Power BI to Add Source Control for Developers

• Microsoft is edging toward solving Power BI’s 10-year-old source control problem.
• New Power BI Project files provide Git-integrated check-in/check-out, merge, and other capabilities that developers need.
• Migration is straightforward with no loss of features, and files can be converted back.
• Directions recommends testing the preview features now and preparing for general availability.

Power BI is introducing a new Project file format (in preview) that will give enterprises and development teams the ability to apply source control to report and data model development. Despite being almost 10 years old and having large-scale adoption, Power BI has not had a source-control solution, leaving organizations to implement manual controls that can lead to conflicts and errors. 

This report compares the shortcomings of the current manual processes and discusses the benefits of using the new Power BI Project files, how to migrate, and limitations.

Current Source Control Challenges

Power BI has been a challenge for development teams because the core Power BI (.pbix) file does not work well with source control systems. Source-code control systems enable teams of developers to work together safely and track changes to files during the development process. Without source-code control, Power BI developers have faced multiple problems, including: