Best scenario for a handful of PBI Users

[KevinSGoff]

I've been using PBI for years, and am now working for a new company.

I've shown them some of the things they can use PBI for, and they are definitely interested.

This would be the scenario: maybe 2-3 developers creating content, and about 3-4 business managers using it (and perhaps 1-2 of those managers creating/modifying content)...at least for the first several months.

My first thought was just to have the company get a PBI Pro license ($9.95 a month) for a max of 7 people.

However, and I hope this isn't a stupid question - can they "share" a common workspace environment, or would we need to manually share content within each person's workspace?   The latter of the two isn't horrible, but wanted to see if something a littlel more integrated can be done.

Down the road it could very well be more than 7 people, but 7 is probably the max for now and the coming months.

We do not have SQL Enterprise, so there's no chance of using PBI Report Server. 

Side note: I have not looked at PBI licensing in a year, so maybe there's a better small-user-count solution.

Thanks very much,

Kevin Goff

[hackcrr · Accepted solution]

Hi, @KevinSGoff 

In Power BI, the licensing model is based on the capabilities you need and the number of users. Here's how you can approach the scenario you described:

1. Power BI Pro Licenses: Each person who will be actively using Power BI to create, view, or interact with reports and dashboards will need a Power BI Pro license. This includes developers creating content and business managers using or modifying content. The cost you mentioned, $10 per user per month

1. Workspaces: Yes, you can share a common workspace environment. Workspaces are a great way to collaborate on Power BI content. You can create a workspace, add members to it (with different permissions), and then share reports, datasets, and dashboards within that workspace. It's a good idea to create workspaces based on departments, projects, or other logical groups to facilitate collaboration.
2. Sharing Content: Once you have a workspace set up, you can create reports, datasets, and dashboards within that workspace. 
3. Scaling Up: If the number of users exceeds 7 in the future, you'll need to purchase additional Power BI Pro licenses. Consider evaluating Power BI Premium if you need more advanced features like larger data volumes, faster data refresh, or deployment to Power BI Report Server (even though you mentioned you don't have SQL Enterprise).
4. Small-User-Count Solution: Since you're starting with a small number of users, Power BI Pro licenses will be sufficient. However, if you find that the cost per user becomes prohibitive as the user base grows, you can consider Power BI Premium or evaluate other BI tools that may have more favorable pricing for your use case.
5. Power BI Free vs. Pro: Keep in mind that Power BI also has a free tier (Power BI Free), but it has limitations like no collaboration in workspaces and restricted data refresh capabilities. For your scenario, Power BI Pro is the right choice.

In addition, you'd better refer to the feature comparison chart on the website to decide whether to buy Pro or PPU license based on your actual needs.

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/

In summary, Power BI Pro licenses will allow your team to collaborate effectively in workspaces, create and share content, and scale up as needed. 

Best Regards,

hackcrr

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[Idrissshatila]

HEllO @KevinSGoff ,

any user that need to view a report or edit a report in a workspace they should have a pro license.

then the permission would let them edit and share reports or just view them.

[Shravan133]

@KevinSGoff 

If your company has Microsoft E5 licenses, they come with free Power BI pro license as a package.

If not, Assigning 7 different pro licenses is your best bet and they can share reports /dashboards in a common workspace.

Report consumers also need a pro license. So, create a common workspace and publsih your reports there. Give access to other Pro users to that workspace or the respective report.