Select, Filter, Format, Schedule, and Deliver!
PBRS™ - the #1 SSRS & Power BI Reports Scheduler - is an intuitive software product that saves time and money by making it easy to automate the filtering, distribution & delivery of SSRS & Power BI Reports & Dashboards - cloud & on-premises.
Simply define single or packages of SSRS or Power BI reports, schedule, run them automatically, and send the reports to print, fax, folder, FTP, SMS, Dropbox, SharePoint, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Slack & email in a number of standard formats including Excel, Excel Data Only, CSV, MS Word, PDF, HTML and more.
PBRS™ unlocks the full potential of Power BI Reports - standard & paginated - and empowers your entire organization to have access to the data they need, whenever they need it. Now you can schedule, automate, filter and distribute SSRS and Power BI Reports and Dashboards (either on-premises or in the cloud, standard or paginated reports) in whatever format you need to an unlimited number of people — automatically.
Not every team within an organization requires the same data. Different groups or individuals will have their own unique needs when it comes to information, and just as the type of information they need will vary, so will the format.
The best way to streamline processes across an organization is to get your people the information they need, when they need it, in the format they require.
Delivering data this way ensures people remain focused on high impact work versus digging for insights in a mountain of data.
PBRS allows organizations to send automated Power BI reports in whatever format you need.
This ability gives organizational leaders and department heads the power they need to allow people to do their best work. For example, you can send automated exports of financial information in Excel spreadsheets to your accounting team.
Structured to think and work like you do, organized and logical, PBRS™ makes the creation of scheduled reporting a breeze. There are only a few factors to consider for this service, making the setting up of automated report distribution even easier. Just provide the following three pieces of information, and PBRS™ takes over, performing professionally and efficiently, never missing a beat:
Then sit back and focus on more important and profitable business matters, because PBRS™ is on the job, performing automated deliveries to targeted recipients in the perfect format. And because the format is ideal, the recipients don’t have to do any extra work converting data to a manageable format, making for greater efficiency across the organization.
PBRS™ is the perfect companion for individuals who thrive on pinpoint accuracy and timing. You will be able to fine-tune reporting so it runs precisely when you want it — this means every hour, every third hour, the second Friday of each month, and even less obvious patterns, such as the 10th hour of the 10th day each month.
Even more valuable is the flexibility within the same schedule profile, so a report can run as many times you need, each time outputting new values in varying formats and destinations, and arriving at the right place at the right time. There is no reason to dread the complexities of SSRS & Power BI Reports and Dashboard scheduling when PBRS™ makes it simple, convenient, and hassle- and pain-free.
Precise and customized scheduling may meet most organizational needs, but PBRS™ can also produce reports based upon event triggers independent of calendars and dates. Through the power of real-time monitoring, your Power BI Reports and Dashboard distribution process can jump into action when an event triggers the need.
Finally, whenever a file is changed, a database value appears, an email is sent or received, a new window gets opened, or whatever other event you need to know about when it occurs, you have a product which ensures properly filtered, created, and distributed reports get into the right hands without delay or errors. Precisely what you should demand and expect from a robust Power BI Reports Scheduler.
It is easy to write one schedule, but would you want to write a schedule for each of your 10,000 recipients? The answer is “No”. And here is where PBRS’ Data Driven Subscriptions for Power BI & SSRS gives you an alternative way to manage many recipients with just one schedule.. A data-driven schedule allows you to drive all variables of your reporting requirements (filters, destinations, output formats, etc.) from database tables and queries at runtime. You can also use static text and default values should you wish. You can use Data-Driven schedules for a number of scenarios. Use a data-driven schedule for bursting reports based on filter values to specific formats like PDF, Excel and so on.
Here are some examples:
These advanced power features deliver true and ultimate data-driven functionality to your organization for the efficient distribution of Power BI Reports & Dashboards whether you are using Power BI Pro or Premium. For SSRS Reports, these features come as standard - even if you are using SQL Server SSRS Standard Edition.
What about workflows and other automated business processes that must happen before or after a report has been generated?
PBRS™ takes care of this need and solves the problem for you as part of the deal. Now, with the Custom Tasks feature, here are a few tasks which can be accomplished either before or after the production of a report:
Your imagination is the only limit to creating and implementing comprehensive work flows and business processes as part of your Enterprise Report Distribution solution. In fact, if you want to, you can even use Custom Tasks & Automation Schedules for most general business processes you would like to see automated without having to create and generate any reports at all!. That's the kind of flexibility you should expect and receive from the #1 Power BI Report & SSRS Report Scheduling solution on the market today.
Here’s the reason why we built the PBRS™ interface to mimic the look and feel of Windows Explorer: By working in familiar surroundings, you can focus on important matters, such as defining and scheduling report packages instead of performing acrobatics to learn & use new software. Using the always-familiar right-click context menus and full copy-and-paste support makes the creation of the most complex distribution schedules almost child's play.
The choice is yours: you can run your scheduling service as a Windows service or desktop application. Even better, it fully integrates with Exchange Server, Office 365, and SMTP. And if you have struggled with Outlook security prompts before, you never will again because PBRS™ handles this process smoothly and expertly, ensuring uninterrupted automation for your organization.
Getting onboard with PBRS™ lets you automate time-consuming and repetitive reporting tasks; more importantly, you are guaranteed error-free reports which are produced and dispensed as needed, eliminating expensive support. This puts flexible and powerful Business Intelligence directly in your control to use when and where you need it.
Start a free trial today. Easily automate the filtering, distribution & delivery of your SSRS & Power BI Reports & Dashboards - cloud & on-premises for 30 days with no commitment.
![]() |
Free Technical SupportChat, phone and knowledge database support for all technical questions or issues. |
![]()
|
Free Basic TrainingAccess to free training materials to help you get up and running with ease. |
![]()
|
Free SetupGet started at absolutely no cost up front. |
Thorough and customizable scheduling options. Schedule reports to be sent out at desired times, at a certain frequency, or use logic to fire reports based on desired events.
PBRS' comprehensive set of job (schedule) types gives you the power you need to automate delivery in Power BI & SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). |
Single Report Schedules |
A single report schedule is set to generate a report at specified intervals (Daily, Hourly, Weekly etc). It is exported to a specified format (PDF, Excel, XML etc). The exported file is delivered to one or more destinations (email, FTP, printer, etc).For example, email the daily sales report to the sales manager at 8am every weekday except on public holidays. |
Package Report Schedules |
Set up a package of reports to be generated at defined intervals and delivered to one or more defined destinations - together. For example, a monthly report pack (consisting of a number of reports) can be sent to a client with all reports attached to the single email or compressed into a single zip file, or merged into a single Excel workbook, or PDF file before delivery. |
Automation Schedules |
Write and execute simple or complex business process automation scripts, workflows or macros using PBRS' Custom Tasks. Use this schedule on its own or as part of a more complex automation solution. Examples include Send an email, Update a database record, Upload to FTP, Update a file, Print files and lots more. |
Event-Based Schedules |
Instantly respond to business and client needs. Fire off reports or automation scripts when a defined system event occurs. For example, trigger a report or automation script when a value in a database has changed, or when a new email arrives You can even use values in the email body text to populate filters, email addresses, database tables and more. |
Event-Based Packages |
String a number of Event-Based schedules together as a batch to run in a specified order and/or at specified scheduled times. Use to ensure that required conditions are fulfilled before a report is exported. For example, run the report once a month, but only if the monthly total figure in the sales database matches that in the invoices database. |
Data-Driven Schedules |
Bring Reporting Services functionality to Power BI Reports! Drive all variables of your reporting requirements (filters, destinations, output format, etc) from database tables and queries. For example,
|
With more output formats and enhanced formatting & manipulation options than any other reports scheduling tool, PBRS gives you the flexibility to satisfy your formatting requirements with ease. |
Acrobat (PDF) |
|
Character Separated (CSV) |
|
MS Excel (XLS) |
|
MS Word (DOC) |
|
Raster Image (TIF) |
|
Other available formats |
|
Flexible, highly customizable and function-rich destination functionality that surpasses automating reports with Power BI subscriptions. |
Printer |
|
|
|
Disk/Folder |
|
FTP/FTPS |
|
FAX |
|
ODBC/Database |
|
SMS (Cell phone Text) |
|
Microsoft SharePoint |
|
Other Destination Options |
|
No other automation tool provides the huge array of frequencies that PBRS makes available to you for scheduling Power BI reports, dashboards & SSRS reports. |
Every Day |
Repeat every x days. For example, repeat ever 2 days will run the schedule every other day. |
Every Week Day |
Schedules will not run on Saturday and Sunday. |
Every Week |
Repeat every x weeks. Choose the days too. For example run every 2 weeks on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. |
Every Month |
Repeat every x months. Specify only certain months. Also, choose special days of the month. For example, run on the last Friday of every month except March. |
Every Year |
Schedules run annually on a given date. |
Custom Calendar |
Create your own calendars for custom frequencies. For example. 4-4-3 |
Exception Calendar |
Schedules will not run on these dates. Use the built in public holidays or select your own custom "do not run" dates. For example, do not run on New Year's Day. |
Event/Trigger |
Schedules will run when an event occurs. For example, Database record is modified, Database record is created, Unread email is present, File is modified, Process exists. |
Repeat Until |
Repeat schedules at regular intervals. For example, Run every Tuesday at 8am and repeat the run every 30 minutes until 5pm. |
Start & End Dates |
Automatically set the schedule to begin on a given date, repeat at the given interval, and end on a set date. For example, Start on 1 Jan 2016. Run every weekday until 31 March 2018.
|
Give yourself greater control by using PBRS' Custom Tasks to create automation scripts and workflows. Use them as a complete automation process in 'automation schedules', or to provide additional enhancement as part of report export schedules. |
||||||
Additional Report Schedules Task Actions |
||||||
|
||||||
Available Custom Tasks |
||||||
|
Respond instantly to business and client needs by firing off reports and automation scripts when an event occurs. PBRS gives you a list of triggers to suit any occasion. All the triggers below can run if the condition is True or if the condition is False. |
Database Record Exists |
Apply to new database records only, or to any matching database records. |
Database Record Has Been Modified |
Choose to include New (Inserted) records and Deleted records. Use this for follow-ups by selecting to only match the condition if the record has been (or not been modified) in x minutes. Repeat the action every x minutes until the condition is no longer true, or run just once. |
Unread Mail Is Present |
Monitor a POP or IMAP mailbox for new emails. Forward or Redirect. Delete mail after processing. Read the body text and other mail sections (sender email, subject, etc. ) and use the values to populate report filters, email addresses, etc. For example, send the report to the sender of the email. |
File Exists |
Use this trigger to respond to the existence of a new file in a local or network folder. |
File Has Been Modified |
Great for monitoring log files, but works equally well for all other types of local or network files. |
Other Event Triggers |
|
Beyond its basic functionality, you want to know that PBRS can extend its capabilities to satisfy your needs as your business demands grow. Below is a brief list of some of the functionalities which put PBRS (and you) years ahead of the market. |
||
|
"PBRS - Reports Scheduling System from ChristianSteven, is a very well thought out product which really kept novice end-user in mind to create report schedules. It handles most of the report scheduling requirements out of the box. The system handles both SQL Reporting Services & Power BI in a single solution which fits for our current and future needs.
The support team is very easy to reach, and very professional. Product updates & patches are released every month, covering enhancement requests that they received from customers, which is nice!"
No. PBRS is an on-premise solution and will be installed on a server in your environment. So ChristianSteven is not involved in, or have access to, and your data.
No. PBRS is an on-premise solution and will be installed on a server in your environment. So ChristianSteven will not have access to any of your reporting data. We never keep it, and we never store it.
Yes, you set a schedule to email the reports at the time you want, regardless of the scheduled refresh time set in your Power BI.
Yes. You can select all the pages, or specify the page range you want:
PBRS impersonates the user that the account is running under. So if you only add one Power BI Account into PBRS, it is that account that our software will impersonate when running.
There is no user-level security for the report recipients as the reports they are receive are static (non-interactive). It is up to the PBRS admin who is scheduling out these reports to set filters on the report to limit the data that will be visible in the report that is sent. This can be done in PBRS as part of the schedule setup process.
Power BI's ExportToFile API allows the export of Power BI Reports to file using a rest call. The process of exporting a file is deceptively simple and consists of 4 steps:
The limitations (insurmountable hurdles), though, are many. For this reason, we have designed our own proprietary method of exporting files. Our method does not use the Power BI ExportToFile API so PBRS is not subject to its limitations. Here is a breakdown of the major limitations of the Power BI API:
Power BI API | PBRS |
The report you're exporting must reside on a Premium or Embedded capacity. | Reports may reside in Power in Power BI Service with or without a Capacity node |
The dataset of the report you're exporting must reside on a Premium or Embedded capacity. | Datasets may reside in Power BI Service with or without a Capacity node |
The number of Power BI report pages exported per hour is limited to 50 per capacity | The number of Power BI report pages exported per hour is limited to the peak renders per hour that your Power BI License allows |
Exported reports cannot exceed a file size of 250 MB | There is no limit to the exported report file size. Additionally, PBRS gives you the option to compress PDF files and/or zip them before delivery. |
The number of pages that can be included in an exported report is 30. If the report includes more pages, the API returns an error and the export job is canceled | There is no limit to the number of pages that can be included in an exported report. |
The Power BI visuals listed below are not supported. When a report containing these visuals is exported, the parts of the report that contain these visuals will not render, and will display an error symbol.
|
There is no limitation. PBRS is WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). |
Concurrent requests refer to report pages. For example, 20 pages in one export request on an A6 SKU, will be processed concurrently. This will take roughly the same time as sending 20 export requests with one page each. | Concurrent really means concurrent. PBRS not only exports multiple pages concurrently, but also exports multiple reports concurrently. For example, if you have 10 reports and each report takes 10 minutes to complete then the total time for all 10 reports will be 10 minutes because the reports will be rendered in parallel. |
The number of concurrent report page requests is limited as shown in the chart below: |
There is no limitation. |
No. PBRS is an on-premise solution and will be installed on a server in your environment. So any information entered into PBRS will be stored in-house.
No. PBRS is an on-premise solution and will be installed on a server in your environment. So ChristianSteven is not involved in, or have access to, and your data.
Yes, the server must be always on so that the scheduler - which runs as a Windows service, can execute and deliver reports at the scheduled times.
Using PBRS you can export the summary or underlying data of the matrix or visual to XLSX or CSV. Both can then be opened in Excel or read by other applications for data import.
When using Excel, the exported document will not look exactly as your matrix does on screen. Microsoft has not yet provided an API or a method for third-party applications like PBRS to reliably export matrix/table visuals as matrixes/tables with all rows and columns exactly as on the report. For this reason, this capability is not available in PBRS at this time. We will put it in as soon as Microsoft releases that capability. Until then, organizations are using the work-arounds that are available in PBRS today.
However, if you are using Power BI Premium, you can write a Paginated Report showing the exact matrix/table as you have in your regular Power BI report and PBRS will export that exactly as on the report. PBRS can schedule paginated reports in the Power BI service as well as on-premise. Many of our clients are choosing to use this method at this time.
CSV export has no formatting. PBRS will export the data and apply your chosen delimiter e.g. comma, space, semi-colon and so on.
Microsoft has placed a number of limitations that apply when exporting data from visuals. PBRS is subject to these limitations too when exporting to Excel or CSV. Click here to see the limitations document.
Note: These limitations do NOT apply when Paginated Reports are exported to Excel.
PBRS will schedule reports from all the following sources:
Yes, you can do this using PBRS' Data-Driven Schedules. A data-driven subscription for Power BI (and SSRS) allows you to drive all variables of your reporting requirements (filters, destinations, output formats, etc.) from database tables and queries at runtime. You can also use static text and default values should you wish.
You can use Data-Driven schedules for a number of scenarios. Use a data-driven schedule for bursting reports based on filter values to specific formats like PDF, Excel and so on. Examples:
Data-Driven Schedule for Standard Reports
Data Driven Schedules for Paginated Reports
Price comparisons are a great way to evaluate the ROI you will get from your investment.
It is common to use the first-year subscription cost of software as an absolute comparison metric. However, doing it this way will not give you the complete picture. In fact, the likely amount of time Enterprise software is active in an organization is 5 years. So, by looking at the total 5-year cost, you can better compare, not just with other subscription software, but also with software that is sold on the "licence + annual maintenance" model.
It is also common to use the "number of users" as a comparison measure ("What is the price per user?"). While this is great for comparing like-for-like software, you should look deeper into your company's requirements.
Can this software grow with you? Are the software's capabilities going to grow over time?
In most cases, the ideal candidate will not be the cheapest, but the one that fulfills your organization's current and future needs at a reasonable price.
Like its competitors, PBRS schedules and sends Power BI & SSRS reports by email, allowing you to use just 1 Power BI or SSRS license for report generation and distribution. However, unlike its competitors, PBRS offers the following capabilities. The list is not definitive:
Example uses are: if a deal is closed, a new order is created, a contact's status changes, a record is deleted, a file exist, etc).
Unlike its competitors, all editions of PBRS come with unlimited users. So whether you need a single user today, but will expect to increase to 100 in a year, or you already have 100 users, your purchase covers you. You don't have to go through the onerous administration of adding and removing users as your business changes over time because the ongoing costs are not based on the number of users.
ChristianSteven software customer reference rating
(0-5 scale)
Overall Customer Reference Ratings (674 Ratings)
ChristianSteven Software customer references have an aggregate content usefulness score of 4.8/5 based on 674 user ratings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We’ve spent nearly 20 years working through comprehensive solutions for our customers and what we’ve developed is software that subtracts the enormous cost of paying for users, and combines that with a tool that automates and executes business process workflows and reporting based on schedules and event triggers.
The combined impact of cost-savings and efficiency through automation has helped our customers simplify many functions of their business and save money while doing it.
With over 1,000 clients in 47 countries, we are committed to a culture where we put people first – our customers, our employees & our partners. We specialize in Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, reporting, report distribution, report scheduling, dashboards & automating business processes.
From scheduled BI report delivery to browser-based Data Analytics & mobile-enabled dashboards, the magic sauce is in our proprietary business process automation experience & know-how that leverages business rules, workflows & instant notification capabilities built right into our Business Intelligence, Data Analytics & report distribution solutions.