title
Excel vs. Power BI - What is the BEST Skill to LEARN?
description
Excel & Power BI are both important for aspiring data analysts. So which one should you focus and learn NOW?
In this fun and informative video, see how these two compare and what my verdict is.
In the video ⏱
============
0:00 - Excel or Power BI - the comparison
0:34 - Excel Pros
3:30 - Power BI Pros
6:23 - Excel Cons
9:32 - Power BI Cons
11:55 - My recommendation for students
13:45 - My recommendation for working professionals
Resources to LEARN Excel / Power BI 📚🎓
===================================
~ Youtube Videos:
Data Analysis with Excel - FULL COURSE - https://youtu.be/v2oNWja7M2E
Data Analysis with Power BI - FULL COURSE - https://youtu.be/uwe8C7K8fXY
Excel vs. Power BI - Report comparison - https://youtu.be/OKSIVfMF0QI
~ Courses:
Excel School program (Full course for data people) - https://chandoo.org/wp/excel-school/
Power BI Play Date (Course for Power BI) - https://chandoo.org/wp/power-bi-play-date/
Happy Learning 😀
CREDITS 🙌
==========
Music - Epidemic Sound ~ https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/gdubva
Gear - Canon M50 with Rode Mic ~ https://www.amazon.com/shop/chandoo
#Excel #PowerBI
detail
{'title': 'Excel vs. Power BI - What is the BEST Skill to LEARN?', 'heatmap': [{'end': 909, 'start': 899.91, 'weight': 1}], 'summary': "Compares excel's wide availability and real-world applications to power bi's modern, free, and in-demand technology space, emphasizing power bi's advantage in working with large real-life data sets and discussing its cost implications and limitations in sharing and supporting systems.", 'chapters': [{'end': 300.467, 'segs': [{'end': 140.611, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 109.935, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 116.098, 'text': 'At the last count, there are more than 300 million active Excel users out in the world.', 'start': 109.935, 'duration': 6.163}, {'end': 119.62, 'text': 'So you could imagine why Excel is so popular.', 'start': 116.818, 'duration': 2.802}, {'end': 122.801, 'text': 'It is everywhere and that is a biggest pro for Excel.', 'start': 119.7, 'duration': 3.101}, {'end': 132.886, 'text': 'And then the next advantage of learning Excel is it has more real world applications than Power BI or any other platform for that matter.', 'start': 123.081, 'duration': 9.805}, {'end': 140.611, 'text': 'we can use excel to build accounting systems, operations and optimization systems.', 'start': 133.766, 'duration': 6.845}], 'summary': 'Over 300 million active excel users worldwide, indicating its widespread popularity and real-world applications in areas like accounting and operations.', 'duration': 30.676, 'max_score': 109.935, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo109935.jpg'}, {'end': 275.451, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 222.992, 'weight': 2, 'content': [{'end': 230.094, 'text': 'Just download it, get started with the built-in demo datasets, or use one of your datasets to get started with it.', 'start': 222.992, 'duration': 7.102}, {'end': 235.616, 'text': 'So the second advantage of Power BI is it is modern and a fancy software.', 'start': 230.134, 'duration': 5.482}, {'end': 240.817, 'text': 'using power bi, you are able to create reports or graphs or data analysis.', 'start': 236.116, 'duration': 4.701}, {'end': 248.479, 'text': 'that feels a bit modern and 21st century, whereas, even though we could do the same things in excel,', 'start': 240.817, 'duration': 7.662}, {'end': 253.481, 'text': 'it might take a while or it requires a bit more skill to make them look polished.', 'start': 248.479, 'duration': 5.002}, {'end': 262.103, 'text': 'whereas right out of the box you get things that are good looking, fancy, interactive and dynamic, and all sorts of good things in power bi.', 'start': 253.481, 'duration': 8.622}, {'end': 268.126, 'text': 'The third advantage of Power BI is it is considered to be in demand.', 'start': 262.423, 'duration': 5.703}, {'end': 275.451, 'text': 'I put that in air quotes because what is in demand skill is kind of like it changes from time to time.', 'start': 268.647, 'duration': 6.804}], 'summary': 'Power bi offers modern, user-friendly data analysis tools, with built-in demo datasets, and is considered in-demand.', 'duration': 52.459, 'max_score': 222.992, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo222992.jpg'}], 'start': 2.671, 'title': 'Excel vs power bi', 'summary': 'Compares the advantages of learning excel, with its wide availability and real-world applications, to power bi, which is free, modern, and considered to be in demand in the technology space.', 'chapters': [{'end': 300.467, 'start': 2.671, 'title': 'Excel vs power bi: which to learn?', 'summary': 'Compares the advantages of learning excel, with its wide availability and real-world applications, to power bi, which is free, modern, and considered to be in demand in the technology space.', 'duration': 297.796, 'highlights': ["Excel has more than 300 million active users worldwide, making it widely available and popular. Excel's widespread usage with over 300 million active users globally showcases its popularity and availability.", "Excel has more real-world applications than Power BI, including accounting, operations, marketing, and app development. Excel's versatility in real-world applications, from accounting to app development, highlights its practical utility.", 'Power BI is free to download, making it accessible for users to get started with the software. The accessibility of Power BI as a free download enables users to easily begin using the software.', "Power BI is modern and allows for the creation of polished, interactive reports and graphs more easily than Excel. Power BI's modern interface and ease of creating polished reports and graphs contrast with the effort required in Excel.", 'Power BI is considered to be in demand, although the technology space constantly evolves, impacting the demand for specific skills. While Power BI is currently in demand, the evolving nature of the technology space affects the demand for specific skills over time.']}], 'duration': 297.796, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo2671.jpg', 'highlights': ['Excel has more than 300 million active users worldwide, making it widely available and popular.', 'Excel has more real-world applications than Power BI, including accounting, operations, marketing, and app development.', 'Power BI is modern and allows for the creation of polished, interactive reports and graphs more easily than Excel.', 'Power BI is free to download, making it accessible for users to get started with the software.', 'Power BI is considered to be in demand, although the technology space constantly evolves, impacting the demand for specific skills.']}, {'end': 572.626, 'segs': [{'end': 368.526, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 300.467, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 309.734, 'text': 'right. so in demand skills today in the data space are power, bi, data science, algorithmic stuff and python and programming stuff.', 'start': 300.467, 'duration': 9.267}, {'end': 314.216, 'text': 'but fast forward, five, six years, these skills could be completely different.', 'start': 309.734, 'duration': 4.482}, {'end': 327.462, 'text': 'so And the fourth advantage is Power BI works with large real life data sets and situations.', 'start': 314.216, 'duration': 13.246}, {'end': 336.104, 'text': 'And this is kind of like a disadvantage for Excel, simply because Excel is not built to work with very, very large data sets,', 'start': 328.242, 'duration': 7.862}, {'end': 344.767, 'text': 'whereas Power BI is kind of really built so that you can use it for business intelligence applications and really large data sets.', 'start': 336.104, 'duration': 8.663}, {'end': 356.678, 'text': 'There are companies out there that are using Power BI on terabytes of data and billions of rows of information to figure out what is going on and get help with their data analysis.', 'start': 345.447, 'duration': 11.231}, {'end': 358.921, 'text': 'So those are the advantages.', 'start': 357.239, 'duration': 1.682}, {'end': 362.825, 'text': 'Now, as you can see, each application has its own strengths.', 'start': 358.981, 'duration': 3.844}, {'end': 365.225, 'text': "Now let's talk a little bit about the weaknesses.", 'start': 363.365, 'duration': 1.86}, {'end': 368.526, 'text': 'By no means these lists are comprehensive.', 'start': 365.926, 'duration': 2.6}], 'summary': 'In-demand skills in data space: power bi, data science, algorithmic, python. power bi works with large real-life data sets, used for business intelligence applications on terabytes of data and billions of rows.', 'duration': 68.059, 'max_score': 300.467, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo300467.jpg'}, {'end': 502.709, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 475.415, 'weight': 3, 'content': [{'end': 481.158, 'text': 'so excel spreadsheets cannot physically hold more than 1 million rows of data.', 'start': 475.415, 'duration': 5.743}, {'end': 488.663, 'text': 'so many times in the real world situations you might be dealing with data sets that are fairly large or have many, many columns,', 'start': 481.158, 'duration': 7.505}, {'end': 496.367, 'text': 'or whatever may be the case, and then when you try to work with that in the excel, you will hit the roadblock of 1 million rows.', 'start': 488.663, 'duration': 7.704}, {'end': 502.709, 'text': 'Of course there are tools and techniques within Excel using which you can overcome the 1 million row limit,', 'start': 497.027, 'duration': 5.682}], 'summary': "Excel can't hold more than 1 million rows of data; tools and techniques can overcome the limit.", 'duration': 27.294, 'max_score': 475.415, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo475415.jpg'}, {'end': 572.626, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 545.149, 'weight': 4, 'content': [{'end': 555.655, 'text': "so all of these different versions means even if you learn excel let's say excel 365 from a course or a youtube video and you start working,", 'start': 545.149, 'duration': 10.506}, {'end': 560.919, 'text': 'chances are that organization might be using a whole different version of excel,', 'start': 555.655, 'duration': 5.264}, {'end': 568.804, 'text': 'and then that can create a lot of inconsistency and incompatibility on what you learned and how you apply it to your version of excel.', 'start': 560.919, 'duration': 7.885}, {'end': 572.626, 'text': 'so those are some of the cons for excel.', 'start': 568.804, 'duration': 3.822}], 'summary': 'Learning excel may lead to inconsistency and incompatibility due to different versions used in organizations.', 'duration': 27.477, 'max_score': 545.149, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo545149.jpg'}], 'start': 300.467, 'title': "Data skills and excel's limitations", 'summary': "Discusses the increasing demand for data skills, emphasizing power bi's advantage in working with large real-life data sets, and highlights excel's limitations including data processing limits and hindrances in effective use and learning.", 'chapters': [{'end': 368.526, 'start': 300.467, 'title': 'The future of data skills', 'summary': "Discusses the demand for skills in the data space, highlighting power bi's advantage of working with large real-life data sets, which is a disadvantage for excel, and mentions the potential changes in required skills in the future.", 'duration': 68.059, 'highlights': ['Power BI works with large real life data sets and situations, a disadvantage for Excel, as it is not built to work with very large data sets, whereas Power BI is designed for business intelligence applications and large data sets.', 'Companies are using Power BI on terabytes of data and billions of rows of information to aid in data analysis, demonstrating its practical application and relevance in handling substantial data volumes.', 'In demand skills today in the data space are Power BI, data science, algorithmic and Python programming, with the acknowledgment that these skills could evolve in the next five to six years.']}, {'end': 572.626, 'start': 368.606, 'title': 'Limitations of excel for users', 'summary': 'Discusses the limitations of excel including the misconception of its importance, data processing limits of 1 million rows, and the challenge of multiple versions, hindering its effective use and learning.', 'duration': 204.02, 'highlights': ['Excel is considered a non-skill, leading to the misconception that it is less important compared to other software like Power BI or programming languages, impacting its effective use and learning.', 'Excel has data processing limits, as it cannot physically hold more than 1 million rows of data, posing a challenge when dealing with large or complex datasets.', 'There are multiple versions of Excel, such as Excel 2016, Excel 365, and Excel 2019, leading to inconsistencies and incompatibility in applying learned skills to different versions, hindering effective use.']}], 'duration': 272.159, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo300467.jpg', 'highlights': ['Power BI is designed for business intelligence applications and large data sets.', 'Companies are using Power BI on terabytes of data and billions of rows of information.', 'In demand skills today in the data space are Power BI, data science, algorithmic and Python programming.', 'Excel has data processing limits, as it cannot physically hold more than 1 million rows of data.', 'There are multiple versions of Excel, such as Excel 2016, Excel 365, and Excel 2019, leading to inconsistencies and incompatibility in applying learned skills to different versions.']}, {'end': 895.601, 'segs': [{'end': 641.997, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 593.783, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 601.428, 'text': 'if you want to publish and share it with other people in the organization, you must get the Power BI premium or pro licenses.', 'start': 593.783, 'duration': 7.645}, {'end': 608.253, 'text': 'And these are very expensive and the costs can quickly build up if you are trying to use it across a team.', 'start': 601.608, 'duration': 6.645}, {'end': 617.839, 'text': 'Apart from the licensing, many times to use Power BI, you also need a supporting system like a data warehouse or a cloud database or something else.', 'start': 608.793, 'duration': 9.046}, {'end': 621.001, 'text': 'And those costs can also quickly build up.', 'start': 618.399, 'duration': 2.602}, {'end': 629.487, 'text': "So that's why I feel like Power BI is a more expensive thing for normal day-to-day data analysis stuff.", 'start': 621.622, 'duration': 7.865}, {'end': 635.352, 'text': 'the second problem with power bi is it has very limited uses.', 'start': 630.628, 'duration': 4.724}, {'end': 641.997, 'text': 'it is a very good application for doing data analysis, reporting and business intelligence stuff,', 'start': 635.352, 'duration': 6.645}], 'summary': 'Power bi requires expensive licenses and supporting systems, limiting its use and adding to costs.', 'duration': 48.214, 'max_score': 593.783, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo593783.jpg'}, {'end': 701.524, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 666.448, 'weight': 4, 'content': [{'end': 670.99, 'text': 'And then the third one is Power BI has many competing apps.', 'start': 666.448, 'duration': 4.542}, {'end': 679.973, 'text': "So if you're learning Power BI and you go to an organization, chances are you might also find that they're using one of the other competing apps,", 'start': 671.53, 'duration': 8.443}, {'end': 683.554, 'text': 'like Tableau or SAS or Qlik or something else.', 'start': 679.973, 'duration': 3.581}, {'end': 689.196, 'text': 'So then your knowledge of Power BI is not going to transform or transport into those worlds.', 'start': 684.074, 'duration': 5.122}, {'end': 691.436, 'text': 'You must learn those software as well.', 'start': 689.236, 'duration': 2.2}, {'end': 701.524, 'text': 'So, if you want to be a business intelligence specialist, then the bottom line is learning power bi alone is not sufficient.', 'start': 691.897, 'duration': 9.627}], 'summary': 'Learning power bi alone is not sufficient for business intelligence; competing apps like tableau, sas, and qlik also need to be mastered.', 'duration': 35.076, 'max_score': 666.448, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo666448.jpg'}, {'end': 748.988, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 718.594, 'weight': 5, 'content': [{'end': 722.215, 'text': 'If you are a student, then I have one recommendation for you.', 'start': 718.594, 'duration': 3.621}, {'end': 724.795, 'text': 'And if you are a professional, then I have another recommendation for you.', 'start': 722.295, 'duration': 2.5}, {'end': 726.176, 'text': "Let's start with students.", 'start': 725.175, 'duration': 1.001}, {'end': 734.918, 'text': "So if you are a student and you're still in college or finishing your studies, or between college and the job, and you're still learning,", 'start': 726.696, 'duration': 8.222}, {'end': 736.918, 'text': 'then I recommend that you learn Power BI.', 'start': 734.918, 'duration': 2}, {'end': 742.284, 'text': 'This is simply because if you learn excel in college,', 'start': 737.378, 'duration': 4.906}, {'end': 748.988, 'text': "you will not understand where that would fit in in the space of overall things that you're learning,", 'start': 742.284, 'duration': 6.704}], 'summary': 'Students should learn power bi to understand its application in the broader context of their studies and future career.', 'duration': 30.394, 'max_score': 718.594, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo718594.jpg'}], 'start': 572.626, 'title': 'Power bi limitations and cost implications', 'summary': 'Compares the cost implications of using power bi with excel, emphasizing the requirements for premium or pro licenses for sharing and the need for supporting systems, while also discussing the limitations of power bi and recommending its usage based on career stage and industry.', 'chapters': [{'end': 617.839, 'start': 572.626, 'title': 'Power bi: cost and implementation', 'summary': 'Highlights the cost implications of using power bi, emphasizing its expensiveness compared to excel due to the requirement of premium or pro licenses for sharing, which can quickly accumulate costs if used across a team, and the additional need for supporting systems like data warehouses or cloud databases.', 'duration': 45.213, 'highlights': ['Power BI requires premium or pro licenses for sharing, leading to considerable expenses, especially when used across a team.', 'The additional need for supporting systems like data warehouses or cloud databases further adds to the overall cost of using Power BI.', 'The desktop software for Power BI is free to download, but sharing and publishing require expensive licenses.']}, {'end': 895.601, 'start': 618.399, 'title': 'Power bi vs excel', 'summary': 'Discusses the limitations of power bi, including its cost, limited usability, and competition from other apps, and recommends learning power bi for students and excel for professionals based on their career stage and industry usage.', 'duration': 277.202, 'highlights': ['Power BI is considered more expensive for day-to-day data analysis, and it is limited in its usability for tasks such as building models, systems, applications, running simulations, and tracking. Power BI is perceived as more costly for everyday data analysis tasks and is limited in its usability for tasks such as building models, systems, applications, running simulations, and tracking.', 'Learning Power BI alone is insufficient for becoming a business intelligence specialist, as knowledge of competing apps like Tableau, SAS, or Qlik may also be necessary. Learning Power BI alone is insufficient for becoming a business intelligence specialist, as knowledge of competing apps like Tableau, SAS, or Qlik may also be necessary.', 'Recommendation to learn Power BI for students due to its immediate relevance and to wait to learn Excel until starting a job, while suggesting professionals, especially in accounting, law, project management, and IT, to start with learning Excel due to its predominant usage in many professions. Recommendation to learn Power BI for students due to its immediate relevance and to wait to learn Excel until starting a job, while suggesting professionals, especially in accounting, law, project management, and IT, to start with learning Excel due to its predominant usage in many professions.']}], 'duration': 322.975, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/nOWzpJ4gUKo/pics/nOWzpJ4gUKo572626.jpg', 'highlights': ['Power BI requires premium or pro licenses for sharing, leading to considerable expenses, especially when used across a team.', 'The additional need for supporting systems like data warehouses or cloud databases further adds to the overall cost of using Power BI.', 'The desktop software for Power BI is free to download, but sharing and publishing require expensive licenses.', 'Power BI is considered more expensive for day-to-day data analysis and is limited in its usability for tasks such as building models, systems, applications, running simulations, and tracking.', 'Learning Power BI alone is insufficient for becoming a business intelligence specialist, as knowledge of competing apps like Tableau, SAS, or Qlik may also be necessary.', 'Recommendation to learn Power BI for students due to its immediate relevance and to wait to learn Excel until starting a job, while suggesting professionals, especially in accounting, law, project management, and IT, to start with learning Excel due to its predominant usage in many professions.']}], 'highlights': ['Power BI is designed for business intelligence applications and large data sets.', 'Companies are using Power BI on terabytes of data and billions of rows of information.', 'Power BI is modern and allows for the creation of polished, interactive reports and graphs more easily than Excel.', 'Power BI is free to download, making it accessible for users to get started with the software.', 'Excel has more real-world applications than Power BI, including accounting, operations, marketing, and app development.', 'Excel has more than 300 million active users worldwide, making it widely available and popular.', 'Power BI requires premium or pro licenses for sharing, leading to considerable expenses, especially when used across a team.', 'The additional need for supporting systems like data warehouses or cloud databases further adds to the overall cost of using Power BI.', 'Power BI is considered more expensive for day-to-day data analysis and is limited in its usability for tasks such as building models, systems, applications, running simulations, and tracking.', 'Excel has data processing limits, as it cannot physically hold more than 1 million rows of data.']}