Service or Desktop for new independent corporate performance/financial consulting business?

[etescher]

Being new to Power BI, but an old-time financial/operational analyst, I feel comfortable with my level of mastering the visual elements of Power BI Service.  My objective is to leave the ERP planning work I am doing (which I am finding mind numbingly boring) and return to analysis (which like all technology has evolved).  At my career stage, I am interested interested in being a hired gun to do corporate budgeting, financial modeling, and provide Cloud visualizations and reporting (Power BI).

I need to decide whether to Migrate my work and learn and focus on Power BI Desktop or stay with Service.  My hunch to stay with service is:

1. That I could model data on my desktop using MS SQL, MS Access, Excel, or SQL Azure.  Doing so would me I could easier share my data with other users.
2. I can collaborate on the same reports with potential partners
3. I can build external data models that can be shared across reports and with other users

I see Desktop with the advantages

1. Powerful built in query model, almost a replacement for MS Access while providing visualization functionality
2. Power DAX modeling

Any analysts in the field willing to give their strong opinions a seasoned data professional wanting to decide whether to make Service or Desktop a business platform?

[Greg_Deckler · Accepted solution]

@etescher - If you ever need to extend your data model with calculated columns and measures, you will need to use Desktop because you cannot do those things in the Service. Desktop and Service are complimentary to one another, not exclusionary. You can create data models in Desktop that you then publish to the Service to create reports on, or create data model and reports in Desktop and publish to Service. Use both.

[etescher]

Thank you for the response.  My question was obviously not technical but part of a boader path to professional re-aligning.  Your thoughts and experience are meaningful.  I am part of a $80M ERP implementation which I am beond sick of.  I contemplate removing my project implementations and PMP from resume, and returning to the work I actually found joy in!

Thanks for your thoughts!

Eric