Microsoft Fabric – for modern data analysis and smarter decisions. In an era where data is one of the most valuable assets for companies and organizations. Microsoft is now investing heavily in Microsoft Fabric. Platform that has been called everything from a “game changer” to “a data analysis smorgasbord.” We spoke with Göran Flink Joles, Expert Consultant Analytics at Implema, to hear more about this platform.
Hello there, Göran Flink Jones, What is Microsoft Fabric?
The short version is that it is an AI-driven, all-in-one platform for data management and analysis that brings together several of Microsoft’s most powerful services under one roof. Fabric is part of Azure and includes tools such as Power BI, Data Factory, Data Warehouse, and Real-Time Intelligence.
Fabric combines data management, analysis, and AI to help companies transform their data into smart decisions. This eliminates the need to manage multiple separate services and instead allows you to work more efficiently and strategically with your data. It is simply designed to make data integration and analysis smoother.
What are the Major Strengths of Fabric?
Here, I would especially like to highlight the following points:
- Integration of data: Fabric enables seamless integration of data from various sources, which simplifies data flows and improves access to information.
- Real-time analysis: The ability to analyze data in real time gives companies faster information and thus helps the business become more flexible and easily adaptable, or agile if you will.
- Visualization and insights: The platform includes advanced visualization tools that make it possible to create interactive dashboards and identify trends in business and the world around us, among other things.
- Scalability: Fabric can grow with the business’s needs and can handle large amounts of data efficiently.
- Security: With the Purview component, you can work with governance and protect sensitive information while analyzing data usage.
With OneLake as a common storage point, both structured and unstructured data can be managed in one place, making it easier to share and analyze information across the company.
In addition, license management has become smoother because Fabric is sold per capacity level. This allows companies to adapt their performance and costs as needed.
What Role Does AI Play in Microsoft Fabric?
AI is an important part of Microsoft Fabric. There, Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant, makes it possible to automate and simplify many tasks. For example, users can:
- Generate reports and analyze data in Power BI by asking questions in plain language.
- Create and manage pipelines in Data Factory without writing code.
- Generate and understand SQL queries in Data Warehouse and SQL databases using AI.
- Get code suggestions and automation in Data Science and Data Engineering.
Microsoft offers Copilot from capacity level F64 and up.
What’s Next for Microsoft Fabric?
Microsoft is investing heavily in Fabric and developing the platform at a rapid pace. They launch new features and improvements every month, including integrations with other databases like Snowflake, which allows companies to mirror databases instead of spending time on time-consuming data migrations.
We notice that interest in Fabric is high. Over 3,000 people attended the first user conference in Stockholm 2024, and more events are planned during 2025 in Las Vegas and Vienna, among other places.
How Can Implema Help Companies Implement Fabric?
At Implema, we have already helped several customers implement Microsoft Fabric. Our first customer went live as early as May 2024, and we have since carried out a number of projects where Fabric is used together with Dynamics 365 F&O as a source system. During 2025, we will carry out even more implementations, where we help companies integrate Fabric into their infrastructure and get the maximum value from their data.
Our strength is that we combine ERP and Analytics expertise, which means that we can offer a complete solution to our customers. We want to make data a simple and powerful tool that strengthens their competitiveness.
Finally, What are your Best Tips for Getting Started with Fabric?
Actually, it does not differ from a regular analytics project, even if the platform is new.
- Identify your needs and set a clear strategy.
- Start small – test Fabric in a pilot project before scaling up.
- Identify your data sources – which are the easiest to start with?
- Make sure to educate users, the IT department, and management to get support throughout the organization.
- Get help from an experienced partner for a smooth implementation.
Want to know more? Contact us at Implema – we will help you take the step into the data platform of the future!
