https://www.sikich.com

Embracing the Future: Transitioning to Fabric Link from Export to Data Lake

Russ Tolsma

Aug 22 2024

4 min read

Transitioning from traditional data export services like Export to Data Lake or BYOD to Fabric Link signifies a major shift in data management. While BYOD continues to serve organizations well, support for the Export to Data Lake service will end on November 1st, 2024. Fabric Link, part of the unification of data from Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management (D365 FSCM) with the Microsoft Power Platform, simplifies the data integration experience. It provides a unified, easy-to-use platform that leverages AI and Copilot investments in Dataverse and Microsoft Fabric. This transition not only brings about innovative capabilities, but also reduces end-to-end expenses and effort.

The Power of Fabric Link

Fabric Link offers a simplified data integration architecture that results in reduced operational costs. It’s easy to configure and maintain via the Power Apps maker portal and requires minimal ongoing management overhead. Moreover, Fabric Link ensures secure, end-to-end data integration pipelines. With Fabric Link, your data doesn’t leave the Dataverse governance boundary, while authorized Fabric users can securely access data that resides within Dataverse.

Fabric Link provides organizations with the ability to export table and entity data from D365 FSCM into the Dataverse, which are then fully exposed in Fabric as Delta Parquet tables. As a result, Fabric Link ties Microsoft Fabric with the D365 suite of enterprise applications and allows users to access, manipulate, and publish data artifacts all within a single platform.

The Benefits of Transitioning to Fabric Link from Export to Data Lake

Reduced Infrastructure: Fabric Link’s connection to Microsoft Fabric eliminates the need for separate Azure Data Lake Storage and Synapse services for Dataverse data, reducing costs. Furthermore, it enables more efficient reporting with the industry-standard Delta Parquet data format. This format allows faster, more responsive queries and reports, and scales to larger datasets of any size.

Unified Data-centric View: Fabric Link enables organizations to create a unified data view by seamlessly integrating data from various sources. Whether it’s customer interactions, sales transactions, or service requests, inventory transactions or production orders, Fabric Link ensures that all relevant data resides within the Dataverse. This unified view empowers sales, marketing, and customer service teams to make informed decisions, personalize interactions, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Real-Time Analytics and Reporting: Fabric Link’s efficient data format (Delta Parquet) allows for real-time analytics and reporting. Organizations can build Power BI dashboards, generate insights, and track key performance indicators directly from Dataverse data. When you leverage Fabric with Fabric Link, you can fully explore your Dataverse data and from other sources. Whether it’s monitoring sales trends, analyzing customer behavior, or assessing operational efficiency, Fabric Link coupled with Microsoft Fabric provides the agility needed to respond swiftly to changing business needs.

Sikich Data and Analytics Support

During this critical transition, Sikich Data, Analytics & AI (DAi) is here to assist you. Our experts can guide you through the migration process, address any challenges, and ensure a seamless transition to Fabric Link. Additionally, Sikich offers comprehensive analytics services, from data modeling to advanced reporting and insights. Contact us today to unlock the full potential of Fabric Link with Microsoft Fabric and elevate your data management strategy.

If your implementation of Export to Data Lake or BYOD is upstream of other technologies, and you’re interested in how Fabric Link and Microsoft Fabric can help you on your data journey, then we can help you understand the implications of the change and also provide a strategy forward along with the team members to help you. Remember, the urgency lies in the imminent unavailability of Export to Data Lake. Act now to embrace Fabric Link and unlock its transformative power for streamlined data management and enhanced business outcomes.

This publication contains general information only and Sikich is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or any other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should you use it as a basis for any decision, action or omission that may affect you or your business. Before making any decision, taking any action or omitting an action that may affect you or your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. In addition, this publication may contain certain content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) language model. You acknowledge that Sikich shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by you or any person who relies on this publication.

About the Author

Russ Tolsma

Russ Tolsma is an Enterprise Architect with a degree in Computer Science from the University of Alberta and has a strong background in Data Integration across a variety of industries. Russ began his career in designing and developing software for the Industrial Automation space integrating data from proprietary devices on the shop floor and in the field to business platforms. Over the last 10 years Russ has been designing, creating, and implementing data solutions for customers using Microsoft’s D365 Finance and Operations platform and uses his expertise to help clients take their field and business data needs to the next level. Currently, Russ has a particular focus on creating cloud architectures and data integration solutions for customers that give them the ability to look at their operational data from a different perspective.