When does it make sense to choose a custom SharePoint web part instead of Power BI?

When the requirement is to show standardized operational dashboards to a large number of users who don't need to explore the data on their own. Power BI is better suited for self-service analysis, complex data models and ad-hoc reports. A custom web part has an upfront development cost, but the annual licensing cost for users who only consume the reports is zero. The trade-off depends on the volume of users, the access frequency and the reporting complexity.

How is the revenue data kept up to date in a SharePoint web part?

Through a console application that synchronizes data from the source management system to a staging database at defined intervals — hourly, daily or as operations require. Separating the synchronization layer from the presentation layer ensures that an issue on the management system doesn't affect what the user sees.

Is Power BI always the wrong choice for operational reporting?

No. Power BI is the right tool when you need exploratory data analysis, multidimensional models or ad-hoc reports for users with different needs. The custom web part is the right choice when the requirement is to show defined KPIs to a broad audience of consumer users, without advanced analytical capabilities and without the cost of a Pro license per user.

Can a custom SharePoint web part handle gamification with leaderboards and targets?

Yes. The web part can include scoring logic, dynamic leaderboards updated in real time and progress tracking toward specific targets by category or period. These features are built in the front-end layer of the web part, combining performance data from the staging database with dedicated calculation logic.

How is the security of revenue data handled in this architecture?

Data flows from the management system to a managed staging database, then to SharePoint. Access is controlled at every step: the staging database is reachable only through the synchronization application, and SharePoint inherits the permissions already configured in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Revenue data is never exposed to consumer systems or unmanaged external platforms.

SharePoint Dashboard: a Power BI Alternative that Saved €51k

A custom SharePoint web part is a purpose-built component that shows dashboards and KPIs directly inside the company intranet, without the per-user cost of Power BI licenses. For an Italian fast-casual restaurant chain we chose this route instead of Power BI for reporting on store revenue: the direct saving was around €51,000 a year in licenses never purchased.

When a company needs to show revenue data to its employees, the evaluation almost always starts from Power BI: it’s Microsoft’s business intelligence tool, it integrates with SharePoint, it has powerful visualizations. But before choosing a tool you have to estimate what it will cost to use — and in this case the numbers didn’t add up.

The problem: revenue KPIs and store-versus-store contests

The chain — specialized in flatbread, with stores across Italy — needed a tool employees could access from within their own intranet, built on Intranet.ai. The tool had to serve two distinct needs: show the revenue trend of every store in a clear, up-to-date and visually readable way, and run a system of contests between stores with bonuses tied to targets on specific products or categories. Not just passive reporting, but a motivational tool for the whole network.

The combination of operational reporting and commercial gamification called for a solution integrated into the existing intranet, with no separate portals and no extra logins for employees.

Why we said no to Power BI

The initial evaluation pointed to Power BI, the obvious choice for this kind of need. The problem surfaced when we estimated the licensing cost: around €51,000 a year to cover all the company users who would need to access the reports. Power BI requires Pro licenses to share content with users outside the author’s workspace — and when the audience is the entire workforce of a structured restaurant chain, the numbers grow fast. The chain turned the solution down, for sound economic reasons.

It’s not that Power BI was “wrong”: it simply wasn’t the right choice for this requirement. It remains the best tool when you need exploratory analysis and complex data models, as in the multi-source Power BI dashboard or the row-level security with Okta cases. Here, something else was needed.

The solution: a custom SharePoint Online web part

We redesigned the approach starting from a different question: what’s actually needed? What was needed was up-to-date revenue data, with appealing visuals, integrated into the intranet employees already used every day. The advanced analytical capabilities of Power BI — complex drill-downs, multidimensional models, DAX — were not required. The solution came together in two components.

Console application for data synchronization. The chain’s management system holds all the revenue data by store. We developed an application that periodically synchronizes this data to a staging database managed by Dev4Side, separating the presentation layer from the source management system.

Custom SharePoint Online web part. Directly in the intranet, a purpose-built web part reads the data from the staging database and presents it with visuals built for that specific context: revenue trend by store, contest leaderboard, progress toward targets by product category.

KPI reporting architecture: from the management system to the custom SharePoint web part inside the company intranet

The advantage over Power BI wasn’t only economic. A custom web part offers a visual freedom that Power BI’s templates and layout constraints wouldn’t have allowed as easily: we could build an experience visually consistent with the brand and the existing intranet. It’s the same native-integration principle we apply to managing business procedures on SharePoint: the tool lives where people already work.

Results

The direct saving is quantifiable: around €51,000 a year in Power BI licenses never purchased. But the most relevant business result is that the chain has a tool that works, integrated where employees already are, with visuals designed to motivate as much as to inform. The store-versus-store contest system is live and accessible with no extra logins, no external portals, no operational friction.

Who benefits from this approach

This kind of solution is particularly well suited to organizations with a network of stores or distributed operating units that need standardized reporting integrated into a Microsoft 365 intranet. It works well when the requirement is not exploratory data analysis — for which Power BI remains the better tool — but the operational display of defined KPIs, with controlled visuals and no per-user licensing cost for consumer users.

The restaurant vertical, with wide store networks and a large workforce but simple reporting-to-consume needs, is a textbook case: it’s exactly the scenario where Power BI’s licensing model inflates costs without delivering proportionate value.

Are you evaluating a reporting project, or have you received a quote with a licensing cost that doesn’t add up? Contact us for an assessment →