Power BI and SSRS

[Namnami]

We currently have SSRS 2008 R2 and Sharepoint performance point dashboard using SSAS 2005 cube.

We want to start using power BI (mainly instead of the performance point dashboard).

What is the relation between Power BI and SSRS? Is there any SSRS version requirement?

When saying "Report server" does that specifically mean SSRS or can mean Power BI report server by itself (e.g. the name of this forum).

Thanks

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @Namnami,

Power BI Report Server combines the self-service BI capabilities of Power BI Desktop and Power BI reports with the enterprise reporting capabilities of SSRS.

You can find the minimum hardware and software requirements to install and run Power BI Report Server from here. Also Power BI reports only support SSAS live connection, which requires SSAS server is 2012 SP1 CU4 or later Business Intelligence and Enterprise SKU. Publishing PBIX reports from Desktop will require a Pro License for production usage.

When saying report server, generally it means SSRS. Power BI report server is a specific report server, and is available as part of Power BI Premium and compatible with SSRS reports, allowing the deployment and distribution of interactive Power BI reports—and traditional paginated reports—on-premises within the boundaries of an organization's firewall. Organizations can choose Power BI in the cloud, or elect to keep reports on-premises with Power BI Report Server and move to the cloud at their pace.  

You can get started to learn more about Power BI report server from official document here.

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

[rchilambi]

Hi,

My question is can i publish power bi report generated using power bi desktop to SSRS (version 2016)?  If so i wouldn't need power bi server - correct??

Rajesh

[muchinski]

Hi,

you can save Power BI files on Report Server 2016 (SSRS), but the SSRS will not render them on browser or update the data model. The only option available will be to download the report and open again on Power BI Desktop.

[Anonymous]

Hi muchinski,

I have some reports created with SSRS. Is it possible that I could keep the old reports and use the Power BI report server at same time? Do I need to uninstall the old report server and install the Power BI report server to make it work? Thanks

[muchinski]

Hello,

Power BI Report server is a superset of SSRS. In other words: it supports all the SSRS features, plus Power BI Reports.

The license models are also different, but if you have SQL Server Enterprise Edition plus Software Assurance, you can install the Power BI Report Server instead of the normal SSRS. (you can also use Power BI Report Server if you have a Power BI Premium subscription)

Just keep in mind that you will need to upgrade your cubes to at least SSAS 2012, due to that Power BI send DAX queries (not MDX) to SSAS; so, your cubes on SSAS 2005 will not works as a proper source for Power BI.

My tip: Read a lot about that (it really worth) and install the Evaluation version: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/report-server/