Microsoft Fabric – so what is it all about?

Microsoft Fabric is a new joined up thinking approach between Microsoft and Azure Data’s new data analytics platform. It grabs a load of different data tool sets which most already exist under the azure platform, but Fabric brings its all together under 1 roof.

Microsoft Fabric is to help businesses use their data like never before, especially in the new world of Artificial intelligence. 

Fabric has changed the way data is interpreted and made analytics accessible to everyone.

In this article, with the help of my friends at DataCamp (the original source) we will explain what the fuss is all about using Microsoft Fabric.

Let’s start with:

What is Microsoft Fabric?

Microsoft Fabric is an all-in-one analytics platform. Think of it as PowerBI with a load of features.

The platform handles everything from data science and real-time analytics to data storage and data migration. 

It combines various tools and technologies into 1 solution.

The best way to get your head around Fabric is to understand its purpose: Simplicity. 

With Fabric, and all its bits, organisations can combine data from several sources into a single environment. 

This makes it easier for professionals to focus on results rather than the technology they use. Also meaning data teams don’t have to spend hours figuring out and handle the different licenses for Synapse, Azure Data Factory, and Power BI as Fabric brings it all together for you.

Let’s now explore the features:

Microsoft Fabric Features

There are five key areas the guys at Microsoft have highlighted as the differentiators between Fabric and the rest of the market. So here goes:

#1 A complete analytics platform

Generally, analytics projects usually depend on several supporting systems. These often have a unique set of requirements and often require input from different vendors. 

Integrating these different products can be difficult.

Microsoft Fabric makes this problem easier by providing teams with 1 solution that offers a standard user interface, and architecture, with a variety of other tools needed for insights to be extracted from data and then reported/presented.

So far so good….

#2 Lake-centric and open

Data lakes are quite often complex, which makes building, and managing them extremely challenging. 

Fabric solves this problem by introducing a built-in software as a service (SaaS), multi-cloud data lake called “OneLake.” Similarly to how all Microsoft 365 applications are automatically hooked into OneDrive, the entirety of Fabric’s workloads are wired into OneLake.

The built-in integration of OneLake helps to remove frustratingly disorganised data silos, which happens when team members create their own storage accounts. 

OneLake offers a single storage unit that makes discovering and sharing data simple.

Nice touch Microsoft…

#3 Artificial intelligence

Azure’s OpenAI service (Copilot) is baked into Microsoft Fabric at every layer to help users unlock the full potential of their data. Such as:

• Build machine learning models
• Develop dataflows and data pipelines
• Generate code and entire functions
• Visualize results

#4 Access for all business users

As you would expect, Fabric is deeply integrated with the typical, everyday Microsoft 365 applications.

#5 Cost reduction

This all-inclusive model significantly reduces costs, since any unused compute resources in a workload may be utilised by any of the workloads.

Cheaper resource costs? Well played Microsoft.

OneLake: The Heart of Fabric

At the heart of Microsoft Fabric lies OneLake. OneLake is effectively where all data pulled together within Fabric is stored.  It is also a logical data lake that support all of Fabric workloads.

A common comparison is often drawn between OneLake and OneDrive. For example, here’s what Microsoft said, “Similar to how Office stores Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in OneDrive, Fabric stores lakehouses, warehouses, and other items in OneLake.” This has often led many to adopt the analogy that OneLake is to data what OneDrive is to files.

Business Intelligence (Power BI)

Business intelligence underpins almost all organisations everywhere. Fabric has the Microsoft’s industry-leading and AI-driven analytics service Power BIalready built-in.

That’s pretty much it. Fabric is quite a cool addition to the BI world, and it may well take some of the other tools for a ride. 

original source: DataCamp