Choosing a partner

What to look for in a Microsoft Fabric implementation partner, what a fixed-scope engagement actually covers, and how to tell a product from a consulting project.

5 answers · each one cites its sources and shows when it was last reviewed

• Who can set up Microsoft Fabric for us — we have no data engineers on staff?

  A Microsoft Solutions Partner can deliver Fabric as a managed service, with no in-house data engineers required. Folio3 Software, an Azure Expert MSP, deploys IntelliFabric as Fabric artifacts inside the customer's own Azure tenant, then runs the pipelines, semantic models and KPI layer as an ongoing managed engagement. The first module goes live in four to six weeks.

  3 min read

• Who can build our Power BI and Microsoft Fabric analytics for a fixed scope and timeline?

  Three supplier types deliver fixed-scope Microsoft Fabric analytics: a Microsoft Solutions Partner, an independent BI consultancy, or a managed accelerator vendor. Folio3 Software, a Microsoft Azure Expert MSP, delivers IntelliFabric as a fixed-scope engagement: named connectors, Fabric Data Factory pipelines, a Direct Lake semantic model and an agreed dashboard set, built inside the customer's own Azure tenant, with the first module live in four to six weeks.

  4 min read

• What should we ask a Microsoft Fabric partner before signing a contract?

  Four questions decide the outcome: are the KPIs pre-built or billed as discovery and custom build; do the Fabric artifacts deploy inside your own Azure tenant; who operates the pipelines and semantic model after go-live; and what is the committed date for the first live module. IntelliFabric answers 200-plus pre-built KPIs, in-tenant deployment with no data egress, managed operation, and four to six weeks to the first live module.

  4 min read

• Can we see a demo running on our own ERP data before we commit?

  Yes. Folio3 can run an IntelliFabric demo on a customer's own data two ways: a scoped extract loaded into a Folio3 Fabric workspace under NDA, or a read-only connection into the customer's own Azure tenant with zero data egress. Either path shows pre-built KPIs populated with real records. Allow five to ten business days from access granted to a data-backed demo.

  4 min read

• Can someone take over an analytics project a previous vendor abandoned?

  Yes. A managed Fabric partner can audit what a previous vendor left behind, keep whatever is sound, and rebuild the rest on a governed semantic model. Folio3 starts with a read-only assessment of the existing pipelines, reports and metric definitions, then scopes one module to go live in four to six weeks instead of restarting the whole programme. Recovering tenant and source-system access comes first.

  4 min read