Power BI allows us to visually represent large volumes of data in order to make objective decisions. But a company acquires data culture. When all workers are capable of doing this and, therefore, when these reports are collaborative and shared.
In our blog we have already talked about how to share reports. But subscriptions are one more feature of Power BI Service. That allows us to send our reports automatically and periodically to a group of people, as if it were a Newsletter.
In order to add a Subscription in Power BI Service. We need to meet at least one of the following requirements :
- Power BI Pro or Premium licensing per user (PPU)
- Access to a workspace backed by a Power BI Premium capability
- Permissions to access the specific report or dashboard
What are subscriptions in Power BI
Subscriptions in Power BI Service are one of the ways that you can share reports in Power BI. They are based on sending an email with a snapshot and a link to a Power BI Service report by the author or the administrator of the workspace where it is located. To a series of people who may be interested in that report. This way, recipients will get that content on a regular basis .
In order to carry out this process, we must first publish the report in the Power BI cloud. That is, in Power BI Service , a space where, among other things. We can edit, read or view it via the web. We simply have to access the Power BI Desktop report and click on the “Publish” button on the top toolbar and choose which workspace to host it in.
How to create a Subscription in Power BI
To create a subscription in Power BI Service, and once we have accessed the report we want within the corresponding selected work area. We are offered the “Subscribe” option on the top toolbar . This is where a panel will open to the right of our screens where we will have to click on “Add a new subscription”. And complete different boxes to be able to schedule shipments.
In our case, we have created a fictitious example with a report created in the first instance in Power BI Desktop. Which analyzes the sales of a company during the year 2020 .
Those categories that can be completed in the panel are the following:
Various options:
Execute: It offers us the option, once you have saved and closed the subscription in the box at the bottom right “Save and close”, to be able to execute instantly and have the email sent at that exact moment.
Activate: On the other hand, the activate box allows you to have the subscription activated or deactivated.
Trash icon: Finally, the trash can allows you to delete the subscription you are currently editing.
Choose recipients: Space to write the email of those people. Who will be the recipients of the report, that is, who will be subscribed. A minimum of one recipient is required.
How to manage Power BI Service subscriptions
To manage the Power BI Service subscriptions that we have created. We have the ” Manage all subscriptions” option available at the bottom of the panel (see number 10 in the previous image) . Here we will find a list with all the subscriptions created. Thus making it much more accessible and quick to manage.
How does the subscriber receive this email?
The subscriber receives the mail as if it were any other that arrives in the inbox. This time under the name of Microsoft Power BI. In this we will find the subject of the email. The short description of the report written by the person. Who created the subscription and a snapshot of the report. In addition, and in the case that you have previously selected the “Link to report in Power BI” box. The recipient will find a call to action to directly access the report.
Take advantage of all the features of Power BI
As we have seen, subscriptions in Power BI implementation allow us to carry out an automated report sharing system according to the needs of the recipients of the emails and allows us to do it in a very simple and fast way. Like this, there are many features that can help you make better decisions in your day to day.
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