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Chapter 37

37.1 Workspaces, Roles and Publishing

By Ravindra Bagale · Power BI Service deep series · staged sample

Chala mitrano — today we stop emailing .pbix files. We publish once to a shared workspace, then give each person the smallest role they need.

Fictional sample data for learning. All company names and brands belong to their owners. We use the names only so students can understand. Numbers on this page are made up.
After this lesson you can
  • Explain why a team needs the Power BI Service, not only Desktop.
  • Pick My workspace or a shared workspace for a real case.
  • Assign Admin, Member, Contributor or Viewer correctly.
  • Publish from Desktop and check the semantic model + report.
  • Open Access and apply least privilege.

Start with a problem (fictional). Priya Sharma builds a Blinkit-style dark-store sales report in Power BI Desktop in Pune. Every Monday she emails Blinkit_MH_Sales_FY26.pbix (18 MB) to Raja Patil in Nashik, Aisha Khan in Dubai, and James Okonkwo in London. By Wednesday three people open three different versions. Raja sees last week's numbers. The CFO in Mumbai asks, “Which file is true?”

Sample layout — fictional data: vertical flow from Desktop .pbix to shared workspace to four roles
Your mental model should look like this · Sample layout — fictional data (not a real Service screenshot)

1. Why Desktop alone is not enough for a team

Why: Desktop is for building. A team needs one live copy, controlled access, and scheduled refresh.

What: The Power BI Service is the cloud home for shared reports and semantic models (datasets). You open it in a browser at app.powerbi.com (sign-in required at work).

How — think in three layers:

Vertical steps (one under another)

  1. Build and test in Power BI Desktop on your laptop.
  2. Publish to a shared workspace in the Power BI Service.
  3. Give people roles (or an App) so they open the same live report.

Tiny example right after the idea: Priya stops emailing the file. She publishes once. Raja opens the Service on his phone at 9:05 IST and sees the same numbers as James in London (£ and ₹ views can differ later — here both see ₹).

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Friends, if two managers argue about different totals, first ask: are they looking at the same published report, or at two emailed .pbix files? The Service fixes that argument.

2. My workspace vs a shared workspace

Why: My workspace is your private desk. A shared workspace is the team room with a lock and a guest list.

What:

PlaceGood forNot good for
My workspaceHomework, experiments, personal draftsTeam Apps, clear roles, production refresh owned by a group
Shared workspace (e.g. Sales MH)Team reports, Apps, gateways, rolesSecret personal files you never want anyone to see

About this data: This table uses columns: Place, Good for, Not good for. This table uses columns: Role, Can roughly…, Fictional person. This table uses columns: City, Orders (fictional), GMV ₹ (fictional). This table uses columns: Wrong, Better. Values shown are the lesson examples already on this page (not a new dataset).

How — create a shared workspace (concept steps):

  1. Sign in to the Power BI Service in your browser.
  2. Open Workspaces, then Create a workspace (your organisation must allow this).
  3. Name it clearly: Sales MH or Finance FY26 Lab — not “test1”.
  4. Add a short description: “Maharashtra dark-store sales — fictional training model.”
  5. Save. You become Admin of that workspace.

Example: Priya creates workspace Sales MH. She keeps broken drafts in My workspace. Only finished models go to Sales MH.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Friends, practise publish to My workspace first if you are nervous. When the report looks right, publish again to the shared workspace. Don't worry — publishing twice is normal.

3. The four roles (Admin, Member, Contributor, Viewer)

Why: Not everyone should delete the workspace. Not everyone should edit the model. Readers need a safe seat.

What: Four built-in roles, from most power to least.

Sample layout — fictional data: role ladder Admin Member Contributor Viewer
Sample layout — fictional data · names are made up for learning
RoleCan roughly…Fictional person
AdminEverything, including delete workspace and manage accessPriya Sharma (Pune)
MemberPublish Apps, share widely, edit contentJames Okonkwo (London)
ContributorCreate and edit reports / models; usually cannot publish AppsAisha Khan (Dubai)
ViewerOpen and interact (filters); cannot editRaja Patil (Nashik)

RLS impact (important): Workspace role ≠ row-level security. Raja as Viewer still only sees Nashik rows if RLS says so. Giving him Member does not magically show Pune rows — and you should not “fix” RLS by raising his role.

How — choose a role in 30 seconds:

  1. Only reads numbers? → Viewer (or later, App audience).
  2. Edits pages / measures in the Service or republishes? → Contributor.
  3. Must publish the organisational App? → Member (or Admin).
  4. Owns the workspace and access list?, then one or two Admins only.

Example: City managers in Kolhapur and Sambhaji Nagar get Viewer. Aisha gets Contributor so she can fix a typo on a title. Only Priya and her backup are Admin.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Friends, interviewers love this: 'Viewer can see the report but cannot change the model.' Say least privilege out loud. Don't give Admin 'just in case'.

4. Publishing from Desktop step by step

Why: Publish uploads your model and report pages to the cloud workspace so everyone opens one copy.

What: Home, then Publish in Desktop. You pick a workspace. The Service creates (or overwrites) a semantic model and a report with the same name as the .pbix.

How — numbered vertical steps:

  1. Open Blinkit_MH_Sales_FY26.pbix in Power BI Desktop. Save (Ctrl+S).
  2. Sign in to Desktop with the same work account you use in the Service.
  3. Click Home → Publish → Publish to Power BI.
  4. In the list, select the shared workspace Sales MH (not My workspace for production).
  5. Wait for the success message. Optionally open the report link.
  6. If a report with the same name already exists, confirm overwrite — this replaces the cloud copy.

No fake Service screenshot

We do not show a copied Microsoft UI here. Use the labelled diagram above as your map. In class, your trainer can share their screen of a real tenant.

Example result: After publish, Sales MH shows two items: semantic model Blinkit_MH_Sales_FY26 and report Blinkit_MH_Sales_FY26. Priya pins the report for Raja.

5. What lands in the Service

Why: Students often think “only the pictures” uploaded. The data model uploads too.

What:

  • Semantic model (dataset) — tables, relationships, measures, refresh settings.
  • Report — pages, visuals, bookmarks — connected to that model.
  • Later you may add a dashboard (pinned tiles) — covered in chapter 38.

How — verify after publish:

  1. Open the workspace Sales MH in the Service.
  2. Find the report, then open page 1, then check a known total (e.g. Nashik ₹3,40,000 fictional).
  3. Find the semantic model, then Settings, then see credentials / gateway / refresh (next chapters).
  4. If the total is wrong, fix in Desktop, save, publish again (overwrite).

6. Manage access and least privilege

Why: A shared workspace without an access list is a locked room with no key for your managers — or worse, open to everyone.

What: Workspace Access lets you add users or security groups and pick a role.

How:

  1. In the workspace, open Access (or Manage access).
  2. Add raja.patil@example.com → role Viewer → Add.
  3. Add Aisha as Contributor.
  4. Add James as Member only if he must publish the App.
  5. Review the list every month — remove people who left the project.

Example: When Raja moves to inventory, Priya removes him from Sales MH and adds him to Inventory MH as Viewer.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Friends, prefer Azure AD / Microsoft 365 security groups over 40 individual emails. One group 'MH City Managers' keeps Access clean.

Recap. Desktop builds. Service shares. Use a named shared workspace. Four roles — give the smallest one that works. Publish creates a semantic model + report. Manage Access on purpose. Never treat emailing the .pbix as your sharing plan.

7. Worked example — three industries, same rules

Same Service rules, different businesses. All numbers below are fictional sample data.

Retail dark stores (Maharashtra)

Why: Store managers need today's orders, not last week's email.

What: Workspace Sales MH, model refresh planned for 07:00 IST (refresh details in ch 39).

How:

  1. Priya publishes Blinkit_MH_Sales_FY26.pbix to Sales MH.
  2. Raja (Nashik) and Meera (Kolhapur) get Viewer.
  3. They filter City on the report; RLS can further limit rows later.
CityOrders (fictional)GMV ₹ (fictional)
Pune1,24018,60,000
Nashik4103,40,000
Kolhapur2802,10,000

Check: After publish, Raja should see Nashik ₹3,40,000 if RLS is city-based — or the full table if RLS is not yet applied. Either way he uses the Service, not a second .pbix.

Bank branch scorecard (HDFC-style training model)

Why: Branch managers in Pune and Nagpur must not edit the official NPA measure.

What: Workspace Retail Assets Lab. Contributors = two central analysts. Viewers = branch managers.

How:

  1. Publish Branch_Scorecard_FY26.pbix from Desktop.
  2. Add group MH Branch Managers as Viewer.
  3. Keep measure authors as Contributor only.

Tiny example: Fictional CASA ratio 42% on the card visual. A branch manager can slice by branch but cannot change the DAX behind the card.

Export manufacturer (Germany + India)

Why: Sofia Müller in Munich and Vikram Deshmukh in Pune share one demand plan.

What: Workspace Demand EU-IN. Currency shows € and ₹ on different pages — still one semantic model.

How:

  1. Vikram publishes from Desktop (IST evening).
  2. Sofia opens the Service next morning (CET) — same model.
  3. Both are Contributor; only Vikram's manager is Admin.

Example: Fictional open orders €1.2M and ₹4.8 Cr on two pages. One publish updates both.

8. What “success” looks like on Monday morning

Why: A publish is not done until a viewer can open it without calling you.

What: A short acceptance checklist.

How — vertical checklist:

  1. Viewer account (or Test as role later) opens the report URL.
  2. Known KPI matches Desktop (same filter).
  3. Access list has no ex-employees.
  4. Workspace name and report name are clear in search.
  5. You did not send the .pbix on WhatsApp.

Common mistakes

WrongBetter
Emailing the .pbix every weekPublish once; refresh the model
Everyone is AdminOne/two Admins; Viewers for readers
Publishing only to My workspace for the whole companyShared workspace + App (ch 38)
Raising role to “fix” RLSFix the RLS filter; keep Viewer
Vague workspace name “test”Sales MH / Finance FY26 Lab

Quiz (5 questions)

1. Priya emails a .pbix to three managers every Monday. What should she do instead?

2. Raja only needs to read Nashik numbers. Best workspace role?

3. Publishing from Desktop to a workspace creates:

4. My workspace is best for:

5. True or false: Making Raja a Member bypasses RLS so he sees all cities.

Practice tasks (12) — hints only, no full answers

  1. Task. Write one sentence: why emailing a .pbix causes version confusion.
    Hint: count how many copies exist after three emails.
  2. Task. Name your shared workspace for a Mumbai retail chain training model.
    Hint: include city or region + purpose; avoid “test”.
  3. Task. Assign roles: Priya (owns), Aisha (edits), Raja (reads), James (publishes App).
    Hint: map to Admin / Contributor / Viewer / Member.
  4. Task. List the Desktop clicks to publish (Home, then …).
    Hint: section 4 steps.
  5. Task. After publish, which two items should appear in the workspace?
    Hint: model + report.
  6. Task. A CFO in Singapore (Mei Lin) only needs monthly totals. Role?
    Hint: least privilege.
  7. Task. Explain in plain English: workspace role vs RLS.
    Hint: keys to the room vs which rows inside the room.
  8. Task. You published to My workspace by mistake. What do you do next?
    Hint: publish again to the shared workspace; clean up if needed.
  9. Task. Design Access for 12 Nashik store managers using a group name.
    Hint: security group pattern.
  10. Task. Overwrite warning appears. When is overwrite correct?
    Hint: same report name, intentional update.
  11. Task. Compare My workspace vs Sales MH in a two-column table of your own.
    Hint: section 2 table.
  12. Task. Interview answer (60 seconds): “How do you share a Power BI report with 30 city managers?”
    Hint: workspace or App + Viewer; not email.

Ravi Sir's cards (Excel card style)

Standalone cards — no tip or photo sections. QR points to this lesson. Download PNG to revise offline.

Interview card: What is a Power BI workspace and which role should a city manager get?
Download interview card PNG
Comparison card: My workspace vs a shared workspace
Download comparison card PNG
Revision card: Publish checklist Desktop to Service
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Think like a professional

In a real tenant, publishing rights, workspace creation, and external sharing are controlled by Fabric / Power BI admins. Always follow your company policy. This lesson uses fictional people and numbers so you can practise the ideas safely.