Important update for Power BI Premium licenses

March 19, 2024
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We would like to inform you about an important update that is coming soon regarding Power BI Premium licenses. With the release of Microsoft Fabric and the Fabric Capacity SKUs last year, Microsoft is consolidating purchase options and bidding farewell to the Power BI Premium per Capacity SKUs. The functionalities of Power BI Premium will remain unchanged, and no immediate action is required. You can continue using your existing Power BI Premium Capacity until the date of your next renewal.

After January 1, 2025, existing Power BI Premium per Capacity customers will need to transition to a suitable Fabric Capacity and pricing plan at the time of their next renewal. This offers more flexibility in SKU size, usage-based billing, access to Azure-only features, and eligibility for the Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC).

Retirement of Power BI Premium per Capacity pricing options

Last year, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Fabric—a unified software as a service (SaaS) platform combining the best of Microsoft Power BI, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Data Factory. Microsoft Fabric is a superset of Power BI Premium, meaning it includes all the capabilities of Power BI Premium plus six additional core workloads. To facilitate the transition, Microsoft has ensured that customers can access Fabric capabilities on their existing Power BI Premium per Capacity.

With pay-as-you-go and reservation options now available for Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft announces the eventual end of life for the Power BI Premium Capacity SKUs.

Depending on your existing agreement, the retirement will affect you differently:

  • New customers will not be able to purchase Power BI Premium per Capacity after July 1, 2024.
  • Existing customers without an Enterprise Agreement (EA) can renew their Power BI Premium Capacity subscriptions until January 1, 2025.
  • Customers with a renewal date after January 1, 2025, must replace their Power BI Premium Capacity purchase with Fabric Capacity at the end of their agreement.

All existing customers can purchase more Power BI Premium Capacity on their current agreement until its end date.

Benefits of Microsoft Fabric Capacity

Customers migrating their purchase to Fabric Capacity will enjoy several additional benefits. Fabric Capacity is eligible for MACC, enabling Fabric customers to apply their Fabric spend to their MACC commitment. There is also a pay-as-you-go option for Fabric, allowing dynamic scaling and pausing of capacity as needed. Fabric Capacity customers can also take advantage of smaller compute SKUs starting below the entry level Power BI Premium SKU.

Additionally, Fabric Capacity customers gain access to Azure-only features such as trusted workspace access for OneLake shortcuts and Managed Private Endpoints for Spark. These features are native to Azure and not available to Power BI Premium Capacity customers.

Migrating to Microsoft Fabric Capacity

To migrate your Power BI and Fabric artifacts, you can simply reassign your workspaces to the new Fabric Capacity. Administrators can even bulk assign workspaces to expedite the process. You will have at least 90 days access to your Power BI and Fabric artifacts after the Power BI Premium Capacity subscription ends. During this period, you can migrate workspaces to your new Fabric Capacity without fear of losing access to your existing work. For more information on managing and reassigning your workspaces, refer to the Microsoft Fabric documentation.

Impact on Other Power BI Licenses

Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium per User (PPU) are not affected by this retirement. Microsoft Fabric Capacity is compatible with Power BI Embedded, allowing it to run all embedded activities.

However, Microsoft Fabric Capacity is not compatible with Power BI Report Server. To continue accessing Power BI Report Server, you can obtain it through SQL Server Enterprise Edition with Software Assurance, which is the most popular option for acquiring Power BI Report Server. For more details, consult Microsoft Volume Licensing or your Microsoft account representative.

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