Henri Aalto
Henri Aalto is responsible for developing Cloud1's technological expertise and leading projects in his role as CTO. Henri is also one of the founders of Cloud1.
Microsoft Fabric is a next-generation data platform that transforms how businesses manage and leverage data. One of Fabric's greatest advantages is seamlessly connecting different data services and sources, providing a gateway to a company's data.
OneLake and OneSecurity: Everything you need (and only that) from a Single Source
At the core of Fabric is OneLake. OneLake is much more than just a SaaS-based "data lake." It serves as a centralized, versatile data storage solution that enables data sharing from various external sources—such as Databricks, Google Cloud Storage, AWS S3 Storage, and Snowflake databases—all through a single interface.
In an ideal world, all of an organization's data is logically within the same Fabric environment, even if it physically resides in different backend systems and cloud services. This reduces the need to maintain multiple separate systems for data processing, leading to cost savings and increased operational efficiency as users can easily access the information they need.
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ntegrating data sources allows organizations to achieve comprehensive visibility across business processes, which in turn facilitates operational improvements and supports higher-quality, faster decision-making.
OneSecurity complements this ecosystem by providing comprehensive security features utilizing Microsoft Entra ID. This allows organizations to manage access rights and secure data handling broadly and reliably, with centralized access controls extending across reporting, analytics, and operational applications.
Purview: The Bonus Sector for Data Governance
As regulatory demands increase through the introduction of new directives, organizations face a growing list of data governance responsibilities. Organizations must document and classify data repositories and their use cases, assign risk levels, establish clear ownership, and implement controls to monitor everything. Moreover, these practices need to be fully integrated into the organization's continuous operations.
Microsoft’s relatively new Purview aims to bring an organization’s data under a single governance framework, regardless of where it’s stored. This vision aligns closely with that of Fabric, doesn’t it? While Purview and Fabric are separate products, they are designed to work together: the goal is for Fabric’s unified data landscape to be centrally managed through Purview in the future.
Purview allows for the (automated) categorization and classification of data and critical metadata management. It also offers basic functionality for ensuring data quality. While Purview is still evolving and far from its final form, it is advancing rapidly alongside Fabric. Organizations can already start using Purview today, and in the coming years, the combined use of Fabric and Purview will likely enable comprehensive control over an organization’s entire data environment with just one—or rather, two—tools.
Ready, Set... Wait?
For many organizations, Fabric already meets their needs, but larger enterprises with more complex requirements are just beginning to roll out their Fabric projects now, in the second half of the year. By then, the remaining essential features should be available as they come through the development pipeline. This isn’t just a technological upgrade—it's a comprehensive change management initiative aimed at fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making.
The truth is, Fabric isn’t fully complete yet. Key capabilities, such as management interfaces for robust DataOps, support for virtual networks, and certain monitoring and oversight functionalities, are still under development. However, Microsoft has provided a clear roadmap, and so far, they have delivered promised features on schedule. You can view this roadmap on Microsoft's website.
Adopting Fabric is straightforward, and for large-scale Power BI capacity buyers, it's even free—existing Power BI Premium subscriptions can be seamlessly converted into a Fabric environment. However, technology alone is just a tool; true business value emerges when data sources are systematically organized, permissioned, and centrally managed. The most exciting part is that this opportunity is now within reach.
Need help getting started with Fabric or want to discuss it further? Contact us!
Pictures: Microsoft Fabric Material