Compliance Without Complexity

I recently got a chance to explore GraphQL, it was an absolute revelation. I realized I could finally have a more elegant way to expose the clean, curated data from our new Microsoft Fabric environment to modern applications. This blog post is a summary of that journey, explaining exactly what GraphQL is, why you need it, and how it transforms data access.

In this post, we will discuss the final two configuration categories associated with Cloud Adoption Framework's Landing Zone pillars as applicable to Microsoft Fabric. This is the final post in the 3 part series I started a few months ago.

Design Area - Governance

Microsoft Fabric capacity costs are surfaced to customers using the Azure Cost Management service. This allows integration of costs into the Azure Cost Management dashboard and alerting experience. Refer to this topic on granular information on the cost meters that are available in Azure Cost Management related to Fabric

Capacity Optimization

Microsoft Fabric’s technical architecture and commercial model allow for customers to control how much capacity they consume in order to optimize operational costs. Following aspects of Capacity configuration can be leveraged. Fabric capacity monitoring is discussed in a separate section within this document.

Capacity Reservations

Microsoft Fabric offers clients the option to reserve Capacity for a period of time in exchange for discount on operational costs. Opting into reserved capacity should be done in a planned and methodical manner to ensure that the reservations result in commercial benefit. More information on Capacity Reservation can be found here.

Data Governance using Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Purview offers rich, robust, scalable and comprehensive data governance controls. Using Purview, customers are able to define and apply sensitivity labels, monitor lineage, promote/certify data items etc. Full breadth of Purview Data Governance features can be found here.

Design Area - Platform Automation and Devops

Git Integration

Microsoft Fabric’s Lifecycle management tools offers customers standardized mechanism to collaborate and communicate when working in a multi-developer environment using Fabric’s Data Science, Data Engineering, Real-time Analytics and other capabilities. Git integration and Deployment Pipelines can be leveraged to achieve automation across development and release process.

Multiple developers can simultaneously contribute to complex projects in a single Fabric Workspace if the workspace is configured to use Git. By applying Git advantages and best practices, developers can collaborate and release content changes quickly and effectively across the Workspace.

More information on Git Integration in Microsoft Fabric can be found at this page.

Deployment Pipelines

Deployment Pipelines in Microsoft Fabric enable creators to develop and test content in the service before it reaches users. Following item types are supported as of March 2025

• Activator
• Dashboard
• Data pipeline (preview)
• Dataflows gen2 (preview)
• Datamart (preview)
• Environment (preview)
• Eventhouse and KQL database
• EventStream (preview)
• KQL Queryset
• Lakehouse (preview)
• Mirrored database (preview)
• Notebook
• Org app (preview)
• Paginated report
• Power BI Dataflow
• Real-time Dashboard
• Report (based on supported semantic models)
• Semantic model (that originates from a .pbix file and isn't a PUSH dataset)
• SQL database (preview)
• Warehouse (preview)

For more information on this feature in Fabric, refer to this part of the documentation.

Platform Automation

Microsoft Fabric is supported through comprehensive REST API that allows most administrative tasks to be scripted/automated. This approach allows predictable outcome each time an operation is repeated (eg. Deploying a new data pipeline). More information on Fabric Rest API can be found here.

This concludes the series that covers Microsoft Fabric Design Guidance using Cloud Adoption Framekwork's design pillars. From the time I published the first post in this series, there have been many changes, updates and announcements and I would encourage you to review the entire Fabric roadmap for latest information. You can find this at http://aka.ms/fabricroadmap 

Links

Microsoft Fabric CAF Configuration Guide - Part 1

Microsoft Fabric CAF Configuration Guide - Part 2

In this blog, I’ll walk you through the key differences between Microsoft’s DP-600 and DP-700 certifications — helping you decide which path suits your skills, background, and career goals best.

Unlock the full potential of teamwork in Microsoft Fabric! Discover how a simple, effective Git branching strategy—paired with smart workspace design—can transform collaboration, streamline development, and empower your teams to deliver high-quality analytics solutions faster. Whether you’re a data engineer, developer, or business user, this article reveals practical steps to minimize conflicts, boost agility, and bring software engineering best practices to your data projects in Microsoft Fabric.

Written in a friendly, simple style — for real beginners.

Overview

Over the past year, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to help Microsoft customers unlock the potential of Microsoft Fabric Capacities (FSKUs) by transitioning from Power BI Premium Capacities (PSKUs) or as they embark on their Fabric journey. During these engagements, we’ve tackled not just technical features, architecture design, deployment patterns, capacity planning, but also business considerations such as reservation purchasing strategies and scoping options to demystify how reservations work. Common questions I’ve frequently encountered are how to confidently navigate the reservation purchasing process, understand the scoping flexibility, and calculate consumption units effectively to maximize both value and efficiency.  

My hope is that this article will make your voyage smoother, offer clarity on these decisions, and empower you to make the most of your reservations when stepping into the world of Microsoft Fabric capacity planning!

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀!

Are you ready to level up your impact in the Microsoft Fabric Community? The new Fabric Super User landing page is where you can get all the details. Become the hero our community deserves!

Facing issues with data integration, performance, or governance in Microsoft Fabric? This guide breaks down the most common challenges and offers practical, real-world solutions to help you get the most out of your Fabric environment.

This blog is first in a series that is intended to help readers with most commonly used configuration options available when working with Microsoft Fabric. The guidance in this article is aligned to Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework's 8 design areas.