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I understand that when you create multiple reports, you can consolidate them as either a dashboard or an app in Power BI. Can anyone tell me the main advantages of one over the other? Disadvantages? Main differences?
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A Dashboard...
Is built from parts of other Reports, "Tiles" which give access to the full Report
Can be used as a "table of contents" or "1,000 foot view" of the important parts of your Reports.
Is not paginated, but built as an infinite scroll.
Can fit well on a mobile device by default.
Can have "Tiles" of text etc. which when clicked will go to other web resources.
Cannot be shared via "Teams"
Is shared using the "classic" sharing mechanism, you have to enter each recipient individually.
Updates when the underlying Report Visual or data changes.
An App
Is built from multiple Reports and Dashboards within a single Workspace.
Can have a "Navigation" menu on the left which can use show different Report names in a specified order.
Copies the Report into the App, (but not the Dataset) so changes to the Report can be made without the App reflecting them. You need to Update the App for changes to show. This allows "staging" of changes.
Can be shared via "Teams"
Can be shared to AD security groups and distribution lists, and Microsoft 365 Groups.
If you've got one or two reports then a Dashboard may work well for you.
But if you have multiple reports, to be shared with multiple groups of users you really need an App. Apps also provide a simple change mechanism, App users won't see Report changes until you update the App, so you can work on the next version without users seeing the changes. But a Dashboard will update as soon as you have made a change to the Reports that feed it.
Put briefly, Dashboards are OK for small implementations, but Apps are more scalable, secure and manageable for larger solutions.
Hope this helps
Stuart
A Dashboard...
Is built from parts of other Reports, "Tiles" which give access to the full Report
Can be used as a "table of contents" or "1,000 foot view" of the important parts of your Reports.
Is not paginated, but built as an infinite scroll.
Can fit well on a mobile device by default.
Can have "Tiles" of text etc. which when clicked will go to other web resources.
Cannot be shared via "Teams"
Is shared using the "classic" sharing mechanism, you have to enter each recipient individually.
Updates when the underlying Report Visual or data changes.
An App
Is built from multiple Reports and Dashboards within a single Workspace.
Can have a "Navigation" menu on the left which can use show different Report names in a specified order.
Copies the Report into the App, (but not the Dataset) so changes to the Report can be made without the App reflecting them. You need to Update the App for changes to show. This allows "staging" of changes.
Can be shared via "Teams"
Can be shared to AD security groups and distribution lists, and Microsoft 365 Groups.
If you've got one or two reports then a Dashboard may work well for you.
But if you have multiple reports, to be shared with multiple groups of users you really need an App. Apps also provide a simple change mechanism, App users won't see Report changes until you update the App, so you can work on the next version without users seeing the changes. But a Dashboard will update as soon as you have made a change to the Reports that feed it.
Put briefly, Dashboards are OK for small implementations, but Apps are more scalable, secure and manageable for larger solutions.
Hope this helps
Stuart
Power BI App is an interface that allows you to List/Organize finalized reports you would like your users to run, it also allows you to include Paginated Reports (+SSRS) and other documents like PowerPoint, web links and Videos, The final interface will look cleaner and it's safer, as all users will have read-only rights.
The dashboard was meant for consolidating Power BI graphical dashboards Tiles in one report, which can come handy to display summaries from multiple dashboards.
It does not handle Paginated Reports. So 2 different uses... That's how we are using them in our corporation for 2500 users.
update ...
This option is coming to the Power BI solution, I've seen efforts from MS to integrate the two types of reports dashboards and Paginated Reports...
Workspaces vs PowerBI App...
My Power BI Analogy : think of it as when you visit a restaurant...
Workspace = Kitchen Area (messy, not pretty, very loud... where developers work)
Power BI App = Restaurant Sitting Area (Pretty, safe, good music, better experience to consume the final product)
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