Licensing question

[EastleyD]

Hi,

I am currently a Pro user who is creating internal budget performance reporting across ~100 individuals.

Data is stored in a local Access database, and I am using the Personal Gateway to refresh reports which have been uploaded to the web from the Desktop application.

I have created a personal dashboard for each individual, showing a tile for each of the budget lines for which they are responsible.

It all seems to be working fine, with the only caveat being that I must refresh/update the reports for them each month as new data is added to the database.

Will these users be able to remain on the free license, or will they eventually need to move across to a Pro license to access the reports I have created and updating/sharing to their personal Desktops.

Any assistance is appreciated, many thanks.

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @EastleyD,

From this article: Power BI Pro content - what is it?, you can see

Data from a dataset that connects to on-premises data using the Power BI Gateway - Personal  or the On-premises Data Gateway

It means each user access your report need Pro license, as the dataset of report uses personal gateway.

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

[EastleyD]

Apologies, just wondering if you are part of the BI team?

Are you 100% sure about this answer.

If I being the Pro user refresh the report using my Pro license, the data container in the cloud is updated from the local data source.

The cloud based 'data container' is what to my understanding drives the Power BI reporting viewed on a reporting dashboard.

Given the reports are accessing data stored in the cloud based data containers, I am struggling to see why a pro license is required to view them.

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @EastleyD,

I'm a Power BI forum support engineer.

The personal gateway is only available with Power BI Pro, you can see: Power BI Gateway - Personal.

You can also take a look at this article how gateway works: Power BI Security.

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

[EastleyD]

I am not sure if you are understanding my question, so I will try and clarify further for you.

When Power BI refreshes data from an on-premises data source, the gateway assures your Power BI account has the right permissions to connect to and query data from the source.

I am a Pro user, therefore I am able to refresh the dataset using my personal gateway to update ~100 reports.

Do I need a gateway?

Before you install a gateway, it's important to know whether or not you really need one. It really depends on your data sources:

On-premises data sources

A personal gateway is required in order to refresh datasets that get data from a supported on-premises data source in your organization.

With a gateway, REFRESH NOW and SCHEDULE REFRESH are supported for datasets uploaded from:

Given that the ~100 other users are not required to refresh data (as it has already been done for them) your answer has not really answered clearly why these users will require a Pro license, given they will not actually be refreshing data.

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @EastleyD,

Yes, I understand you totally.

I know the refresh action is down on your side via personal gateway. But refreshed data also will be updated to end users's side. If they want to view and interact with this refreshed data, Pro license is also required.

Just as Pro content definition:

Data from a dataset that connects to on-premises data using the Power BI Gateway - Personal  or the On-premises Data Gateway.

If you still have doubts, you can make a small test. You can share this dashboard with one organization user, when they open the dashboard in his own workspace, he will get 'Pro License Required' dialog.

Hope you can understand it now.

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu