Azure Analysis Services

by
Andrew Snodgrass

by
Andrew Snodgrass

Andrew analyzes and writes about Microsoft's data management, business intelligence, and machine learning solutions, as well as aspects of licensing... more

Azure Analysis Services (AAS) is a managed Azure service that hosts business intelligence (BI) semantic models built on the SQL Server Analysis Services tabular engine. Customers deploy a server in minutes, connect it to cloud and on-premises data sources, and query it from Power BI, Excel, and other clients; servers can be scaled up, scaled out to additional query replicas, and paused when idle to control cost. The service supports tabular models with row-, object-, and column-level security, but it doesn’t support multidimensional models.

Product: Analysis Services

Licensing: Analysis Services

Near-Term Updates and Roadmap (2026–2027)

AAS is a current engine inside a service that Microsoft is no longer advancing. The service supports tabular compatibility level 1700, the same level as SQL Server 2025 and Power BI Premium, so models built on it aren’t running on aging technology. What has stopped is the work above the engine: Microsoft’s own migration guidance states there are no plans to deprecate AAS while adding that investment is prioritized for Power BI in Fabric and that the value Power BI provides over AAS will increase over time.