Separating data modelling from report and dashboard layout

[greglow]

One big concern I have with the current Power BI Designer's direction is that it is leading to a real mashing of data modelling with report creation. It's important to be able to peform the data modelling separately and reuse it in countless reports. I know that I'll be able to do that by connecting to an on-premises SSAS server but is that the only plan for this?

At most sites, I find that end-users (or power users) are really happy to create reports and dashboards, but they do not want to do the modelling. There needs to be a simple way to enable that behavior.

[andre · Accepted solution]

Well, technically, you can just use Designer to build and publish the model and then use powrebi.com to create all of the necessary visualizations.

I think what may be currently missing is ability to share datasets and not just dashboards. So I could use Power BI Designer to build my reporting model, publish it to powerbi.com and then share it with others so they can build visuals on top of it.

[greglow]

It's also worth noting that the people who do a great job at each of these tasks (ie: data modelling vs report writing), are often not the same humans. Different people are often needed for each role.