Creating a tenant space for a business without Office 365

[LAndris]

Hi,

 I just recently began working with Power BI and have done some basic research on how to setup accounts for external businesses. Currently, I have created guest user account in Azure Acitve Directory to allow access to reports, but this seems to limit the capabilities that the guest user has. 

How would you setup an external business that does not have Office 365 with a system that would grant them acces to all of the capabilities of Power BI. 

[v-danhe-msft]

Hi @LAndris,

Based on my research, like what GilbertQ have said, if you want an external user to have all the capabilities of Power BI, they would need to have Power BI Pro licenses.

You could refer to below link to get further information:

https://www.blue-granite.com/blog/azure-ad-b2b-sharing-power-bi-reports

Regards,

Daniel He

[LAndris]

I am still somewhat uncertain how exactly I would setup an Azure AD for someone without Office 365 so that multiple accounts can be considered members.

Would the process be similar to the creation of on with Office 365? If not any sort of whitepaper explaining a step by step way to properly setup accounts without Office 365 would be much appreciated?

[GilbertQ]

Hi there

Once you have signed up for Power BI, it creates an Office 365 Admin section.

You would then need to prove that you are the Office 365 Admin, which would then allow you to use the Office 365 Admin center to create and administer users and groups. And if required to also purchase Power BI Pro licenses.

This is a good starting point: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/admin/setup/setup?view=o365-worldwide&tabs=BusPremium

[LAndris]

Hello,

Thank your for the information about the Office 365 Admin section, it is good information about how I would begin setting up a business' users. However, from my understanding an Office 365 account was not needed which has led to a little confusion on my end. 

Does your respose mean that to setup another business' Power BI tenant space for multiple members they must create Office 365 emails in order to accomplish this, or would they be able to administer their Power BI users without having to migrate to Office 365 emails?

[GilbertQ · Accepted solution]

Hi there

In order to use Power BI, there has to be logins. These logins are created in the background using Azure Active Directory. Which can also be administered via office 365. You do not need to have Office 365 business.

Does that make sense?

[GilbertQ]

Hi there

Currently each Power BI business will have their own Azure AD, which means it will have its own Azure Tenant.

You do not require Office 365 in order to use Power BI.

If you want a business to have all the capabilities of Power BI, they would need to have Power BI Pro licenses.

Whilst you can share reports, dashboards and Apps externally to other business email addresses, it is limited because they are external to your Tenant.