2025 Amazon QuickSight: The Future-Oriented Business Intelligence Solution?

Amazon QuickSight was introduced in 2016 as a cloud-based Business Intelligence service by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Since then, the tool has continuously evolved to meet the requirements of modern businesses. In 2025, QuickSight boasts over 100,000 customers and claims to reduce BI costs by 74% over a three-year period [1].

What is Amazon QuickSight?

Amazon QuickSight is a cloud-based Business Intelligence platform that assists companies in visualizing data, creating interactive dashboards, and promoting data-driven decisions. The user-friendly interface is suitable for both technical and non-technical users and enables quick integration with various data sources in the cloud and on-premises [2].

Important Features

• SPICE Engine: The Super-fast, Parallel, In-memory Calculation Engine (SPICE) enables rapid calculations even with large datasets. SPICE utilizes columnar storage, in-memory technology, and data compression to ensure high performance and scalability [3].
• QuickSight Q: This feature allows users to make data queries in natural language and receive immediate visual responses. This facilitates analysis for business users without technical expertise [1].
• Interaktive Dashboards: QuickSight supports drilldowns, filters, and loading of current data when accessing the dashboard URL. However, automatic data reload does not occur continuously in the background [1].
• Paginated Reporting: Creation of print-ready reports with high precision (Pixel Perfect Reporting), ideal for formal analyses. These reports can be scheduled and shared [1] [4].
• Security features: QuickSight offers role-based access controls, encryption, and compliance with standards such as HIPAA, ISO, and SOC. Additionally, it supports Row-Level Security and Column-Level Security, enabling granular access control – a feature not standardly offered by every BI tool [5] [6].

Highlight:

Amazon QuickSight previously lagged behind established BI tools due to a limited selection of visualizations. However, this has fundamentally changed with the integration of Highcharts. Highcharts is a comprehensive JavaScript-based charting library specializing in creating interactive and highly customizable charts. This enhancement now enables the creation of complex and tailored visualizations within QuickSight, allowing the platform to compete with leading BI solutions in terms of variety and flexibility. [7].

Where does QuickSight stand? - The Gartner Magic Quadrant!

Amazon QuickSight has shown positive development in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms in recent years [8]:

1. In 2023, AWS was positioned as a "Challenger" in the Magic Quadrant, which represented an improvement from its previous classification as a "Niche Player".
2. For 2024, AWS was again recognized as a "Challenger" in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms.

This development demonstrates a continuous improvement of QuickSight in the market for Business Intelligence solutions. The positioning as a "Challenger" indicates that Gartner considers QuickSight a competitive solution with strong market presence and execution capability. QuickSight's progress is particularly highlighted in the areas of scalability, cost-efficiency, and seamless integration with AWS services. Additionally, improvements in user-friendliness and advanced analytics functions have been recognized.

This positive development underscores AWS's continuous investments and innovations in the field of Business Intelligence to compete with established providers such as Tableau or Power BI.

Who is QuickSight suitable for?

Amazon QuickSight is a versatile solution that is aimed at companies of all sizes and industries. Whether start-up, medium-sized company or global corporation - QuickSight offers the right tools to make data-based decisions and achieve competitive advantages. Some example scenarios:

Scenario 1: The growing start-up

A young e-commerce start-up with 20 employees is looking for a cost-effective BI solution that can grow with the company. QuickSight convinces through:

• • Pay-per-user model for optimal cost efficiency
  • Easy scalability without additional infrastructure
  • Intuitive user interface for quick familiarization

Scenario 2: The medium-sized production company

A traditional, family-run production company with 250 employees faces the challenge of optimizing its supply chain and production processes. QuickSight convinces through:

• • Integration of various data sources for holistic analyses
  • Real-time dashboards for monitoring production lines
  • ML-supported forecasts for inventory optimization

Scenario 3: The global retail company

An international retail chain with over 10,000 employees is looking for a standardized BI platform for all stores. QuickSight convinces through:

• • Global availability and multilingualism
  • Role-based access controls for secure data sharing
  • Mobile apps for analyses on the move

Scenario 4: The tech company

A biotech company needs advanced analysis tools for its research data. QuickSight impresses with:

• • Support for complex statistical analysis
  • Integration with AWS services such as SageMaker for ML workflows
  • Compliance with strict data protection standards (HIPAA, GxP)

Scenario 5: The local municipal administration

A municipal administration with 100 employees is looking for a way to use citizen data more effectively. QuickSight convinces through:

• • User-friendly interface for non-technical staff
  • Data protection and security in accordance with regulatory requirements
  • Cost-effective licensing for the public sector
    
    

What are the advantages?

QuickSight's strengths lie in its scalability, flexibility and integration capabilities. As it is a cloud application, QuickSight adapts seamlessly to the requirements of start-ups through to large companies and grows with operational needs. Companies benefit from the global AWS infrastructure and the associated economies of scale. QuickSight effortlessly connects to over 300 data sources, including BigQuery, Excel, CSV, Snowflake, Redshift, Athena, S3 and many other AWS services. This enables comprehensive integration of all relevant data sets [2].

Another significant advantage is QuickSight's cost efficiency. The pay-per-user model and serverless architecture allow companies to optimize and control their BI costs. This means that companies only pay for what they actually use, without having to invest in expensive hardware or software licenses. In addition, maintenance and administration costs for the infrastructure are eliminated, as AWS takes over these tasks. This cost structure makes QuickSight particularly attractive for companies that want to structure their BI expenditure flexibly and benefit from advanced analysis options at the same time [1].

The user-friendliness of QuickSight is a decisive factor for success. The intuitive interface and drag & drop approach enable employees at all levels to get started with data analysis without extensive technical knowledge. This is complemented by advanced analysis functions that use machine learning to provide valuable insights and support well-founded decisions [2].

In terms of data protection and compliance, especially with regard to the GDPR and the increasing processing of personal data, QuickSight offers a high level of security. This is ensured by a variety of AWS cloud security solutions in the areas of access control, data encryption, network security and monitoring. In addition, AWS is certified to a variety of industry standards, including FedRAMP, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC and ISO (9001, 27001, 27018 and 27019) [9] [10].

What are the disadvantages?

Although Amazon QuickSight offers many advantages, there are also some potential disadvantages and limitations that should be considered when choosing this BI tool. One point of criticism concerns the limited customization options compared to established competitors such as Tableau or Power BI when it comes to the individual design of visualizations and dashboards. Integration with data sources outside the AWS ecosystem can also involve additional effort. Some users also complain that QuickSight still seems incomplete in some areas, as obvious errors occur and certain functions are missing. The extended functions in dashboards are also limited compared to other BI tools. The development environment and the version control options are considered by some users to be in need of improvement [11] [12] [13]. Important: These aspects should be examined in the context of your own requirements to determine whether QuickSight is the right choice for your individual needs.

How to get Quicksight?

Preparation:

The successful implementation of a new BI tool requires careful planning and preparation. Before a company starts the implementation, it is advisable to check the following aspects in order to gain a precise understanding of the status quo and the requirements for a BI tool. The support of an expert can be useful here, as the complexity may not be apparent at first glance, especially with regard to medium and long-term goals:

1. User requirements: Determine the number of authors and readers needed and their specific data analysis requirements.
2. Data sources: Identify all relevant data sources and their locations to select the optimal region for QuickSight.
3. Security requirements: Review compliance requirements and implement appropriate security measures such as VPC access, encryption and role-based access controls [14].
4. Integration: Get an overview of your set-up and the required integrations [15].
5. Scalability: Consider future growth and choose the appropriate option (Standard or Enterprise).

Tip: AWS offers support for proof-of-concept (POC) projects through its partner companies to give potential customers the opportunity to test a tool on a small scale, for example by implementing a dashboard. This quickly provides insight into whether the tool fits the requirements and enables an iterative process to better understand the required functions. Official information confirms that AWS provides POC funding, especially for innovative start-ups and early-stage companies. The results are left up to the customer to decide. For more information or assistance in planning a POC, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Implementation:

Once you have made all the preparations and decided on Quicksight, the step-by-step integration and migration can begin:

1. Setting up the AWS environment (an AWS account is mandatory)
2. Set up the QuickSight environment and configure security settings
3. Connect data sources and create data sets
4. Develop dashboards and reports in a test environment
5. Train users and carry out pilot projects
6. Gradually roll out across the organization
7. Continuously optimize and expand usage

Tip: BI setups often grow uncontrollably, leading to complex visualizations and a high number of unnecessary dashboards. Before you carry out a migration, take the opportunity to optimize your existing BI setup and eliminate legacy issues. This leads to greater clarity and considerable cost savings.

Conclusion

Amazon QuickSight has evolved into a powerful and flexible BI solution that helps organizations of all sizes make data-driven decisions. With its cloud-based architecture, advanced analytics capabilities and user-friendly interface, QuickSight offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional BI tools. Continuous development and integration of new technologies make QuickSight a future-proof choice for organizations looking to expand their data analytics capabilities. With the increasing importance of data in the business world, QuickSight positions itself as a promising solution to help organizations stay competitive and make informed decisions.