Fabric Takes Control of Power BI Licensing

Proof that Microsoft Fabric, the new data and analytics offering, is now wearing the Microsoft BI crown was confirmed last week when Microsoft announced that existing Power BI customers will have to switch from Power BI licensing to Fabric licensing, many by the end of the year.

There are lots of ways to promote a new service. Good marketing, enticements, and perhaps finished components, but forcing customers to relicense and migrate to a new service seems a little extreme. Maybe Microsoft is preparing for next year’s financial analyst call: “Our investment is paying off! Fabric adoption is through the roof!”

What Happened?

On March 14, 2024, Microsoft announced plans to retire several Power BI licensing and purchasing options by the end of 2024, which will require customers to purchase new Fabric licensing and migrate existing workspaces. Officials claim the change will give Power BI customers more benefits, but what I see is a situation with less flexibility, fewer benefits, and for some customers, much higher cost. (Note: The licensing change only affects customers using Premium P, Premium EM, and Azure Power BI Embedded A SKUs. Customers using Power BI Pro, Premium Per-User, or Power BI in sovereign government clouds are not affected by this change.)