Microsoft Power BI & Fabric Ecosystem
FAQ
FAQ for visitors of the site
What does the websites offer?
The websites consists of three innovative browser objects: Solutions, Service Partners and Success Stories. Depending on the data you provide, you will be visible in one, two or all three browser objects. Additionally, the websites includes a (non-technical) blog about market developments in the ecosystem and an overview of webinars around the Azure and Power BI ecosystem as well as some helpful links. Within the questionnaire, you will find a form to add and promote your webinars and success stories.
How is the Solution Browser structured?
The main sections are Visuals, Dashboards, Apps, Data Management and Connectors.
- Visuals are extensions to the Power BI visual library
- Dashboards are pre-configured reports for different subject areas
- Data Management covers all tools to organize the data for reports in Power BI
- Connectors are data connectors to different source systems
- Apps are applications that use Power BI as a front end
How is the Service Partner browser structured?
The Service Partner browser allows you to sort, select and search consulting vendors by multiple criteria such as country (home country as well as countries in which services are delivered), service offering, further Microsoft competencies, other BI products supported and many more.
How is the Success Story browser structured?
The Success Story library allows visitors to search customer stories by name, country, industry, primary function (e.g. Finance) and region. Additionally, the “value” field shows the major value driver (the motivation for the customer to implement the solution).
What are the criteria for being included in the browser?
Any software vendor or consultancy that offers products and services around Power BI is welcome to add their profile. An official partnership status with Microsoft is not required. BARC reserves the right to exclude vendors that provide misleading or false information.
What are the criteria for being included in the Maps (analysts’ view)?
The main criteria for software add-ons are status at Microsoft (Microsoft preferred solution, Power BI certified, Co-selling status), innovation and quality of the product, depth of Microsoft integration and market visibility (presence in marketing, partnerships, #of customers, #of success stories). For service partners, the criteria are status at Microsoft (especially Data Platform and Data Analytics certification), #of success stories, market visibility (presence in marketing, speaker engagements, community engagements) and special expertise.
How is the project funded?
The initial phase of the launch was funded by 9 sponsors as well as by our enthusiasm for the fast-moving BI and reporting market. Additionally there are different sponsorship models for vendors and consultancies. Nevertheless, your entry in the Map is completely independent from sponsorship activities. The project is based on the strong principle of showing a complete and unbiased picture of the ecosystem.
Who is behind the project?
The BARC Power BI Ecosystem is an initiative of BARC, the best known BI software market analyst in Europe. Each year, BARC publishes “The BI & Analytics Survey”, the largest independent survey on the use of BI systems worldwide (formerly known as “The BI Survey” and “OlapReport”). The 2023 edition will mark its 22th anniversary. Stefan Sexl, chief editor of the BARC Power BI Ecosystem, is a fellow of the BARC Institute and former co-founder of one of the major European Microsoft BI and Power BI consultancies. Additionally, a network of experts around the world with long-time experience in the Microsoft BI market space will be providing their expertise. For North America – the largest software market in the world (and the market with the highest number of Power BI partners) – we are honored to welcome Donald Farmer, former “face of Microsoft BI” in Redmond, as our partner and main contributor for the future development of the project.
Does the BARC Power BI Ecosystem have official status at Microsoft?
No, this is an independent activity, although Microsoft is one of the sponsors. That is why vendors without official partner status can also be included. We see ourselves as a platform that adds significant value to the ecosystem and consider the BARC Power BI Ecosystem as complementary to the market overviews provided directly by Microsoft.
Status of the site
The BARC Power BI Ecosystem was initially launched in the German speaking countries, today there is more detailed data for those markets, which should change quickly. North America, Middle East and Benelux are our regional focus now.
What is the difference between the Browser and the Map?
The Solution Browser is an interactive tool offered on the website and includes ALL participants of the ecosystem. It allows visitors to select, browse, sort and search intuitively by vendor, product and success story. The data in the browser is collected top-down from different sources and combined with data from the questionnaire completed by the vendors themselves. BARC only corrects obviously false or misleading information.
The MAP is a static PDFs, showing the analysts’ view of the ecosystem – at a certain point of time for a certain region. They integrate the most important and most visible vendors based on analyst research. The team defining the Maps comprises experts from different markets across the world including the United States, Europe and Asia. The Maps are updated on a regular basis throughout the year. The 2020 powerBImap for German speaking countries has already been released. Editions for North America, the Middle East and Benelux are currently being prepared.
How often are the maps updated?
We update the BARC Power BI Ecosystem browsers (Solutions, Service Partners, Success Stories) as well as the webinar database regulary. Thats means it can take a few days until your entries will be visible. If you already have an entry and you want to change or extend that, e.g. with a new product or additional content, feel free to do that any time.
FAQ for vendors and service providers
Is your company or product missing in the Ecosystem?
If you are active around Power BI and offer consulting, training, other services or a software solution directly integrated in Power BI (e.g., a visual) or a software solution that leverages Power BI, you should be included in our market overview (official partner status at Microsoft is not required).
Your entry is free of charge but will be subject to a review by BARC analysts before inclusion.
Please fill out our questionnaire and register at: http://bi-survey.com/map-questionnaire
Why should I fill out the questionnaire?
Vendors with a questionnaire provide more detailed information to the visitors of the site and will be displayed bigger and in a different color. Additionally, you can add screenshots, videos and other content to your entry and promote your webinars for free.
Vendors that provided details about their solution appear more prominent in the browser
What happens with my data?
The data you provide will not be sold to or shared with any third party. The servers on which the data is stored are based in Europe. BARC GmbH – established in 1999 and headquartered in Germany – is the leading European BI analyst company and follows the strong European data privacy regulations.
Can I become a sponsor of the Maps?
Yes, we offer various sponsorship options. These currently include main sponsorship and banner ads with further options to come. Please contact Christoph Wegert at cwegert@barc.com or call +49-931-8806510 for more details. Feel free to contact ecosystems@barc.com if you have any further questions.
