Finding a Data Home in the Cloud: Microsoft Fabric vs. Azure

The following blog comes from Chuck Marschall, Data and Analytics Consultant at Superior Consulting Services.

So, your organization has decided to modernize its BI/Analytics environment by moving to the cloud.  Furthermore, it has been decided that Microsoft will be the vendor. The question then becomes:  Should we use the new Microsoft Fabric, or go with a set of tools from the Microsoft Azure options, such as Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL, etc.?

My resounding answer to this question is: "Go with Fabric." 

Why Choose Fabric

Choose Fabric for 2 business reasons that anyone from developer, analyst, to on up to the C-suite will love:

1. Simplicity
2. Predictability

Because Fabric includes a lot of the same functionality as Azure but in a more streamlined package and with additional options, it makes the work of storing, updating and visualizing data a whole lot more efficient.

Related Content: Will Microsoft Fabric Replace Synapse or Azure SQL?

How is Fabric simpler?

1. The entire data ecosystem is in one place.

Microsoft refers to Fabric as a unified data platform.  Whether it's data ingestion, modeling, cleansing or visualization, it is all done within Fabric with an interface like the Power BI service including workspaces. This streamlines the work of developers and users alike. 

2. Cost and licensing.

Outside of Fabric, each Azure tool must be licensed and paid for separately.  Fabric has one license and cost calculation is much simpler  - just one storage and one compute charge.  If more compute capacity is needed, there is one knob to turn.  

Data storage cost is a simple calculation based on size and region.  For those of us in the North Central region, 1TB of storage (more than enough for most organizations) is $28 per month.

3. Management.

Administration and monitoring of Fabric is also done in one location, lowering the overhead needed to keep it running smoothly.  Also with a simpler flow of data, there are fewer failure points, reducing the chance of failures and lowering the time needed to troubleshoot when there are failures.

Related Content: Should You Switch to Microsoft Fabric? A Guide for IT Directors

How is Fabric predictable?

Regarding predictability, with the simplified licensing model there are fewer variables that go into cost calculation, making it easier to predict costs based on usage.  

As with any cloud product, upfront testing under loads that match or exceed current production are needed. With Fabric, such testing should result in more accurate and extrapolatable results.

For any organization comparing Fabric to Azure, it’s like comparing a completed tapestry against one single thread. Fabric gives you more connectivity with less overhead.