Plan a Power BI app offer

This article describes the content and requirements you need to publish a Power BI app to Microsoft Marketplace. A Power BI app packages customizable content, including datasets, reports, and dashboards. Customers can use the app with other Power BI platforms, make the adjustments and customizations that you allow, and connect it to their own data.

Before you begin, review these links, which provide templates, tips, and samples:

• Create a Power BI app
• Tips for authoring a Power BI app
• Samples

Publishing benefits

When you publish to Microsoft Marketplace, you get these benefits:

• Promote your company using the Microsoft brand.
• Potentially reach more than 100 million Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 users and more than 200,000 organizations through Microsoft Marketplace.
• Get high-quality leads from Microsoft Marketplace.
• Have the Microsoft field and telesales teams promote your services.

Overview

If you're ready to create your offer now, see Related content. Otherwise, keep reading to make sure you're properly prepared before you start creating your offer.

Here are the key publishing steps covered in the next several topics:

1. Create your application in Power BI. You get a package install link, which is the main technical asset for the offer. Send the test package to pre-production before you create the offer in Partner Center. For details, see What are Power BI apps?
2. Add the marketing materials, such as the official name, description, and logos.
3. Include the offer's legal and support documents, such as terms of use, privacy policy, support policy, and user help.
4. Create the offer. Use Partner Center to edit the details, including the offer description, marketing materials, legal information, support information, and asset specifications.
5. Submit it for publishing.
6. Monitor the process in Partner Center, where Microsoft Marketplace's onboarding team tests, validates, and certifies your app.
7. After your app is certified, review it in its test environment and release it. This action lists it on Microsoft Marketplace (it "goes live").
8. In Power BI, send the package into production. For details, see Manage the Power BI app release.

Requirements

To be published in Microsoft Marketplace, your Power BI app offer must meet the following technical and business requirements:

Technical requirements

The main technical asset you need is a Power BI app. This is a collection of primary datasets, reports, or dashboards. It also includes optional connected services and embedded datasets, previously known as a content pack. For more information about developing this type of app, see What are Power BI apps?.

Get an installation web address

You can build a Power BI app only within the Power BI environment.

1. Sign in with a Power BI Pro license.
2. Create and test your app in Power BI.
3. When you get the app installation web address, add it to the Technical Configuration page in Partner Center.

After you create and test your app in Power BI, save the application installation web address. You need it to create a Power BI app offer.

Business requirements

The business requirements include procedural, contractual, and legal obligations. You must:

• Be a registered Microsoft Marketplace publisher. If you're not registered, follow the steps in Create a Microsoft Marketplace account in Partner Center.
• Provide content that meets the criteria for your offering to be listed on Microsoft Marketplace. For more information, see Have an app to list on Microsoft Marketplace? Here's how.
• Agree to and follow the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

Licensing options

This is the only licensing option available for Power BI app offers:

As the publisher, you support all aspects of the software license transaction, including (but not limited to) order, fulfillment, metering, billing, invoicing, payment, and collection.

Customer leads

Microsoft Marketplace collects leads with customer information so you can access them in the Referrals workspace in Partner Center. Leads include information such as customer details along with the offer name, ID, and online store where the customer found your offer.

You can also choose to connect your CRM system to your offer. Microsoft Marketplace supports Dynamics 365, Marketo, and Salesforce, along with the option to use an Azure table or configure an HTTPS endpoint using Power Automate. For detailed guidance, see Customer leads from your Microsoft Marketplace offer.

Legal contracts

You need terms and conditions that customers must accept before they can try your offer, or a link to where they can find them.

Offer listing details

To help create your offer more easily, prepare these items ahead of time. All are required except where noted.

• Name – The name will appear as the title of your offer listing in Microsoft Marketplace. The name can be trademarked. It can't contain emojis (unless they are the trademark and copyright symbols) and is limited to 200 characters.
• Search results summary – The purpose or function of your offer as a single sentence with no line breaks in 100 characters or less. This is used in Microsoft Marketplace listings search results.
• Description – This description displays in Microsoft Marketplace listings overview. Consider including a value proposition, key benefits, intended user base, any category or industry associations, in-app purchase opportunities, any required disclosures, and a link to learn more. This text box has rich text editor controls to make your description more engaging. Optionally, use HTML tags for formatting.
• Search keywords (optional) – Up to three search keywords that customers can use to find your offer. Don't include the offer Name and Description; that text is automatically included in search.
• Products your app works with (optional) – The names of up to three products your offer works with.
• Help/Privacy policy links – The URL for your company's help and privacy policy. You are responsible for ensuring your app complies with privacy laws and regulations.
• Contact information
  • Support contact – The name, phone, and email that Microsoft partners will use when your customers open tickets. Include the URL for your support website.
  • Engineering contact – The name, phone, and email for Microsoft to use directly when there are problems with your offer. This contact information isn't listed in Microsoft Marketplace.
  • Supporting documents (optional) – Up to three customer-facing documents, such as whitepapers, brochures, checklists, or PowerPoint presentations, in PDF form.
• Media
  • Logos – A PNG file for the Large logo. Partner Center will use this to create other required logo sizes. You can optionally replace these with different images later.
  • Screenshots – At least one and up to five screenshots that show how your offer works. Images must be 1280 x 720 pixels, in PNG format, and include a caption.
  • Videos (optional) – Up to four videos that demonstrate your offer. Include a name, URL for YouTube or Vimeo, and a 1280 x 720 pixel PNG thumbnail.

Additional sales opportunities

You can choose to opt into Microsoft-supported marketing and sales channels. When creating your offer in Partner Center, you will see two tabs toward the end of the process:

• Co-sell with Microsoft – Let Microsoft sales teams consider your IP co-sell eligible solution when evaluating their customers' needs. For details about co-sell eligibility, see Requirements for co-sell status. For details on preparing your offer for evaluation, see Co-sell option in Partner Center.

Related content

• Create a Power BI app offer