Lifecycle of a report - when to retire a report?

[cmengel]

Early in an organization's data journey, the focus is building reports. Build, baby, build!

We publish a report and we immediately focus on the next one.  Faster, faster, build, build, build!

Over time, this can lead to 'report sprawl'.

So many reports exist that users are overwhelmed with too many choices.

It can be easy to lose track of why a report was created and the business question(s) it intended to address.

Enter the concept of a 'report lifecycle'.

Reports are built to address a business question(s).

Reports are published.

Reports are utilized.

Reports are 'retired'.

The objective is to make it easy for users to find relevant information quickly and easily.

Distill the reports so the  most valuable reports are easy to find and use.

Less used reports are either put somewhere else or removed entirely.

The question becomes, how do we know when a report is no longer adding value to the organization?

What metrics exist to assess the current report landscape and identify the top reports from the rest?

What have you done, or are you actively doing, to manage your report landscape?

What metrics do you use?

How often are those metrics reviewed?

Have you actually 'retired' a report because it's no longer useful?

When you do retire a report, do you a) move it to a different space so people can still access the model or b) remove/delete it entirely?

What are your thoughts and experiences?

[andrewsommer · Accepted solution]

We utilize the Power BI API to track report/app views and other activity.  Metrics like total views, revies past 30/60/90 days, views per user, average daily/weekly/monthly users. 

For large reports we will set an expected baseline of what we expect usage to be based on the expected consumer numbers and comps from similar reports or apps.  If usage is below this expectation, we meet with key stakeholders to review if we met their requirements and see what improvements can be made. If it exceeds, we usually have a developer meeting to see, what can we learn from the success of this product and apply to our other products. 

Every year in Q4 we review all content and look for areas to combine, improve or remove. 

[v-tsaipranay · Accepted solution]

Hi @cmengel ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community.

I would also take a moment to personally thank @andrewsommer , for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. 

Using the Power BI REST API to track report views and user activity is a great way to understand how reports are being used. Collaborating with stakeholders to review low-performing reports ensures they still meet business needs, while your annual Q4 content review helps keep the report environment organized and efficient.

To make your process even better, consider setting up automated alerts using Power Automate to notify you when report usage drops below a certain level. This helps you take action quickly and manage reports more effectively. Adding a user feedback option directly into reports can also help gather valuable input from users.

Please refer to the following documentation for your understanding:

Integrate Power BI data alerts with Power Automate - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Using Microsoft Fabric's Workspace Insights will give you a detailed view of report usage and refresh patterns, making it easier to decide which reports to keep or retire.

Your approach shows a strong commitment to continuous improvement and helps maintain a clean, streamlined reporting environment.

Hope my suggestions give you good idea, if you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out.

If this post helps, then please give us Kudos and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thank you. 

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @cmengel ,

I wanted to follow up on our previous suggestions regarding the issue. We would love to hear back from you to ensure we can assist you further.

If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a ‘Kudos’ so other members can easily find it. Please let us know if there’s anything else we can do to help.

Thank you.

[v-tsaipranay]

Hello @cmengel ,

I wanted to follow up on our previous suggestions regarding the issue. We would love to hear back from you to ensure we can assist you further.

If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a ‘Kudos’ so other members can easily find it. Please let us know if there’s anything else we can do to help.

Thank you.

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @cmengel ,

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[andrewsommer · Accepted solution]

We utilize the Power BI API to track report/app views and other activity.  Metrics like total views, revies past 30/60/90 days, views per user, average daily/weekly/monthly users. 

For large reports we will set an expected baseline of what we expect usage to be based on the expected consumer numbers and comps from similar reports or apps.  If usage is below this expectation, we meet with key stakeholders to review if we met their requirements and see what improvements can be made. If it exceeds, we usually have a developer meeting to see, what can we learn from the success of this product and apply to our other products. 

Every year in Q4 we review all content and look for areas to combine, improve or remove.