Microsoft Fabric & Azure Consulting

What Microsoft Fabric is

Microsoft Fabric is Microsoft's data platform. It brings together what used to be assembled from separate Azure services: data ingestion and engineering, storage, data warehousing and Power BI. Everything stores data in OneLake, a single data lake for the whole organization, using the open Delta format on top of Parquet files.

In practice, data is loaded once and used by whoever needs it, from a Python notebook to a Power BI report, without making copies along the way. You pay for capacity rather than for each service separately, and access runs on the same Microsoft Entra ID accounts your company already uses.

For a sales team, the point is simpler: CRM, ERP and campaign data end up in the same place with the same definitions, and Monday's report doesn't depend on someone exporting a spreadsheet on Friday.

Our Microsoft Fabric and Azure analytics consulting

Is Fabric right for you?

Before building anything, we review your sources, data volume and what you already run in Azure or Power BI. Sometimes the answer is that you don't need it yet.

CRM, ERP and marketing ingestion

We bring data in with Data Factory pipelines inside Fabric, or with the tools you already use, and land it in a lakehouse or a warehouse depending on the use case.

Modeling and data governance

Layered cleaning and transformation with documented business definitions (we use dbt where it fits), so sales, marketing and finance mean the same thing when they say revenue.

Power BI on OneLake

With Direct Lake mode, Power BI semantic models read Delta tables in OneLake directly, without the copy that import mode requires.

Role-based access

Workspaces, item permissions and row-level security in Power BI, so each rep sees their own data and sales directors see everything.

Data already in Azure or another cloud

OneLake shortcuts read data in Azure Data Lake Storage or other storage without copying it. We decide what moves and what stays put.

When Microsoft Fabric makes sense

Fabric fits when your company already runs on Microsoft: Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Power BI for reporting and often some data in Azure. Having data engineering and reporting on one platform means fewer moving parts, fewer integrations and fewer permission models to maintain.

It also makes sense when your Power BI files are doing too much: models that import and transform data from several sources, refreshes that fail and nobody knows why. Moving that work into Fabric leaves Power BI to do its job, which is showing the data.

There are also cases where we don't recommend it. If your data is already well organized in BigQuery, Snowflake or Databricks and it works, switching platforms gives your sales team nothing new. Power BI connects to all of them.

How a Microsoft Fabric project runs

1
Assessment
Sources, volume, existing licenses and capacity, and the questions sales and marketing need answered.
2
Architecture
What goes into a lakehouse and what into a warehouse, how workspaces are organized and who can access what.
3
One source end to end
We start with one important source, usually the CRM, from ingestion to report, to validate the design with real data.
4
Remaining sources
ERP, GA4, ad platforms and the rest, on the same structure.
5
Handover
Documentation, report tuning with the team, and your people able to run it on their own.

Microsoft Fabric FAQ

Does Microsoft Fabric replace Power BI?

No. Power BI is part of Fabric. Reports are still Power BI reports; the data they read is prepared and stored on the same platform.

Do we need Fabric if we already have Power BI?

Not necessarily. If your reports work and the data is well prepared, Power BI on its own can be enough. Fabric pays off when data preparation has outgrown your Power BI files.

What is the difference between Fabric and Azure?

Azure is Microsoft's cloud, with separate services you combine yourself. Fabric is a software-as-a-service data platform that brings those functions into one environment, with OneLake as shared storage.

Can Fabric work with data in other clouds?

Yes. OneLake shortcuts read data from other storage without duplicating it, and Power BI also connects to BigQuery, Snowflake and Databricks.

Power BI consulting Data strategy Databricks consulting

Is Microsoft Fabric a fit? Let's find out

In 30 minutes we go over your Microsoft and Azure setup and tell you whether Fabric makes sense for your team. If we can't help, we'll tell you that too.

Book a 30-minute call