Forum Discussion
Sharing Reports Externally
Hi,
I'm looking to see what are the best options to share Power BI reports externally. The plan is to create multiple client facing reports and share them with the clients directly or embedd in a client facing Sharepoint site.
The reports reside in a Premium Capacity workspace and I believe this elimiates the need for the client to have a Pro/Paid licence.
Can anyone tell me is this possible to embedd to sharepoint site and then share with a client ? Without them needing a paid licence ? Or what is the best practice to share reports externally when they are published to a premium capacity workspace ?
Hi scpowerbi1996,
There are various ways to share reports with external users. Hosting reports in premium capacity does reduce a lot of barriers to sharing the reports externally.
- Power BI App - Since you already have premium capacity, you can share your reports via Power BI App with external customers.
- SharePoint Online Integration: You can embed the reports using the Power BI web part for SharePoint Online. However, the clients accessing these reports must be part of your organization's Azure AD or have guest accounts set up. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-embed-report-spo
- Guest Access: Since you are already using Premium Capacity, you can leverage Azure AD B2B (Business-to-Business) guest sharing. Add the client as a guest in your Azure AD, granting them report access. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-azure-ad-b2b
- Publish to Web: You can also enable the "Publish to web" feature for publicly accessible reports, but this is not secure, so it isn't recommended for client-sensitive data. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-publish-to-web
- Power BI Embedded: For more flexibility, you can use Power BI Embedded, which allows embedding reports in custom applications (or sites) and provides more control over permissions and sharing options. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/embedded/embed-customer-app
There are considerations when you are sharing reports externally, like enabling certain settings in Power BI Admin Portal to allow sharing outside organization, Row Level Security, adding the user as a guest in AD, etc. but I am assuming these will be handled.
Usually sharing reports via Power BI App with external customers is the way to go, or using Power BI Embedded along with Premium Capacity.
If you want to explore any of the options in detail or need any help, do let me know!
6 Replies
Hi scpowerbi1996,
There are various ways to share reports with external users. Hosting reports in premium capacity does reduce a lot of barriers to sharing the reports externally.
- Power BI App - Since you already have premium capacity, you can share your reports via Power BI App with external customers.
- SharePoint Online Integration: You can embed the reports using the Power BI web part for SharePoint Online. However, the clients accessing these reports must be part of your organization's Azure AD or have guest accounts set up. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-embed-report-spo
- Guest Access: Since you are already using Premium Capacity, you can leverage Azure AD B2B (Business-to-Business) guest sharing. Add the client as a guest in your Azure AD, granting them report access. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-azure-ad-b2b
- Publish to Web: You can also enable the "Publish to web" feature for publicly accessible reports, but this is not secure, so it isn't recommended for client-sensitive data. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-publish-to-web
- Power BI Embedded: For more flexibility, you can use Power BI Embedded, which allows embedding reports in custom applications (or sites) and provides more control over permissions and sharing options. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/embedded/embed-customer-app
There are considerations when you are sharing reports externally, like enabling certain settings in Power BI Admin Portal to allow sharing outside organization, Row Level Security, adding the user as a guest in AD, etc. but I am assuming these will be handled.
Usually sharing reports via Power BI App with external customers is the way to go, or using Power BI Embedded along with Premium Capacity.
If you want to explore any of the options in detail or need any help, do let me know!Hi Bipin-Lala , thank you so much for your very detailed explanation. It seems we will have to rethink how we share our reports as we were leaning towards to sharepoint online option but distributing them via Power BI App seems like a better option. I don't have a great understanding of how to share a report via Power BI App, could you give me some info on this ? Am I right in understanding we can do this and share with an external client without them needing a paid licence ? How does the security work for this option ? Is there a limit to the amount of apps that can be created and shared ? Thank you so much for your thoughts on this.
Also, just to be clear, no matter what option we go with, am I correct in saying that we will need to enable the settings in the Admin portal to share outside organization, row level security and adding the guest as a user in AD in order to share the reports ?
Hi scpowerbi1996,
Yes, you can share your reports via the Power BI App, especially when using Power BI Premium, which allows external users to access reports without needing a license.
- You can collate multiple reports together in a Power BI App and share them with external clients. That's the advantage of the Power BI App, you can add any report to the app and users already accessing the app will be able to access newly added reports as well.
- There's no limit on the number of apps you can create or share
- External users will be able to access the app if added as guest users in your Azure AD/ Entra. Have a look at this case study explained in Microsoft Documentation - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/whitepaper-azure-b2b-power-bi#case-study-building-a-bi-portal-using-power-bi--microsoft-entra-b2b--step-by-step-instructions
In order to share reports with external users -
- External share settings need to be enabled in the Admin Portal. For exact settings, refer to this - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-azure-ad-b2b#admin-info-for-b2b-collaboration
- External users should be added as guests in Azure AD
- If you have row-level security enabled for any of the reports, make sure you are across all it's considerations for external users - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/whitepaper-azure-b2b-power-bi#data-security-for-external-partners
I would suggest you go through the case study I mentioned above as it explains many of the things you are trying to achieve. If you still have any questions, I would be happy to help!
Hi scpowerbi1996, Bipin-Lala, thank you for your prompt reply!
I completely agree with Bipin-Lala's opinion, and I’ve included an excerpt from the official documentation for your reference:
Display the dashboards and reports that others have shared with me - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
Similar issue for your reference:
Solved: PowerBI embedded sharepoint online - Microsoft Fabric Community
Best regards,
Joyce
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.
Hi scpowerbi1996 ,
You can refer the below articles -
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-azure-ad-b2b
https://mikehatheway.com/2019/06/11/power-bi-sharing-with-external-users/
It's little bit old but still it will be useful.
Thanks,
Sai Teja
We have a tool called DataTako that leverages the Power BI embed feature, which allows you to share reports externally without requiring clients to have a paid license. It’s easy to set up and can be fully white-labeled in just 15 minutes, making it a perfect solution for embedding reports on client-facing SharePoint sites. Let me know if you'd like more details on how it can work for your needs! If you would like to check it out: datatako.com
