Discover
Process workshops, data audit, and a fit-gap against the standard product.
Phase 1 · Awareness
Strategic AI, data and analytics
Microsoft Fabric and Dynamics 365: operational analytics without ETL pipelines
How OneLake and Dataverse link so that operational data reaches analysts in near real time without hand-built extract-transform-load pipelines.
The short answer
Link the Dynamics 365 data into OneLake instead of copying it out. Analysts get a governed, current model, and the engineering team stops maintaining nightly extracts.
Stages
Operational data to a governed model
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1
Identify the entities Choose the tables that drive decisions: ledger, sales, inventory, service.
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2
Link, do not copy Use the Dynamics 365 and Dataverse links to Fabric so the tables appear in OneLake.
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3
Model once Build a semantic model with agreed measures such as revenue, margin and days to collect.
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4
Govern Apply sensitivity labels, row-level security and a named owner for each measure.
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5
Serve Publish Power BI reports and let Copilot answer questions from the governed model.
Decision points
Three questions that change the answer
Does the report need data from outside Dynamics 365?
YesBring those sources into OneLake and model them together.
NoReport directly from the linked tables.
Is the number a financial figure?
YesReconcile it to the ledger and mark its source.
NoA defined, owned measure is enough.
Who may see it?
YesApply row-level security before publishing.
NoPublish to the shared workspace.
Milestones
What done looks like, and when
- Week 2 Entities and questions agreed.
- Week 5 Linked tables available in OneLake.
- Week 8 First semantic model with owned measures.
- Week 12 Reports and Copilot questions live to the first business unit.
Principles we hold to
- One definition per measure, with an owner.
- Reconcile finance numbers to the ledger.
- Security is designed before the first report is shared.
- Fewer pipelines means fewer places to break.
Frequently asked questions
How does Microsoft Fabric work with Dynamics 365?
Dynamics 365 and Dataverse data can be linked into Fabric's OneLake, so analytics runs on current operational data without a separate extract process.
Do we still need a data warehouse?
Often a lakehouse in Fabric replaces a separate warehouse, but the answer depends on your existing estate and the other sources you need to combine.
Take this to your own programme.
Tell us where you are. We will tell you plainly what this means for your estate and what we would do first.
Book a consultation
Next: Pragmatic Copilot implementation: high-return use cases in Sales, Field Service and Supply Chain →
How an engagement runs
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It starts with a 45-minute consultation, then a discovery and fit-gap workshop on your own processes. You receive a written fit-gap and a phased plan before a programme is agreed. Four phases follow, each with something you can use and review.
Design
Solution blueprint, integration map, and the extensions we will actually need.
Deploy
Configuration, migration rehearsal, role-based training, UAT and phased cutover.
Support
Hypercare, managed services, client portal, scheduled optimisation reviews.
What drives the cost: users, legal entities and currencies, integrations, data migration and the gaps found against standard. See how pricing works, run the three-minute readiness score, or book a consultation.