Difference between Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service

Power BI Desktop (The Creator Tool 🖥️)

• What it is: A software application that you install on your computer.
• Main Purpose: It’s used for creating reports and visualizations.
• Features:
  • Connect to various data sources (Google Sheets or Google BigQuery).
  • Clean, transform, and model your data.
  • Design detailed and customized dashboards and reports.
• Who uses it: Data analysts, business users, or anyone who needs to build and fine-tune reports.

Power BI Service (The Sharing Platform 🌐)

• What it is: An online (cloud-based) platform you access through a web browser.
• Main Purpose: It’s for sharing, collaborating, and viewing reports.
• Features:
  • Publish reports created in Power BI Desktop so others can access them.
  • Share dashboards and reports with your team or organization.
  • Schedule data refreshes to keep reports up-to-date.
  • Collaborate with others, leave comments, or set up alerts.
• Who uses it: Team members, decision-makers, and anyone who consumes the reports.

How do I install Power BI Desktop?

To install Power BI Desktop on a SOLVAY laptop, you can follow the installation guide available here

Difference between Content Creators and Report Viewers

Content Creators: If your role requires creating reports, building dashboards, and extracting insights from data to share with others, you are a Content Creator. You will have full access to Power BI’s features to build, share, and collaborate on reports and dashboards.

Report Viewers: If your job is to access and view reports, explore dashboards, and use insights shared by others, you are a Content Consumer. You can view, interact with, and consume reports, but you will not create or modify them.

I want to build reports/dashboards, how can I get a license?

To get a license as Content Creator, you can follow the process guide available here

I just want to view reports/dashboards, how can I access?

To get the access to to view reports/dashboards you can follow the process guide available here

I need a new workspace for my team, how can I ask?

To ask for a new workspace you can follow the process guide available here