Metric Definitions
Selecting BI and dashboard software
Choose BI software against your data, authors, viewers and delivery needs. Build a shortlist and compare candidates with a defined trial.
Choose business intelligence (BI) software by the work people do, the data they can use and how results must reach readers. Before selecting, ask each candidate to reproduce an agreed figure, support intended authors and viewers, and deliver the required output.
Write the selection brief
Name one maintained report and one realistic investigation. Record for each the reader, decision, source data, approved measure, reporting period, update point and required detail. Identify who builds reports, maintains shared calculations and views results.
List requirements that could rule out an option: a necessary data connection, restricted-row access, an internal portal, customer-facing embedding or a particular export. Separate launch requirements from possible later uses. A demonstrated feature may depend on a licence, capacity, edition, administrator setting or deployment choice.
| Decision area | Question for a candidate | Trial evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Data and calculation | Can it reproduce the agreed measure from the intended source? | Result, filters and calculation path for a fixed period. |
| Authors | Can intended creators build views within their permitted scope? | A report built by a representative author. |
| Readers | Can each audience see its permitted level of detail? | Checks with representative accounts. |
| Delivery | Can the required view, file or embed reach its audience? | The output in its intended setting. |
| Operation | Who handles refreshes, changes and failures? | An owner and recovery process. |
Agree pass conditions before a supplier-led trial.
Shortlist for a specific reason
Power BI is a candidate when a team wants centrally maintained semantic models and separate report creators. Microsoft documents that managed self-service pattern.
Free users can create reports and dashboards for their own use, but cannot share or collaborate with others or publish to another person's workspace. Pro or Premium Per User users can share content with free users when it is in qualifying capacity; check the content location, licence combination and permissions for the proposed audience.
Tableau Cloud is a candidate when interactive published views and Creator, Explorer and Viewer roles suit the team. A licence and site role set the upper limit of a person's capabilities; content permissions determine what they can do with a particular view or workbook. Check the intended user's ability to publish, edit and download, not the role name alone.
Looker is a candidate when the organisation can maintain business rules in LookML and wants users to query the resulting models in Explore. Modelling needs an owner. Exploration requires appropriate permissions, so check an intended analyst and a restricted viewer separately.
When assessing Tableau Cloud, account for site membership and the role needed on each site. A user consumes one licence per tenant, even when they belong to multiple sites, and the highest site role they hold sets their licence level. Test the role each person needs rather than estimating licences from the number of sites.
Looker's access model gives a specific check for a restricted audience: a model set defines which models and LookML fields a user or group can see, while a permission set defines what they can do. Together these form a role. Ask the administrator to demonstrate the proposed combination for both an analyst and a viewer, including any users who need more than one role.
Key Features and Licensing Comparison: Power BI vs Tableau Cloud vs Looker
- Semantic Model MaintenanceCentralised (Power BI), Developer-driven (Looker), Role-based (Tableau)
- User Roles & PermissionsSite roles (Tableau), Licence + role combinations (Tableau), Model + permission sets (Looker)
- Reporting AuthorshipSelf-service with governance (Power BI), Creator/Explorer/Viewer (Tableau), Explore via LookML models (Looker)
- Data Connection RequirementsSupports internal, cloud, and on-premises sources (all three)
- Embedding CapabilityYes – customer-facing (with licence constraints) (all three)
- Licence Dependency for SharingPro or Premium Per User required for sharing beyond personal workspace (Power BI)
Compare the complete use
Run the same business case through each viable candidate. Use the same source snapshot or equivalent connection, fixed period, measure definition and reference figures. Record preparation and configuration differences. A figure produced with a different date or status filter is not comparable.
Ask an intended author to create a breakdown, save it and share it with a viewer. Note where a model owner must intervene. Check how the team would detect a changed source field, correct a calculation and tell readers an output is stale.
If export or embedding affects the choice, give it a separate acceptance case. Specify the audience, authentication route and required output. An authenticated staff portal and a customer-facing application can have different licensing and technical conditions; a generic claim that a product supports embedding is insufficient.
Verify access and licensing fit
Assess whether administrators can maintain access rules as users, groups and content change. Tableau's documentation notes that managing permissions is easier when rules are set at project level rather than on individual content items, and for groups rather than individuals.
Licensing and Access Considerations Across Platforms
- Power BI Free Users
- Can create but not share or collaborate
- Power BI Pro / Premium Per User
- Enable sharing and collaboration
- Tableau Cloud Licence Consumption
- One licence per tenant, regardless of multiple site memberships
- Looker Model Access Control
- Defined by model set and permission set (role combination)
- Tableau Project-Level Permissions
- Easier to manage than item-level permissions
Keep a decision record
For each candidate, record requirements met, unverified conditions, configuration used and the person who reviewed the result. Include applicable author and viewer licences, capacity or edition, implementation and ongoing support in an account-specific cost comparison. Do not substitute an assumed public price for a quote.
Keep the trial snapshot, expected figures and decision record for implementation.
In this guide
- Comparing self-service BI with centrally managed reportingCompare who builds reports, owns shared measures and approves distribution when selecting a BI reporting model.
- Evaluating BI tools using the same datasetBuild a fair BI software trial with one data snapshot, approved figures, matching user tasks and recorded configuration differences.
- Checking export and embedding capabilities during a trialVerify BI exports and embedded reports with the users, permissions, file contents and authentication your delivery route requires.
