Unveiling Tenant Configuration in Fabric: Empowering User Exploration

by HubSite 365 about Marc Lelijveld (Data – Marc) [MVP]

Data AnalyticsMicrosoft FabricLearning Selection

It has been quiet for a few weeks due to summer break. But now, it’s time to ramp up again and continue posting about Fabric. This time, I’ll start with a quest

The blog discusses the challenges often faced by Fabric and Power BI users in understanding their tenant configuration. The blog emphasizes on how users come across new features and have the desire to explore them, yet might face issues in functioning or even displaying them. It also raises the common concerns users have about their Fabric/Power BI administrator's actions to ease the answering of the question "What does my tenant configuration look like?".

The blog then cites the struggle in the world of Fabric (and Power BI). It explains that users explore newly released platform features or those which suddenly garner their attention, often without fully figuring them out or evaluating their potential outcomes. An example provided is that to make some features work, data might need to get transferred out of the geographical region, which could violate organizational governance and security norms.

Furthermore, it elaborates on potential friction between tenant administrators and users. While tenant administrators aim to find a balance between encouraging user creativity and following organizational and legal norms, sometimes, users might feel hindered by the administrators' decisions. Consequently, some features could get blocked or restricted by a security group for certain users, ensuring a secure and compliant tenant configuration.

Ultimately, the blog highlights the challenges users face when they try to utilize certain restricted features. Initially, they need to determine their tenant administrator, a figure often unknown to many. Once they identify the administrator, the latter often has to justify the reasons for disabling or limiting certain features multiple times. The blog then points to the need for answering recurrent questions on tenant settings, or even the possibility for users to get tenant administrator permissions to change settings.

The Need for Clear Understanding and Communication Around Tenant Configuration

The main topic outlines the significance of user understanding and communication in dealing with Fabric and Power BI. It emphasizes the need for better user education on the implications and potential consequences of using certain features. It also underscores the importance of clear communication and justification from tenant administrators about the restrictions they place on certain features, to ease user grievances. Through this, the blog aims to foster an environment that strikes a balance between user innovation and adherence to necessary governance and security protocols.

Read the full article Unveiling Tenant Configuration in Fabric: Empowering User Exploration

Learn about Unveiling Tenant Configuration in Fabric: Empowering User Exploration

Unveiling Tenant Configuration in Fabric: Empowering User Exploration It has been quiet for a few weeks due to summer break. But now, it’s time to ramp up again and continue posting about Fabric. This time, I’ll start with a question that many Fabric (and Power BI) users ask themselves: “What does my tenant configuration look like?”. Often, users find themselves eager to explore new features they’ve come across online. But somehow, they cannot get it to work, or the feature does not even show for them. In this blog, I’ll elaborate on the challenges and scenarios in which questions like these come up, and what you can do as a Fabric / Power BI administrator to ease answering this question.

THE CHALLENGE In the world of Fabric (and Power BI), users are often experimenting with platform features that are newly released or somehow came to their attention. Usually, they want to try out these features, without fully understanding them or taking into account the possible consequences. For example, to make use of some features data might leave the geographical region, which might not align with organizational governance and security protocols. Tenant administrators are often the ones to blame in this scenario. Cause users might share a feeling of feeling restricted by their administrators, while the administrators did their best to strike a balance between enabling user innovation and adhering to the organizational and legal standards. Consequently, some features may be blocked or restricted by a security group to certain users for a secure and compliant tenant configuration. I also recommend reading my earlier post: A Day in the Life of a Fabric Administrator: Balancing Governance and Collaboration.

When users try to use certain features that are blocked for them, they get a notification saying that they have to reach out to their tenant administrator. The first challenge they will encounter is figuring out who their tenant administrator is, as that is often not known by many. When they got to know their tenant administrator, the admins have to explain themselves many times on the why of disabling or limiting certain features. ADDRESSING USER QUESTIONS To address the recurrent questions from users about the tenant settings, or even asking whether they can get tenant administrator permissions to change setti

Microsoft Fabric and Power BI administrators should learn about tenant configuration in order to enable user exploration. This includes understanding the challenges that users may face when attempting to access certain features, such as geographical data leaving the region or features being blocked or restricted by security groups. Administrators should also be aware of how to address user questions regarding tenant settings and permissions. They should be familiar with the process of informing users on the reasons for disabling or limiting certain features, as well as how to locate the tenant administrator if the user is unsure of who it is. Additionally, administrators should be aware of the importance of striking a balance between enabling user innovation and adhering to organizational and legal standards.

Keywords

Fabric configuration, Power BI, Tenant Administrator, Governance, Security protocols, Collaboration