Sharing Energy BI stories with exterior customers is a typical however typically misunderstood state of affairs. Whereas it could appear easy on the floor, doing it correctly and securely includes many shifting components. I’ve already printed a video on this matter, which turned out longer than anticipated due to the variety of particulars concerned.

To make this weblog simpler to observe and extra digestible, I’ve damaged the content material right into a three-part weblog sequence. Every half covers a centered space of the subject:

Half 1 (this weblog): Understanding the Drawback and Core Ideas This publish explains why exterior sharing may be difficult, the important thing necessities to get it working, necessary terminology, person roles, and the way the entire course of suits collectively.

Half 2: Arms-On Information to Setup and Sharing A step-by-step walkthrough of the right way to share stories throughout tenants, overlaying licensing, admin portal settings, inviting visitor customers, and the way report entry seems from the visitor’s aspect.

Half 3: Sensitivity Labels, Encryption, and Safe Sharing An in-depth have a look at what occurs when Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels are utilized, together with entry management, encryption, and key admin settings you could want to regulate for safe collaboration.

Should you wish to take heed to the content material on the go, right here is the AI generated podcast explaining all the pieces about this weblog 👇.

If you’re somebody who prefers video over studying, you’ll be able to watch the complete walkthrough right here 👇.

Introduction

Are you a Energy BI developer or somebody in a BI or finance group who must share stories with prospects, companions, or distributors? If they aren’t a part of your Microsoft 365 tenant, issues get a bit extra complicated than simply clicking the “Share” button.

It is a frequent want, particularly in consulting situations, however doing it securely and accurately takes greater than folks typically assume. It includes each technical setup and a transparent understanding of roles and terminology.

What About Energy BI Apps?

In Microsoft Material, content material sharing is often carried out by Energy BI apps. You create an app from a workspace, assign completely different audiences to it, and every viewers sees solely the content material they’re allowed to view. This strategy is usually beneficial as a result of it supplies a clear person expertise and makes it simpler to handle entry to a number of stories or dashboards in a single place.

Nonetheless, there are legitimate the reason why organisations could select to share particular person stories immediately as a substitute of utilizing apps:

• When sharing with exterior customers, some organisations desire tighter management, solely giving entry to at least one report at a time.
• In less complicated tasks, there could be just one report to share, so creating an app would possibly really feel like additional effort.
• Some exterior customers might not be aware of app navigation. A direct report hyperlink despatched by e-mail may be simpler to make use of.
• In delicate situations, you may not need to expose every other content material within the workspace even when entry is restricted.

No matter which technique you utilize, the underlying elements are sometimes the identical. Visitor entry, person permissions, licensing, and knowledge entry all must be configured accurately. The ideas and steps defined on this sequence apply to each strategies, though we use the report sharing mannequin to stroll by the examples.

Necessities

Earlier than we soar into the technical setup, we should perceive the various kinds of necessities concerned.

Entry Necessities

You might want to be certain that the exterior customers may be recognised by your Microsoft 365 setting. That is carried out by inviting them as visitor customers by Microsoft Entra ID. Solely then can they entry your content material.

Permission Necessities

As soon as a visitor person is added, they want the proper permissions. This could possibly be entry to a particular report, a workspace, and even an app. With out the proper entry, they could see the report of their listing however received’t be capable of open it.

Underlying Information Entry

The stories hook up with a semantic mannequin containing Row Degree Safety (RLS) or Object Degree Safety (OLS), the visitor person additionally must be configured to correctly entry the semantic mannequin, in any other case, even when they will open the report, the visuals received’t load. This half is usually missed.

Licensing Necessities

Sharing content material with exterior customers requires correct licensing. Both the visitor person ought to have already got a Energy BI Professional or Premium Per Consumer (PPU) licence, or your organisation must assign a licence to them. That is one thing that ought to be checked prematurely. Study extra about licensing right here and right here. This is a crucial level to pay attention to that relying on customers’ licenses you could not be capable of efficiently implement a working answer. The next desk reveals the licensing necessities for a report is shared from Tenant A with a person in Tenant B:

Terminologies

To ensure we’re all aligned, listed here are some key phrases used on this sequence.

• Exterior Consumer: Somebody exterior your organisation, comparable to a shopper or accomplice, with a special area title of their e-mail.
• Visitor Consumer: An exterior person who has been invited to entry assets in your setting. These customers seem in your Entra ID underneath “Visitor customers”.
• Microsoft Entra ID (Enterprise-to-Enterprise functionality): This technique permits exterior customers to log in utilizing their very own e-mail and credentials. They don’t must create a separate account.

Visitor customers typically have a username like this:
john_doe_example.com#EXT#@yourdomain.com
This implies they arrive from one other area however had been added to your tenant.

Roles

To make exterior sharing work securely, every of the next roles should play a component:

• Entra ID International Administrator: To ask exterior customers and handle them as visitor customers.
• Material Administrator: Controls tenant-level configuration within the Material Admin Portal that permit or limit exterior sharing.
• Workspace Administrator: Grants entry to stories or workspaces and manages who sees what.

Processes

Right here is how an exterior person turns into a visitor and will get entry to a report:

1. An administrator sends an invitation to the exterior person.
2. The exterior person accepts the invitation and logs in with their very own account.
3. They could be requested to consent to permissions throughout login.
4. As soon as confirmed, they seem as a visitor in your Entra ID.
5. A person with at the least Reshare permission on the report can share the report with others.

With regards to report sharing, you typically select between two fashions:

• Workspace entry: The visitor person is given the Viewer position on the workspace which suggests they will see stories within the workspace.
• Particular report sharing: The visitor person is given entry to just one report or a restricted set of stories.

Each strategies require cautious configuration to keep away from unintended knowledge publicity.

Conclusion

On this publish, we regarded on the challenges and core ideas behind sharing Energy BI stories with exterior customers. We explored the various kinds of necessities that should be met, clarified necessary terminology, and defined the roles concerned within the course of.

It is a essential basis for anybody trying to share stories throughout organisations in a safe and manageable means. Whether or not you’re a developer, an admin, or somebody supporting finish customers, understanding how the items match collectively will prevent a whole lot of confusion in a while.

Within the subsequent publish, we are going to go hands-on and present the right way to configure your tenant, invite visitor customers, and share stories step-by-step.

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