Microsoft Fabric Q1 New Features

In terms of new features and releases, Microsoft Fabric is gearing up to include all the new features being released in the end of Q1.

The Microsoft Global MVP Summit 2024, which was held on March 12-14 anticipated many great features for Fabric that are now released, with more to come soon. Though it is difficult, I will share my personal top picks for each main component of Fabric.

OneLake

Mirroring data from third party sources

This is phenomenal! This process uses the source database’s Change Data Capture (CDC) technology, transforms it into appropriate Delta tables, and lands it in OneLake. This allows real-time insights into an unified data location with Zero-ETL.

Azure Data Factory

Fabric Task Flow

This feature allows you to automate literally anything within the Fabric environment, facilitating the orchestration of components, data pipelines, notebooks, dataflows, triggers, or data refreshes.

Power BI

Folder creation at Power BI Service

This humble feature is a very much needed and highly requested feature from the community for years! The fact that it is possible to organize everything in folders facilitates overall management of semantic models, reducing administration overheads and improving security.

Now, let’s explore the most relevant and recent improvements and updates within Microsoft Fabric during the first quarter of 2024:

1. OneLake Integration with Azure Synapse Analytics
   • Write Data from Synapse using Apache Spark
     • You can now use Apache Spark to write sample data from Azure Synapse Analytics into OneLake.
     • Steps include creating an Apache Spark pool, connecting it to your lakehouse, and writing data to a Delta-Parquet table in OneLake.
   • Read Data from Synapse using SQL
     • Utilize SQL serverless to read data from OneLake within Azure Synapse Analytics.
     • Identify the desired table, copy the ABFS path, and query the data directly from Synapse Studio.
   • Mirroring data from third party sources
     • Mirroring simplifies data integration by enabling near real-time replication from your existing databases or data warehouses into Fabric’s OneLake.
     • It eliminates the need for complex ETL (Extract Transform Load) pipelines, making data ingestion faster and more efficient.
2. Azure Synapse Analytics Data Integration
   • Load Data into Azure Synapse Analytics using Azure Data Factory (ADF) or a Synapse Pipeline
     • This feature allows seamless data loading into Azure Synapse Analytics.
     • You can choose between Azure Data Factory or Synapse pipelines for efficient data ingestion.
3. General Improvements:
   • Cold Query Performance Improvements
     • Optimizes query execution for better performance.
   • Microsoft Fabric Integration with Azure Data Explorer
     • Connect to Azure Data Explorer clusters from Fabric using a user-friendly interface.
     • Access and analyze data in Azure Data Explorer with Fabric’s powerful query management and collaboration tools.
4. Existing Synapse Users
   • If you are currently preparing data in an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (ADLSg2) Lakehouse using tools like Spark, Synapse, or Azure Databricks, you can continue using your solution.
   • Upgrade to Fabric engines while keeping your existing setup intact.

Remember that these updates enhance data management, analytics, and collaboration capabilities, making your experience more efficient and powerful!

Let’s take a look at other newly-added features for Power BI, Power BI Service, and Power BI Custom Visuals.

1. Power BI:

• OneLake File Explorer: Introduced in March 2024, it allows editing via Excel and enhances data management capabilities within Fabric.
• Autotune Query Tuning: Rolled out in March 2024, it optimizes query performance automatically for better analytics results.
• Test Framework for Power Query SDK in VS Code: Released in March 2024, it simplifies creating and testing Power Query extensions.
• Reporting Visual Calculations Update (Preview): Improves visual calculations in reports.
• On-Object Interaction Updates: Enhances interaction capabilities within visuals.
• Mobile Layout Auto-Create (Preview): Automatically generates mobile-friendly layouts for reports.
• Spatial Data Integration: Shapefile Support in Azure Maps Visual: Supports shapefiles for geospatial analysis.
• Data Bars in Matrix Subtotal/Total Conditional Formatting: Adds data bars to matrix subtotals and totals.
• Write DAX Queries in DAX Query View with Copilot (Preview): Empowers users to write DAX queries directly.
• Enhanced Row-Level Security Editor Enabled by Default (Preview): Simplifies managing row-level security rules.
• Selection Expressions for Calculation Groups (Preview): Enables dynamic calculation group selection.

2. Power BI Service

• Edit Your Data Model in the Power BI Service – Update: Includes Undo/Redo, Clear All, and New Filter cards in Explore.
• Deliver Report Subscriptions to OneDrive SharePoint (Preview): Expands report delivery options via OneDrive and SharePoint.
• Mobile Custom Visual SSO Support: Enhances security for mobile custom visuals with single sign-on (SSO) authentication.
• New Title Flyout for Power BI Desktop Developer Mode: Improves developer experience in Power BI Desktop.
• Rename to “Semantic Model” in Power BI Project Files: Aligns terminology with industry standards.
• System File Updates for Git Integration: Enhances version control and collaboration with Git repositories.
• Folder creation: Now users can organize their reports and dashboards more efficiently by grouping relevant content into folders directly within the service. This feature simplifies navigation and enhances the overall user experience.

3. Power BI Custom Visuals

• Dumbbell Bar Chart by Nova Silva: A new visual available in AppSource for comparing two data points.Date Picker by Powerviz: Another new visual in AppSource for simplified date selection in reports.Drill Down Combo PRO: Enhanced drill-down capabilities for deeper data exploration.PDF Uploader/Viewer Inforiver Premium Matrix: Enables PDF uploads and viewing for document-based reporting.

4. General Improvements

• Cold Query Performance Improvements: Optimizes query execution for better performance.

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