Microsoft Power BI Administration

This one-day course equips IT professionals and Power BI administrators with the expertise to manage, secure, and optimise Power BI environments effectively. It introduces learners to the core responsibilities of Power BI administration, including workspace governance, data security, performance monitoring, and licensing strategies.

Participants will gain practical experience through hands-on labs, exploring how to implement row-level security (RLS), configure data gateways, manage semantic models, and automate alerts and subscriptions. The course also covers advanced topics such as deployment pipelines, Microsoft Purview integration, and auditing tools to ensure compliance at scale. By the end of the course, learners will be well-prepared to support enterprise-grade Power BI deployments.

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Describe the responsibilities and tools available for Power BI administration
• Implement governance policies, role assignments, and workspace permissions
• Configure and monitor Power BI gateways, semantic models, and deployment pipelines
• Enable auditing, activity tracking, and Microsoft Purview integration for compliance
• Manage alerts, subscriptions, and report sharing for internal and external users
• Assess licensing needs and assign administrative roles across the Power BI environment
• Troubleshoot performance, refresh failures, and access control issues

This course is designed for individuals responsible for the governance, compliance, and technical administration of Power BI environments. While prior completion of Power BI foundational training is recommended, it is not required.

Participants should ideally have:

• Experience using Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service
• Understanding of dashboards, reports, datasets, and data sources such as SQL or Excel
• Familiarity with IT concepts including user permissions and security governance
• Awareness of Power BI licensing models (Pro, Premium, Fabric)

Recommended but not required:

• Knowledge equivalent to Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst (PL-300)
• Experience with DAX, semantic models, and Power BI deployments

Target audience

This course is ideal for:

• Power BI administrators managing enterprise-scale deployments
• IT professionals overseeing access, security, and governance in Power BI
• Business intelligence professionals responsible for monitoring and optimising Power BI usage
• Compliance officers and data stewards ensuring adherence to regulatory standards

Introduction to Power BI administration

• Understanding Power BI architecture and deployment models
• Overview of administrative responsibilities in Power BI
• Comparing Pro, Premium, and Fabric licensing

Governance

• Defining governance strategies within Power BI
• Workspace creation and management policies
• Addressing data governance challenges
• Monitoring user activity and report access

Licensing

• Overview of Power BI licence types
• Planning for dedicated capacity
• Licensing considerations for enterprise-scale deployment

Managing administrator accounts

• Assigning Service Administrator and Global Administrator roles
• Role-based access control and user permissions
• Best practices for securing administrator credentials

Workspaces, apps and security

• Creating, configuring, and securing workspaces
• Role definitions: Admin, Member, Contributor, Viewer
• Importing content and testing access
• Implementing row-level security and dynamic access models

Sharing Power BI data objects

• Managing sharing options for visuals, dashboards, and reports
• Configuring external access and embedded experiences
• Ensuring secure distribution of content

Configuring semantic model settings

• Scheduling dataset refreshes and managing connections
• Using endorsement and certification to manage trust
• Monitoring data lineage and dependencies

Auditing and monitoring Power BI

• Accessing audit logs for workspace activity and user behaviour
• Troubleshooting issues related to refreshes and service availability
• Enabling Microsoft Purview for enhanced data governance

Alerts and subscriptions

• Setting up email- and Teams-based alert notifications
• Automating report subscriptions
• Managing user access to alerts and notifications

Deployment pipelines

• Creating development-to-production workflows
• Promoting datasets and reports across environments
• Reviewing, validating, and deploying updates

Power BI gateways

• Installing and configuring gateways for on-premises data
• Managing gateway connections and user access
• Troubleshooting gateway connectivity issues

Exams and assessments

This course does not include a formal exam. Instead, participants will complete:

• Guided lab exercises
• Scenario-based administrative tasks
• Knowledge checks at key intervals to reinforce learning

Hands-on learning

Participants will benefit from a practical, scenario-driven approach, including:

• Interactive labs for real-world administrative tasks
• Guided exercises on workspace setup, security implementation, and monitoring
• Instructor-led demonstrations on configuring alerts, subscriptions, and gateways