I'm working for a managed service provider (MSP) that currently has eight clients enrolled in our SOC services, though this number can fluctuate. We run various vulnerability scans using Nessus, but right now, the process is pretty manual. We export results to CSV files, format them into presentable pivot tables, and share them on a customer-accessible SharePoint site.
I'm curious if Power BI, along with Power Automate, would be worth considering for automating this process. I haven't used either tool before, so I anticipate a learning curve. I'm also unsure about the costs associated with licensing, which is critical to justify for my business. I'm planning to do my own research, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on whether Power BI is necessary or if there are better alternatives for presenting dashboard metrics effectively!
5 Answers
I started a similar project recently. Instead of just using the .csv export from Nessus, I’m exporting the .nessus files and then parsing them with Python. It takes extra effort but pulls in much more data than the basic export. For a quick proof of concept, I used Google Sheets and Google Looker Studio, and it created a solid vulnerability dashboard. In the long run, I’m planning to migrate to something like BigQuery for more robust data handling.
I feel your pain! I'd love to shift all my reports to Power BI since it's pretty handy. The licensing will set you back about $10/month per user, though, which adds up. Just know it’s worth considering the investment if you plan on scaling up your operations.
Honestly, Power BI could be overkill for your needs. I work for a company that uses it extensively, and while it’s powerful, it might be more than you need. Metabase, as mentioned, could be quicker to implement. Another option might be Apache Superset, which I've heard good things about, but I lack hands-on experience with it.
You might want to check out Metabase. It’s self-hosted and pretty user-friendly. If you can set up automation to get those exports into a database, Metabase can generate dashboards really easily. I just implemented it at my workplace, pulling data from various APIs into a PostgreSQL database, and it works great! Plus, there’s a visual query builder if you want to avoid coding SQL directly.
You could also look at Draxlr. It's way easier to use compared to Power BI, and you can create dashboards and share them seamlessly with clients.
Looking into this, thanks for the tip!