How does Power BI Enterprise (Premium Capacity) licence work?

[BenBlackswan]

Hello all,

I work for a government health Department in Australia, and I currently only have Power BI Free licence.

Looking at the Premium Workspace I have been given access too, I can confirm that our Department has signed up for a P1 Premium Capacity.

We only have 50 pro licences for the entire Department and 44 has already been handed out, and therefore our Department are reluctant to give out more Pro licences.

I spoke to the Power BI admin to get some more clarity on the licencing. He said that our Department have to buy the licences in bulk in an increment of 50 licences from Microsoft. Each Pro licence is $135AUD per fiscal year. Therefore a 50 pro licences increment is $6,750 AUD.

The Department is currently on 50 pro licence and they obviously need to justify the next 50 increment to 100 pro licences and hence they are very strict about handing out Pro licences as they want to keep the number at 50 and under.

And the department has also disabled self-service so I can not purchase the Pro licence myself.

So my questions is, is it true that organisation must purchase Pro licences in increments of 50 licences?

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Nietzsche,

We wanted to check in regarding your query, as we have not heard back from you. If you have resolved the issue, sharing the solution with the community would be greatly appreciated and could help others encountering similar challenges.

If you found our response useful, kindly mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos to guide other members.

Thank you.

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi @BenBlackswan,

We have not received a response from you regarding the query and were following up to check if you have found a resolution. If you have identified a solution, we kindly request you to share it with the community, as it may be helpful to others facing a similar issue.

If you find the response helpful, please mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos, as this will help other members with similar queries.

Thank you.

[v-pnaroju-msft · Accepted solution]

Thank you @lbendlin for your response.

Hi @BenBlackswan,

We appreciate your inquiry through the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.Please find the responses to your queries below:

1. If the six Pro licenses remain unassigned, they will still incur costs. It is advisable to allocate them to required users or reassign them for optimal utilization. Conducting regular audits can help ensure effective license management.

2. Microsoft has migrated from Power BI Premium to Fabric capacities. Upon your contract’s expiration on June 30, 2025, your department will be required to transition to a Fabric capacity plan. This change offers enhanced flexibility and updated features. We recommend consulting your Microsoft account representative for a smooth transition and to understand its impact on your organization.

3. Since self-service purchasing is currently disabled in your department, individual purchase of Power BI Pro licenses is not possible. If enabled, you may acquire a Pro license independently. However, this decision must align with your department’s IT and administrative policies.

For further details, please refer to the following resources:

Purchase Power BI and assign licenses. - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
Power BI Premium FAQ - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

If you find this response helpful, kindly mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos to assist other community members.

Thank you.

[lbendlin]

In a nutshell - yes.

Be prepared - There is no such thing like a P1 any more.  You can now only purchase Fabric capacities.

[BenBlackswan]

Hi Ibendlin

Thank you for the explanation. 

I still have three questions

1. Those six licences that are currently not being used. Are they essentially going to waste? Since they have already been paid for by my Department right?

2. So what happens in 30th June 2025 when the contract ends? Will our Department be forced to sign new contracts for Fabric capacities or be allowed to stay on Power BI P1. If the latter happens, that means my Department will prob never go beyond 50 Pro licences...

3. If I can convince them to allow self-service, will that means I will be allowed to purchase my own Pro licence?