Power BI: what is it used for, who is it aimed at, and why is it becoming essential for SMEs?
- Elise Dejour
- Jan 20
- 4 min read
Data alone is no longer enough; you need to know how to use it.
Today, all companies produce data: sales, finance, inventory, projects, marketing, customer service. But accumulating data does not create value in itself. Value appears when this data is readable, shared and quickly exploitable.
It is precisely to meet this need that Power BI, Microsoft's Business Intelligence tool, has established itself as a standard. Long perceived as an "advanced" tool, it is now accessible to SMEs, thanks in particular to its integration into the Microsoft ecosystem (with tools such as Business Central, Excel, CRM, Microsoft 365, etc.).
What is Power BI used for?
Power BI is primarily used to transform raw data into reports, with understandable information that can be translated into actionable insights. The goal is not to produce reports for the sake of producing reports, but to help teams better manage their activities. In short, Power BI allows you to:
centralise data from multiple software applications (ERP, CRM, Excel files, business applications),
analyse this data in real time,
present it in the form of visual and interactive dashboards,
enable teams to share their data and thus give your employees a common vision.
What is its everyday use?
Power BI is a tool that is part of the daily routine of many SMEs. More than just a reporting tool, it is a management tool. It is used in particular to:
track turnover and margins, analyse commercial performance,
manage inventory and the supply chain,
track profitability by customer, product or project,
anticipate rather than react (trends, discrepancies, alerts).
The use of Power BI varies depending on your industry and the needs of your business.
What is the difference between Excel and Power BI?
Excel: a powerful but insufficient tool for reporting
Excel remains a powerful and widely used tool. But Excel and Power BI do not serve the same purpose or meet the same needs; in fact, they complement each other.
Excel is an "individual" tool and is not ideal for collaboration. However, Excel remains a flexible tool, ideal for:
manipulating data on an ad hoc basis,
performing specific calculations,
creating quick analyses, working independently.
But Excel has its limitations, especially when it comes to processing large volumes of data or data from different sources. It is also not a tool designed for collaboration or recurring reports, which, with Excel, must be updated manually, which is a real waste of time.
Power BI: the decision-making and collaborative tool
Power BI, like Excel, is designed to:
automate data updates,
manage large volumes of information,
guarantee a "single source of truth",
share secure dashboards,
and analyse data over time.
Where Excel is often manual and individual, Power BI is automated and collaborative. This is why Microsoft positions Power BI as the natural extension of Excel in a business management context.
Est-ce que Power BI est difficile à utiliser ?
Power BI was designed to be used by non-technical users. It is a tool with simple logic, a visual interface and even a drag-and-drop system. The visualisations are designed to be ready to use with native integration with Excel.
Users can quickly view dashboards, filter data and understand key indicators. Behind this apparent simplicity, Power BI is a very robust tool because it also allows for:
data modelling,
DAX language for advanced calculations,
rights and security management,
integration with Azure and other applications.
Power BI addresses current challenges in responsiveness, reliability, collaboration, and data governance.
This is where support comes into its own: when well structured from the outset, Power BI becomes a sustainable and scalable tool. If poorly structured, it can quickly become unreadable.
Why Power BI will replace Excel (without actually making it disappear)
It is not a question of pitting Power BI against Excel, but rather of understanding a natural evolution in usage. Why are companies migrating to Power BI? More and more companies are replacing their Excel reports with Power BI because:
data is updated automatically,
human error is reduced,
indicators are shared with everyone,
decisions are made more quickly.
👉 Power BI becomes the decision-making platform, with Excel as a complementary tool.
Power BI and the Microsoft ecosystem: performance accelerator
One of the great advantages of Power BI is its native integration with Microsoft solutions.
Power BI and Business Central
For companies equipped with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Power BI enables them to:
analyse financial data,
track sales and purchases,
manage inventory,
measure overall profitability.
No manual exporting, no data loss.
Power BI, Microsoft 365 and l'AI Copilot
Power BI also integrates with:
Teams (sharing and collaboration),
Excel,
SharePoint,
and now Copilot, Microsoft's AI.
With Copilot, it is now possible to: ask the AI questions about the data, obtain automatic analyses, detect trends.
Is Power BI suitable for SMEs?
Yes, definitely. In fact, that's one of the reasons for its success. Power BI is particularly relevant for SMEs because: the cost remains manageable, deployment can be gradual, the tool evolves with growth, it does not require a dedicated IT team. An SME can start with a few key indicators and then gradually expand its uses.
Almakom, your Power BI and Microsoft partner
At Almakom, we support SMEs in:
implementing Power BI,
connecting with Business Central,
CRM and business applications, defining the right indicators, data governance and security, team adoption.
The goal: to make Power BI a real performance lever, not just a reporting tool. Power BI addresses a key issue for today's businesses: transforming data into quick and informed decisions. Accessible, powerful, connected to the Microsoft ecosystem and enhanced by AI, Power BI is establishing itself as a strategic tool, including for SMEs.
The real question is no longer "should we switch to Power BI?" but "how can we use it intelligently?"
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