When is a license required to use a custom visual with per user Microsoft Managing license ?

[IraJWatt]

I have developed a Power BI custom visual, which is available through Microsoft’s managed licensing and sales process. Specifically, I selected the following option during the offer setup: "My offer requires the purchase of a service, and I would like Microsoft to manage customer licenses, sell my offer, and handle transactions on my behalf."

I have set up a pricing plan based on a per-user model for users ranging from 1 to 100, which includes a one-month free trial.

I would like clarification on when exactly a user will be required to have a license. From my testing, it seems that users can download the sample report and input their own data without needing a license. Could you confirm if the visual can be used and shared freely in Power BI Desktop, with a license only being required once the report is published and used within Power BI Service?

[dm-p · Accepted solution]

Hi @IraJWatt,

I don't do this with any of my visuals, so I can't advise on the commercial aspects of managing one, but I have ben through the evaluation process of whether I do want to commericalise a visual and what it entails, so hopefully some of my advice may be useful for you.

Because commercial offerings differ between vendors, it is up to the developer to specify where in their code the licensing should apply, whether this is through their own licensing system or using the built-in AppSource offering. For the AppSource/365 mechanism, MS offers APIs for the necessary checks against a user's permissions, but you still have to have some form of validation in your code against this - it isn't just there by default.

These APIs communicate with the licensing systems in place if you are selling via the marketplace and what you use to gate the functionality in your visual accordingly, based on your commercial requirements. If you have no checks in place, then your visual is effectively completely free for all users, and no licensing is enforced.

If you haven't read up on the licensing implementation requirements and recommended processes, here is the necessary documentation for developers to review and implement:

• This page in the doc tells you what you need to think about when it comes to supporting licensing in your visual and which environments support the licensing APIs (note that you may need to implement your own licensing system if you wish to license users in the unsupported environments).
• This page in the doc tells you how to implement the licensing APIs to your visual code so that your requirements are enforced when users run your visual.
• Finally, this page in the doc deals with current FAQs for developers and consumers of commercial visuals that uses these services. There are supprt links on those pages for direct help from MS, which I would suggest you use if you need specific help on making your offer and corresponding visual logic robust.

Good luck!

Daniel

[IraJWatt]

Hi @Greg_Deckler here is the link Org Chart Drag and Drop (microsoft.com)

[Greg_Deckler]

@IraJWatt What's the visual?