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Power BI implementation planning: Tenant-level workspace planning

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Note

This article forms part of the Power BI implementation planning series of articles. This series focuses primarily on the Power BI experience within Microsoft Fabric. For an introduction to the series, see Power BI implementation planning.

This article covers tenant-level Fabric workspace planning, with an emphasis on the Power BI experience. It's primarily targeted at:

  • Fabric administrators: The administrators who are responsible for overseeing Fabric in the organization.
  • Center of Excellence, IT, and BI team: The teams that are also responsible for overseeing data and BI and supporting self-service users throughout the organization.

Secondarily, this article might also be of interest to self-service creators who need to create, publish, and manage content in workspaces.

Because workspaces can be used in different ways, most tactical decisions will be made at the workspace level (described in the next article). However, there are some strategic planning decisions to make at the tenant level, too.

We recommend that you make the tenant-level workspace decisions as early as possible because they'll affect everything else. Also, it's easier to make individual workspace decisions when you have clarity on your overall workspace goals and objectives.

Note

The concept of a workspace originated in Power BI. With Fabric, the purpose of a workspace has become broader. The result is that a workspace can now contain items from one or more different Fabric experiences (also known as workloads). Even though the content scope has become broader than Power BI, most of the workspace planning activities described in these articles can be applied to Fabric workspace planning.

Workspace creation permissions

The decision on who is allowed to create workspaces in the Power BI service is a data culture and governance decision. Generally, there are two ways to approach this decision:

  • All (or most) users are permitted to create new workspaces: This approach usually aligns with existing decisions for other applications. For example, when users are permitted to create their own SharePoint sites or Teams channels, it makes sense that Fabric adopts the same policy.
  • Limited to a selective set of users who are permitted to create new workspaces: This approach usually indicates a governance plan is in place or is planned. Managing this process can be fully centralized (for instance, only IT is permitted to create a workspace). A more flexible and practical approach is when it's a combination of centralized and decentralized individuals. In this case, certain satellite members of the Center of Excellence (COE), champions, or trusted users have been trained to create and manage workspaces on behalf of their business unit.

You should set up the Create workspaces tenant setting in the Fabric admin portal according to your decision on who is allowed to create workspaces. For more information, see Govern workspaces.

Checklist - When considering permissions for who can create workspaces, key decisions and actions include:

  • Determine and validate user needs: Schedule collaborative discussions with relevant stakeholders and interested parties to learn how users currently work. The goal is to ensure that you have a clear understanding of user needs.
  • Decide who is allowed to create workspaces: Determine whether all users, only a centralized team, or certain centralized and decentralized users will be permitted to create a new workspace. Ensure this decision is purposefully aligned with your data culture goals. Be sure to obtain approval from your executive sponsor.
  • Create a security group for who is permitted to create workspaces: If a subset of users will be permitted to create workspaces, a security group is needed. Name the group clearly, like Fabric workspace creators. Add members who are permitted to create workspaces to this security group.
  • Update the tenant setting: Add the new security group to the Create workspaces tenant setting in the admin portal. In addition to the Fabric workspace creators group, other groups that might also be allowed for this tenant setting are the COE, support, and Fabric administrators.

Workspace naming conventions

Workspace naming conventions are an agreed-upon pattern for how workspaces are named. Usually, naming conventions are more of a requirement than a suggestion.

It can be difficult to strictly enforce naming conventions when many users possess the permission to create workspaces. You can mitigate this concern with user education and training. You can also conduct an auditing process to find workspaces that don't conform to the naming conventions.

The workspace name can convey additional information about the workspace, including:

  • Purpose: A workspace name should always include a description of its content. For example, Sales Quarterly Bonus Tracking.
  • Item types: A workspace name can include a reference to the types of items it contains. For example, use Sales Data to indicate the workspace stores items like a lakehouse or semantic models. Sales Analytics could indicate that the workspace stores analytical reports and dashboards.
  • Stage (environment): A workspace name might include its stage. For example, it's common to have separate workspaces (development, test, and production) for lifecycle management.
  • Ownership and responsibility: A workspace name might include an indication of who's responsible for managing the content. For example, use of an SLS prefix or suffix can indicate that the sales team owns and manages the content.

Tip

To keep workspace names short, you can include additional detail in the workspace description. However, make sure that the most relevant information is included in the workspace name, particularly if you anticipate users will search for workspaces. You can also use a workspace image to augment the workspace name. These considerations are described further in the workspace settings section in the next article.

Having consistent workspace names helps everyone. The user experience is improved because users can find content more easily. Also, administrators can oversee the content more easily when predictable naming conventions are used.

We recommend that you include the workspace naming conventions in your centralized portal and training materials.

The following list describes more considerations related to workspace naming.

  • Use short yet descriptive names: The workspace name should accurately reflect its contents, with the most important part at the beginning of the name. In the Fabric portal, long workspace names can become truncated in user interfaces, requiring the user to hover the cursor over the workspace name to reveal the full name in a tooltip. Here's an example of a short yet descriptive name: Quarterly Financials.
  • Use a standard prefix: A standard prefix can arrange similar workspaces together when sorted. For example: FIN-Quarterly Financials.
  • Use a standard suffix: You can add a suffix for additional information, such as when you use different workspaces for development, test, and production. We recommend appending [Dev] or [Test] suffixes but leaving production as a user-friendly name without a suffix. For example: FIN-Quarterly Financials [Dev].
  • Be consistent with the Power BI app name: The workspace name and its Power BI app can be different, particularly if it improves usability or understandability for app consumers. We recommend keeping the names similar to avoid confusion.
  • Omit unnecessary words: The following words might be redundant, so avoid them in your workspace names:
    • The word workspace.
    • The words Fabric or Power BI. Many Fabric workspaces contain items from various workloads. However, you might create a workspace that's intended to target only a specific workload (such as Power BI, Data Factory, or Synapse Data Engineering). In that case, you might choose a short suffix so that the workspace purpose is made clear.
    • The name of the organization. However, when the primary audience is external users, including the organization's name can be helpful.

Note

We recommend that you notify users when a workspace name will change. For the most part, it's safe to rename a workspace in the Fabric portal because the GroupID, which is the unique identifier of a workspace, doesn't change (it's found in the workspace URL). However, XMLA connections are impacted because they connect by using the workspace name instead of the GroupID.

Checklist - When considering creating workspace naming conventions, key decisions and actions include:

  • Determine requirements or preferences for workspace names: Consider how you want to name your workspaces. Decide whether you want strict naming convention requirements or more flexible requirements guided by suggestions and examples.
  • Review existing workspace names: Update existing workspace names as appropriate so that they're good examples for users to follow. When users see existing workspace being renamed, they'll interpret that as an implied standard to adopt.
  • Create documentation for workspace naming conventions: Provide reference documentation about workspace naming convention requirements and preferences. Be sure to include examples that show the correct use of acronyms, prefixes, and suffixes. Make the information available in your centralized portal and training materials.

Workspace domains

Clarity on how content is owned and managed is always essential. That clarity is particularly critical when responsibilities for creating and managing data assets are decentralized among many departments or business units. Sometimes this approach is referred to as a distributed, federated, or data mesh architecture.

One way to support workspace ownership and management in Fabric is with domains. A domain provides a way to logically group multiple workspaces that have similar characteristics. For example, you might create a domain to group all your sales workspaces together, and another domain for your finance workspaces.

Here are the key advantages of using domains.

  • They group similar workspaces into a single management boundary.
  • They permit certain tenant settings to be managed at the domain level. For more information, see Override tenant-level settings.
  • They help users find relevant data. For example, they can use filters in the OneLake data hub.

The following table lists different ways you might choose to organize related workspaces.

Method for organizing workspaces Example domain
By subject area/domain/content type The Finance domain includes each workspace related to finance content.
By the team/department who owns and manages the content The Enterprise BI domain includes all workspaces that the team is directly responsible for managing.
By organizational business unit or segment The European division domain includes all workspaces that are related directly to the operations in Europe.
By project The Subsidiary acquisition domain includes all workspaces for a highly sensitive project.

Here are some considerations when planning for Fabric domains in your tenant.

  • How will you map each workspace to a domain? Each workspace can be assigned to only one domain (rather than multiple domains), so be prepared to do some planning. Consider creating a matrix diagram with workspaces in the rows, and domains in the columns, to help you plan how they're assigned. You can reassign the domain in the workspace settings, or the admin portal, if you discover that you need to reorganize workspaces.
  • Who will be authorized to manage a domain? Members of the Domain admin role are authorized to manage an existing domain. When possible, assign domain administrator(s) who directly own and manage the content for the domain. Domain administrators should be experts who are familiar with internal, regional, and governmental regulations for the subject area. They should also be familiar with all internal governance and security requirements. For more information, see Domain roles.
  • Who will be allowed to assign workspaces to a domain? Members of the Domain contributor role define which users (who are also workspace administrators) can assign a workspace to a domain. If you allow more users to assign workspaces to a domain, you should frequently audit the accuracy of the assigned groupings. If you allow only specific groups of users, or Fabric admins and Domain admins, you'll have more control over how they're assigned. For more information, see Domain roles.
  • Are there specific compliance needs or restrictions, such as geographic area? Keep in mind that the geographic area for data storage is set for each capacity (rather than for the domain). Consider how assigning a workspace to a domain—and to a capacity—affects your planning process.

For more information, see Govern domains.

Checklist - When planning for workspace domains, key decisions and actions include:

  • Validate how content ownership works: Ensure that you deeply understand how content ownership and management is happening throughout the organization. Factor that information into your plans to organize workspaces into domains.
  • Plan workspace domains: Have discussions to plan how to best organize workspaces into domains. Confirm all key decisions with the Center of Excellence as well as your executive sponsor.
  • Educate Fabric administrators: Ensure that your tenant administrators are familiar with how to create a domain, and how to assign and manage domain administrators.
  • Educate domain administrators: Ensure that your domain administrators understand the expectations for this role in managing a domain.
  • Decide how to handle domain contributors: Consider which users should have permission to assign workspaces to a domain.
  • Create an auditing process: On a regular basis, validate that the assigned domain groupings are correct.

Workspace creation process

If you've decided to limit who can create workspaces, then the broader user population will need to know what the process is to request a new workspace. In this case, it's important to establish a request process that's easy and convenient for users to find and follow.

It's also critical to respond quickly to a request for a new workspace. A service level agreement (SLA) of 2-4 hours is ideal. If the process to request a new workspace is too slow or burdensome, people will use the workspaces they have so they can keep moving. If they elect to skip creating a new workspace, what they use instead could be suboptimal. They might choose to reuse an existing workspace that isn't well-suited to the new content, or they might share content from their personal workspace.

Tip

The goal when creating a new process is to make it easy for people to comply with the process. As with all data governance decisions, the point is to make it easy for users to do the right thing.

The following table lists the information to collect in a request for a new workspace.

Information needed Example Validation required
Workspace name SLS-Field Sales Analytics • Does the name adhere to naming conventions?

• Does another workspace with the same name exist?
Stages needed SLS-Field Sales Analytics [Dev], SLS-Field Sales Analytics [Test], and SLS-Field Sales Analytics • Are multiple workspaces necessary to properly support the content?

• If so, should a deployment pipeline be created too?
Description Customer sales and order history for monthly, quarterly, and yearly analysis. • Is there an expectation that sensitive data, or regulated data, will be stored?

• If so, will that affect how the workspace is governed?
Target audience Global field sales organization • How broad is the content delivery scope?

• How will that affect how the workspace is governed?
License mode assigned to the workspace A Fabric capacity for the sales team is needed because a large number of the salespeople are viewers only and they have a free license • What level of Fabric capacity is required?
Data storage requirements Data residency in Canada • Are there data residency needs that will require Multi-Geo?

• What are the expected data volumes?
Workspace administrators FabricContentAdmins-FieldSalesAnalytics • Is the administrator (preferably) a group?

• Are there at least two administrators?
Person submitting the request [email protected] • Does the person submitting the request work in a role or line of business related to the information provided?

The above table includes the minimum amount of information required to set up a workspace. However, it doesn't include all possible configurations. In most cases, a workspace administrator will take responsibility for completing the setup once the workspace is created. For more information, see the Workspace-level settings article.

There are many technology options you can use to create an online form for the workspace creation request. Consider using Microsoft Power Apps, which is a low-code software option that's ideal for building simple web-based forms and applications. The technology you choose to use for creating a web-based form depends on who will be responsible for creating and maintaining the form.

Tip

To improve efficiency and accuracy, consider automating the process by using the Power BI REST API to programmatically create or update a workspace. In this case, we recommend including review and approval processes rather than automatically processing each request.

Checklist - When considering the process to request a new workspace, key decisions and actions include:

  • Establish a process for requesting a new workspace: Decide what the specific process is for requesting a new workspace. Consider the information you'll need, how to capture the information, and who will process the request.
  • Create a standard form for requesting a new workspace: Decide what information will be included on the form for a new workspace. Consider building a Power Apps app to collect the information from the user. Ensure links to the form are broadly available and easy to find in your centralized portal and other common locations. Include a link to the form in ongoing communications too.
  • Decide who will respond to submitted requests, and how quickly: Determine who'll process requests. Consider what the expected response time is for handling a request for a new workspace. Verify that you can handle requests quickly so that self-service users don't experience delays.
  • Conduct a knowledge transfer session: If another team will be supporting the workspace request process, conduct a knowledge transfer session with them so they have all the information they need.
  • Create documentation for how to approve or deny a request: Create documentation about how to approve a request, targeted at those who will review or process requests. Also include reasons why a request might be denied, and what action should be taken.
  • Create documentation for how to request a workspace: Create documentation about how to request a new workspace, targeted at users who can't create their own workspaces. Include what information is required, and expectations for a response. Ensure that the information is available in your centralized portal and training materials.

Workspace governance level

Not all workspaces need the same level of oversight. Certain workspaces might be considered governed. A governed workspace means that there are more requirements and expectations for its content. Some organizations use the term managed instead of governed.

There are four key decision criteria to determine the level of governance:

  • Who owns and manages the BI content?
  • What is the scope for delivery of the BI content?
  • What is the data subject area?
  • Is the data, and/or the BI solution, considered critical?

Note

For more information about the four key decision criteria, see the governance article that forms part of the Fabric adoption roadmap.

You might start out with two levels of workspaces: governed and ungoverned. We recommend that you keep the governance levels as simple as possible. However, depending on your specific circumstances, you might need to subdivide the governed classification. For example, critical content that's managed by the enterprise BI team might have one set of governance requirements. Whereas critical content that's owned and managed directly by business units could be subject to a slightly different set of requirements. In some cases, decisions will be tailored to individual business units.

The following table lists some of the most common requirements when a workspace is considered governed.

Category Potential governance requirement
Ownership and support • Ownership is assigned with clear responsibilities for the technical content owner and/or the subject matter expert.

• User support team/person is assigned, and users understand how to request help or submit issues.

• A mechanism is in place for user feedback, questions, and enhancement requests.

• A communication plan exists to announce important changes to content in the workspace.
Workspace setup • The workspace is well-organized with a well-defined purpose.

• A specific naming convention is used.

• The workspace is assigned to a specific domain.

• Workspace description, image, and contacts are required.
Accuracy • All content is certified.

• Data validations are automated so that content owners become aware of data quality issues on a timely basis.
Distribution • A Power BI app is used for distributing reports and dashboards.
Security and data protection • Security groups are used (instead of individual accounts) for managing workspace roles.

• Sensitivity labels are used for information protection.

• Only sanctioned (or approved) data sources are permitted.

• All source files reside in a secure location that's backed up.
Change management • Separate development, test, and production workspaces are used.

• Source control (such as Git integration) is used for all Power BI Desktop files and items in the Fabric portal.

• Versioning or source control is used for all data source files.

• Lifecycle management and change management processes, including deployment pipelines and/or DevOps processes, are followed.
Capacity • The workspace is assigned to an appropriate Fabric capacity level.

•  The Fabric capacity is managed and monitored.
Gateway • A data gateway in standard mode (non-personal) is used.

• All gateway data source credentials use approved credentials.
Auditing and monitoring • Active auditing and monitoring processes are in place for tracking adoption, usage patterns, and performance.

Tip

Governance requirements usually aren't optional. For this reason, timely auditing is important, and enforcement becomes necessary in certain situations. For example, if governed workspaces require all files be in a secure location and an unapproved file location is detected during auditing, then action should be taken to update the file location.

Checklist - When considering the workspace governance level, key decisions and actions include:

  • Decide on the workspace governance levels: Determine the levels of governance that you'll need. Try to keep it as simple as possible.
  • Decide on the criteria for how to classify a workspace: Determine what the decision criteria will be for classifying workspaces to a specific governance level.
  • Decide what the workspace governance requirements are: For each governance level, determine what the specific requirements will be.
  • Decide how to designate the workspace governance level: Find the simplest way to identify the governance level for a workspace. You could record it as part of its name, part of its description, or stored elsewhere (for example, a SharePoint list that contains more information about each workspace).
  • Create documentation for workspace governance requirements: Create useful documentation targeted at content creators that includes what their responsibilities are for managing content in a governed workspace. Make the information available in your centralized portal and training materials.
  • Create workspace auditing processes: For workspaces that are considered governed, create an auditing process to identify areas of noncompliance with the most important requirements. Ensure that someone is responsible for contacting content owners to address compliance issues.

Related content

In the next article in this series, learn about workspace-level planning.