Methods for distributing Power BI reports when powerbi.com is not an option

[Anonymous]

Hi, everyone. 

I sort of feel like I know the answer to this, but i am hoping I am wrong! I have a client with a series of reports that pull from a data warehouse and other sources. There are tight restrictions on using powerbi.com for distribution. Essentially, it does not look like the data can go outside the firewall. Short of mailing around the files, or having people just pull the file down from SharePoint, are there any other non-powerbi.com distribution mechanisms for pbix files? I was hoping I could embed my dashboards into SharePoint, but that still seems to be a roadmap item. And I do not see a locally hosted version of the PowerBI.com capabilities (ala on prem Dyanamics CRM). So, is there a 'behind the firewall' solution for distribution beyond what I described?

Thanks,

Scott

[Seth_C_Bauer · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous The on-prem solution comes with SQL 2016. You have an option through powerbi.com if you use SSAS on-prem... The data isn't stored in the cloud, it's directly queried. In fact, you could also use direct query to the warehouse now as well, because you have the ability to create measures in the PBIX files for direct query. - Just a couple options, if they want to avoid the service all together the only thing you can do is wait for the on-prem solution, for  a Microsoft solution.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick replies, @Seth_C_Bauer and @asocorro. I will look more into the direct query approach to see if that helps.

Best,

Scott

[asocorro]

In fact, a client of ours is considering putting a refreshed PBIX file in a shared location for sales reps to grab (their data refresh occurs weekly), until they get permission to move to the online service.

[Anonymous]

@asocorro - makes sense. I think that is the 'best we can do for now' solution till the onprem version is ready. 

[asocorro]

I understand there will eventually be Power BI on-prem.  In the meantime, people can have a copy of the PBIX file and hit refresh periodically.