What converts?
Very little travels as-is. SSRS report definitions republish as paginated reports, and existing Power BI content moves to Fabric capacity. Everything else carries across as a specification, not as files.
Migration hub · nine routes into Power BI
Power BI Migration Services, Compared by the Platform You Are Leaving
Power BI migration services are not one job. Leaving SSRS mostly republishes what you already have; leaving Tableau, Qlik, Crystal Reports, Cognos, Domo, MicroStrategy or BusinessObjects means rebuilding the logic underneath the reports. This page compares the routes we deliver — what converts, what is rebuilt, where a fixed fee actually goes, and when staying put is the better call. Every route: senior US-based engineers, one written price, typical delivery in 2–4 weeks, 30 days of hypercare included.
Representative dashboard — sample data
How to read your options
Three questions decide the shape of any move into Power BI
The source platform matters less for its brand than for where it keeps its logic. Answer these three and most of the scope follows.
What is rebuilt?
The logic layer: calculated fields, load scripts, universes, metadata schemas, formula fields. Each is re-derived into a star-schema semantic model with DAX measures before any report is drawn.
Where does the fee go?
Into logic, distribution, and security — the parts that decide whether numbers match and the right people receive them. The visuals themselves are usually the smallest line in the scope.
How it works
The same three steps, whichever platform you are leaving
- 1
Inventory and sort
A free consultation plus a look at your usage data shows what is opened, what is scheduled, and what nobody runs. You get a written scope, a wave plan, one fixed price, and a delivery date.
- 2
Rebuild the model, then the reports
The logic layer is re-derived into a semantic model, reports are republished or rebuilt on top of it, and each wave is reconciled against the live source platform before sign-off.
- 3
Cut over and decommission
Users move to governed workspaces with access rules applied. Once the outstanding list is empty, you get a written decommission plan and 30 days of hypercare.
What converts and what is rebuilt, by source platform
Only two routes carry content across largely intact: SQL Server Reporting Services, because Power BI paginated reports use the same RDL format, and an existing Power BI estate moving onto Fabric capacity. Every other source is rebuilt, and what separates them is where the business logic lives and what else the old platform was quietly doing. The table is the comparison we work from.
| Leaving | What converts or carries across | What is rebuilt | Where the scope concentrates |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSRS | RDL reports republish as Power BI paginated reports with their layout intact | Analytical reports rebuilt on a semantic model; stored-procedure logic refactored into DAX measures | Data-driven subscriptions rebuilt in Power Automate; folder security remapped to row-level security |
| Power BI Premium capacity | Reports, semantic models and workspaces — the content is already Power BI | Usually nothing; workspaces are reassigned to a Fabric F SKU | Sizing the capacity from real consumption, then validating refreshes and gateways |
| Tableau | Data sources — Power BI connects to the same warehouses and databases | Workbooks and visuals; calculated fields, LODs and table calculations re-derived as DAX | Building the semantic model Tableau never required, and reconciling every measure |
| QlikView / Qlik Sense | The business rules, read out of the load script | Load scripts become Power Query M; the associative model becomes a star schema; set analysis becomes DAX | Untangling logic held inside each .qvw and bypassing the QVD extract layer |
| Crystal Reports | Nothing in a .rpt file travels; the printed output is the specification | Formula fields re-derived as DAX; print-fidelity documents rebuilt as paginated reports | Subreports, which have no equivalent object, and invoice-grade layouts |
| IBM Cognos | The Framework Manager package, read as a modeling specification | Package re-expressed as a semantic model; Report Studio output sorted into paginated rebuilds and modeled reports | Report bursting and schedules, plus the upgrade-versus-rebuild decision |
| Domo | Card definitions and dataflow logic, as a specification | Beast Mode fields become DAX; Magic ETL flows become Power Query | Replacing the storage and connectors Domo bundled, inside your own tenant |
| MicroStrategy | The project metadata, read as a design document | Attributes, facts and hierarchies become a star schema; compound and level metrics become DAX | Level metrics and security filters, re-expressed as row-level security |
| SAP BusinessObjects | Universes, read as a specification | Universes become a governed semantic model; Web Intelligence documents are rebuilt as reports | Security profiles, scheduled instances and publications |
The pattern holds across rows: the more of the old tool's behaviour lived outside the reports themselves — in a load script, a universe, a metadata repository, a subscription engine — the more of the project sits below the surface. Microsoft's own Power BI migration overview (opens in new tab) makes the same point from the other side: rather than reproducing each legacy report exactly, focus on the business question it answers, and use the move to consolidate reports and drop legacy items nobody has used in a while.
Each route in one paragraph
A move off Reporting Services is a Microsoft-to-Microsoft consolidation rather than a platform switch; our SSRS to Power BI migration service covers the paginated republish plus the subscriptions and folder security that keep report servers alive. Our Tableau to Power BI migration service is a semantic-layer-first rebuild that moves workbooks in waves by business unit. For Qlik, our QlikView to Power BI migration service starts in the load script, because the model, the logic and the sheets all live inside one document. Our Crystal Reports to Power BI migration service handles formula fields, subreports and print-fidelity invoices, usually opened from inside an ERP.
For IBM platforms, our Cognos to Power BI migration service reads the Framework Manager package first and helps you weigh an upgrade against a rebuild. Our Domo to Power BI migration service unbundles a platform that held your connectors, storage and ETL as well as your charts. Our MicroStrategy to Power BI migration service treats the metadata repository as the design document it effectively is, and our SAP BusinessObjects to Power BI migration starts with the universe rather than the report count. Finally, if you already run Power BI on Premium capacity, our Power BI to Microsoft Fabric migration service is a capacity move, not a rebuild: it sizes the Fabric SKU, reassigns workspaces and validates what runs on them.
Where the cost of a migration actually goes
People tend to price a migration by counting reports. That number matters less than it looks, because the visuals are the cheapest part to recreate once a sound model sits under them. The fixed fee in a written scope is driven by four things:
- Logic that has to be re-derived. Every calculated field, set analysis expression, level metric or formula field has to be understood from the business rule it encodes, rewritten as a DAX measure, and checked.
- Reconciliation. Agreed check figures are compared against the live source platform until each wave matches. This is the step that makes users trust the new reports, and it is never optional.
- Distribution. Data-driven subscriptions, bursting, scheduled publications and alerts rarely map one-for-one onto Power BI subscriptions, so they are often rebuilt as Power Automate flows.
- Security. Folder permissions, security filters and universe profiles are re-expressed as workspace roles, app audiences and row-level security, then tested with real accounts.
The biggest lever on cost is the inventory. Usage data almost always shows a long tail of reports nobody opens, and retiring those by agreement is cheaper than rebuilding them. Our guide to what a Power BI dashboard actually costs explains how scope turns into a fixed fee, and how our fixed-fee process works covers what the written proposal contains. Licensing is the other early question, since publishing to a workspace needs a Power BI licence per author — the small-business licensing guide sets out the options.
When not to migrate
A migration earns its fee when it removes a second platform, a renewal, or a server someone has to patch. It does not always do that, and we would rather say so in a consultation than scope a project that should not happen:
- The current platform is working and the renewal is far off. If nothing is pushing you to consolidate, there is no urgency to move. Revisit it ahead of the next renewal.
- Most of the estate is unused. Retire first, then see what is left. Sometimes what remains is small enough that it is really a new-build project for our Power BI dashboard development service.
- The data underneath is the problem. Reports that disagree because the sources disagree will keep disagreeing in Power BI. Fixing the platform below the BI layer, through Azure consulting, may need to come first.
- The platform decision itself is still open. If you are not yet sure Power BI is the right destination, settle that before scoping anything — our comparison of Power BI vs Tableau for small business sets out where each genuinely wins.
Whichever route you take, everything produced is yours from the first day: the semantic model, the report files, every measure, the flows and the workspace configuration all live in your own Microsoft tenant, never in ours.
Choose your route
Detailed pages for each source platform
SSRS to Power BI
RDL republished as paginated reports; subscriptions, folder security and the report server dealt with properly.
Tableau to Power BI
A semantic-layer-first rebuild with calculated fields translated to DAX and reports moved in waves.
QlikView to Power BI
Load scripts to Power Query, the associative model to a star schema, set analysis to DAX.
Crystal Reports to Power BI
Formula fields, subreports and print-fidelity documents rebuilt for Power BI.
Cognos to Power BI
Framework Manager packages read as a specification, with bursting and schedules replaced.
Domo to Power BI
Beast Modes, Magic ETL and bundled storage unbundled into your own Microsoft tenant.
MicroStrategy to Power BI
The metadata schema rebuilt as a star schema, with level metrics and security filters re-expressed.
SAP BusinessObjects to Power BI
Universes rebuilt as a governed model; Web Intelligence documents and schedules replaced.
Power BI to Microsoft Fabric
A capacity move off Premium SKUs: Fabric sized, workspaces reassigned, reports validated.
What a Power BI dashboard costs
How scope, data sources and model complexity turn into a fixed fee.
Licensing without the jargon
Pro vs Premium Per User vs Fabric, explained for small business budgets.
Power BI vs Tableau for small business
Where each platform genuinely wins, before any migration is scoped.
FAQ
Migration questions, answered
Mostly no. Two routes carry content across largely intact: SSRS RDL files republish as Power BI paginated reports, and existing Power BI content moves onto Fabric capacity without a rebuild. For Tableau, Qlik, Crystal, Cognos, Domo, MicroStrategy and BusinessObjects, the business logic is re-derived as DAX measures on a new semantic model and the reports are rebuilt on top.
Mostly into the layer under the reports, not the visuals. The fee is driven by how much business logic has to be re-derived and reconciled, how many subscriptions or bursting jobs need replacing, and how complicated the security rules are. Report count matters less than people expect, especially once unused reports are retired rather than rebuilt.
When the current platform is working, the renewal is not close, and nothing is pushing you to consolidate, there is little reason to move yet. The same applies if most of the estate goes unopened: retiring it may beat migrating it. And if the data underneath is the real problem, fix that first, because new reports will not.
Typical delivery is two to four weeks from kickoff. Work runs in waves, highest-usage reports first, with the old platform left running until each wave reconciles. Your written scope states the dates before you commit, and 30 days of hypercare follow the final wave, included in the fixed fee rather than sold as a separate support contract.
Yes, until each wave is signed off. Power BI connects to the same databases and warehouses the old tool reads, so both run side by side and agreed check figures can be compared on one screen. Decommissioning happens only after the last wave reconciles and your team agrees the outstanding list is empty.
Often, yes. The pattern holds whatever the source: inventory what is actually used, read the logic layer as a specification, rebuild it as a semantic model with DAX measures, then rebuild the reports and reconcile them. Tell us the platform in a free consultation and we will say plainly whether it is a good fit.
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Tell us what you’re trying to fix — a report, an approval process, an intranet, a Copilot rollout. We scope it as a fixed-fee project, you approve, and a senior engineer delivers in 2–4 weeks.
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- Senior, US-based Microsoft engineers — no handoffs
- Typical 2–4 week delivery
- 30 days of post-delivery hypercare included
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