Microsoft Fabric
Microsoft Fabric: one governed data platform behind your reporting and AI.
Inturing is an Australian Microsoft Fabric consultancy. We connect your ERP, CRM and operational systems into a single Fabric lakehouse, so finance, sales and operations report from one validated copy of the data — and AI can be trusted to answer questions from it.
Plain English
What is Microsoft Fabric?
Microsoft Fabric is Microsoft's all-in-one SaaS data platform. It combines data integration, a single data lake called OneLake, lakehouse and warehouse engines, Power BI reporting and built-in AI in one environment with one security model. Instead of stitching separate tools together, every workload runs on shared compute capacity, billed as an F SKU.
Scope
What we build with Microsoft Fabric.
Every engagement is scoped to a specific process. These are the components that make up the work.
01
ERP-to-lakehouse data pipelines
We extract data from your ERP, CRM and operational systems — including Jim2, M1 and other SQL- or API-based ERPs — into a Fabric lakehouse on a scheduled refresh. Where an API is incomplete, we use interim lookup tables or controlled Excel uploads so reporting isn't held up.
02
Bronze, silver and gold data layers
Raw data lands untouched in bronze, is cleaned and matched in silver, and is shaped into reporting-ready tables in gold. Every number can be traced back to its source, and new systems can be added without rebuilding what already works.
03
Multi-entity and multi-currency consolidation
Separate regional or company datasets roll up into one consolidated finance layer, with currency converted using published RBA exchange rates, so group sales, P&L and balance sheet reporting no longer depends on month-end spreadsheets.
04
Job-cost and margin visibility
Labour hours, production data and job budgets are joined to sales and cost data, so you can see true margin by job, customer or product — and get alerted when a job or SKU is trending over budget.
05
Inventory forecasting and reorder recommendations
Demand forecasts, stock buffers and fill rates feed reorder recommendations, with an approval step in Power Automate before anything is ordered.
06
An AI query layer on governed data
Once the data is validated, managers can ask plain-English questions such as 'which jobs came in under margin last month?' and get answers drawn from the same definitions as the dashboards.
Is this you?
Signals that this is the right place to start.
If two or more of these are true, there is usually a measurable case for change.
- Finance consolidates entities or regions by exporting to Excel every month
- You can see revenue by customer, but not true margin by job or product
- Several Power BI reports each pull their own export and show different numbers
- ERP, CRM, production and payroll data has never been joined up
- Leadership wants to use AI on company data, but nobody trusts the data yet
- Report refreshes are slowing down or failing as data volume grows
Approach
How a Microsoft Fabric engagement runs.
01
Assess the data estate
We map your systems, APIs and existing reports, and confirm whether Fabric is warranted or whether Power BI Pro is enough for now.
02
Build one source end to end
One system, usually the ERP, is taken from bronze to gold with a small set of priority reports, rather than connecting everything at once.
03
Validate with the people who own the numbers
Finance and sales reconcile the new reports against what they trust today, typically over a two-week validation and training period, before anyone relies on them.
04
Extend in modular phases
Further sources such as CRM, production or payroll systems, and the AI query layer, are added as separately scoped phases, prioritised by value and data readiness.
FAQ
Questions we get asked.
Do we need Microsoft Fabric if we already use Power BI?
Not always. If you have one or two Power BI models, a small number of users and data that refreshes reliably, Power BI Pro is usually enough and cheaper. Fabric earns its cost when you need to combine several source systems, consolidate entities, handle growing data volumes or prepare governed data for AI. We'll tell you which side of that line you're on.
How is Microsoft Fabric priced?
Fabric is billed by capacity, not per user. You buy an F SKU — starting at F2, with each size doubling the compute — on pay-as-you-go or a cheaper one-year reservation, plus OneLake storage. Anyone publishing Power BI content still needs a Pro licence. Below F64, report viewers need one too; from F64 up, viewers only need a free licence.
Is Microsoft Fabric worth it for a small or mid-sized business?
It can be, at the smaller capacity sizes. A small F SKU can run a lakehouse, pipelines and governed reporting for a mid-market business. It isn't worth buying purely to replace Power BI Pro for a small team — the case is strongest when several systems or entities need to be consolidated.
What happens to our Power BI Premium capacity?
Microsoft has retired Power BI Premium per-capacity (P SKU) subscriptions and is moving customers to Fabric F SKUs. The move is mostly a licensing and workspace reassignment exercise, but it's a good moment to check whether your capacity size still matches actual usage.
Can Microsoft Fabric connect to our ERP?
Yes, in most cases. Fabric can pull from ERP databases, REST APIs, flat files and SharePoint. Where an ERP's API is missing data — general ledger transactions are a common gap — we use an interim approach such as controlled Excel uploads or lookup tables, then switch to the API once it's available.
Does Microsoft Fabric reporting need to be real time?
Usually not. Most finance and operational reporting works well on scheduled refreshes several times a day. We match refresh frequency to how decisions are actually made, which keeps capacity costs down, and use Fabric's real-time features only where a process genuinely needs them.
How long does a Microsoft Fabric implementation take?
Getting a first source system through to validated reports typically takes weeks rather than months, provided the data is accessible. The biggest variable is API access and data quality in the source system, not Fabric itself. Further sources and AI features are added as separate phases.
Is Fabric a replacement for our data warehouse?
It can be, or it can sit alongside one. Fabric includes its own lakehouse and warehouse engines, but replacing a working warehouse isn't the default answer. We assess your current data estate before recommending any migration.
Can we use AI with Microsoft Fabric?
Yes. Once data is modelled and validated in Fabric, AI features such as Copilot and data agents can answer plain-English questions against the governed model. The order matters: AI on unvalidated data produces confident wrong answers, so we validate the data first.
Related
Where this gets applied.
Operational analytics
Reporting that reflects current operations, so leaders act on this morning's position rather than last month's summary.
System integration
Connect ERP, CRM, MES, PLM and finance systems so information moves automatically — without replacing the platforms you depend on.
Practical AI and Copilot
Applied AI for document extraction, classification and decision support — deployed inside governed workflows with a human check where it matters.
Bring us the process that is slowing you down.
A 30-minute discovery call is enough to work out whether automation is the right answer, and what it would take.