How do I protect the IP in my Power BI solution?

[haroldd]

I've developed a Power BI dashboard (.PBIX) that runs SQL against an on-prem SQL server to light up the visuals. I want to distribute the PBIX file to customers who license the solution but I don't want them to have access to the SQL and DAX. Is that possible? I've looked at Power BI templates but they appear to be limited to only using http data sources.

[TTTAus]

Hi, any luck on this?  I also have analytics that customers want but they want to run in their own environment for data security. I'm surprised there's not a clear solution to this.  thanks. 

[nsc]

There is no way you can distribute a PBIX file and not give them the DAX. With you SQL being onpremise you would also need to open up your server for internet access which is not recommended.

If you have your data on-prem you'll need a gateway under any circumstance for sharing in the service. Is it not possible to migrate to Azure SQL? Then you could use Template Apps which allow you to hide the DAX as well as the source.

Otherwise if all the customers can be in your tenant (either invited or with separate accounts) simple create an app and give them access that way. You can assign Power BI Pro licenses to external users for use in your tenant if need be.

[haroldd]

Thank you for your reply. Perhaps I did not explain myself properly. The data that is consumed by the dashbaords will be from a SQL Server in the customers environment - not from our SQL server. The customer will use the PBIX file (or PBIT file), then set the data source to their own local SQL instance. The challenge is we have no way of preventing the users from viewing the SQL.

[nsc]

Another thought.....

If possible you could also look into being allowed to publish directly to the customer tenant (e.g. have an account with a pro license, but dont know how many customers you have and if that is feasible).

Then you publish your report to their tenant (delete the blank report in the workspace) and have them use the dataset as their source for reports (and/or supply them with reports built of the dataset). That way they will only see the dataset and not the DAX/SQL as that is encapsulated in the dataset.

The dataset cannot by default be downloaded (only the report), but note that I haven't tested if it would be possible to download the dataset via Powershell or some other way (API).

Hope that helps....

[nsc]

Got it. The best way as I see it would be to test if Template Apps (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-template-apps-overview) support your scenario, but you may already have tried that (dont know if gateways are supported yet).

You could also look into Custom Data Connectors, but that will only allow you to control the Power Query logic (which would/could cover your SQL) but not the DAX which would still need to be shared.