When engaging with new customers, one of the most common questions we receive is about EHS reporting and how our EHS software facilitates it. According to Verdantix research, “Making BI more reliable” and “Standardizing data collection” were the top two key drivers of EHS IT consolidation projects in 2023.
Many of our clients already have an EHS management system in place and use business intelligence platforms. Recently, we published an article comparing two of the most common tools, Qlik Sense and Power BI, to determine which one is better for EHS reporting.
Based on user feedback from Reddit, we concluded that Power BI is the preferred tool (and not just because we’re all about Microsoft 365). How user-friendly is it though? We revisited the Reddit forums to find out:
Learning Curve
Many users find Power BI relatively easy to learn, especially if they have prior experience with data visualization tools or Excel. In fact, most users say you can pick up basic functionalities quickly through online tutorials and resources.
You can find a free learning module on Power BI on Microsoft’s page. It takes about 49 minutes to go through – after that, you know how to build Power BI reports and dashboards with interactive visualizations and AI-driven insights.
Two Levels of Proficiency
When going through the forums, we noticed that users often mention two levels of proficiency in Power BI. The first level involves creating simple dashboards with clean datasets, while the second level requires handling complex, messy datasets and understanding dimensional modeling.
The good news is that with Pro-Sapien, you only need basic proficiency because we’ve already built easy-to-use reports for your large datasets.
Watch a demo now to see what Power BI looks like with EHS data on Pro-Sapien:
Comparison with Excel
Some users express frustration when trying to use Power BI as a direct replacement for Excel. They highlight that Power BI is more suited for robust, automated reporting and complex data analysis, whereas Excel is better for simpler, ad-hoc analysis.
We came to a similar conclusion when we compared EHS dashboards in Excel vs. Power BI.
Excel, with its performance degradation on large datasets, is not suitable for large modern enterprises. Common areas such as Incident Management, Audits, or a Compliance Calendar require a powerful reporting solution like Power BI.
Besides Excel’s lack of workflow, there are also other issues that impact the EHS team, such as:
- Labor-intensive maintenance
- Prone to human error
- No audit trail
This means, if you’re a large organization with multiple sites, Power BI is the better choice for your safety analytics. For example, ASCO spends 80% less time on monthly HSSEQ reports that provide valuable insight into trends and KPIs.
Data Preparation and Modeling
Power BI’s data preparation and modeling capabilities are praised. However, they also require a good understanding of concepts like star schema and dimensional modeling. This can be a hurdle for beginners.
However, at Pro-Sapien, we offer out-of-the-box reports based on our decade-long industry knowledge of the EHS market. This means you can leave the data preparation and modeling to our team.
If you require custom reports, you can easily create them in Power BI based on the data model we created for you.
Community and Resources
The Power BI community is very active and supportive. Many users recommend YouTube tutorials and forums for learning and troubleshooting.
So, if you ever need tips and advice, you can get an answer quickly by posting your question in the forums. If it’s something that requires our input, get in touch with our support team.
Integration with Other Tools
Power BI integrates well with other Microsoft tools, which is a significant advantage for users already within the Microsoft ecosystem. With over 300 million users worldwide, there is a huge opportunity to integrate reports into the apps employees already use.
For example, Pro-Sapien’s EHS software lets you integrate Power BI reports directly into Microsoft Teams channels. This way, everyone knows what’s going on in the business, making EHS accessible and transparent.
Overall Satisfaction
Despite some challenges, many users appreciate the powerful capabilities of Power BI and find it a valuable tool for business intelligence and data analysis.
Large organizations with complex EHS reporting needs especially benefit from Power BI. Want to learn more about Power BI? Read our guide to discover why it’s the best choice for EHS analytics:
