So, I'm the Power BI Admin?

[domtrump]

So I've been designing Power BI reports for years in PBI Desktop and using them for presentations. This year, I convinced the higher-ups that we need to take the next step to use the Power BI Service. I requested that we start with 10 Power BI Pro users and I would be the Admin. So IT said they procured the licenses and sent me a link to log in to the service. And that pretty much ends the IT involvement for this project... They do not have personnel to provide any support for Power BI. So I'm on my own. So just to get started:

• How do I verify that I do, indeed have a Pro license? If I go to Settings|Manage Personal Storage it says my name and next to it says "Premium per-user license"
• How would I know (from just logging in to the service) if I am indeed the Admin (administrator role)?
• I imagine my first task is to set up connections to SQL Server, add users and assign roles and publish some reports to test with (just guessing?). I have googled around on Power BI administration and it looks like I have a lot of homework to do. Any recommendations for resources for a first time Power BI admin would be greatly appreciated.
  
  Thanks 

[domtrump]

Thanks.
1. Logging in to the Azure Portal, I see this:

What am I looking for and where? Nothing regarding PowerBI is listed here - am I looking in the right place? Do I need to click on something else to see it?

2. Clicking the Cogwheel at the top of my power BI Home page, I see this:

Then clicking Admin Portal, I see this:

What would I be looking for here?
3. As for number 3, not really sure about that or if I'm even close to that point yet. Right now, I need to a. Create Workspaces b. create user security groups and assign them roles c. create the necessary connections to the SQL Server databases d. depoly some kind of PBI report or dashboard (which we have developed in PBI Desktop) and start testing the user access and daqta refreshes. Could you please point me in the right direction. Thanks.

[domtrump]

I'm just getting back to this after some transition within our company. I don't think any of these responses really answered my questions (or maybe I'm asking the wrong questions?

I am told I am the Admin for Power BI for our organization. I'm not sure that is actually the case. Here are the tasks I need to perform:

1. Create Workspaces within our organization. I need to create different workspaces for different business units (Marketing, Finance, BI, etc.)
2. I need to create the user groups that will be assigned to each workspace. Each group could have different permissions for different workspaces. I need to assign those permissions to the groups. For example, I may need to assign the users I put in the Executive group Read Only permission to the Marketing workspace. But the Finance group would have Edit permissions in the Marketing workspace.
3. I need to add connections to the SQL server and other data streams
4. I need to add data sources and manage permissions on the data sources
5. I need to set up refresh strategies for the various data sources

I'm probably thinking about this the same way I think about administering my SharePoint Team site and that may be over simplified in this case. So to get started, I need to know where to go to access/set-up these options. 

I asked my IT department where I needed to go to configure these options and they said here:

https://app.powerbi.com/home?experience=power-bi

If I click on my Profile icon, I see this:

If I click on the Gear icon, I see this

Clicking on Admin Portal I see this

It does not look like I am actually set up as a Power BI Admin. If not, what exactly do I need to tell the IT folks what to grant to me so that I can assume this role? (Note: Our IT has never used PowerBI so I need to be very specific in what I'm asking for or I will just get blank stares.)

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

[lbendlin]

Ask them if they can give you a Pro license. PPU is insufficient.

[domtrump]

according to the documentation, PPU is a HIGHER level than Pro

So it doesn't look like I need to UPGRADE. Just need to know how to make myself the ADMIN for this PBI site. Thanks.

[lbendlin]

where do you see that saying it is a higher level?  

Do you have a Premium capacity or a Fabric capacity?

[domtrump]

Where do I go to obtain a Pro License? Our IT Team does not know anything about this product or support it. I will need to purchase the license or at the least, walk them through the process of how to get it. Is there a simple upgrade path from premium per user to Pro? Is it just purchasing the license and applying it? This is just going to be for my workgroup for now.Thanks.

[v-xuxinyi-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @domtrump 

You can click on the avatar to see which license you currently have, as shown below, it is a PPU license.

For more information about the license you can check the following document: 

Types of licenses for Power BI business users - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Power BI service features by license type - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Power BI licensing for users in your organization - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

For a detailed description of the various admins of powerbi, you can consult the following documents:

Microsoft Fabric documentation for admins - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

If you need to upload the report whose the source data are from the SQL server to the powerbi service, you also need to configure the gateway. For more details, you can read related document link:

On-premises data gateway - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Install an on-premises data gateway | Microsoft Learn

Add or remove a gateway data source - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _Yuliax

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

[lbendlin]

1. You check your Azure home page in the Subscriptions section, it will list Power BI Pro if you have a license. You should also have a PDL in your AAD with all license holders

2. Click the cogwheel at the top of any Power BI page, and if you see "Admin Portal"  then you are a tenant/capacity admin

3. Not at all. Your job is to install the Fabric Capacity Metrics App and analyze the living daylights out of it. This will tell you how healthy your capacities are and which developers to yell at for hogging the CUs.  You also need to go through the Admin Portal with a fine comb and make sure the features are enabled/disabled as per the policies you want to follow.   You can choose to own the gateways but that is not a hard requirement, and something you can sort out later.