Choosing Power BI: Part 2. Report Formats and Tools

(NOTE: The options for choosing Power BI platforms were substantially changed with the introduction of Fabric in early 2024. Please view the updated “Choosing Power BI in a Fabric Centric World: A Guide for New and Existing Customers” that was released in July 2024.)

• Power BI back-end platforms support three Microsoft-based report formats: Power BI, Excel, and Paginated.
• Not all platforms are equal, with variations in report size limits and features.
• Existing reports often fall into exception cases that require rework or alternate hosting decisions.
• Hybrid deployments can address some differences, but also result in dual report development processes.

Many organizations initially plan to use Power BI to accommodate existing Excel and Paginated reports as-is to minimize disruption, reduce any conversion effort, and protect report investments. However, feature and size limitations in each Power BI back-end platform cause customers to change plans on where to host reports or whether to rebuild reports in Power BI’s native report format. Therefore, it is important to review the decision points provided to determine which reports will be affected by the limits or require additional dependencies.