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“Supermetrics is a Bitter Experience! We can pull data from nearly any tool, schedule updates, manipulate data in Sheets, and push data back into our systems.”
Power BI’s Row Level Security becomes unnecessarily complex when embedded in Salesforce because you have to map Power BI roles to Salesforce users and manage authentication across two separate platforms.
Here’s how to simplify this by leveraging Salesforce’s existing security model directly, eliminating the need for duplicate security configurations.
Simplify data security using Coefficient
Managing RLS in Power BI requires creating and maintaining separate role configurations that mirror your Salesforce permissions. This creates ongoing administrative overhead and potential security gaps when permissions change in one system but not the other.
A better approach imports Salesforce data while automatically respecting your existing permissions and sharing rules. Users see only the data they’re authorized to access in Salesforce, and this security model carries through to embedded dashboards.
How to make it work
Step 1. Connect with existing permissions.
Import Salesforce data using Coefficient, which automatically respects your current user permissions and sharing rules. No need to recreate your security model in another platform.
Step 2. Create dynamic user-specific filters.
Set up filters that point to cell values containing user-specific criteria. This allows different users to see different data views based on their Salesforce permissions without additional configuration.
Step 3. Apply role-based data access.
Use Salesforce’s native role hierarchy and sharing rules to control data access. When users view embedded dashboards, they see only the records they can access in the original Salesforce environment.
Step 4. Set up automated security updates.
Schedule regular data refreshes so permission changes in Salesforce automatically flow through to your embedded dashboards. This eliminates the manual security updates that Power BI RLS requires.
Step 5. Embed with inherited security.
Add your secured dashboards to Lightning pages where they inherit Salesforce’s session security. Users access dashboards through their existing Salesforce login with no additional authentication steps.
Security should be simple, not complex
Why maintain duplicate security configurations when you can leverage what already works? This approach eliminates RLS complexity while ensuring embedded dashboards respect your organization’s data security requirements. Start building secure dashboards that work with your existing permissions.
