Why these successful companies are loving using Power BI

written by Priscila BernardesSep 6, 2018 5:08:08 PM

It’s probably one of the most exciting additions to Microsoft’s stable of offerings since Office 365 came out, but what can Power BI do for your business? Before getting to that pressing question, let’s have a quick look at what it has done for some other companies.

As you by now know, Power BI is Microsoft’s cloud business intelligence/analytics software which delivers plenty of amazing features, including data visualisations, automated alerts and smartphone compatibility (how cool to have your phone remind you how business is going).

When those features are put to use in real, live businesses, impressive results follow.

Check out these three quick case studies at Microsoft:

  • Not-for-profit Grameen Foundation uses Power BI to quantify the impact of the Ghana Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) initiative. With the insights generated by Power BI, the Foundation can focus its efforts on programs and initiatives which actually work.
  • Advertising agency MediaCom uses Power BI to easily and accurately monitor advertising campaigns, delivering tracked (and improved) return on investment for its customers. This capability gives it a distinct competitive advantage, as anyone advertising is going to be very interested in how well their spend is performing.

  • World-famous university Carnegie Mellon has introduced building automation systems in several of its facilities. The systems provide control and insight into a range of functions, including building automation systems, as well as lights, ventilation, air quality, weather, and security data sources. Put Power BI on top of all that data and the resulting insights have given staff the information to reduce energy consumption by 30% as the analytics alert them to faulty equipment.

  • Over this side of the world, Lancom has been assisting a number of FMCG companies, such as Lewis Road Creamery, enabling these businesses to get insides into their products. By creating customised sales dashboards, Lancom has allowed the business to gain visibility into its sales trends, best seller items per client, top sales performers, and much more! The value add? information on the go for the sales force, before they pop into a client, and visibility for management allowing for the creation of opportunities for growth.

 

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This ‘rapid fire’ set of use cases is particularly handy because it demonstrates the flexibility of the Power BI toolset. Any organisation (yours included!) which has plenty of data, or plenty of data sources, at its disposal, could potentially use it to either improve efficiencies, identify new opportunities or more accurately speak to different customer segments.

If your business is data intensive and you’re using a heap of spreadsheets to manage and analyse it all, then Power BI is likely to be a total shoo-in: give it a go, and you’ll probably discover time savings, new insights and of course, new ways of looking at information which makes it that much more interesting and engaging.

There’s another Microsoft source of information worth looking at here which outlines multiple use cases for Power BI. Whether marketing, sales, customer support or for high-level business decision-makers, this is an analytics toolset that can make a difference.

The real question is, what kind of a difference can it make for you?  That’s something we’d love to explore with you. Give us a shout for a ‘no obligations’ discussion – when our experts and yours put heads together, data magic is likely to happen. 

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About Priscila Bernardes

Passionate about relationship building, Priscila leads Lancom’s customer experience and growth initiatives. With an Executive MBA and a decade of IT experience, Priscila loves challenging the status quo and finding innovative ways to service our clients, while sharing what she is learning with the community.