Power BI vs Excel: Which One Should You Use?

In any professional industry, it is very important to understand its data. Data is an outcome of information collected from various sources. With the help of data visualization, any person can creatively express their point of view. The purpose of data visualization is not only to make the data elegant but also actionable. Data visualization helps make complex data simple by making data sets, highlighting key points, finding inconsistencies, and much more. Now here the question arises how to convert these data into a proper format? So, for this various data visualization tools are involved.

Data visualization tools depend on various factors. It depends on various sources, formats, and data analysis followed by calculations. There are various tools of data visualization out of which Excel is user-friendly as well as the most widely used tool. Another important tool is Power BI. The most effective tools for data visualizations are Power BI and Excel. There are several other tools which are required for data visualization. But, now the question arises Power BI vs Excel which is much compatible in today’s ever-changing needs.

What is Excel and Power BI?

In 1985, Excel was released and is known for its spreadsheet programs. Furthermore, it is very much user-friendly for all professionals. It offers a wide range of formulas, functions, and charting tools which helps 750 million people worldwide to make an easy approach at various levels.

Power BI

In 2014 Power BI came into action. It is a business analytic tool that changes the raw data into meaningful information. This process includes the involvement of interactive dashboards, various reports and data visualization. More than 1 million organisations use Power BI.

Power BI vs Excel: Similarities

Both Power BI and Excel have some features in common. Some of the similarities are listed below:

Power BI and Excel has been originated from Microsoft.
Both applications have customization and formatting options along the right-hand side.
Excel as well as Power BI uses power queries for cleaning and transforming data.

Power BI vs Excel: Differences

Being a familiar application one can easily learn Excel by simple training. In contrast to Power BI which is more complicated and requires technical expertise to find out the solutions to business problems.
Microsoft Excel has a customised solution in contrary to Power BI is automated
In the case of Power BI, the application is available in both free as well as paid versions but Excel has only a paid option.
Power BI is the advanced version of a data analysis tool and has wide options to work on data contrary to it Excel is a traditional spreadsheet program.
Excel can work on a limited database as compared to Power BI allows a larger database.

Power BI vs Excel: Which one is better in the present scenario

Now, we all are very much aware of data visualization tools. Power BI and Excel are the most widely used tools for data analysis. After having a brief knowledge of Power BI and Excel viz. about their similarities and differences we should understand which one is a better version. Both Power BI and Excel are dynamic tools for Data Analysis. The demand of time tells the kind of requirement the data analysis project has. For instance, if the data volume is large, it is highly complex and it has large datasets then in that case Power BI is the right choice. But, if the data is simple and the purpose is only personal data tracking then Excel is a better option.

If we take into consideration the flexibility Excel is highly flexible but at the same time it is very less automotive in contrast to Power BI which is less flexible but has a high degree of automation.

In other words, to get a better understanding of Power BI vs Excel one should have complete knowledge of these data tools. Several institutes provide various online courses to understand and deliver the right thing. Henry Harvin is one of them which has covered almost all the fields of Business Intelligence Courses.

Advanced Excel Course by Henry Harvin

Henry Harvin provides a two-way online interactive course in Advanced Excel.

It deals with 24 hrs of live online sessions which have a duration of 12 months.
It distinguishes you from the global credential of a Certified Advanced Excel Practitioner
Trainers at Henry Harvin have deep knowledge about Excel in such a way that the aspirants can deal with real-time problems and can know the root cause of it and finally get the solution.

How come learning the Advanced Excel Course by Henry Harvin is beneficial?

By taking this course one can set up Excel templates, financial statements, tables and charts etc.
You can reduce the time consumption with the help of the dynamic model.
In addition to it, one can create powerful business solutions with Advanced Excel.
One can combine multiple worksheets and workbooks so as to get the features as Power Tables, cell styles, formatting options, etc.

Career Enhancement with Advanced Excel Course

You can easily become an expert in Microsoft Excel Professional by opting for data formatting, data analysis and Data Visualization.
With the help of this one can easily manage large amounts of data and hence increase the productivity and revenue of the organization.
Now, we will further discuss the courses related to business intelligence which mainly focus on practical learning and placements.

Power BI courses by Henry Harvin

This course not only helps many working professionals to learn business intelligence but also helps in many more related concepts.

At Henry Harvin, there is an online interactive session that helps to learn the Power BI more effectively.
There is also a provision to get access to the E-learning portal and future updates. With the help of this portal, one not only gets free access to PPTs and projects but also helps in any kind of final assessment and doubt-clearing sessions.
Henry Harvin also provides guaranteed internships in top MNCs like Accenture and many others.
It also provides various placement drives, access to various job portals, and job consultation.

Benefits of Learning Power BI at Henry Harvin

Power BI can implement advanced mapping techniques.
Moreover, it can create charts of any type.
Power BI helps to not only create powerful storylines but also helps in presentations.
Additionally, it works on real-life business problems efficiently.

Conclusion

To sum up, we can say that Power BI and Excel are comprehensive systems of data analysis. They both have different features and functions. As if we talk about Excel it mainly works on data analysis and mainly works on various aspects of data related to calculation, mathematical formulas, tabular reports, and any kind of manipulating data. On the other hand, Power BI works on large-scale data analysis, mainly on big data, integrating it and drawing conclusions. Power BI works mainly on businesses and large companies. It mainly analyzes large data.

FAQ’s

Q1 Which tool is better: Power BI or Excel?

Ans 1 It depends on the kind of data on which you are working. Power BI mainly works on large data as compared to Excel is used for basic data analysis.

Q2 Can these tools of data analysis be learnt online?

Ans 2 Yes, various reputed institutes make you learn these tools online including Henry Harvin.

Q3 Which application would be preferable if you want to work on complex graphics and visualization?

Ans 3 Power BI is more appropriate for the above scenario.

Q4 In Power BI what does BI stands for?

Ans4 As Power BI mainly deals with large enterprises’ business intelligence.

Q5 Do Power BI and Excel are similar in any aspect?

Ans 5. Yes, both these applications are common in some aspects as well. First of all, both are derived from Microsoft, secondly, both can create templates and they have to be updated regularly.