With the retirement of Power BI Data Marts, Microsoft is removing one of its most accessible, self-service data modeling, transformation, and querying - all in a single, user-friendly environment for PPU Users. Why This Matters For many users - especially those on Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) - Data Marts have been a foundational solution enabling them to: Perform light / heavy ETL Build and manage curated data tables Run T-SQL queries directly in the service Serve up models and datasets seamlessly into Power BI In short, Data Marts allowed individuals and small teams to bridge the gap between BI and data engineering - without needing Fabric, Synapse, or deep Azure expertise. Now that Data Marts are being retired, Microsoft is forcing users to move to Fabric - a so called promising evolution of the analytics stack. But here’s the issue: There is no equivalent Per User license for Fabric. If PPU users lose Data Marts and cannot access Fabric without purchasing full-capacity SKUs, they are effectively being left behind - with no viable replacement. The Proposal: Introduce a Fabric Per User License Tier We’re not asking for a full-capacity solution. PPU users have never been burdened by the kind of capacity and cost constraints and throttling issues that are common with Fabric Capacity. Their experience has always been streamlined, reserved and self-contained without the fear of hitting capacity crunches and that’s exactly what a Fabric Per User license should preserve. Grants access to core Fabric workloads (Lakehouse, Pipelines, Dataflows, Warehouse, Databases, Notebooks) Enables low-code ETL - in the same spirit as Data Marts Allows users to experiment, learn, and build without enterprise-level investment Retains the ease of SQL endpoint access and dataset creation If Data Marts are being removed, users need an affordable, flexible entry point into the unified Fabric ecosystem - not one hidden behind £4,000+/month pricing. The Bigger Picture Microsoft Fabric is a powerful platform. But power only matters if it’s accessible and scaleable. By retiring Data Marts, Microsoft is removing a tool that empowered analysts, lean BI teams, and small scale businesses to build impactful data solutions. Without a Fabric Per User license to take its place, you risk alienating the very audience Fabric was meant to uplift. The Ask We’re not asking for more - We’re asking for a fair replacement. If you’re taking Data Marts away, give us Fabric Per User. It’s the right move - For Microsoft. For customers. For the future of analytics. If you share these concerns, I urge you to vote for this idea. It's time Microsoft hears the voices of users like us - those who are being forced to either leave the platform or spend thousands on Fabric Capacity just to retain the functionality we once had. Your vote can help drive real change and ensure Microsoft delivers a fair, accessible alternative for individuals and small teams. Thank you for standing up and taking the time to support this critical need.
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