have things on the cloud, especially if you need to use different computers. Yellow Fin lacks the cloud feature.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Yellowfin
    - Tested 500 con-current users in Linux platform with 4 cores systems - Tested with cloud based VM - Tested with 1000 reads per minutes
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • As a SaaS provider we see being able to provide self-service BI to our client users as a competitive advantage. In fact the MSSQL enabled BI is a contributing factor to many winning RFPs we have done for prospective client organisations.
    • However MSSQL BI requires extensive knowledge and skills to design and develop data warehouses & data models as a foundation to support business analysts and users to interrogate data effectively and efficiently. Often times we find having strong in-house MSSQL expertise is a bless.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    • made our org more data centric
    • Decisions are made based on data vs opinion
    • has created a single source of truth for the bulk of the organization
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Yellowfin Screenshots

    Screenshot of Location IntelligenceScreenshot of Yellowfin DashboardScreenshot of Yellowfin SignalsScreenshot of Yellowfin MobileScreenshot of Yellowfin Sales KPIs