Power BI is a suite of business analytics tools from Microsoft. It helps you connect to data, build dashboards and reports, and share insights. The main components you asked about are
What each is and how they differ
- Power BI Desktop
- What it is: A Windows application you install on your computer.
- Primary use: Data modeling, data transformation (Power Query), and authoring rich reports with visuals.
- Key capabilities:
- Connect to a wide range of data sources (databases, files, cloud services).
- Clean, shape, and model data (relationships, calculated columns/measures with DAX, data types, hierarchies).
- Create complex visuals, report layouts, and interactive elements.
- Publish reports to Power BI Service for sharing.
- When to use it: During the data preparation and report authoring phase, especially when you need advanced data modeling and offline work.
- Power BI Service (Power BI Online)
- What it is: A cloud-based SaaS platform accessed via a web browser.
- Primary use: Sharing, collaboration, distribution, and governance of reports and dashboards.
- Key capabilities:
- Publish and host reports from Power BI Desktop.
- Create dashboards that pin visuals from multiple reports.
- Schedule data refreshes, manage datasets, dataflows, and gateways for on-prem data.
- Row-level security, workspaces, apps, and content packs for organized collaboration.
- Extensive collaboration features: comments, subscriptions, alerting, and usage analytics.
- When to use it: After authoring in Desktop, for distributing insights across your organization, refreshing data, and building dashboards that others can access.
- Power BI Mobile
- What it is: Mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows devices.
- Primary use: Accessing and interacting with Power BI content on the go.
- Key capabilities:
- View and interact with reports and dashboards, including filters and drill-through.
- Receive data-driven alerts and stay updated with notifications.
- Secure access to organizational content with single sign-on and conditional access.
- When to use it: When you need to monitor dashboards or review reports from a smartphone or tablet, anytime, anywhere.
How they fit together (typical workflow)
- Start in Power BI Desktop to connect to data, model it, and design reports.
- Publish to Power BI Service to share with others, set up data refresh, create dashboards, and manage access.
- Use Power BI Mobile to view and interact with those reports and dashboards on mobile devices, with alerts and notifications as needed.
Key differences at a glance
- Environment: Desktop is a local Windows application; Service is cloud-based; Mobile is the companion app for devices.
- Primary focus: Desktop = authoring and data modeling; Service = sharing, collaboration, governance; Mobile = on-the-go consumption.
- Data refresh/ sharing: Desktop doesn’t inherently publish or refresh for others; Service handles refresh schedules, sharing, security; Mobile simply consumes what’s published in Service.
- Availability: Desktop works offline to some extent; Service and Mobile require internet access (though Service can cache content locally for some offline viewing depending on features).
A quick note on licensing
- Power BI Desktop is free to download and use for report authoring.
- Power BI Service requires a Pro license (per user) for sharing and collaboration, though there are Free licenses with limited sharing. There are also Premium capacities for larger-scale deployment.
If you’re starting a project, a typical path is:
- Build and shape your data in Power BI Desktop.
- Publish to Power BI Service, set up refresh, and share with your team.
- Use Power BI Mobile to keep an eye on critical dashboards while away from your desk.
Would you like a short example scenario (e.g., sales dashboard) showing what actions you’d perform in Desktop, Service, and Mobile? Or do you want guidance on choosing the right licenses for your organization?
Power BI is a Microsoft analytics platform made of several components. Briefly:
Power BI Desktop
- What it is: A free Windows desktop application you install locally.
- Purpose: Authoring — connect to data, clean/transform it (Power Query), build data models (relationships, measures with DAX), and design interactive reports and visuals.
- Key points: Rich authoring features, offline work possible, saves files as .pbix, publishable to the cloud (Power BI Service).
Power BI Service (Power BI Online)
- What it is: Cloud SaaS (app.powerbi.com).
- Purpose: Sharing, collaboration, distribution, governance, and scheduled refresh.
- Key points: Host reports and dashboards, create dashboards by pinning report visuals, schedule data refreshes (with gateways for on-prem data), manage workspaces, apps, row-level security and permissions. Requires appropriate licenses (Pro or Premium) for sharing/collaboration at scale.
Power BI Mobile
- What it is: Mobile apps for iOS and Android (and mobile web).
- Purpose: Consumption on the go — view, interact with, and receive alerts from dashboards and reports.
- Key points: Optimized for touch, push notifications and data alerts, offline caching of viewed content to some extent, requires connection to the Power BI Service for shared content.
How they differ (summary)
- Role: Desktop = create and model; Service = host, share, refresh, govern; Mobile = consume and monitor.
- Location: Desktop runs locally on Windows; Service runs in the cloud; Mobile runs on smartphones/tablets.
- Sharing/refresh: Desktop is for authoring only (you must publish to Service to share and schedule refresh); Service handles refresh, sharing, and access control; Mobile accesses content published to the Service.
Typical workflow
- Build and test reports in Power BI Desktop.
- Publish to Power BI Service to share, schedule refreshes, and manage access.
- View and get alerts on those reports/dashboards in Power BI Mobile.
If you want, I can add a short example (e.g., building a sales dashboard) or compare licensing and feature limits between Free, Pro, and Premium. Which would you prefer?