How do One Maximize ROI with Power BI Report Server?

 An investment in Power BI report server isn’t just about running reports, it’s more about – establishing a secure, scalable and cost-efficient Power BI reporting environment.

Now, that’s what Business Intelligence is, right?

The best part? No matter if your applications are on-premises or deployed in a cloud environment – Microsoft Power BI report server allows you the best of both worlds.

Thinking, “What to expect as an immediate benefit with an investment in Power BI reporting server?”

There are multifaceted benefits, let’s understand some of the key benefits.

Lowered Licensing Costs

Power BI report server is often overlooked as a costly affair!

In reality, it isn’t.

In fact, Power BI reporting server puts you at a cost advantage.

Thinking, “How?”

You get an affordable and enterprise grade reporting solution without paying recurring costs for cloud-based Power BI reporting services.

If you already have Power BI Premium subscription, you can access Power BI reporting server without any additional licensing fees.

And that’s a big relief, as far as costs are concerned.

You get to leverage full-circle BI capabilities while keeping your IT budgets in check.

Retain Your On-Premises Infrastructure

Moving your sensitive business data to a cloud environment must be a strategic and well-thought-out decision.

Everything doesn’t have to be on cloud – owing to security and integrity concerns.

Power BI desktop for Power BI report server enables you to operate on your existing on-premises infrastructure with advanced BI capabilities – like what you would get with a cloud-based Power BI solution.

This helps you avoid unnecessary cloud migration risks and costs associated with it. You have full control on how your sensitive data flows and who gains access to it.

Reduce IT Dependency with Self-Service BI

This one’s sheer empowerment!

Power BI report server enables your users to generate reports, individually, without excessive reliance on the IT teams.

Power BI reporting server allows your users to create intuitive dashboards and in-depth analytics without the need for extensive Power BI expertise.

The ease of use and compatibility comes in as a game-changer.

The self-service BI capabilities empower decision makers like yourself, mangers & executives on your team to make data-backed decisions – even with limited Power BI expertise.

This ensures your team attains higher productivity, quicker report turn-arounds and more time at hand to focus on core business objectives.

Next, let’s understand why CTOs are entrusting Power BI report server for reporting and you should too!

Why Businesses Trust Power BI Report Server for Secure and Scalable Reporting?

We made it a practice to ask our Power BI prospects about their top two concerns when it comes to Power BI reporting.

8/10 decision makers confirmed that data security and scalability are the top two concerns.

Back to square – “Why businesses trust Power BI report server?”

Microsoft Power BI report server offers highest standards of security and compliance with on-premises reporting. And, that’s not all – it allows you to import the data loads from cloud-solutions, ensuring you get the best of both the worlds with extended scalability.

Power BI report server – the double-edged sword.

Let’s understand what makes Power BI reporting server and indomitable choice.

Enterprise-Grade Security & Compliance for Decision-Makers

Security is non-negotiable – when your business data is highly sensitive.

Power BI reporting server offers impeccable security features to safeguard sensitive business data.

To restrict unauthorized access to data, it has got –

• End-to-end data encryption
• Row-level security provisions
• Role-based access controls

Not just that, with Power BI reporting services, you don’t have to worry about regulatory compliances.

To keep your ecosystem compliant, it supports –

• GDPR
• HIPPA
• SOC 2

Seamless Integration with Your IT Ecosystem

Power BI report server integrates effortlessly with your on-premises applications, cloud-solutions, and third-party external solutions.

This enables you to establish a unform source of data truth. You can consolidate data from across departments and view it all in an intuitive reporting environment.

As a result, the overall complexity of Power BI reporting is diluted down with improved data accuracy across departments.

Scalability without Operational Disruption

Your business and data reporting needs must grow alike.

If that’s not the case, you are not moving in the right direction.

Most prominently, scalability shouldn’t be a concern, especially when your business and data reporting needs are growing.

Power BI Desktop report server allows you to scale without major IT overhaul.

With Power BI reporting services, you can scale your reporting needs up or down as per your changing business and data reporting needs. This ensures you experience an efficient, high-performing data infrastructure that adapts your changing business intelligence needs.

Access to Advanced Reporting Capabilities

Power BI report server doesn’t limit your reporting capabilities to static or ad-hoc traditional reporting. It offers you with intuitive dashboards & reporting structure, paginated reports, and advanced analytics.

With Power BI reporting server, you can –

• Schedule reports
• Gain real-time insights
• Customize visualizations & reports

Power BI reporting services ensure you and your team gets the right insights at the right time.

Uniting the Two Worlds – Cloud & On-Prem Reporting

Have critical business data that demands robust security – Power BI reporting services is the solution you need.

Have business data spread across On-premises systems and Cloud-solutions – Power BI report server is the solution you need.

Planning for a gradual transition to the cloud – Power BI reporting server is the best hybrid solution you can have.

Bottom line – Power BI report server fits and adapts to your changing reporting needs, bringing you the best of both the worlds.

What is a Power BI Server?

Power BI report server is an on-premises report server that is used to host, manage, and display reports and KPIs.

It is built upon the SQL Server Reporting Service’s (SSRS) architecture which means it inherits many features from SSRS.

Wondering “How can I access the PBI report on the server?”

The PowerBI server enables convenient access and displays all types of Power BI reports and dashboards on the web portal through mobile devices, web browsers, and even via e-mail.

The platform’s flexibility ensures that your team can effortlessly consume the reports and make decisions irrespective of their preferred medium.

The server comes with a variety of tools to create Power BI reports, mobile reports, paginated reports, and KPIs.

In short, Power BI Reporting Services is a powerful tool for businesses that –

• Need advanced reporting capabilities
• Compliance with regulatory needs
• Prefer on-premises deployment
• And have high-security requirements that cannot be met with the standard Power BI cloud services.

What Purpose Does Microsoft Power BI for Report Server Serve?

Power BI reporting server empowers businesses to host and distribute Power BI reports within their organization’s environment, providing better control and security.

Let’s look at the purpose of MS PowerBI Server.

Power BI On Premises Reporting

It allows businesses, such as yours, to maintain the Power BI data and reports on-premises, ensuring adherence to privacy and security regulations and data governance requirements.

Customization, Extension, and Control

Power BI for report server provides flexibility in terms of customization and extension through APIs, enabling your business to integrate the server with your existing processes, and even extend its capabilities to meet your unique business needs.

Furthermore, by hosting reports on a Microsoft PowerBI server, you retain direct control over your data and can implement desired security mechanisms, without restrictions.

Integration with Existing On-Premises Systems

Power BI Report Server integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products such as Excel, Azure, and SQL Server, making it ideal for businesses heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem to adopt and manage their reporting solutions.

Scheduled Report Delivery

Businesses, like yours, can use the Power BI reporting server to schedule report delivery, enabling your team to receive and share reports via email or other channels at stipulated times, ensuring timely access to critical business insights.

Hybrid Deployments

Power BI server also supports hybrid deployments, meaning, you can combine on-premises reporting with cloud-based capabilities, which offers flexibility in collaboration and reporting options.

Embedded Reporting Capabilities

Furthermore, Power BI Report Server can be used to embed PowerBI reports within websites, custom applications, and portals, offering a unified experience for your stakeholders.

Why Might You Prefer Power BI Report Server Over Power Bi Service?

Security: If you have a strict security policy that does not allow you to move to the cloud, this is main reason. Power BI Report Server provides the experience of Power BI on-premises.

Costs: If you already own a Power BI Premium subscription or an SQL Server licensing, you can use the Power BI Report Server without any additional licenses. Only content creators will require a Pro license. Combined with the security argument, this is one reason to implement Power BI Report Server, without any additional investment.

Do I Need a License for the Power BI Report Server?

Power BI premium users get the right to install and use the PowerBI report server, which a P1 costs $5000/ month.

OR

You can opt for SQL Server Enterprise with Software Assurance license to access the Power BI server.

With a Power BI Premium license, you can also create a hybrid deployment integrating cloud and on-premises environments.

If you wish to publish Power BI reports to the Microsoft Power BI report server, you also need a Power BI Pro license.

However, you don’t need a Power BI Pro license if you wish to view or collaborate on the Power BI reports on the Power BI server.

What are the Components of the Power BI and Reporting Services?

There are several components of the Power BI for report server.

Let’s look at them one by one.

• Report server for hosting and managing PowerBI reports within your organization’s infrastructure.
• Web Portal which serves as a user interface for interacting and managing reports, data sources, datasets, etc.
• Power Bi Desktop for Reporting Services: Power BI Desktop to create, edit, and publish reports within the Microsoft Power BI Report Server.
• Power BI Premium to create a hybrid deployment environment integrating cloud and on-premises environments
• Power BI Mobile App to enable users to access and view Power BI content on the go.
• SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) to create and deploy traditional paginated reports with advanced formatting choices and scheduled delivery.
• Robust security to ensure controlled access and the implementation of desired security mechanisms, without constraints.

What are the Benefits of Investing in Power BI for Report Server?

The advantages of Power BI server include-

Customizable Security Features:

The Power BI report server on-premises enables you to customize security features to meet your infrastructure’s needs.

This unique feature of the Power BI server allows leaders to control access to reports, dashboards, and data sources, ensuring that the sensitive data is protected and available to authorized users only.

Customizable Reports as Per Brand:

Unlike the Power BI Service, the PowerBI report server offers multiple customization options that align with your business’s identity. This includes customizing colors, formatting, and more to match your business’s branding style guide.

Power BI License Flexibility:

Power BI Report Server’s on-prem licensing flexibility brings you the advantage of selecting the licensing model that best fits your financial permissibility and usage patterns.

This adaptability allows you to optimize your Power BI server investment while addressing your reporting needs effectively.

On-Premises Deployment:

As opposed to Power BI cloud service, the on-premises server empowers and gives you complete control over your sensitive data and infrastructure.

This serves as an essential benefit if your business deals with strict data privacy and compliance requirements.

What’s New in Power BI Report Server?

Microsoft regularly introduces new features to the PBI report server.

With the February 2024 release of the Power BI Report Server update, Microsoft has emphasized improving the accessibility for both Power BI data consumers and customers.

Let’s look at the top feature updates introduced by Microsoft.

Show Visuals as Tables:

The makers of the Power BI server have introduced a supplemental format to display report visuals in a tabular format called ‘Show Visuals as Tables’, allowing users to display the data in a single click and in the way that best meets their needs.

This feature improves accessibility for users with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities, providing an alternative way to perceive data.

More Styling Options for Bar Charts and Columns:

With this feature, your team of Power BI professionals can adjust the transparency of fill colors, customize borders, and control layout options such as spacing and stacking. This feature gives users more flexibility and creative freedom in visualizing data.

Extended Customization for Data Labels:

This feature has extended customization choices for users, including the ability to display legend fields, customize titles using different data fields, add secondary metrics, and choose between single-line or multi-line label layouts.

This update is dedicated to increasing data density in charts and improving your data analysis capabilities.

So that was about the Power BI Report Server for business leaders and decision-makers, who are looking to leverage the capabilities of Power BI in reporting services for their on-premises data visualization needs.

Conclusion

This blog post sheds light on a modern on-premises BI solution – Power BI reportserver which is an underrated addition to overall Microsoft’s BI family.

It also gives you the ability and confidence to scale to thousands of users as the PowerBI reportserver is based on an enterprise-grade platform.

Power BI and reporting services are the best bet for medium and large enterprises with sensitive data, complex reporting needs, and numerous data sources. They are an ideal choice if you are seeking to centralize and manage your reporting infrastructure.

What’s next?

Next, you must be looking for a partner who specializes in implementing and optimizing Power BI server for your business.

Thinking about – ‘Where do I find a capable partner who meets my end-to-end requirements?’

Your search ends at Integrative Systems!

Get the Most of Your Power BI Server with Integrative Systems

We, at Integrative Systems, are a Power BI all-in-one service provider with over 20 years of industry experience.

We are –

• A Certified Microsoft Partner
• An INC 5000 One of America’s Fastest Growing Company, making us the ideal partner to join hands with.

And unlike most Power BI solutions partners in town, we don’t run repeat business.

We believe in delivering value to our clients with every engagement.

Do you have a feeling that we are a perfect match for you?

Wait no more!

Drop us a line at contact@integrativesystems.com and get started, now.