Power BI Organizational Visuals with Fabric Admin Tools

In this tutorial, Austin Libal walks you through managing Power BI visuals using Microsoft Fabric Admin tools. If your organization uses Power BI, it’s crucial to understand how to control and manage the visuals available to users, ensuring they have access to the right tools while maintaining security and compliance.

Understanding Power BI Visuals and the Visualization Pane

Power BI offers a wide range of visuals that users can use to create compelling reports. While the Power BI Desktop comes with a set of built-in visuals, users often need additional visuals to meet specific needs. These additional visuals can be downloaded from AppSource, Microsoft’s online store for Power BI visuals, where both free and paid options are available.

However, not all organizations allow users to freely download and use these custom visuals due to security and compliance concerns. This is where the Fabric Admin tools come into play, allowing administrators to control which visuals are available across the organization.

Step 1: Accessing the Fabric Admin Portal

To begin managing visuals, an administrator needs to access the Fabric Admin Portal:

• In the Power BI environment, go to the settings icon and navigate to Admin Portal under the Governance and Insights category.
• Only users with Fabric Admin privileges will see the full range of options available in the Admin Portal.

Step 2: Managing Visuals in Power BI

Once inside the Admin Portal, administrators can manage the visuals available to users:

• Use the search bar to find the Visuals settings.
• Here, you can enable or disable various options, such as allowing visuals created using the Power BI SDK, allowing downloads from AppSource, and restricting the use of custom visuals to those that are certified by Microsoft.

These settings help administrators maintain control over what visuals can access organizational data, ensuring security and compliance with regulations such as HIPAA.

Step 3: Controlling Organizational Visuals

Administrators also have the ability to manage specific visuals that are allowed or pre-installed across the organization:

• Navigate to the Organizational Visuals section in the Admin Portal.
• Here, you can see a list of visuals that are already approved and manage their availability.
• For example, if a visual like the Text Filter is disabled, you can enable it for all users, making it available by default in the Power BI Desktop.

Step 4: Adding New Visuals from AppSource

Administrators can also add new visuals from AppSource to the organizational list:

• Click on Add Visual and choose whether to upload a visual from a file or select one from AppSource.
• When selecting a visual from AppSource, look for the certified checkmark, which indicates that Microsoft has tested and approved the visual for use.
• Once added, you can choose to enable this visual for the entire organization, ensuring that all users have access to it by default.

Final Thoughts

By effectively managing Power BI visuals through the Fabric Admin tools, administrators can ensure that users have access to the necessary tools while maintaining control over the organization’s data security. This balance allows for greater flexibility and creativity in report building, without compromising on compliance or security.

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