Introduction
Maps in Power BI are important tools for visualizing geographical data and gathering useful insights from location and spatial data. With the help of these tools, businesses can identify and analyze patterns like regional sales performance, track customer distribution, or monitor infrastructure gaps.
Power BI offers a variety of map visuals, each designed to meet different analytical needs. In this guide, we will walk you through the different map visualization tools available in Power BI, with a special focus on Azure Maps, which offers rich map visualizations and stronger geospatial analysis capabilities than its counterparts.
Overview of the Available Map Visuals in Power BI
There are four primary map types available in Power BI, each designed to cater to a wide range of visualization needs. Here’s a brief look into their key characteristics:
Map
The Map visual, powered by Bing Maps, is a simple tool for plotting geographic points like cities, states, or coordinates. It’s best for smaller datasets, as it lacks advanced features like layering or region-based visualizations. This visual lets you display point data, color the points based on categories (e.g., “disaster type” or “color”), adjust the size based on numerical values (e.g., “number of volunteers”), and choose from five different base map options.
Filled Map
The Filled Map in Power BI uses color-coded regions to show data distribution across geographical areas like countries or states. This makes it ideal for comparing regional data, such as sales or demographics. This type of map, also called a choropleth map, uses color intensity to highlight areas with high or low concentrations of a data point.
For example, the green here can represent the concentration of customers across countries. Filled Maps are best suited for predefined regions and simpler use cases. You can adjust the color scheme, choose categorical (e.g., “yes” or “no”) or numerical data (e.g., “number of volunteers per state”), and select from five different base maps.
Shape Map (Preview)
The Shape Map in Power BI allows you to create custom region-based visualizations using shapefiles or GeoJSON data. This makes it perfect for analyzing non-standard areas like sales zones or districts. The map uses color coding to highlight comparisons across regions, focusing on relative differences rather than precise data points.
Users can create choropleth maps, coloring regions based on categorical values (e.g., “yes” or “no”) or numerical (e.g., “number of customers per district”). Since the feature is still in preview, it may require some technical setup and could lack the refinement of a fully developed visual map.
Azure Maps
Azure Maps is the most advanced mapping option in Power BI, offering dynamic and multi-layered visualizations. It supports heat maps, bubble maps, and filled regions, which provide greater customization and interactive elements. Azure maps is also designed to handle larger datasets, allowing users to tell a deeper story using the data.
Azure Maps integrates with Microsoft Azure’s cloud-based mapping services, providing access to real-time traffic, weather data, and additional geographical layers. This makes it especially useful for organizations already utilizing Azure, as organizations can easily integrate data from other Azure services to create tailored visual maps that fit their reporting needs.
Comparing Power BI Map Visuals
Each Power BI map visual offers a vast range of features. Here we have a table breaking down the available features, technical requirements needed to use the map visuals and their compatibility with other services.
| Feature | Azure Maps | Map | Filled Map | Shape Map |
| Purpose | Advanced Multi-Layered Visuals | Basic Geographic Plotting | Filled Regions By Category | Custom Shapes Or Regions |
| Geospatial Layers | Multiple Layers (Heatmap, Bubble) | Single-Layer Points | Single Filled Layer | User-Defined Regions Only |
| Real-Time Updates | Fully Supported | Static Data Only | Not Supported | Not Supported |
| Customization | High: Themes, 3d, Symbols, Bubbles | Limited Marker Styling | Basic Color Fill | Requires TopoJSON Files |
| Integration | Works With Azure Services | Bing Maps-Based | Bing Maps-Based | No External Maps |
| Performance | Optimized For Large Datasets | Good For Small Data | Efficient With Simple Data | Limited For Large Data |
| Heatmap Support | Fully Supported | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| Dynamic Zooming | Interactive Drill-Downs | Manual Zoom Only | Limited Zoom | No Advanced Zoom |
| Geocoding | Auto For Cities, States, And Countries | Auto Via Bing Maps | Auto Via Bing Maps | None (Manual Regions) |
| Skill Requirement | Beginner-Friendly | Simple For Beginners | Easy With Basic Features | Advanced (Topojson) |
| Spatial Analysis | Built-In Analysis Tools | None | Region Highlights Only | None (Static Visuals) |
| Security | Enterprise-Grade With Azure | Basic Bing Compliance | Basic Bing Compliance | User-Managed |
| Visual Aesthetics | Modern Themes, 3d Effects | Simple Visuals | Basic Color Fills | User-Defined Customization |
| Best Use Cases | Logistics, Tracking, Advanced Maps | Simple Reports | Sales Regions, Elections | Warehouse Zones, Custom Regions |
Benefits of Using Azure Maps in Power BI
Azure Maps provides advanced geospatial tools for customizable and interactive layered mapping in Power BI. It is ideal for users who need detailed, real-time geographical and spatial insights. Here are some key benefits that come with using Azure Maps:
- Easy Integration: It works seamlessly with other Azure services, which makes it an ideal choice for organizations already using the Azure platform.
- Enterprise-Level Security: Azure Maps meets high standards for compliance and security with the backing of Microsoft.
- Scalability: It’s great for projects that require robust mapping capabilities, as it is capable of handling large datasets and supports real-time geospatial analysis.
- Advanced Mapping Options: Azure Maps offers multiple layers like Bubble Maps, Heatmaps, and Filled Map Layers, which allow for more detailed and flexible visualizations. It also supports geocoding, letting users map locations using city, state, and country names.
- Real-Time Data and Spatial Analysis: It supports real-time updates, making it ideal for tracking logistics or dynamic mapping. It also offers spatial analytics, which helps organizations gain location-based insights to make better decisions.
- Customizable Visuals: The platform allows you to customize colors, map themes, and opacity, ensuring your reports are visually appealing and aligned with your brand. Heatmaps and Bubble layers also make it easy to represent data density and key metrics.
- Efficient Performance: As Azure Maps is specifically designed for Power BI, it delivers optimized performance even for more complex reports.
- Future-Proof Features: Azure Maps receives continuous updates, helping businesses keep up with the latest industry trends.
When Should You Choose Azure Maps in Power BI?
Although Azure Maps comes equipped with so many stand-out features, you may be wondering about its use cases and whether it is the right fit for your work.
Azure Maps Stands Out for Scenarios that Demand:
- Strong security and compliance for sensitive or regulated data.
- Efficient handling of large datasets with high-performance mapping capabilities
- Understanding of customer demographics, market trends, and other location-based insights using spatial data.
- Tracking and monitoring the location of assets, vehicles, or equipment, using features like geofencing.
- Analyzing routes and minimizing delivery times by integrating real-time traffic data.
How to Enable Azure Maps in Power BI
Before we can get started on how to use Azure Maps in Power BI, here is a simple step-by-step process to enable the tool in your Power BI interface:
Step 1: Open your Power BI platform and navigate to the Settings icon.
Step 2: From the drop-down menu, select Admin portal.
Step 3: On the next screen, choose Tenant settings.
Step 4: Scroll down to the Integration settings section and enable the option related to Azure Maps.
You might need to wait a few minutes and restart the application for the settings to be applied.
How to Use Azure Maps in Power BI
Getting started on Azure Maps in Power BI is quite straightforward. Here’s a short video tutorial to help you get started:
Native vs. Third-Party Power BI Map Visuals
Beyond the four native map visuals in Power BI-Map, Filled Map, Shape Map, and Azure Maps- there are third-party map visuals like ESRI ArcGIS and Mapbox that offer significantly more advanced and versatile mapping features. These tools are ideal for users needing detailed geospatial analysis, extensive customization, or integration with external geographic datasets.
While these third-party visuals are highly capable, they have limitations that may not suit all users. For most reporting needs, the native Power BI visuals, especially Azure Maps, strike a balance between functionality, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use, making them the go-to choice for many professionals.
ESRI ArcGIS for Power BI
Developed by ESRI, a leader in GIS (Geographic Information Systems), ArcGIS provides robust mapping capabilities directly integrated into Power BI. It is equipped with some unique features, as it allows users to add line, point, and polygon data to maps and style them based on spatial density or attributes.
Key Benefits:
- Integration with ESRI’s ArcGIS Online platform for custom base maps, demographic data, reference layers, and built-in infographics with real-time updates.
- Support for advanced features like drive-time analysis, clustering, and heatmaps.
- Users can avail demographic and location intelligence data from ArcGIS Online, the Living Atlas, and secure ArcGIS Organizations for deeper insights.
Limitations:
- Requires an ArcGIS Online account for advanced features.
- Has display issues when publishing to the web or embedding.
- Higher complexity compared to native Power BI maps, making it less beginner-friendly.
Best For:
Organizations that need high-level GIS functionality and external geographic datasets beyond Power BI’s native features.
Mapbox Visual for Power BI
Mapbox is a powerful mapping platform known for its flexibility and customization, as users can create virtually any type of map or customize their own using the MapBox Studio.
Key Benefits:
- Highly customizable maps with a range of styling options, including 3D visualizations.
- Access to a variety of map types, such as choropleth maps, cluster maps, point maps, circle maps, rasters, etc.
- Integration with external data through APIs, enabling dynamic map updates.
- Advanced geospatial capabilities like geocoding and reverse geocoding. This allows users to search for any location and have a pin drop on the map, as well as select and summarise any data they choose.
Limitations:
- Requires technical setup for full customization (API keys, map styles, etc.).
- Some advanced features may require a Mapbox subscription.
Best For:
Users looking for rich visual customization and interactive maps with support for 3D data and external integrations.
Conclusion
Power BI’s mapping visuals offer a very broad range of features, from the most basic data plotting to advanced geospatial analytics for more intensive users. Each option-whether it’s native visuals like Map, Filled Map, Shape Map, and Azure Maps, or third-party tools like ESRI ArcGIS and Mapbox – has its strengths and weaknesses.
For those seeking to strike a balance between easy-to-use features and advanced mapping abilities, Azure Maps may be the perfect mapping tool for you.
