Most advanced features and aesthetics in visualization through Highcharts and Power BI integration could benefit from those features over limitations and complications when compared with standard Power BI visuals.
1. Compatibility and Integration: Highcharts is not a native part of Power BI, which means that custom visuals need to be developed or use custom HTML and JavaScript embedding. This approach is quite complex and does not fit into the whole Power BI ecosystem. For example, native Power BI visuals automatically provide slice, cross-filter, and bookmark features that will require additional effort to implement for Highcharts.
2. Limited Interactivity: In Highcharts, these functionalities rule well on web pages but may not work as expected within Power BI itself. Unlike native visuals, Highcharts might lack this deep interactivity, which exists with automatic updates by filters or other highlights in the report context.
3. Performance Overhead: In most cases, Highcharts will be embedded within Power BI by running JavaScript code, which increases the processing load on the client side. Therefore, for large reports with many datasets or visuals, performance becomes slower compared to the optimized native visuals of Power BI.
4. Maintenance and Updates: Highcharts also need to be maintained and worked on continuously in terms of upgrades for working with Power BI, unlike native visuals that Microsoft will maintain and upgrade without input from developers.
5. Licensing and Cost: Highcharts require a commercial license for enterprise use, which may add extra costs compared to Power BI’s built-in visuals that are included in the product's licensing model.
In conclusion, while Highcharts can enhance visual customization, its integration with Power BI comes with notable trade-offs in compatibility, interactivity, performance, and maintenance. Native visuals are generally more efficient and user-friendly for most Power BI projects.
