I’ve spent the last decade helping businesses transform their data into actionable insights with Power BI, and if there’s one question I’m asked constantly, it’s this: “Should we build our own Power BI team or hire consultants?” It’s a brilliant question—and one with significant implications for your budget, timeline, and ultimate success with business intelligence.
Let me walk you through everything I’ve learned from working with hundreds of clients across diverse industries. I’ll share what really works, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to make the best decision for your unique situation.
The Power BI Revolution: Why Everyone’s Talking About It
Power BI has completely transformed how we approach business intelligence. I remember when generating basic reports required an army of developers and weeks of work. Now, I can build interactive dashboards in hours that would have taken months in the old days.
This accessibility has created a conundrum for many businesses: should you invest in building internal Power BI expertise, or partner with specialists who live and breathe this technology every day?
What Does In-House Power BI Development Look Like?
Building an in-house Power BI capability means assembling your own team of data professionals who understand your business from the inside. You’ll need:
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- Data analysts who can translate business requirements into technical specifications
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- BI developers skilled in DAX, Power Query, and data modelling
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- Data engineers to handle complex ETL processes and data pipeline management
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- Project managers to coordinate delivery and stakeholder communication
I worked with a retail chain last year that invested heavily in building their internal Power BI team. The Finance Director told me, “We wanted people who understood our business down to the last SKU.” They hired three dedicated analysts and sent them for intensive Power BI training.
The Perks of Building Your Own Power BI Team
When you build your own team, you gain some significant advantages:
Complete Control of Development Priorities
I’ve noticed that my clients with internal teams can pivot quickly when business priorities change. Last month, one of my manufacturing clients needed to shift all their reporting focus to supply chain metrics overnight due to a major disruption. Their in-house team simply dropped everything else and redirected efforts—no contract negotiations, no scope discussions.
Deep Integration with Business Processes
Your own team will develop an intimate understanding of your business that’s hard for outsiders to match. They’ll know that the inventory numbers in System A are always overstated by 2% or that the CFO wants his regional breakdown in a very specific format.
Long-term Cost Efficiency (Sometimes)
If you have consistent, high-volume Power BI development needs, the economics can work in favour of in-house teams. I’ve calculated this for several clients, and the breakeven point typically comes after 18-24 months of steady development work.
The Challenges You’ll Face Going In-House
Building your own team isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I’ve watched many businesses struggle with these hurdles:
Significant Upfront Investment
Have you seen the salary demands for experienced Power BI developers lately? They’re eye-watering. One of my clients in London budgeted £65,000 for a mid-level Power BI specialist, only to discover the market rate was closer to £85,000. Then there’s the cost of training, hardware, and the inevitable learning curve.
Limited Expertise Breadth
Here’s something I’ve observed repeatedly: in-house teams often develop tunnel vision. They become experts in the reports they build regularly but may lack experience with advanced techniques or emerging features.
I visited a client last year who proudly showed me their Power BI solution. It was functional but relied entirely on direct queries against their database—no data modelling, no calculated columns, no time intelligence. They simply didn’t know what they didn’t know.
Scaling Difficulties
What happens when your CEO suddenly wants a complete overhaul of all executive dashboards by next quarter? Or when your Power BI guru accepts a job elsewhere? In-house teams often struggle with these capacity spikes and personnel changes.
What Does Outsourced Power BI Consultancy Look Like?
When you partner with a Power BI consultancy, you’re essentially renting expertise rather than building it. This typically takes one of several forms:
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- Project-based engagements: Hiring consultants to deliver specific reports or dashboards
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- Retainer arrangements: Ongoing access to Power BI expertise for a set number of hours monthly
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- Hybrid models: Using consultants to augment your internal team during peak periods
A logistics company I worked with last summer took the hybrid approach. They had two in-house analysts but brought our team in to handle a complex integration with their warehouse management system that required specialised ETL skills.
Why Many of My Clients Choose Power BI Consulting
I’ve seen businesses achieve remarkable results by partnering with Power BI specialists. Here’s why:
Access to Diverse and Specialised Expertise
When you hire a Power BI consultancy, you’re not getting one person’s knowledge—you’re tapping into a collective intelligence. Last month, my team was working on a challenging report for a healthcare provider. When we hit a roadblock with some complex DAX measures, I pulled in our DAX specialist who solved the problem in minutes.
Dramatically Faster Implementation
Have you ever watched an experienced Power BI consultant work? It’s like watching a chef in their own kitchen. Everything is efficient, nothing is wasted. Most consultancies have built their own templates, frameworks, and reusable assets that dramatically accelerate development.
I recently completed a sales analytics project in two weeks that the client estimated would have taken their team two months to build. Why? Because we’d solved similar problems dozens of times before.
Cost Flexibility and Predictability
With consultants, you pay for exactly what you need, when you need it. There’s no carrying cost during quiet periods. One of my financial services clients scales their Power BI consulting requirements from 20 hours per month during normal operations to 100+ hours during their quarterly reporting crunch.
Objective, External Perspective
Sometimes, you need someone to challenge your assumptions. Internal teams can fall victim to “that’s how we’ve always done it” thinking. Consultants bring fresh eyes and best practices from across industries.
The Downsides of the Consultancy Approach
I wouldn’t be giving you the full picture if I didn’t acknowledge the challenges:
Less Direct Control
Working with consultants means adapting to their processes and timelines. Some of my clients find this adjustment challenging, especially those with highly customised internal procedures.
Data Security Considerations
Sharing your data with external parties always introduces some level of risk. Most reputable consultancies have robust security practices—we implement strict data handling protocols—but it’s still something you need to manage carefully.
External Dependency
What happens when your contract ends? Will you be able to maintain and extend the solutions your consultants built? I’ve seen businesses struggle when they haven’t planned for knowledge transfer and documentation.
Making the Right Decision: A Framework
So how do you decide which approach is right for you? I typically guide my clients through these considerations:
Company Size and Resources
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- Smaller organisations (under 250 employees) often lack the resources to build and maintain specialised in-house teams
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- Medium-sized businesses frequently benefit from hybrid models
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- Large enterprises may have the scale to justify comprehensive in-house capabilities, but often still use consultants for specialised projects
Project Complexity and Timelines
Are you building straightforward sales dashboards, or are you implementing complex forecasting models with machine learning components? Do you need results in weeks or can you wait months?
Internal Technical Maturity
Be honest about your organisation’s current data capabilities. One council I worked with insisted they wanted to build internal capabilities, but they didn’t even have a data warehouse or standardised data governance. We had to start with the fundamentals before talking about Power BI development.
Budget Structure
Do you prefer capital expenditure (building a team) or operational expenditure (hiring consultants)? Your finance team will likely have strong opinions here!
Comparison: In-House vs Outsourced Power BI Development
| Factor | In-House Development | Power BI Consultancy |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Cost | High (hiring, training, tools) | Low (pay per project or hour) |
| Time to First Results | Longer (3-6 months) | Quicker (weeks) |
| Business Knowledge | Deep understanding develops over time | Limited initially, grows with partnership |
| Technical Expertise | Limited to team members’ experience | Broad and diverse from multiple projects |
| Scaling Capability | Fixed capacity, slow to scale | Highly flexible, scales on demand |
| Long-term Costs | Lower for consistent, high-volume work | Lower for variable or specialised needs |
| Control | Direct and immediate | Contract-based, less direct |
| Risk | Staff turnover, skill obsolescence | Vendor dependency, potential continuity issues |
Common Questions About Power BI Development
How long does it typically take to build Power BI expertise in-house?
In my experience, it takes 6-12 months for analysts to become truly proficient in Power BI, assuming they’re working with it daily. Mastering advanced concepts like complex data modelling, DAX, and performance optimisation can take years.
What’s the typical cost difference between in-house and outsourced Power BI development?
The fully-loaded cost of an in-house Power BI developer in the UK typically ranges from £70,000 to £100,000 annually when you factor in salary, benefits, training, and tools. Consultancy rates vary widely but typically range from £1,000 to £1,500 per day depending on expertise level.
Can we combine both approaches?
Absolutely! Some of my most successful clients use what I call the “core and flex” model—maintaining a small internal team for day-to-day work while bringing in specialists for complex projects or during peak periods.
The Best of Both Worlds: My Recommended Approach
After helping countless organisations with this decision, I’ve found that a phased approach often works best:
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- Start with consultants to build your initial Power BI foundation and deliver quick wins
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- Use their expertise to develop internal standards and best practices
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- Have them train and mentor your internal staff during the engagement
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- Gradually transition routine development to your team as they build skills
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- Maintain a relationship with consultants for specialised needs and surge capacity
I implemented this exact approach with a manufacturing client last year. We built their initial executive dashboards and sales reports, then spent three months working side-by-side with their analysts. They now handle 80% of their Power BI development in-house but bring us back quarterly to review their work and assist with complex challenges.
Taking the Next Step with Power BI
Whether you choose to build your own Power BI team or partner with experts, the most important thing is getting started. Every day without proper data insights is a day of missed opportunities and decisions based on gut feeling rather than evidence.
Ask yourself: Where do we want to be with our data analytics in 12 months? What resources do we have available? How quickly do we need to see results?
The answers to these questions will guide you toward the right approach for your organisation. And remember, this isn’t necessarily an either/or decision—the best solution often combines elements of both approaches.
What challenges are you facing with your Power BI implementation? I’d love to hear about your specific situation and offer personalised guidance based on what I’ve seen work across hundreds of similar projects.