UK BUYER’S GUIDE · 3 PRODUCTS
Business intelligence and analytics
Can people use dependable business metrics without bypassing data permissions or overwhelming the analytics team?
Compare data connection, modelling, governed reporting and AI analysis that can be checked against source records.
YOUR SHORTLIST STARTS HERE
Compare the options.
Highest documented score first. Fit adds up the 20 feature checks below, including AI, across documented plans. Entry prices may exclude scored capabilities. The upper end of a range represents unverified points.
3 of 3 products · Highest documented score first
| Product / good fit for | Pricing context | Documented fit | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
Microsoft Power BI Microsoft Power BI Organisations connecting Microsoft data and identity infrastructure to shared analytics. | £10.80user/month, paid yearly excl. VAT annual | 70–100/100 documented fit70% evidence coverage | Details ↗ |
Qlik Cloud Analytics Qlik Cloud Analytics Teams combining governed analytics with reporting and downstream actions. | US$300.00month, ten users, billed annually VAT basis not stated annual | 70–100/100 documented fit70% evidence coverage | Details ↗ |
Tableau Tableau Analytics teams combining flexible visual analysis with enterprise data controls. | Request pricingOrganisation-specific quote VAT basis not stated quote | 60–100/100 documented fit60% evidence coverage | Details ↗ |
Prices retain their original currency, billing basis and VAT status. Check the evidence and plan requirements before buying.
| Capability & demo question | Microsoft Power BI70–100/100 documented fit | Qlik Cloud Analytics70–100/100 documented fit | Tableau60–100/100 documented fit |
|---|---|---|---|
Core workflowBusiness-data connections5.0 points availableAsk in the demoConnect a database and a business application used by the organisation. | ✓ Supported Business-data connections. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Standard data connectors. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Database, file and warehouse connections. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowData preparation and transformation5.0 points availableAsk in the demoClean a field, combine tables and inspect the resulting rows. | ✓ Supported Data transformation and modelling. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported No-code data preparation. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Visual data preparation. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowReusable metric or semantic model5.0 points availableAsk in the demoDefine a metric once and reuse it in two reports. | ✓ Supported Reusable semantic models. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Shared semantic definitions. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowInteractive dashboards5.0 points availableAsk in the demoCreate filters and drill into a chart to inspect its underlying segment. | ✓ Supported Interactive dashboards and reports. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Interactive dashboards. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Interactive visual analytics. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowControlled report sharing5.0 points availableAsk in the demoShare a report with a named viewer and inspect the access outcome. | ✓ Supported Publish and share reports. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Shared analytics spaces. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Controlled analytics sharing. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowReport or data export5.0 points availableAsk in the demoExport a permitted report and reconcile its totals. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported PDF, PowerPoint and spreadsheet reports. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Core workflowScheduled data refresh5.0 points availableAsk in the demoSchedule a refresh and inspect its completion status. | ✓ Supported Scheduled refresh and status. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Scheduled extract refreshes. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthIncremental refresh5.0 points availableAsk in the demoUpdate only a recent data period and inspect what was reloaded. | ✓ Supported Partition-based incremental refresh. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthPrivate-network data access5.0 points availableAsk in the demoRefresh a source behind the organisation's network boundary. | ✓ Supported On-premises data gateway. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Bridge private-network connections. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthRow-level data restrictions5.0 points availableAsk in the demoSign in as two users and verify that their permitted rows differ. | ✓ Supported Viewer row-level restrictions. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Report subscriptions support section access. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Dynamic filters or central data policies. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthGoverned shared data assets5.0 points availableAsk in the demoPublish a reusable governed dataset or data connection for other authors. | ✓ Supported Governed shared semantic models. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Managed and shared spaces. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Reusable virtual-connection policies. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthData lineage5.0 points availableAsk in the demoTrace a report field back to its upstream source or transformation. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Upstream lineage for catalogued data. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthScheduled report distribution5.0 points availableAsk in the demoDeliver a report to recipients on a schedule with access rules preserved. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Scheduled report subscriptions. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthThreshold or change alerts5.0 points availableAsk in the demoTrigger a business-metric alert using a controlled change in data. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Threshold and change alerts. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthEmbedded analytics5.0 points availableAsk in the demoShow an authenticated report within another application. | ✓ Supported Embedded analytics offering. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Embedded analytics and assistants. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Authenticated embedded access with user attributes. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthAnalytics-triggered external workflows5.0 points availableAsk in the demoUse an analytics event to trigger an action in another system. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported No-code downstream workflow actions. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthAnalytics access or activity audit5.0 points availableAsk in the demoRetrieve who accessed, exported or changed a relevant analytics asset. | ✓ Supported Tenant activity and audit retrieval. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
AINatural-language data questions5.0 points availableAsk in the demoAsk a business question and inspect the metric, filters and supporting data. | ✓ Supported Copilot data questions. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Natural-language assistant. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Conversational analytics; confirm product edition. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
AIAI-assisted analysis or report creation5.0 points availableAsk in the demoGenerate or modify an analysis and review the resulting query or visual. | ✓ Supported Copilot report creation. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified AI questions are verified; AI report authoring was not established. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported AI-assisted preparation; confirm product edition. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
AIPredictive or anomaly analysis5.0 points availableAsk in the demoInspect a prediction or anomaly and compare it with the historic data. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Anomaly detection and prediction. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed official material; ask for a demonstration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
“Not verified” means the recorded evidence does not settle this specific check. It does not mean the feature is absent. Read the scoring method.
Focus on up to three products →ASK BETTER QUESTIONS
Before you buy business intelligence and analytics software.
What to look for
- Use an imperfect real dataset with duplicate keys, late records and a restricted customer segment.
- Test viewer access with an account that must not see another team's rows.
- Measure refresh time, report response and monthly capacity against a realistic workload.
What changes the cost
- Creator and viewer seats, capacity and embedded distribution.
- Data volume, refresh frequency, gateways and integration services.
- AI capacity, premium governance and implementation expertise.
What to watch out for
- A dashboard can look correct while joining duplicated records.
- A natural-language answer may use the wrong business definition.
- A low author-seat price can exclude the sharing or AI capacity you need.
Common questions
Are AI answers a replacement for a data model?
No. Consistent definitions, relationships and access rules remain necessary to interpret the results.
Does row-level security cover exports?
Test the exact export and download route; permissions and implementation can change what a recipient sees.
Why compare refresh methods?
A daily executive report and a live operational dashboard have different latency, cost and reliability requirements.