Webinar Slides: Power BI & Spotfire Working Together

Webinar overview

Topic: Power BI and Spotfire — Friends, Foes, or Both?
Date: March 20, 2025
Agenda: Introductions, Power BI & Spotfire walkthrough, discussion + Q&A

Speakers

• Steve Dolha, Chief Data Officer
• Amanda Summers, Director, Client Engagement
• Phil Unger, President and CEO

The short version: how Power BI and Spotfire compare

Power BI in one line

Power BI is Microsoft’s business analytics platform built for interactive dashboards, reporting, and broad stakeholder sharing, especially in Microsoft-centric environments.

Spotfire in one line

Spotfire is positioned as visual data science—strong for advanced analytics, predictive modelling, and deeper interactivity, especially when teams need to integrate data science workflows.

Feature-by-feature highlights (from the webinar)

Data wrangling & transformation

• Spotfire: visual data canvas for complex transformations; can extend wrangling with Python scripting.
• Power BI: solid basics with more advanced options via Power Query.

Custom visualizations

• Spotfire: “Mods” (visualization extensions) and a community library; can leverage common JavaScript viz libraries.
• Power BI: visuals SDK (NodeJS-based) with open-source examples available.

Custom user interfaces

• Spotfire: UI patterns via TextArea; deeper UI via HTML/CSS/JavaScript; can embed via Spotfire JavaScript API.
• Power BI: limited native UI customization; typically requires workarounds or third-party visuals.

Scripting & advanced customization

• Spotfire: IronPython + strong integration paths for advanced actions and modelling workflows.
• Power BI: Python scripting exists, but with practical limitations and less dynamic control over visuals.

AI/ML integration

• Spotfire: built-in support for data science workflows and predictive analytics; integrates with Spotfire Data Science.
• Power BI: often relies on Azure ML or custom R/Python scripts; some pre-built AI features for specific needs.

Geospatial / mapping

• Spotfire: robust mapping and easier integration of external map services + shape files; strong geospatial processing via Python functions.
• Power BI: full mapping often depends on third-party tools (example noted: ArcGIS).

Ease of use

Both are drag-and-drop friendly, but they’re built for different depths:

• Power BI: highly accessible for business users; big ecosystem for extending capabilities.
• Spotfire: user-friendly and more extendable as an integrated platform, especially for analysts/data scientists.

When teams use both together (real-world patterns)

Oil & gas

A common approach is:

• Spotfire for advanced analytics
• Power BI for business intelligence
• Integration so technical and leadership teams each get what they need

Manufacturing

A dual-tool setup often supports:

• tracking production metrics
• scheduling optimisation
• workforce management
• inventory/material planning
• alerts/notifications
• integrated insights across teams

Decision checklist: which tool should you lead with?

Use Power BI if…

• you need accessible dashboards and reporting for a wide group of stakeholders
• you’re heavily invested in Microsoft (Office 365, Azure)
• you want cost-effective scaling and fast report sharing

Use Spotfire if…

• you need advanced analytics, predictive modelling, or data science workflows
• you’re working with large/complex/real-time datasets
• your team needs deeper interactivity, custom visual behaviour, and R/Python integrations

Use both if…

Your business needs executive-friendly BI and technical-grade analytics—and you want each team working in the tool that fits the job. The webinar frames this as a common reality: they’re often “friends” in modern stacks, even if historically positioned as competitors.

Next steps

If you’re deciding how to standardize reporting and analytics across teams, start with:

1. Who needs dashboards vs deep exploration (and how often)?
2. What data sources matter most (volume, real-time, complexity)?
3. Where does governance and sharing break down today?

Then download the slides and use the comparison sections as your internal alignment tool.