Excel Adding Front-End BI Data Capabilities

• Excel has received several improvements to make it a more capable business intelligence analysis tool.
• These changes could make it easier to import and analyze data.
• Some BI features are available only in newer versions of Excel and require subscriptions and online connectivity.

Microsoft Excel has provided data analysis features since 2003, with the introduction of the Analysis ToolPak Add-In. Excel continued to add tools such as Power Query and Power Pivot (called Get & Transform in Excel 2016 and 2019), which use the same back-end technology that supports other Microsoft BI tools, including Power BI Desktop and SQL Server Analysis Services. More recent versions have included improved self-service business intelligence (BI) tools, which enable users to create their own interactive reports with minimal IT assistance and maintenance.

Recent improvements to Excel’s BI features also change its role compared to Power BI Desktop, the free client software used with Microsoft’s Power BI service. Microsoft originally stated its strategy as follows: Excel should be used for data analysis and general-purpose spreadsheet efforts, and Power BI Desktop should be used for creating interactive reports. However, Microsoft has since introduced new features and enhanced existing ones that enable Excel to produce interactive reports and work more closely with the Power BI product family.