Microsoft Fabric; what is it and how is it changing the way companies are looking to implement data?

In the world of Self-Service data and analytics, we have seen the tool-first approach of delivering Power BI to end users and hoping that they would pick it up with some simple training. This had restrictions as often the underlying data would stop efforts in their tracks. Azure Fabric is offering a framework in Azure that allows your more savvy data people, to be able to more richly build their own datasets into the data lake, then build reporting, all within their Workspaces.

Fabric is a key part of the core Azure SaaS environment, along with:

• Microsoft 365
• Dynamics 365
• Power Platform
• Microsoft Fabric

This means that it is a core area for their research and development at Microsoft and that alone is a key reason for you to look at incorporating it into your roadmap.

It is an all-in-one analytics solution that gives you the ability to do:

• Data movement
• Data science
• Real-time analytics
• Business intelligence
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Simplicity and integration

It also offers a suite of services that combine many of the components that are already part of the native Azure platform, but that you have to previously work within different spaces, including:

• Data lake
• Data engineering
• Data integration

Our team has really found it interesting working with Fabric, thoughts from the team after working with Fabric

• “I like how everything is in one place, you just need to switch what product you want to use and put everything in one workspace if you like. You can also reference data within the same workspace. For example, you can access data in your Lakehouse which is referencing data from the Data Warehouse, which is pretty cool.”
• “The one thing I don’t like is that once you have done some admin changes, it will take a few hours for it to take effect. For example, the map visualization in Power BI was not enabled automatically. But once you enabled that setting, you had to wait for a couple of hours to be able to use that visual.”

You should really look at Fabric, if you:

• Are in the business and the MDP work so far hasn’t given them the outcomes they were promised
• Are a Head of Data who are finding it more difficult to get money allocated because they haven’t delivered to the pace needed yet
• Are an Organisation who loved the idea of Self Service but haven’t realised it yet
• Have users with really smart analyst skills

Join us as we discuss how Azure fabric can be the start of reducing the time to business outcomes:

Microsoft Fabric is redefining how organisations design, manage and scale their data ecosystems - but knowing where to begin can be complex. At Altis Consulting, we help clients evaluate Fabric’s fit within their existing architecture, migrate legacy systems, and build a modern, unified data foundation. Contact us to explore how Fabric could accelerate your data strategy.