Turn your data into profit.

A Power BI consultant helps businesses design, build, and deploy business intelligence solutions using Microsoft Power BI.

This typically includes:

• Requirements gathering: Understanding your business questions and KPIs
• Data modelling: Connecting and transforming data from multiple sources
• Dashboard development: Creating interactive reports and visualisations
• DAX calculations: Writing complex measures and calculated columns
• Performance optimisation: Ensuring reports load quickly with large datasets
• Security implementation: Setting up row-level security and access controls
• Training and support: Teaching your team to use and maintain the solution

The best consultants go beyond building dashboards and translate business needs into technical solutions and ensure lasting adoption.

Almost certainly yes. Power BI connects to hundreds of data sources out of the box, and can be extended to connect to virtually anything.

Common connections include:

• Spreadsheets: Excel files, CSV exports, Google Sheets
• Databases: SQL Server, Azure SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle
• Cloud services: Dynamics 365 Business Central, Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Analytics
• Accounting systems: Xero, QuickBooks, Sage
• ERPs: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite
• APIs: Any REST or OData endpoint

During our discovery phase, we'll map your data landscape and confirm connectivity before quoting.

Absolutely. In fact, SMEs often see the fastest ROI from Power BI because they're replacing manual, spreadsheet-based processes.

Power BI offers flexible licensing:

• Power BI Desktop: Free to download and use for report creation
• Power BI Pro: £7.50/user/month for sharing and collaboration
• Power BI Premium Per User: £15/user/month for advanced features
• Included with Microsoft 365 E5: If you already have E5 licensing, Power BI Pro is included

Research from Nucleus Research found no significant correlation between company size and analytics ROI - meaning SMEs achieve comparable returns to enterprises. The key is having the right data and asking the right questions.

Power BI is built on Microsoft's enterprise-grade security infrastructure and is widely used in highly regulated industries including financial services and healthcare.

Key security features include:

• Row-level security (RLS): Users only see data they're authorised to access
• Microsoft Entra ID integration: Single sign-on with your existing Microsoft 365 accounts
• Data encryption: At rest and in transit
• Audit logging: Track who accessed what and when
• Sensitivity labels: Microsoft Information Protection integration
• UK data residency: Data can be stored in UK datacentres for GDPR compliance

Power BI holds SOC 1, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 certifications. The 75% of UK financial services firms now using AI/analytics tools often choose Power BI specifically for its security credentials.

Most Power BI projects take 2-6 weeks from kickoff to deployment, depending on complexity.

Typical timelines:

• Simple dashboard (1-2 data sources, standard visuals): 2-3 weeks
• Standard project (3-5 data sources, custom calculations): 4-6 weeks
• Complex implementation (multiple departments, advanced modelling): 8-14 weeks

Our Dashboard Sprint service is designed to deliver a working solution in as little as 10 working days for straightforward requirements. For larger programmes, we typically work in phases, delivering incremental value throughout.

The biggest variable isn't technical complexity - it's data readiness. If your data is clean and well-structured, we can move fast. If significant data cleansing is needed, that adds time.

Power BI Pro is per-user licensing (£7.50/user/month). Power BI Premium offers additional capacity-based licensing for larger deployments.

Power BI Pro gives you:

• Report creation and sharing
• Workspaces and collaboration features
• 8 data refreshes per day
• 1GB maximum dataset size

Power BI Premium Per User (£15/user/month) adds:

• 48 data refreshes per day
• 100GB maximum dataset size
• AI features (AutoML, Cognitive Services) — see our AI solutions
• Paginated reports
• Dataflows Gen2

For most SMEs, Power BI Pro is sufficient. We'll advise on the right licensing model during our discovery phase.

It depends on your team's existing skills and the complexity of your requirements.

You might manage without a consultant if:

• You have team members with strong Excel/data skills who can learn Power BI
• Your data sources are simple (e.g., a few Excel files)
• Your visualisation needs are straightforward
• You have time for trial and error

A consultant adds value when:

• You need complex data models across multiple sources
• Performance optimisation is critical
• You need advanced DAX calculations
• Time-to-value is important
• You want to avoid common pitfalls and rework

Many clients engage us for initial setup and then maintain solutions in-house after training. Our goal is to make you self-sufficient, not dependent.

Consulting delivers a finished solution. Training teaches your team to build their own solutions.

Choose consulting when:

• You need a specific dashboard or report built
• Your team doesn't have time to learn Power BI
• Requirements are complex or time-sensitive
• You want expert-level quality from day one

Choose training when:

• You want your team to become self-sufficient
• You have ongoing BI needs that justify in-house capability
• Your team members are keen to learn new skills
• You want to reduce long-term reliance on external consultants

The best approach is often both: we build your initial solution while training your team to maintain and extend it. This delivers immediate value while building lasting capability.

Yes. Performance optimisation is one of our most common engagements. Slow reports are usually fixable.

Common causes of slow Power BI reports:

• Poor data model design: Too many tables, missing relationships, or inefficient schemas
• Complex DAX measures: Calculations that scan millions of rows unnecessarily
• Too many visuals: Each visual queries the data model separately
• Large datasets without aggregations: Querying detail when summary would suffice
• DirectQuery without optimisation: Slow source databases or network latency

Our Health Check service includes performance analysis and a prioritised optimisation plan. In many cases, we can reduce load times from minutes to seconds with targeted changes.

We use Power BI's built-in Performance Analyzer and DAX Studio to identify exactly where time is being spent, then apply proven optimisation techniques.

Yes. All projects include a warranty period, and we offer flexible ongoing support options.

Included with every project:

• Warranty period for bug fixes (typically 30-90 days)
• Handover documentation
• User training session

Optional ongoing support:

• Support Bank: Pre-purchased hours for ad-hoc help
• Managed service: We monitor and maintain your reports
• Enhancement sprints: Periodic improvements and new features

Many clients find that after training, they can handle day-to-day changes in-house and only call us for more complex requirements or optimisation work.

We work across multiple sectors, with particular experience in finance, retail, healthcare, and manufacturing.

Power BI's strength is its flexibility - the platform works for any industry. What matters is understanding your specific business context and KPIs. Our experience across sectors means we've seen many different data challenges and can apply lessons learned.

That said, we have deep experience in:

• Finance and professional services (client profitability, WIP, billing)
• Retail and e-commerce (sales analysis, inventory, customer behaviour)
• Healthcare (patient flow, capacity, outcomes)
• Manufacturing (OEE, quality, supply chain)
• Construction and property (project P&L, portfolio management)

If your industry isn't listed, don't worry - we've likely worked with similar data challenges elsewhere.

Yes. As a Microsoft Partner, we can advise on the right licensing model and help with tenant configuration.

We can help with:

• Licensing recommendations: Pro vs Premium, bundle options, Microsoft 365 integration
• Tenant setup: Creating workspaces, configuring settings, establishing governance
• Gateway configuration: Setting up on-premises data gateways for secure connections
• Security setup: Row-level security, workspace permissions, sensitivity labels
• Microsoft 365 integration: Embedding reports in Teams, SharePoint, and other apps

If you're already a Microsoft customer, you may have Power BI licensing included that you're not using. We can audit your existing entitlements and ensure you're getting full value.

Not necessarily. Excel and Power BI work well together, and for some tasks Excel remains the right tool.

Power BI is better when:

• You're consolidating data from multiple sources
• Multiple people need to see the same reports
• You need interactive drilling and filtering
• Data volumes are growing beyond Excel's limits
• You want automated data refresh
• Security and audit trails matter

Excel is still useful for:

• Ad-hoc analysis and what-if modelling
• Quick one-off calculations
• Data entry and collection
• Personal analysis that doesn't need sharing

The most effective approach is usually to use Excel for data entry and ad-hoc work, then connect Power BI to Excel files for reporting and visualisation.