Multiple application workspaces and their corresponding apps can be used to stage and manage the life cycle of Power BI content. Similar to the development, test, and production release cycles familiar to IT professionals, staged deployments in the Power BI service are used to isolate data, users, and content appropriate to each stage of the process. Effectively implementing a staged Power BI deployment serves to raise the quality of the content delivered as well as the productivity of project team members.

The following diagram and nine-step process describe the primary elements of a staged deployment life cycle:

1. A development app workspace is created and Power BI content is built into the workspace:

• • A Power BI Desktop file containing the dataset is published to the development workspace
  • Reports are developed in Power BI Desktop based on Live connections to the development workspace dataset
  • Dashboards are created within the development workspace in the Power BI service

2. An app is published or updated and made available to a small number of users for their review
3. The BI manager or project lead reviews the status of content being developed and provides feedback to the developers:

• • In other scenarios, certain business stakeholders are allowed early access to content under development

4. The Power BI REST API is used to migrate completed content from the development workspace to the test workspace:

• • Supported REST API operations, such as a clone report and a rebind report, are called via PowerShell scripts

5. A TEST App is published or updated and made available to a small number of users for their review
6. A user acceptance testing (UAT) user or team reviews the content relative to requirements and provides feedback:

• • If necessary, revisions are implemented in the TEST Workspace and the TEST App is updated for further review

7. The Power BI REST API is used to migrate approved content from the TEST Workspace to the production workspace:

• • Supported REST API operations, such as a clone report and rebind report, are called via PowerShell scripts

8. A production app is published or updated and made available to groups of users for their consumption:

• • Publishing and accessing apps is described in Chapter 11, Creating Power BI Apps and Content Distribution

9. Groups of business users access and consume the dashboards and reports via the production app from any device:

• • Measuring and monitoring the usage of the published app is also described in Chapter 11, Creating Power BI Apps and Content Distribution

Creating and managing app workspaces as well as publishing apps for testing or consumption are all simple processes that can be handled via the user interface in the Power BI service. Properly utilizing the Power BI REST API to copy or migrate content across workspaces, however, requires some level of custom scripting. IT organizations familiar with managing Azure and on-premises resources via Windows PowerShell can leverage these skills as well as sample scripts provided by the Power BI team as per the Power BI REST API section later in this chapter.