Version control

Version history and source control are essential elements of an IT organization’s application life cycle management (ALM) processes and policies. Power BI files that are used in any production sense should be stored in a system such as Azure DevOps that provides version control features for tracking who made changes when and the ability to restore or recover files from their previous states.

For example, changes to an Analysis Services data model, such as new DAX measures, are typically committed to a source control repository, and tools such as Azure DevOps Services, formerly known as Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), provide features for teams to manage and collaborate on these changes. Perhaps most importantly, these tools enable teams to view and revert back to prior versions.

Power BI Desktop files (.pbix and .pbit) do not integrate with these robust systems in the same manner as code (text) files. That said, Power BI files can be included in...