PilotPlanERP and finance · Enterprise · Marketing / Advertising
Fabric and Power BI Replace Synapse and Cognos
Published by its owner, anonymised. AI-generated, not a guarantee.
Decision brief, published plan, anonymised, 2 sources
The decision
Go with Microsoft Fabric (Warehouse + OneLake) with Power BI. The ERP flows into Fabric through Synapse Link, Synapse dedicated pools have a Microsoft migration path, and one F64 capacity serves 10,000 viewers without per-viewer Pro licences. This fits a team with some developers better than a multi-vendor stack. Ruled out: Stay on Azure Synapse and add Power BI and Looker (Google Cloud) (reasons under Compared options).
First-year total
$857,080
Live in
12 months
incl. UAT and parallel run
see timelineTop risks
The published summary leaves out the risk list.
Do this next
- 1
Establish a complete, triaged inventory of the legacy reporting and warehouse estate and a secured Fabric…
Tags show how solid each number is: S sourced, E estimated. Tap one to see what it rests on.
Problem
The current setup has a data warehouse fed from an ERP system via a data lake, with a legacy reporting tool reading from views and tables. Reports are slow and the tool is outdated. The goal is to replace both the warehouse and the reporting tool with newer, faster technology that supports an MCP connection and optional AI features, serving more than 10,000
Approach
Migrate the dedicated SQL pool into a Microsoft Fabric Warehouse, connect the ERP via Synapse Link, and replace the legacy reporting tool with Power BI, using Direct Lake for interactive prompts and paginated reports for scheduled financial output. Target: one reserved F64 capacity serving 10,000 viewers, with the legacy report estate reduced to core financial reports plus a short list of rebuilt reports.
Options compared
Microsoft Fabric (Warehouse + OneLake) with Power BI, paginated reports, and Cop Recommended
The ERP flows into Fabric through Synapse Link, Synapse dedicated pools have a Microsoft migration path, and one F64 capacity serves 10,000 viewers without per-viewer Pro licences. This fits a team with some developers better than a multi-vendor stack.
Microsoft FabricPower BIPower BI Paginated ReportsFabric Migration Assistant for Data WarehouseAzure Synapse Analytics (dedicated SQL pool)IBM Cognos Analytics
Stay on Azure Synapse and add Power BI Rejected
Synapse is not retired, but Microsoft sends new capability such as Direct Lake and Copilot to Fabric. Staying means running two platforms and rebuilding the legacy reports anyway.
Looker (Google Cloud) Rejected
A peer university is replacing its legacy reporting tool with Looker, which proves the pattern works, but Looker needs a copy of ERP and Synapse data in Google Cloud. That adds a second cloud and a second data hop for a team with some developers.
Databricks AI/BI Rejected
Strong for AI and open Delta data, but it needs deeper data engineering than a team with some developers can staff, and its pricing and ERP fit were not verified in research.
Tableau Rejected
Excellent visual analytics, but per-viewer licensing at 10,000 seats is a large recurring cost, and parity with scheduled pixel-perfect financial output was not verified.
ThoughtSpot Rejected
Best-in-class natural-language querying, but it covers only one of the three required capabilities. Financial pixel-perfect output and the standard report estate would still need a second tool, and pricing was not verified.
Upgrade legacy tool to 12.x in place Rejected
Several ad hoc query and analysis features are removed in the newest release of the legacy tool, and the prior version is out of standard support. Upgrading keeps the slow, admin-heavy platform the business wants to leave.
Cost, first year
Recurring lines are annualised. Sourced figures link below. Others are estimates: confirm with the vendor.
Itemised first-year total about $1.25M
- Partner migration team, 3 FTE x 9 months$486konce$486,000 est.
- Platform run labour, 0.5 FTE Fabric admin and BI support$390kyear$5,000/mo est. (~$60,000/yr loaded)
- Internal engineering labour, 2 FTE x 9 months (not cash)$198konce$198,000 est.
- Microsoft Fabric F64 reserved capacity (production)$63kyear$5,250/mo est.
- Training: 10k viewer e-learning and 60 creator workshops$60konce$60,000 est.
- Legacy tool run-off during 6-month parallel run$40konce$40,000 est.
- Power BI Pro licences for 60 creators (60 x $14)$10.1kyear$840/mo est.
Show table
| Item | Type | Cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Fabric F64 reserved capacity (production) | Recurring | $5,250/mo est. | Estimate |
| Power BI Pro licences for 60 creators (60 x $14) | Recurring | $840/mo est. | Estimate |
| Partner migration team, 3 FTE x 9 months | One-time | $486,000 est. | Estimate |
| Internal engineering labour, 2 FTE x 9 months (not cash) | One-time | $198,000 est. | Estimate |
| Training: 10k viewer e-learning and 60 creator workshops | One-time | $60,000 est. | Estimate |
| Legacy tool run-off during 6-month parallel run | One-time | $40,000 est. | Estimate |
| Platform run labour, 0.5 FTE Fabric admin and BI support | Recurring | $5,000/mo est. (~$60,000/yr loaded) | Estimate |
Timeline
Stated: 12 months incl. UAT and parallel run.
01Months 1-2
02Months 3-4
03Months 5-8
04Months 9-10
05Months 11-12
Phases are spaced evenly across the stated timeline. The plan did not give exact weeks.
- 01Establish a complete, triaged inventory of the legacy reporting and warehouse estate and a secured Fabric tenant, so no build starts on an unknown scope.
- 02Move the dedicated SQL pool into Fabric Warehouse and start the ERP feed, so the core data sets are ready for report rebuild.
- 03Rebuild the core standard and localized financial reports with their prompt specs, then run them in parallel with the legacy tool through at least two month-end closes.
- 04Rebuild the long-tail reports in waves, retire duplicate versions, and pilot natural-language querying with a small finance group.
- 05Roll out to 10,000 users in regional waves, then decommission the legacy tool and the dedicated pool after the parallel run is signed off.
Sources
This plan was generated by PilotPlan, then published by its owner after a privacy preview. Identifying details were removed automatically and may not be perfect. Prices and capabilities change: verify with vendors before buying. It is informational, not professional advice.
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