The analysis comparison according to the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics and BI Platform shows that the three most popular platforms on the market are Microsoft's Power BI program, Salesforce's Tableu and Qlik. Moreover, since we work with precisely these platforms, we draw on them for analysis and compare their key parameters in the following lines. These include ease of use, price, installation, support, working with different types of data, and much more.
In order to understand which tool is best suited for a particular task, it is necessary to clearly define which of the customer's needs should be met first. In any case, the tool should be able to analyze, process and present data in an easily understandable way. It should also be designed in such a way that any user, regardless of their experience and skills, can operate it like any other software or application they use on a daily basis.
Microsoft Power BI
Year after year, Microsoft leads the way in data-driven analytics and data visualization with its Power BI program. This is Microsoft's own data visualization tool that provides a competitive advantage because it is the most compatible with Microsoft's cloud environment. It is the easiest-to-use platform that allows users to import data from various sources and visualize it with charts, graphs and tables. It also allows integrating data from all types of sources, including Hadoop, local files or cloud sources. It can also be connected to Excel to import data and create personalized dashboards. Power BI supports visualizations using the R language and also offers advanced analytics such as forecasting, clustering and decision trees. In addition, Power BI is compatible with Microsoft Azure. If we want to use cloud features on the desktop, we need a cloud account to share information and visualizations in the cloud.
Tableau
Salesforce's tool is a popular and functional product. The main advantage of Tableau is its ease of use without sacrificing graphics and visualizations. It has extensive visualization features with a well-designed graphical interface. It also has several built-in analysis modules that users can use directly to process their data. In addition, the tool also provides the ability to develop application objects, customize dynamic visualizations, and distribute reports and documents to other users over the Internet. In 2021, Tableau introduced new Slack integrations and improved its NLQ engine, Ask Data, which is now included in all license types along with Explain Data. Since Tableau was acquired by Salesforce, it has full integration with all Salesforce products. Furthermore, Tableau offers fully integrated support for R and Python, and also integrates its own modules for clustering and prediction. Tableau is compatible with popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. Usable either through Tableau's managed cloud system or through a third-party cloud platform, the product's cloud capabilities are available for use. Finally, it is worth mentioning that, according to Gartner, the product...
Qlik
Qlik is also an easy-to-use and highly interactive data visualization tool that allows users to import and aggregate data from various Big Data sources. In addition, the software's data visualization tools can also be used to transform RAW data into meaningful information, for example. Qlik offers more dynamic visualization capabilities than competitors due to a unique mechanism for storing data in RAM. This mechanism is based on linking logical tables defined in the application task. Importantly, when data changes in the source, the links are rebuilt at the system level and not at the application level of the platform, which is a prerequisite for high-quality visualization. A major drawback, in our view, is that Qlik does not support R or Python-based objects. In return, however, the company promises that language support will be offered in future releases. Currently, features such as regression, clustering and predictive analytics are used via a third-party application API. Although Qlik is a cloud-based SaaS product, usage statistics show that the server version is more popular than the cloud solution.
Our conclusion
In summary, Microsoft Power BI, Salesforce Tableau and Qlik are powerful business intelligence platforms that offer a wide range of features and capabilities for data analysis and visualization. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses and is better suited for different use cases and industries.
Power BI is a great option for companies that use Microsoft products and want seamless integration with their existing systems. The user-friendly interface and extensive data visualization options make it a popular choice for small and medium-sized businesses.
Salesforce Tableau is a great option for companies that use Salesforce CRM and want to analyze and visualize their customer data. Its advanced analytics capabilities and wide range of data connectors make it a popular choice for large enterprises.
Qlik is a good choice for companies that want a more flexible and customizable BI solution. Its unique associative data model and ability to handle large volumes of data make it a popular choice for healthcare, financial and retail organizations.
Which platform is best for your business ultimately depends on your specific needs, budget, and available resources. It's important to thoroughly evaluate each platform before making a decision.
