Day 4 of the European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference

Introduction

The European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference is all about the AI-powered data platform designed to reshape how organizations access, manage, and act on data. Since the introduction the end of May 2023 (preview) / May 2024 (general available) so many features have been introduced. To keep up with all the changes and learn about features that can help our customers we are attending this 4 days conference in Stockholm.

Day 4 Summary

Last day of the Conference after a week fully packed with sessions you almost think there is nothing more to learn. But luckily this was not the case.

Microsoft Purview

In the keynote the new features of Microsoft Purview ?the way to put a security layer over all your data with the new sensitivity labels the information protection is automatically from source to PowerBI and even when exporting to Excel the protection is still effective. For example this means that if the policy was that specific data only can be seen by specific people that even when someone can share a report or dataset the person still needs to be able to have access to this security label and otherwise doesn’t get access. This also extends to the Copilot features making sure that the user can only access the data it has access to.

Dataverse / Microsoft Dynamics Finance & Supply Chain Management

Since many of our customers use Dataverse or FSCM, they need their data combined for reporting purposes. With Fabric shortcuts, the data is directly accessible from Fabric and can be used in the Data Warehouse or Lakehouse databases. Currently, the data is updated once an hour, but this will soon change to every 10 minutes.

Accessing most tables directly (some additional settings in FSCM are required) saves a lot of time. However, there is a downside: the selected tables are counted in the Dataverse storage (including the F&O tables). Although compressed (almost 40% size reduction), this significantly contributes to storage costs. On the positive side, it is fully managed and supported by Microsoft.

Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL)

As a Power BI developer working with Report Builders who create measures that need to be embedded in a model of a dataset, one of the issues is that they needed to be created one by one. Not only is this time-consuming, but you also need to set the correct formatting again. Using the new Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL), you can copy and paste the measures directly into Power BI Desktop or Visual Studio Code (yes, Power BI data model changes with GIT integration) and apply them to your model. But other parts of the model are also supported. You can simply click on a table to see the definition and change what needs to be changed. All changes are validated and can only be applied if they are correct.

Using Copilot in combination with this, you can generate descriptions for all columns, measures, and other elements. It also makes the creation of measures using natural language possible, even allowing for multiple measures at the same time. This might look like a minor feature, especially for business users, but it will save a lot of time and reduce errors for Power BI Developers and Report Builders.

Moreover, the integration of TMDL significantly enhances the flexibility and efficiency of data modeling. Developers no longer have to worry about the manual and repetitive tasks that often lead to mistakes. This tool allows for a seamless and more intuitive approach to data management, ensuring that developers can focus on more critical aspects of their projects.

Lastly, the ability to work with GIT integration enables version control and collaborative efforts among development teams worldwide. This feature is particularly beneficial for large-scale projects where multiple developers need to work in sync. The new advancements in Power BI, backed by TMDL and Copilot functionalities, mark a revolutionary step in data management and reporting.

Azure SQL

With the introduction of Fabric OneLake, it might appear that Azure SQL is receiving less attention. However, a session highlighted the new AI-driven capabilities of Azure SQL. Azure SQL now supports vector storage, which allows for vector search to be integrated with other search capabilities directly within the database. This eliminates the need for additional vector databases. Additionally, it is possible to update data and create extra columns using AI functionality, such as generating a category column, summarizing text, or correcting text in a column.

Great conference with lot of information. The next conference is also already announced next year September in Vienna!