Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) is a suite of tools and technologies developed by Microsoft to assist businesses in gathering, storing, analyzing, and visualizing data. It enables organizations to make data-driven decisions and gain insights into their operations. The Microsoft BI stack includes several components:

1. SQL Server: The foundation of Microsoft BI, SQL Server is a robust relational database management system that stores and manages data.

2. Power BI: A powerful data visualization and business analytics tool that allows users to create interactive reports and dashboards. Power BI can connect to a wide range of data sources and is widely used for data analysis and data-driven decision-making.

3. Excel: Microsoft Excel is a familiar spreadsheet application that can be used for data analysis and reporting. It can also integrate with other Microsoft BI tools to create more advanced reports and visualizations.

4. Power Query: Part of Power BI and Excel, Power Query is a data transformation and cleansing tool that allows users to extract, shape, and combine data from various sources.

5. Power Pivot: Also integrated with Power BI and Excel, Power Pivot is an in-memory data modeling tool that enables users to create data models and perform complex calculations.

6. Power View: A data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive charts, graphs, and reports within Excel or SharePoint.

7. SSAS (SQL Server Analysis Services): A component of SQL Server that provides online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining functionalities, allowing users to build multidimensional data models.

8. SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services): A data integration and ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool that facilitates the transfer and transformation of data between different data sources and destinations.

9. SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services): A reporting platform that enables the creation, management, and delivery of various types of reports, including paginated reports, mobile reports, and KPIs.

Microsoft Business Intelligence has gained significant popularity due to its integration with other Microsoft products, user-friendly interfaces, and the ability to handle large datasets. Organizations can leverage these tools to enhance their data analysis capabilities, identify trends, and gain valuable insights to drive better business decisions.