Create an read-only and external license tier

[pbiideas1]

Power BI is a great tool for those that need to analyze data, but not all users are equal in their knowledge of PowerPivot, Excel or the underlying data sources. Some users just want to see and act on data. In the current model, users have to have a PowerBI license to even see a report. So, instead of building or buying a separate visualization layer to go over SSAS or SSRS, why not make PowerView extensible? Give me a very economical or even free limited user tier that can only consume web reports, but no Excel access. You can even assume these users are E2/E3 subscribers.

[dcohendumani]

There should definitely be a free viewer tear for existing Office 365 users. Viewing and interaction with dashboard only.

[Mick]

Duplicate of http://support.powerbi.com/forums/265200-power-bi/suggestions/6872640-share-with-external-users Can you combine the votes?

[brian_carpenter]

I agree, I work in an organization where we're going to have a handful of users that will be creating reports and several others that will be just viewing. It would be nice if there were an option that was less expensive for the people that will be just viewing.

[ksalama]

Agreed. I think this is a very important consideration regarding the licencing scheme; a view-only licence.

[fbcideas_migusr]

I just want to add that my idea is to add "Pro" read only tier, which is somewhat different than an external license. This would include SSAS Tabular live connectivity for on premise data.

[GuillermoP]

I agree that we need to account for users that will only consume artifacts for the Power BI sku, but it should not be free if the authors are using the Power BI Pro ski. We should start with a retail price of 50% of the Pro version.

[fbcideas_migusr]

A viewer license to see reports with live data connections is essential. Not everyone needs the ability to create these reports. and forcing a full Pro seat may force some folks into getting creative to avoid the Pro product completely.

[bschaper]

To further on this, why not charge a nominal fee for the connector to on prem? I would say Azure, but in that case we are already paying for Azure too and the products are so integrated

[bschaper]

I agree, it should have a publisher / viewer model, many organizations have a handful of managers producing the reports, and they are simply provided to 100's or 1000's of employees. The licensing model is not friendly for this setup as everyone needs to be pro. I don't even understand the point of the free tier, I could not even use it as a workaround for front line staff.

[giuseppe_sica]

A viewer, like what the mobile apps are, has to be cheaper (or free) for all PowerBi outputs. This will improve visibility and adoption rate.