Power BI is a cloud-based suite of business analytics tools that enables anyone to connect to, visualize, and analyze data with greater speed, efficiency, and understanding. It connects to a broad range of live data through easy-to-use dashboards, provides interactive reports, and delivers compelling visualizations that bring data to life.
Access is available by signing in with your Northwestern credentials at https://app.powerbi.com/. This service is provisioned for Faculty and Staff, and members of the broader Northwestern community may request access by requesting a license.
Benefits and Features
Northwestern faculty and staff can:
- Combine data from multiple data sources in reports and visualizations
- Quickly produce graphs and visual representations of data
- Provide dynamic filtering
- Provide drill-through capabilities to share aggregate and detail data intuitively
- Combine visualizations in Dashboards to tell a broader story. In addition, a variety of report types can be generated from the data and published on the web as well as across mobile devices through the use of Power BI Desktop.
Power BI Versions
Power BI offers several versions to meet different needs, including Power BI Desktop, Power BI Free (or Fabric Free), Power BI Pro, and Power BI Premium Per User (PPU).
Note: Northwestern currently supports Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) but does not support Power BI Premium Capacity.
Available to
- Faculty
- Staff
- Students (Free version ONLY, Pro & Premium are not available for students)
Cost
- Power BI Desktop: Free software for personal report development
- Power BI Free (Fabric Free): Free online service for individual content publication
- Power BI Pro: Free software for Faculty and Staff; $23.55 annually ($1.96/month) for other (Staff-Temp, Organizations, Administrators, Affiliates, etc.)
- Power BI Premium Per User: $52.46 per year ($4.37/month)
How to Request Service
To request access to Power BI Free, Pro, or Premium Per User, complete the Power BI Request Form or click the appropriate button to the right. Departmental approval is required for non-faculty/staff.
You can check your “License Type” by going to https://app.powerbi.com and clicking on your profile icon at the top right side of your screen.
A valid Chart String is required for any users requesting a Premium Per User License.
Comparison of Power BI Standard vs Pro Licensing
Support Resources
Power BI is a self-service portal. Users should contact their local IT support to see if Power BI support is offered.
Additionally, online resources are provided by Microsoft, some of which are listed in the Additional Resources on this web page.