What is Power BI Online?

So, you’ve created a report and now you want to publish it, but where does it get published?

A published report is hosted in Power BI Online, a web-based accessible cloud store which gives you the flexibility to share the report with other users and create workspaces (similar to folders or repositories) for reports to be stored in.

When a report is published, the dataset (the data model you create when pulling in your data sources) and the report you have created in Power BI Desktop is uploaded. By default, the report will be published to My Workspace.

Once the report and dataset are published, the dataset can be set to automatically refresh (up to 8 times a day using a Pro License and 48 times a day using a Premium License) with up-to-date information without manual intervention.

Security isn't an issue due to Power BI Online using Azure AD permissions. Workspaces, datasets and reports can be shared with specific areas of a business or an individual user and can also be locked down with the use of assigning a Power BI Administrator permission to a user.

The administrator role is responsible for assigning licences for users and can prohibit particular users or business areas from exporting data into Excel from Power BI Online, custom branding can also be implemented as part of this user role.

We offer a day of training aimed at IT Administrators who have the Power BI Administrator role assigned to get full value out of this role. If you would like to know more about securing your data when publishing to Power BI Online or understand more about the Administrator role, please contact your Account Manager for more information and booking onto the Power BI – Administrator course.