Data Gateway vs XMLA Endpoint for SQL Analysis Services?

[zerosugar]

Hi all, is anyone here familiar with getting data out of an on-premises SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Cube? I have a multi-dimensional view that I want to create in my cube and then Import into a Power BI Report. I need to Import it because the cube only contains cost data. I need to get revenue data from elsewhere, thus requiring an Import, instead of Live Connect. The issue with Import is that my request times out in Desktop - there are far too many rows of data for me to Import.

What I am thinking I need to do is, create a Data Gateway, do an import from the SSAS Cube, but only pull a limited number of rows by using a parameter. Then, in Power BI Service, I can change that parameter, and perform a scheduled refresh to pull all the data. Is this the best way to do this? 

I've been looking at XMLA Endpoints, but i'm not sure I fully understand what they do. From what I understand, they would allow me to run a DAX, MDX, or XMLA query on the SSAS cube? I'm not sure if that provides any benefit to me, as the dataset is too big to be imported in Desktop. 

Should I create a data gateway for this situation, or is there a better way of doing things? Thank you!

[Greg_Deckler]

@zerosugar For the Power BI Service if your Analysis Services instance is on-premises then you are going to need the data gateway to refresh or if you use Live or DirectQuery. Another way to possibly do this is to use DirectQuery for Power BI Datasets and Analysis Services and build a composite model. So you would have DirectQuery to your cube and import your other data that you need.