Managing multiple tenants for testing and production in Power BI can be challenging, especially for organizations handling large datasets, multiple teams, and different environments. A well-structured approach ensures cost efficiency, security, and seamless deployment workflows while optimizing Power BI licensing costs.
This article provides a comprehensive strategy for setting up multiple tenants in Power BI for test and prod environments, along with best practices to reduce costs and improve performance.
What is a Power BI Tenant?
A Power BI tenant is an instance of Power BI service assigned to an organization within Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). Each Power BI environment (Dev, Test, and Prod) can be managed separately under multiple tenants or a single tenant with workspaces for each environment.
Organizations often use multiple tenants to:
- Separate development, testing, and production environments.
- Manage different access levels for Power BI reports and datasets.
- Ensure better security and governance.
- Optimize licensing costs and Power BI capacity usage.
Approaches to Managing Multiple Tenants for Power BI Teams
There are two primary ways to manage test and prod environments in Power BI:
1. Single Tenant with Multiple Workspaces (Best for Cost Efficiency)
A single Power BI tenant with separate workspaces for Test and Prod is a cost-effective approach for organizations that want to manage all environments under a single license.
How to Set It Up:
- Create separate workspaces for Dev, Test, and Prod within one Power BI tenant.
- Assign role-based access control (RBAC) to users and teams.
- Use Power BI Deployment Pipelines for seamless report promotion between environments.
- Leverage Power BI Premium Per Capacity to share reports without individual licenses.
Pros: ✅ Cost-Effective – No need for multiple Power BI licenses.
✅ Easier Governance – Centralized management under one Azure AD tenant.
✅ Simpler Data Gateway Setup – One gateway for all environments.
✅ Streamlined Deployment – Use Power BI deployment pipelines for automation.
Cons: ❌ Risk of Accidental Overwrites – If not properly governed, changes in Test might affect Prod.
❌ Limited Isolation – Some teams prefer fully isolated environments for security reasons.
2. Separate Tenants for Test and Prod (Best for Large Enterprises)
In this approach, organizations use two separate Power BI tenants—one for testing (QA/UAT) and one for production.
How to Set It Up:
- Create a separate Power BI tenant for test and prod (e.g.,
company-test.onmicrosoft.comandcompany-prod.onmicrosoft.com). - Use Azure B2B Collaboration to allow cross-tenant user access.
- Implement Power BI Dataflows to share datasets across tenants.
- Deploy Power BI Premium per Capacity (P-SKUs or A-SKUs) in the prod environment for high-performance reporting.
Pros: ✅ Full Isolation – Ensures test reports and datasets do not affect production.
✅ Better Security – Production access is restricted to only necessary users.
✅ Separate Licensing Control – Use Power BI Embedded for testing and Premium for production to save costs.
Cons: ❌ Higher Costs – Requires two sets of Power BI licenses.
❌ More Administrative Overhead – Need to maintain separate security policies and data gateways.
Cost-Effective Ways to Manage Power BI Tenants
Here are the best strategies to reduce costs while managing multiple Power BI tenants efficiently.
1. Use Power BI Deployment Pipelines Instead of Separate Tenants
Why?
- Deployment Pipelines allow you to move reports from Test to Prod within the same Power BI tenant.
- Saves money by eliminating the need for separate licenses for Test.
How?
- Set up three deployment stages: Development → Testing → Production.
- Promote reports to the next stage without affecting the live production environment.
- Use parameterized datasets to point reports to different data sources in each stage.
2. Choose Power BI Premium Per Capacity (P-SKUs) Instead of Per User (PPU)
Why?
- Power BI Premium Per Capacity (P1, P2, P3) allows unlimited users to view reports, while Power BI Pro requires individual licenses.
- Saves cost when there are many viewers but fewer report creators.
How?
- Assign Power BI Premium to the production workspace.
- Use Power BI Pro for development/testing teams only.
3. Use Power BI Embedded for Testing Instead of Power BI Premium
Why?
- Power BI Embedded (A-SKUs) is a cheaper alternative for testing environments.
- Unlike Power BI Premium, Embedded only charges for active usage.
How?
- Assign Power BI Embedded (A1, A2, A3 SKUs) for testing.
- Use Power BI Premium (P1, P2 SKUs) for production.
4. Implement Power BI Dataflows for Reusable Datasets
Why?
- Avoids duplicate data storage across tenants.
- Reduces Power BI dataset refresh time.
How?
- Store shared datasets in Power BI Dataflows.
- Connect test and prod reports to the same dataflows.
5. Optimize Azure AD Licensing for Cost Reduction
Why?
- Managing users through Azure AD B2B eliminates unnecessary Power BI Pro licenses.
How?
- Invite external testers and stakeholders using Azure B2B guest access instead of giving them Power BI Pro licenses.
Power BI Multi-Tenant Setup: Best Practices
| Best Practice | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Use Deployment Pipelines | Reduces costs by eliminating extra tenants. |
| Leverage Power BI Dataflows | Avoids redundant data storage across tenants. |
| Use Power BI Embedded for Testing | Saves money on non-production environments. |
| Restrict Test Access via Azure AD | Ensures security while keeping costs low. |
| Set Up Different Workspaces for Test & Prod | Helps in managing environments without multiple tenants. |
Final Verdict: Best Approach for Cost-Effective Power BI Tenant Management
| Criteria | Single Tenant with Workspaces | Separate Tenants for Test & Prod |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-Effectiveness | ✅ More cost-effective | ❌ Higher costs |
| Security & Isolation | ❌ Less isolated | ✅ Full isolation |
| Ease of Governance | ✅ Easier to manage | ❌ More administrative overhead |
| Best for | Small & mid-sized businesses | Large enterprises |
Recommendation:
For small & mid-sized businesses, using a single tenant with multiple workspaces is cheaper and easier to manage.
For large enterprises, having separate tenants ensures higher security and better governance.
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Conclusion
Managing multiple Power BI tenants effectively requires a strategic balance between cost, security, and scalability.
- For cost-saving, leverage Power BI Deployment Pipelines and Embedded capacity for testing.
- For large enterprises, a separate tenant setup offers better security and governance.
Which setup do you use for Power BI environments? Let us know in the comments!