Microsoft Fabric is the unified data + analytics + AI platform Microsoft launched in 2024. It bundles OneLake (unified storage), Data Factory (ingestion), Synapse (warehouse + lakehouse + real-time intelligence), and Power BI under a single capacity-based SKU. It is the right default for organizations standardizing on Microsoft for data, OR for any Power BI customer who wants Copilot.
Fabric F64+ if you also want OneLake / Direct Lake mode for the underlying data, or if you want Copilot in Power BI (Copilot needs F64+ or P-sku Premium). Power BI Premium without Fabric makes sense when your data already lives in Snowflake, Databricks, or BigQuery and the migration is BI-only. Greenfield Microsoft customers default to Fabric end-to-end.
Two lines drive it. The platform line is Microsoft list price and predictable once capacity is sized: F64 is roughly $5,000/month, F128 roughly $10,000/month. The implementation line depends on scope, how many workspaces and semantic models you rebuild, whether row-level security and governance already exist, how many sources Data Factory has to land, and whether you are migrating off an existing BI tool or starting greenfield. We scope that against your real environment on the first call instead of quoting a range that would not fit your situation.
Fabric wins on Microsoft 365 integration, Copilot, and bundled BI. Snowflake wins on multi-cloud, query performance at scale, and ecosystem maturity. Databricks wins on ML / AI workloads. The honest answer is which one fits your existing stack; we help you pick instead of marrying one vendor.
Banking, credit union, and capital markets clients. Premium capacity for regulated reporting, Fabric F-sku math for ALCO and credit-risk workloads, governed Copilot rollout.
Hospital systems and payers. HIPAA-aware OneLake architecture, Direct Lake mode over Synapse, governed semantic models for HEDIS and value-based-care reporting.
P&C, life, and health carriers. F-sku sizing for claims and underwriting workloads, NAIC reporting on Fabric, Premium + Copilot governance for actuarial and underwriting teams.
State and federal agencies. Azure Government region Fabric deployments, FOIA-ready pipelines, sovereignty-compliant OneLake design, Power BI Premium for citizen-facing reporting.
Universities and academic medical centers. IPEDS reporting on Fabric, student-success dashboards in Power BI, capacity right-sizing for research and administrative workloads.
Discrete and process manufacturers. Real-Time Intelligence for OEE and shop-floor telemetry, OneLake for supply-chain visibility, Power BI for operations dashboards.
F-sku selection (F64, F128, F256) tied to your real workloads. Premium-vs-Fabric breakeven at your user count. Honest math on whether the Copilot capacity floor pays for itself.
Domain-driven OneLake design that does not turn into a swamp. Direct Lake mode for Power BI semantic models, Delta Parquet for portability, governance baked in.
If you have Synapse Pipelines or Synapse SQL, the Fabric migration path is real but not free. We scope the rebuild work and prevent the lift-and-shift trap.
Pipeline modernization on Fabric Data Factory. Real-Time Intelligence (KQL) for streaming use cases that Power BI alone cannot handle.
Copilot in Power BI needs sensitivity labels, semantic model certification, and RLS done right. We ship the governance before the Copilot toggle, not after the rollback.
Independent analysis of which capacity tier fits. Sometimes the answer is 'stay on Premium for now,' which most Microsoft sellers will not say.
We have shipped Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery alongside Power BI. Fabric is one option, not the only option. We help you decide on real tradeoffs.
F64 vs P-sku vs PPU at your user count is real money. We model it before recommending it.
Most Copilot rollbacks happen at month two when oversharing surfaces. We ship the governance before the toggle.
If your data already lives in Snowflake and your team is Snowflake-fluent, Fabric is not free. We say so.
The BI layer that pairs with Fabric capacity, with Copilot once governance is in place.
Most Fabric prospects come from Tableau. We ship the migration alongside the Fabric build.
OneLake design, Direct Lake mode, lakehouse architecture for the warehouse layer.
Microsoft Fabric consulting: F-sku capacity sizing, OneLake architecture, Synapse to Fabric migration, Power BI Copilot enablement, governance-first rollout. Honest about Fabric vs Snowflake vs Databricks.
F-sku capacity, OneLake, Copilot enablement. Honest about when Fabric is not the right call.
Microsoft Fabric consulting is the engagement-based work of designing, sizing, implementing, and governing a Microsoft Fabric deployment. It covers F-sku capacity selection, OneLake architecture, Power BI semantic model + RLS, Synapse-to-Fabric migration paths, Data Factory pipelines, Real-Time Intelligence, and the governance work that has to land before Copilot in Power BI is enabled.
A Microsoft sales motion. We do not take Microsoft commissions.
A capacity upsell. We have recommended NOT moving to Fabric several times.
A black-box build. Every workload, every capacity decision, documented.
Doing Fabric right includes controlling its capacity spend. These are the factors that move the effort.
The data, pipelines, and OneLake footprint set the build and capacity work.
Moving from existing warehouses or Power BI estates adds modeling and validation.
Sizing Fabric capacity and controlling spend is part of doing it right.
Certified models, access controls, and a semantic layer are more than a lift-and-shift.
You are Microsoft-first and standardizing on Fabric and OneLake.
You are consolidating Power BI and warehouse estates onto Fabric.
The numbers disagree by definition: see Semantic Layer Engineering.
Fabric F64 is roughly $5K/month, and the Copilot in Power BI capacity floor is real. We do the F-sku math at your user count, design OneLake to not become a swamp, and ship Copilot only after governance is in place. Sometimes the answer is "stay on Premium for now" , we say so.
Microsoft Fabric consulting is the work of sizing, implementing, and governing a Fabric deployment: F-sku capacity selection, OneLake architecture, Power BI semantic models with RLS, Synapse-to-Fabric migration, and the governance that must land before Copilot is enabled. Thinklytics does the F-sku math at your user count and sometimes tells you to stay on Premium for now.
Fabric and Premium have the cleanest ROI where Microsoft 365 is already the operating system, the data work is regulated, and the capacity math at scale is the budget constraint. These are the industries where our Fabric and Premium engagements have landed most often.
Start with a 30-day Truth Audit. We map your workloads, the F-sku math, the OneLake architecture, and a 90-day Fabric foundation plan , or a recommendation NOT to move yet.