November Updates and the Price is Right - Ep. 372
Mike, Tommy, and Seth break down the November 2024 Power BI updates and talk through the latest Power BI pricing changes—plus what it all means for teams planning their next steps.
News & Announcements
Main Discussion: November Updates and the Price is Right
This episode covers what’s new in the November 2024 Power BI update and how to think about the recent pricing announcements. The team shares practical takeaways for admins and report builders—what’s immediately useful, what might change how you roll out features, and where to be cautious as licensing and cost models evolve.
Looking Forward
If you’re planning upgrades or governance changes, now is a good time to review what features you want to standardize, what you need to pilot, and how pricing changes might impact your rollout strategy. Keep an eye on the monthly release notes and validate any cost assumptions early.
Episode Transcript
0:34 good morning everyone and welcome back to the explicit measures podcast with Tommy Seth and Mike what a a contentious morning I’ve had with my computer we’ve been in fights so fight morning oh my gosh it’s some some days you walk in and maybe I just run out too hard this week maybe just need a little bit more of a break a little bit little longer rest but man I had like blue screens and things were not working not happy we’ve talked about doing re hard resets right I’m not about that Point myself I have a Windows on another hard drive that I’m gonna wipe
1:04 another hard drive that I’m gonna wipe the SE Drive yeah I’m I’m I have two drives on my computer as well one is for like storing all the things everything else I stored though was in SharePoint or one drive I try not to keep anything physical on my computer at least not the original copy it’s like a copy of whatever is in the cloud which is I guess maybe a bit of a shift but yeah I think Tommy I’m with you it’s been about that time it’s probably time to just clean reinstall everything and then that way all those extra apps you thought you need needed are not actually going to be there you can come back and just slowly clean them out and
1:34 just slowly clean them out and work from work from a fresh computer anyways that being said we have a short episode today we have meetings and things later on so we’re going to kind take a short episode here so this will be an episode primarily focused on the news we have some really big announcements November has some major announcements coming so I want want to unpack some of those as well as there is an also an additional blog post around some pricing changes so we definitely want to talk about that as well get into the pricing changes so
2:04 well get into the pricing changes so we’ll see what happens what the where the conversation goes around that one we’re we’re going to call it the Price Is Right as I don’t know whatever the game show sound is I remember something like that anyways The Price is Right Bob all right let’s jump in let’s do the November updates is that sound a good starting point love it all right November updates Patrick LeBlanc is doing our updates for the summer now but we’ve got a number of
2:34 summer now but we’ve got a number of events coming up so we have register for Las Vegas fabric fabric Con in 2025 can you believe it guys 2025 is like right around the corner it feels like this year’s gone extremely fast they just keep accelerating the older you get apparently that’s how it works so fabric conference is coming up ignite is coming out next week next week Microsoft ignite is happening and we have announcement there too as well well Tommy what’s our announcement around ignite well we’re going to ride the way of ignite and we have our very
3:06 the way of ignite and we have our very our first Chicago powerbi Microsoft fabric user group of the year in person downtown downtown Chicago happening on that Wednesday all the information if you just Google Chicago powerbi user group on Meetup or however you’re going to search on Meetup find us the events there there is a limited capacity we actually have a PM from Microsoft speaking again we’re writing at wave and there’s a lot of cool things happening with the user group we’re planning to do the onp
3:36 group we’re planning to do the onp person more often the Cadence on a regular basis but we’re kicking it off with a bang awesome so I’ll put the Meetup link here in the in the in the chat and just make sure everyone can get if they’d like to join you’re more than welcome to join but here’s the the link to the event just in case you’d like to join us there we’ll be there
3:57 like to join us there we’ll be there hanging out at the Chicago office so I I think it’s actually not too far away from where ignite is happening a little bit north I believe the Microsoft Office so right north of Central not Central Park U Millennium Park okay there you go the bean and keep walking hit the bean and keep going right there right after just after the bean take a left just kidding it’s like a straight shot anyways so that will be a fun event the topic for our user group will be around admin monitoring so if if you are an admin or if you are familiar with it
4:28 an admin or if you are familiar with it we’re going to learn more about what is the admin monitoring options that are coming there are some changes coming in the next couple months couple years I think they’re going to be continually building new things so Tim Bendis a Microsoft PM will be joining us he’s from Milwaukee area and he will be presenting more about the admin monitoring options and changes that are coming going to make it easier for you to see what’s going on yes from the from the chat this is an in-person event and it will be in Chicago we
4:58 event and it will be in Chicago we will do our best as we can to try and stream it I’m going to try and bring some gear so we can also put it on online as well that way anyone who can’t make the actual event would would likely be able to meet it as well so again with solving those problems I just go to Amazon and buy a whole bunch of gear and just hope stuff works so that’s what we’re going to try this time so we’ll see hopefully it’ll get a little bit better than some of the other videos we’ve done live it’s a little harder to do things live all right that being said back to back to
5:28 right that being said back to back to the November update all right other things coming out anything you want to pick on Tommy any topics that you like very very very under the radar in the blog something we’ve talked about we actually had Microsoft we interviewed one of our few interviews yeah feature metric management is now available in public preview in Microsoft fabric yes I’m like wait are you sure am I reading this correctly metric sets us out man yeah I haven’t seen it in my tenant though so I
5:58 haven’t seen it in my tenant though so I don’t know if it’s a turn on to get to turn it on or something like that what’s what’s the I’m not sure I all I know is I have a bet with someone at Microsoft for how well this is going to do because I am super excited about this I’m on the long side of this so I think this is going to be a great feature I I’m very convinced I think metric sets are going to change so let’s just do a little bit of like what we think metric sets are because the blog talks a little bit about it I think this is the idea of the master and Mini model concept you have this larger bigger model that has a whole bunch of
6:29 bigger model that has a whole bunch of col and measures and things and it’s too much and so you want to pair that down to just a smaller subset of metrics a handful of of of measures a couple of columns and say hey here’s what you need from this broader part of the model just give you a smaller subset of it and then you can only pick from those item so it’s like using a a perspective to control what people can click or use inside the concept of a metric set so you can still build a visual you can still make tables you can still do things with the metric Set but now it’s like a smaller subset of larger model is that
7:00 subset of larger model is that your interpretation Tommy yeah that’s what I’m thinking too it I don’t say downgrades the the semantic model but this is the first time that a metric’s going to live outside of a semantic model it’s the first time a metric’s going to live outside of but doesn’t doesn’t the regular metric set live outside like when you had when you tracked things doesn’t that live outside the model there’s another model score card yeah like the scorecards don’t don’t those but as soon as you click on it it brings you to the the report true but
7:31 it brings you to the the report true but it’s storing the data in a different SQL database so it’s not doing it but maybe it is there’s going to be I think there’s going to be a lot of conversations on this podcast about GL so so I don’t really know how to turn it on because I’ve gone into my tenant I’m trying to look for it to see if I can actually like start clicking the buttons on Metric sets it’s not there yet so maybe it’s rolling out or it’s it’s been announced on the blog maybe check your admin settings I haven’t had a time
7:53 your admin settings I haven’t had a time to actually really play with it yet but that would be one I’m I’m very interested to see how that is going to turn out turn out anyways anyways we’ll see how that how that plans out anything else any other items Seth what do you think what’s what’s in the blog that is intriguing you metric Zs was the thing I me that that was it’s it’s interesting to me how just it’s it’s a bullet in there I don’t know if that’s concerning or not
8:26 but the the the scope the scope of them right I think could be very impactful we you have a lot of the conversations around like what is the sales number right and and for people that are U becoming more acclimated with the environment the real challenge that I think this was designed to solve was you think this was designed to solve was re reducing how many different ways know re reducing how many different ways something could be calculated right if everybody’s using this sales metric that we can see through metric sets that’s the one that’s the one you’re going to use it’s not the other 10 that might
8:56 use it’s not the other 10 that might have a report or something like that right so I think overall could is this the the thing that’s going to help alleviate some of the Pains of people going why is your sales number different than their sales number in in reports but we’ll see I I think there’s a lot of potential there for solving a solving that problem I like this so that’s a that’s a good feature there one of the
9:26 good feature there one of the features I’m going to pick out here a little bit on is the fabric git integration timle format for semantic model exports now so again I really really like the timle experience of stuff I just did a recent video with Sid from the Microsoft PM team talking about using timle inside VSS code which is an amazing experience by the way and you get to use GitHub co-pilot to Auto me it was amazing when we were doing the demo you were just typing the word measure and it was trying to build out a
9:56 measure and it was trying to build out a full measure for you the the Auto prompting that it does where it just tries to complete your code or line or sentence it’s amazing it’s quite impressive so I was very impressed by the timle inside vs code this is a little bit different but again it’s more integration with the timle format so anything where we see timle show up or timle format showing up I think that’s actually a great place for it and it’s going to make it a whole lot easier when we work with our models or semantic models to manage models directly with this new format so I really like this
10:27 this new format so I really like this I’m very excited about it I think the only one other one that stood out but won’t get a ton of use cuz I don’t use a ton of maps but the path layer in in Maps where you can just it seems a much easier experience to just drop in coordinates and have it go across anywhere on a on a globe I think I’ve I’ve suffered challenges with trying to get things working and visualized appropriately so I’m glad to see that some work has been done to streamline the map experience because every time I go like it it’s not often but when I
10:57 go like it it’s not often but when I come back to it I’m like I really need this to do this right and this is one of those things that I would absolutely look forward to using in the future I think it’s time to give credit where credits do we we’ve harbored on the Microsoft team for not giving enough love to powerbi monthly updates but there’s a ton of updates there’s a new core visual there’s a text slicer that’s available now too the path and the git integration by the way I love GitHub so I’m gonna give some love to the Microsoft team because this is maybe the
11:27 Microsoft team because this is maybe the best monthly update this year for powerbi it’s a lot of major updates but there’s one major major item it’s not even on the blog so we’re going to skip the blog portion and we’re going to go right to the jugular here there is a new major announcement that has just happened it’s and I’ll put this one in the chat because this is something that everyone needs to be aware of
11:51 that everyone needs to be aware of there is a pricing change coming to powerbi the pro and premium per users even some other MVPs I was like hey did you did you hear this like the blogs been announced they’re changing the prices other MVPs I’ve been talking to have were like what this is what this is crazy so the gist of the article is a pro user and let me be clear about the pricing the pro user is currently $10 per month it’s going up to $14 per month the premium per user is going from $20 a month up to $24 a month so they’re
12:24 month up to $24 a month so they’re adding $4 to both the pro and the premium per user pricing yeah everything stays the same fabric all the other SKS we’re they’re getting away from AEM and the P SKS everything seems to be Falling Towards the just use the fabric SKS so it looks like everything’s going to be there is some support discontinuation on the premium SKS the P SKS and people are going to need to start planning migrations we’re actually helping companies now migrate from P to an F skew figure out what they need to do there but that’s a thing now so
12:57 there but that’s a thing now so initial reaction what your thought Tommy and and Seth well the the first other important bit of that is April 1st which okay it’s an interesting day why would you choose April April fools I know oh man April we’re actually lowering the price I am agreeing with you on that one so anyway April 1 is when that cut over happens so any renewal or new purchasing of those licenses after that date is
13:28 of those licenses after that date is when things apply the other the other caveat before we get into the agree disagree what do you think thing is it it looks like this doesn’t automatically adjust Pro licenses in the e365 oh yes right so if you’re getting a pro license through those more Enterprise wide licenses it the they’re saying a good point it’s not like a it’s not like this is going to impact that pricing so if
13:58 is going to impact that pricing so if you already have an E5 and E5 and you already have a pro license there’s no cost change coming there annual billing Well yeah if you have if you have the pro license as a result of the E5 yeah it’s the independent licens in anyway back to Tommy what do you think I was gonna say basically what we’re saying is if you weren’t sure if you needed powerbi Pro buy it now so go buy5 but go buy buy the E5 now before April I
14:28 buy buy the E5 now before April I this is a first time I can remember they have changed pricing on existing licensing so I know they’ve added licensing they added the premium per user yep oh no Pro was $10 no that it was always $10 it was always $9. 99 yes so this is the first time in theyve changed a little bit how Pro works like so initially like you could have Works spaces with free users and free users could use stuff and then they so there was like to me like if I look at the pricing modeling that was
14:58 look at the pricing modeling that was one major bump in the the road that was like oh man we’re getting a lot of I understand why you’re doing it mean I understand why you’re doing it but like it was really rough when they quickly changed like okay if you want to share things you need to start paying which is the right it’s the right approach just was very different than what we were currently doing and they needed they need to rip the bandaid off and just do it sooner than later because they realized that you could get away with a ton with a free license so yes but Pro is always 999 when they introduce premium per user which is how long that’s been out now five years I want to say four premium producer was
15:29 want to say four premium producer was announced yeah it’s been up for a while probably I know at least 2019 2020 so I I can guarantee that but so this is the first time we actually had a price increase on existing licensing with no feature feature updates which to me is pretty significant getting
15:47 significant getting metrics we got yeah I I would I would say this I price increases always suck nobody ever likes them but honestly like this being the first one I think I I I don’t have any problem with it I I really don’t like is is there a cut to the bottom line yes but if you think about they didn’t do it two three years in where people were still clamoring saying we don’t have these features we don’t have this stuff and like if if I
16:17 don’t have this stuff and like if if I see where powerbi has come within the last 10 years right like almost 10 years and this is the first time ‘re we’re getting a bump when over the course of those 10 years they’ve been constantly innovating and building better and better and better solutions for the pro license for 10 bucks a month like granted it’s developer and consumer so there’s an extended cost outside of that I’m I’m okay with it but to your
16:47 I’m I’m okay with it but to your point this is comp in the comparative market this is still dang cheap like dang cheap for what for what you’re getting get yeah yeah report building yeah I I think I’m with this as well I think I’m going to be like fairly on point with this it it feel it feels about right right so there’s a lot of things have happened the features you get Now versus 2018 way more than what we had before
17:18 2018 way more than what we had before day night and day and the fact that things are more cloud-based and there’s more services and there’s a lot of so I think I think in that regard yeah I understand there’s a lot more going on there but also inflation’s happened there’s been a lot of like econ economic things that have occurred so I understand why they’re they’re increase the price because you can’t keep something at a at a single price forever it’s going to have to give some as a consulting company or whatever you give price increases every couple years like you’re that’s just what you do to your rates they just kind what you do to your rates they just go along with that route so I
17:49 of go along with that route so I understand it I am excited to see how this is panning out but let’s just I’m going to a random CPI inflation calculator right so I’m just literally going to a random website s it $10 in 2025 is now worth the equivalent of 1372 in today’s money so you mean 1372 so you said 2025 yeah sorry so 2015 sorry my bad 2015 at $10 in 2015 now that same $10
18:21 2015 at $10 in 2015 now that same $10 would be 1372 in 2025 so like basically saying it’s the same price they’re like it’s same price as if you had bought it back then it’s just inflation and economic changes and so you’re getting basically the same price I think $20 is even a little bit different because if you did that one it’s a $27 so $20 in 2025 would have been equivalent of $27 today so yeah okay I got it I I think this is the right approach I think you have to do it I’m not happy about
18:51 you have to do it I’m not happy about it but I think this for me right right as a as a person who is very much involved in this ecosystem and space I’m hearing a lot of things on social media channels that are just very negative and like oh this is awful my company’s are gonna time out there’s other options teams right so this may mean you need to actually sharpen your pencil a little bit and say do we really need all the things that we’re doing inside our powerb environment do we really so I think people should take a step from this observation and say let’s really look at who’s creating content
19:22 really look at who’s creating content versus who is consuming content in our organization I think there’s an opportunity for organizations to do a bit better job with Microsoft powerbi edting because you can serve more reports to more people at a lower price I think so I think if you really want to drop that per price per user down lower I really think it’s it’s embedding I think you need to seriously
19:43 embedding I think you need to seriously look at it there are tools out there that now let you edit create copy build pagein reports all inside the the embedded tool it’s not just rendering reports from something someone else built somewhere else somewhere else in the application so I I really think if you’re if want to start bringing prices down if you want to give that free user access to reports below an f-64 level you really need to start focusing on the lower FCS and focus on embedding because I think a lot of people I think there’s there’s a handful of people that are actually creating
20:13 of people that are actually creating content and there’s a wider audience of people just trying to consume reports and get data out and they’re going to go export or go back to whatever they’ve been doing my previous company one of my monthly reports was to look at the licensing and send that to my boss so was always trimming the fat but if you’re if you’re if you’re a midsize company right 250 people and everyone will say had a PPU okay this is this is not going to break that that there’s no way especially if you’re already dependent on powerbi powerbi and Al yeah if you’re already the
20:45 and Al yeah if you’re already the these are most people in platform are already fully engaged like to your point Mike I I agree like cost increases always make organizations evaluate the solutions that are being built which is a good thing look for Alternatives potentially of of ways in which to deploy and I think there are tons of other options that there are even within the ecosystem whether that’s fabric skews whether it’s embedding Etc and and de-provisioning licenses
21:15 Etc and and de-provisioning licenses for people that are no longer there like there it just it’s better hygiene I think of Licensing and Licensing cost so overall cost of doing business right like I in my mind there’s no not justifiable reason for them to do this and I think they have a fantastic product so I think so too and I I saw some threads on Reddit around some of this they’re like well if Microsoft would just give us the viewer user for free the viewer user they
21:45 user for free the viewer user they wanted to do the viewer user I’m like this is embedded like this is this is move over to an escue you can embed down to like 150 bucks a month you can give report users free reports so like I and I’m of the opinion like I don’t think you really understand again us being insiders us being very close to technology I think we understand where we can trim fat a lot easier than other people can but like I think there’s a lot of things that powerbi offers and gives us in options that people aren’t actually looking at yet so I think Microsoft I good on you
22:15 yet so I think Microsoft I good on you make sure you the price increase is coming be aware it’s coming out to your organization but I think this is an opportunity for organizations to say okay let’s just trim some stuff let’s make sure we really are building what we want let’s make sure we only are using the licenses that we need for the organ organization and I think this is your opportunity to start looking at FCU it’s it’s never been easier to go get a fabric fcq and do things there as well all right with that this is our Short episode we have some meetings we got to go attend so we have to dip out of here but we did do a podcast this is our short one news and some price updates so all the
22:46 news and some price updates so all the all the Articles and the information is linked in the description and will be in the chat window as well so if you want those links they will be there thank you all very much for attending and listening today I know it’s a short episode but we really appreciate your ears we know you’re busy so please share this with somebody else and and have that discussion we’d love to see you online let’s talk about the the price increase find us on Twitter and tell us what you think and I’d love to debate a little bit more about what you think about that Tommy where else can you find the podcast you find us in apple Spotify wherever you get your podcast make sure to subscribe
23:16 get your podcast make sure to subscribe and leave a rating this helps us out a ton do you have a question idea or topic that you want us to talk about in future episode head over to powerbi tip podcast leave your name and a great question and finally join us live every Tuesday and Thursday a. m. Central and join the conversation on all powerbi tips social media channels awesome thank you all so much and we’ll see you next time [Music]
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