Power BI Service is an online platform which allows users to collaboratively work on Power BI reports. You can use Power BI service to share Power BI reports with others, schedule dataset refresh, set alerts and perform many more useful actions. You need a Power BI pro license to access Power BI Service. To access Power BI Service, simply visit https://app.powerbi.com
If you are looking for expert Power BI Consultancy Services to help you develop Power BI solutions rather than learning about Power BI Service, you can view our consulting offering.
Power BI Service streamlines business intelligence workflows by offering a unified, user-friendly interface. Its adaptability to diverse organisational needs, coupled with seamless integration with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365, positions it as a leading solution for scalable, enterprise-grade analytics. Core Components of Power BI Service include workspaces, reports & dashboards, and AI Integration.
Its adaptability ensures that users across all levels of an organisation can benefit from its powerful features:
| Audience/Type | Key Functionality |
|---|---|
| Individuals | – Sharing Power BI reports publicly – Scheduling automatic data refresh – Viewing Power BI reports on mobile and tablet |
| Small Teams | – Sharing Power BI reports securely within the team – Combining multiple Power BI reports into a Power BI Dashboards – Setting alerts – Creating dataflows (a mini data warehouse) |
| Large Teams | – Integrations with other Microsoft Fabric products – AI assistant called Co-pilot – Machine Learning with 0 coding |
In Power BI, a workspace is a shared environment where you can collaborate with others on reports, dashboards, and datasets. Think of it as a virtual space designed to organise and manage all your Power BI content efficiently. Workspaces are particularly useful for teams or organisations that need a centralised platform for working together on data projects.
To check workspaces in Power BI Service, follow these steps:
1. Go to https://app.powerbi.com and log in to your account.
2. Click on the Workspace icon in the navigation pane (usually on the left side of the screen). A list of workspaces you have access to will appear, including the default My Workspace.
Power BI Service provides My Workspace for individual tasks and Enterprise Workspaces for secure team collaboration with role-based access, governance, sharing options, and enterprise-grade security features.
You can think of workspaces as folders for your Power BI content items. Every workspace has an admin and viewers who can see all the content in the workspace.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) ensures secure collaboration by managing user permissions based on their roles. It allows organisations to control who can access, edit, or view content within workspaces, reports, and datasets. Here’s how it works:
Workspace Roles:
| Role | Permissions |
|---|---|
| Admin | Full control over the workspace, including managing access and deleting content. |
| Member | Edit, delete, and share content within the workspace. |
| Contributor | Create and edit content but cannot share it. |
| Viewer | View reports and dashboards only; no editing or sharing capabilities. |
Granular Permissions
Permissions can be assigned at the workspace, report, or dataset level, ensuring users only access what they need. Features like Row Level Security (RLS) further restrict data visibility based on user roles, ensuring sensitive information is protected.
Collaboration and Governance
RBAC fosters secure teamwork by allowing multiple users to collaborate while maintaining strict control over data access. Administrators can monitor and audit user activities to ensure compliance and data integrity.
Did you know that Power BI Service allows you to share your reports with external users? You can refer to the article linked below for a detailed explanation on how to do this.
When you publish Power BI reports to web, 2 resources are automatically created in Power BI Service: the report itself and the semantic model.
The report contains the actual graphs that you create. This is where your audience can see your analysis.
The semantic model is the cached version of your underlying report dataset. You can think of it as a copy of your dataset which is published to Power BI Service. This way when users interact with your reports, Power BI does not have to fetch the data from your source. Instead the data is fetched from the semantic model which is much faster and helps your graphs to load quicker. Since semantic models are cached versions of your real data, you would need to refresh them to see the updated data.
As a workspace admin you can perform multiple actions on the semantic models. You can control settings like data refresh schedules, row level security, table names. You can also see the data lineage which shows you what specific data sources make up your dataset.
Power BI Service enables users to monitor data insights through interactive reports and dashboards. Here’s how:
Interactive reports are pre-created in Power BI Desktop and can be viewed in Power BI Service by other users. Others can do some light editing of Power BI reports in Power BI Service as well. However, Power BI Service is not meant to be your go-to place for creating Power BI reports.
When users access Power BI reports, they can see the pre-created analysis and perform other actions like:
In Power BI, dashboards serve as a consolidated canvas for pinning visualizations from reports. These pinned visuals, called tiles, offer real time updates and provide a quick, interactive overview of key metrics and insights. Users can pin key visuals from reports to dashboards, enabling real time monitoring of metrics and KPIs. Dashboards act as a central hub for tracking performance and trends.
Dashboards can incorporate visuals from multiple reports, providing a unified view of key insights. However, all the reports from which visuals are pinned must reside within the same workspace to ensure proper accessibility and management.
When you use Power BI Service, you can integrate Power BI with other Microsoft cloud-based services.
| Integration Tool | Key Features | Benefits/Use Cases |
|---|---|---|
| Power Apps | – Embed Power BI visuals into custom apps – Build apps with Dataverse integration – Low-code development platform | – View actionable insights within apps – Enhance app functionality with Power BI data – Accessible for non-technical users |
| Power Automate | – Automate workflows based on Power BI data – Create flows triggered by dataset changes | – Trigger alerts, emails, or system updates – Ensure timely actions from data changes |
| Excel | – Export Power BI data/reports to Excel – Connect Excel to Power BI datasets | – Perform advanced analysis in Excel – Leverage Excel’s calculation and visualisation tools |
| SharePoint | – Embed Power BI reports into SharePoint pages | – Centralise report access on the intranet – Foster team collaboration |
| Teams | – Embed Power BI reports to your teams channels/workspaces | – Conveniently see Power BI reports in your Teams workspace where your work happens |
These integrations make Power BI Service a versatile tool for businesses, enabling seamless workflows and enhancing productivity across the Microsoft ecosystem.
You can also generate use Power BI service to generate embed codes so that you can embed your Power BI reports into third-party apps and websites.
Power BI Desktop is famously free but Microsoft monetises it by selling Power BI Service licenses. You need at least a Power BI Pro license to access Power BI Service. We’ve detailed the different types of Power BI licensing in our blog. Be sure to check it out.
Additionally, the evolution of Microsoft Fabric integrates and enhances the Power BI ecosystem. All the Microsoft Fabric products can now be accessed through Power BI Service but you need a special Microsoft Fabric license. To assist with decision-making, we’ve provided a consolidated view explaining the differences between Microsoft Fabric and Power BI in our blog.
1. Self-Service
Power BI Service empowers non-technical users to create and explore data insights independently. With intuitive dashboards and Copilot-guided reporting, users can easily analyze data, build reports, and make informed decisions without relying on IT teams.
You can quickly generate reports from a semantic model using Copilot and features in Power BI Service. Simply open the semantic model, click on the Explore This Data tab, select Auto Create a Report, and wait for it to complete.
Power BI generates reports within seconds and lets you customize them by modifying visual types, dimensions, axes, and formatting. This makes it a highly effective self-service reporting solution for business users.
2. Collaborative Decision-Making
This enhances collaborative decision-making by enabling teams to share, analyse, and act on data insights together. Here are some real-world examples:
| Use Case | Scenario | Tools/Features | Outcome/Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Performance Analysis | Sales teams track regional performance metrics using dashboards. | Power BI dashboards, Microsoft Teams integration | Alignment on sales goals through shared insights. |
| Financial Planning | Finance teams analyse budget reports and forecasts collaboratively. | Shared workspaces, role-based access controls | Secure collaboration with data restricted to authorised users. |
| Customer Feedback Analysis | Marketing teams analyse survey results to improve customer satisfaction. | Power BI reports, cross-departmental sharing | Collaborative strategies to enhance customer experience. |
Power BI Service stands as a comprehensive platform that transforms the way organisations handle data and analytics. Its robust features, including seamless collaboration, strong security governance, and advanced reporting capabilities, empower teams to make data-driven decisions efficiently and securely.
With functionalities like intuitive dashboards, real-time insights, role-based access control, and self-service reporting, Power BI Service caters to diverse business needs while ensuring governance and scalability.
By integrating with Microsoft 365 apps and supporting impactful automation, it fosters productivity and innovation across organisations. Embracing Power BI Service unlocks endless possibilities for leveraging data as a strategic asset.
Power BI Service is a cloud-based platform that allows users to create, share, and collaborate on interactive reports and dashboards. It provides tools for data visualization, analysis, and real-time insights.
Workspaces: Facilitate secure collaboration and centralized management of analytics projects.
Reports & Dashboards: Deliver interactive, real-time insights with customizable visualizations.
AI Integration: Enhances predictive analytics and automates insights generation.
Scalability: Supports organizations of all sizes, from SMEs to large enterprises, with robust governance and security frameworks.
Power BI Service uses role-based access control (RBAC) to manage permissions. Features like row-level security (RLS) restrict data visibility based on user roles, ensuring sensitive information is protected.
Yes, Power BI Service allows you to share reports with external users by granting them access. However, they may need a Power BI Pro license to view shared content.
Free License: For personal use and basic report creation.
Pro License: For sharing, collaboration, and advanced features.
Premium Per User (PPU): Includes Pro features and additional premium capabilities.
Premium Capacity: For large-scale deployments and organizational use.
Power BI dashboards and reports can be embedded directly into Teams channels, enabling seamless collaboration and discussions around data insights.
Power BI Desktop: A free application for creating reports and data models on your computer.
Power BI Service: A cloud-based platform for sharing, collaborating, and managing reports and dashboards.
Yes, Power BI integrates with Power Automate to automate workflows, such as sending alerts, triggering emails, or updating records based on data changes.
A workspace is a collaborative environment in Power BI Service where users can create, share, and manage reports, dashboards, and datasets.
You can schedule automatic data refreshes or manually refresh datasets to ensure your reports and dashboards display the latest information.
