Description:
Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence tool that helps users analyze and visualize raw data to uncover actionable insights. This data visualization tool allows you to connect various data sources to create reports that can be easily exported and shared.
Who can use it:
- Faculty
- Staff
- Students
- Researchers
Cost:
- Power BI Free: No Cost, Available to Students, POIs, Sponsored Users: Power BI Free is intended for individual use. Users can create reports and dashboards for personal analysis, but cannot share content or collaborate with others. It is best suited for learning Power BI or building reports for personal use.
- Power BI Pro: Included for all Faculty/Staff (Available for purchase for POIs and Sponsored Users - $22.92/year): Power BI Pro enables collaboration and sharing across teams. Pro users can publish reports to shared workspaces, collaborate with others, and distribute dashboards and apps within the organization. Both report creators and viewers generally need a Pro license.
- Power BI Premium Per User (PPU): Available for purchase for Faculty/Staff, POIs, and Sponsored Users - $52.87/year: Power BI Premium Per User provides all Pro features plus advanced capabilities such as larger datasets, higher refresh rates, AI features, and paginated reports. Content shared from PPU workspaces can only be accessed by other PPU‑licensed users. PPU is ideal for individual power users who need Premium features without enterprise-wide distribution.
How to proceed:
- Click on the Access Power BI button on the right to log in and access the free version of Power BI included with Microsoft Office 365.
- Click on the Request Power BI Pro/Premium Licensing button on the right to request a quote from CDW in CU Marketplace.
- Click on the Request Power BI Support button on the right to submit a ticket if you have questions about Power BI and need to talk to someone. An IT professional will review your ticket during business hours, and respond within established Service Level Objectives. Coming soon: Learn more about Service Level Objectives.
Additional resources:
Power BI dashboards offer a real-time, 360-degree view of key metrics for business users. It enables data modeling and visualization to enhance understanding of business processes, backed by Microsoft 365's advanced security and compliance.
Collection of Services and Tools:
- Power BI Desktop: Create reports and visualizations on Windows.
- Power BI Service: Share and collaborate on reports and dashboards online.
- Power BI Mobile Apps: Access insights on Windows, iOS, and Android devices.
- Power BI Report Builder: Create paginated reports for sharing within the Power BI service.
Data Integration and Visualization:
- Connects to various data sources like Excel, cloud databases, and hybrid data warehouses.
- Transforms data into coherent, interactive insights.
- Easily connect, visualize and share data.
Use Power BI to:
- Connect to 70+ data sources.
- Export reports to PowerPoint, Excel, PDF and CSV.
- Share reports in Power BI or Microsoft Teams (available to faculty and staff only).
Data Visualization and Reporting:
- Create interactive reports and dashboards.
- Connect to diverse data sources.
- Transform and model data.
- Share insights with stakeholders.
Business Intelligence (BI):
- Track KPIs and critical metrics.
- Identify trends and patterns.
- Make informed business decisions.
Power BI is a powerful tool to build and publish reports, integrate data with Power BI APIs, share reports and dashboards via Power BI Service and publish on-premises reports with Power BI Report Server.
To Access
Microsoft Power BI is available to all current, full-time faculty and staff as part of the university's Microsoft 365 license. The tool can be accessed:
- Via the web version.
- At Microsoft 365 Office. Sign in with your university email address. Select the app launcher at the top-left under all apps or scroll down on the page to find Power BI.
The free version of Microsoft Power BI is available to sponsored users, POIs and students. Power BI Pro is available to sponsored users and POIs for purchase. Students are not eligible for Power BI Pro because of licensing requirements.
Microsoft Power BI Premium is available to purchase as an annual subscription for full-time faculty and staff, as well as sponsored users and POIs. To purchase a license for Power BI Pro or Power BI Premium, request a quote from CDW in the CU Marketplace.
To compare the features of the various Power BI licenses, visit the Microsoft Power BI service per-user and capacity-based licenses and Compare business intelligence plans and pricing.
Training Resources
The following resources and training support is available from Microsoft:
If you have any questions, please contact the Service Desk.