Queries on Cross-Tenant Sharing in Power BI and Cost-Effective Architectural Suggestions

[hisham1977]

Hello Power BI Community,

I am encountering an issue related to cross-tenant sharing in Power BI that I'm hoping to get some guidance on.

Here's the scenario: I have a Power BI Pro account on Tenant 1 and a friend of mine, who also holds a Power BI Pro account, resides on Tenant 2. My friend has graciously invited me as a guest to his tenant and shared a Power BI workspace with me. While I can access and interact with this workspace seamlessly via my web account, I'm unable to do the same using my Power BI mobile app. I am keen to understand the reason behind this and more importantly, how I might fix this.

In conjunction with this, I have an additional question that revolves around a similar theme. As a service provider, I cater to multiple customers for whom I build distinct reports. Up until now, I've been using separate Power BI Pro accounts for each of my customers and sharing reports with them, irrespective of the tenant they belong to. I'm wondering if there's a more efficient, cost-effective architecture that I could adopt, which would eliminate such cross-tenant sharing limitations and be mutually beneficial for both my clients and myself.

I truly appreciate any insights, suggestions, and recommendations that you may have on these two fronts.

Best regards,

Hisham

[v-zhangti · Accepted solution]

Hi, @hisham1977 

Firstly, it's important to note that cross-tenant sharing is supported in Power BI, but there are some limitations to be aware of. One of these limitations is that cross-tenant sharing is not supported in the Power BI mobile app. This means that if you are a guest user in a workspace that resides in a different tenant than your own, you will not be able to access that workspace via the Power BI mobile app.

To access the shared workspace via the mobile app, you will need to log out of your current account and then log in using the credentials of the tenant where the workspace is located. Alternatively, you can try accessing the shared workspace via the mobile browser on your device.

In response to your second question. There is a more efficient and cost-effective architecture that you could adopt for this scenario. Instead of using separate Power BI Pro accounts for each of your customers, you could consider using a Power BI Premium capacity.

With Power BI Premium, you can create workspaces that are dedicated to each of your customers, and you can configure these workspaces to reside in a single capacity. This means that all of your customers' reports and dashboards will be hosted in the same capacity, regardless of which tenant they belong to.

By using Power BI Premium, you'll be able to eliminate cross-tenant sharing limitations and provide a more seamless experience for your customers. Additionally, you'll be able to take advantage of features such as larger data volumes, incremental data refresh, and paginated reports. However, it's worth noting that Power BI Premium is a more expensive option than Power BI Pro, so you'll need to weigh the benefits against the cost.

Introducing Cross-tenant Power BI Dataset Sharing | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Charlotte

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

[hisham1977]

Dear @v-zhangti;

I sincerely appreciate your comprehensive response to my earlier queries. Your insights have been extremely beneficial in expanding my understanding of cross-tenant sharing and the possible architectural alternatives that I could explore.

To further my comprehension in these areas, I have a couple of additional questions and I would be grateful for your input:

1. Regarding the limitation in accessing a shared workspace via the Power BI mobile app for a user from a different tenant - is this constraint driven by licensing policies implemented by Microsoft, or is it a result of inherent technological limitations?

2. As for utilizing Power BI Premium, I'm aware that there are different tiers of licenses available within this category. In this context, would adopting the Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) license be adequate to facilitate workspace sharing between myself and individuals from different tenants, whilst also ensuring compatibility with the Power BI mobile app?

Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to your valued feedback on these matters.

Best Regards,

[v-zhangti]

Hi, @hisham1977 

The inability to access a shared workspace via the Power BI mobile app for a user from a different tenant is not a licensing policy implemented by Microsoft, but rather a result of inherent technological limitations. When a user from a different tenant tries to access a shared workspace, the app may not be able to authenticate the user's credentials and provide access to the workspace's data.

According to the Power BI licensing model, the Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) license allows users to share content with others, including those from different tenants, and also provides compatibility with the Power BI mobile app. However, it is important to note that all users who access the shared content must have a Power BI Pro license.

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Charlotte

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

[hisham1977]

Thanks, @v-zhangti  for your answer, 

just I want to confirm with you if my understanding is correct,

when you said "According to the Power BI licensing model, the Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) license allows users to share content with others, including those from different tenants, and also provides compatibility with the Power BI mobile app. However, it is important to note that all users who access the shared content must have a Power BI Pro license." 

That means when I'm sharing a workspace for example with gust users using B2B sharing 

They can access the workspace by using their mobile apps when they have a Power BI Pro license ?!

Regards,

Hisham