Microsoft Fabric workloads
Microsoft Fabric brings data ingestion, engineering, warehousing, real-time intelligence, and AI into one platform built on a single data lake called OneLake. Let's get your data on speaking terms. We can handle the introductions.
Why Microsoft Fabric workloads
Give every data workload a place to work
Microsoft Fabric brings data integration, engineering, warehousing, data science, real time intelligence, and Power BI into a shared analytics platform with OneLake. The planning work is to match workloads and concurrency to capacity, decide what data should move or be referenced, and establish ownership for models and governance.
What you can do with Microsoft Fabric workloads
Unified analytics, no tool-hopping
Ingest, model, analyze, visualize, and predict all in the same environment.
OneLake, one home for your data
Works like OneDrive does for files, but for your data lake, making everything searchable, shareable, and secure.
Speed without compromise
Serverless autoscaling and governance are built in, so cost doesn’t spike when usage does.
Built-in AI for every role
Analysts and data scientists alike can use AI inside Fabric without writing code.
Sound familiar?
When Microsoft Fabric workloads is worth a closer look
Start with the work that needs to change. These are useful reasons to assess the fit.
- Several data workloads need a shared platform and a clearer relationship between ingestion, transformation, models, reporting, and AI.
- Data owners can define source systems, access, refresh or streaming needs, retention, and the measures that downstream teams should trust.
- The organization can monitor capacity use, choose an Azure region and billing model, and operate workspaces, security, and deployment practices.
What changes for your team
| Pain point | The fix | The result |
|---|---|---|
| Data is spread across warehouses, lakes, and spreadsheets | OneLake unifies everything under a single data lake | A single, trusted version of the truth |
| Data pipelines are slow and expensive to run | Fabric’s built-in Data Factory and Data Engineering workloads speed up ingestion and prep | Faster insights, lower IT overhead |
| Teams rebuild the same reports in siloed BI tools | Power BI is native to Fabric, running on the same data | Every team works from the same data model |
| Scaling analytics means adding more vendors and more cost | Fabric is end-to-end, serverless, and elastic | Pay for what you use, without adding vendors |
| AI stays a side project instead of part of the workflow | Fabric bakes machine learning and AI directly into the workloads | AI becomes part of the process, not an afterthought |
Microsoft Fabric workloads with TruNova
The partner behind the implementation
TruNova maps data products and workloads, plans capacity, builds connectors or shortcuts, and helps teams govern, model, and operate Fabric with Power BI.
Separate software from services
Software pricing and implementation costs
Fabric capacity is a shared Azure resource priced by Capacity Units and active usage for pay as you go, or by reservation for a selected term. The Microsoft reference overview lists $0.18 per CU hour in US West 2, which makes F2 $0.36 and F64 $11.52 per capacity hour; the Azure pricing page and calculator should be used for the actual region, agreement, reservation, storage, workload, and overage price. Capacity can be paused in supported pay as you go scenarios, but workloads that depend on it cannot run while paused. Fabric is not a per user replacement for Power BI licensing: a Pro license is required to publish Power BI content to Fabric, and free Power BI viewers have the F64 or larger rule for shared content.
| Plan or option | Published US price | Billing and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Fabric F2 capacity, pay as you go | $0.36 | per active capacity hour for 2 CUs, US West 2 reference; one minute minimum |
| Microsoft Fabric F64 capacity, pay as you go | $11.52 | per active capacity hour for 64 CUs, US West 2 reference; one minute minimum |
| Microsoft Fabric capacity reservation | Variable | 1 or 3 year reservation for a selected F SKU; regional rate and term determine the charge |
US pricing checked September 7, 2026. Microsoft Fabric pricing Microsoft Fabric overview with US West 2 reference pricing Understand Microsoft Fabric licenses Data Factory connector overview Create an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 shortcut Prices, availability, taxes, and regional terms may vary.
What changes the implementation budget?
- Data engineering, Data Factory, warehouse, data science, real time intelligence, Power BI, AI, concurrency, refresh windows, and background work compete for capacity. Use capacity metrics and workload tests to choose and adjust the F SKU.
- Source systems, connectors, OneLake shortcuts, copy or transformation patterns, gateways, credentials, network controls, and retention determine whether data should be referenced, moved, or modeled in Fabric.
- Semantic models, workspaces, item permissions, lineage, deployment, sensitivity, monitoring, Power BI licenses, and data ownership shape the operating model around the capacity.
Software fees do not include TruNova implementation services. Our estimate tool provides an initial planning range. We confirm scope, dependencies, and pricing during discovery.
Works with your wider business
Keep the tools. Connect the work.
Power BI
Power BI semantic models and reports can use Fabric data and share a workspace and capacity with other workloads. Confirm publishing licenses, workspace roles, capacity SKU, model refresh, and the audience rules before choosing a distribution model.
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
A OneLake shortcut can reference ADLS Gen2 data without copying it into the lakehouse. Confirm hierarchical namespace, target paths, connection credentials, access rights, network limits, and whether a shortcut or a managed copy is better for the workload.
Fabric Data Factory connectors
Data Factory can connect to supported databases, files, APIs, and other stores through Dataflow Gen2, pipelines, or Copy job. Confirm source authentication, incremental or change data capture needs, gateway and network paths, destination ownership, and capacity impact before scheduling movement.
Where this shows up
Industries that use this most: Healthcare and life sciences, Retail and e-commerce, Manufacturing, Professional services, Financial services.
Questions about Microsoft Fabric workloads
Before you decide
Is Microsoft Fabric priced per user or by capacity?
Fabric combines per user licenses such as Free, Pro, and Premium Per User with organization level F SKU capacity. The capacity supplies a shared CU based compute pool for Fabric workloads. A Pro license is required to publish Power BI content to Fabric, and free users can view shared Power BI content without a paid per user license when the content is in F64 or larger capacity and Microsoft’s rules are met.
How should we choose a Fabric capacity for our workloads?
Start with the workloads, data volumes, concurrency, refresh windows, and audience that need to run together. Microsoft recommends using a trial and the capacity metrics app to review utilization, then scaling the F SKU to the observed need. Monitor background and interactive use separately, and plan for storage, overage, region, and reservation decisions rather than choosing from a user count alone.
Can Fabric work with an existing lake, warehouse, and Power BI estate?
Fabric provides connectors and OneLake shortcuts for supported sources, and Data Factory can move or transform data through Dataflow Gen2, pipelines, or Copy job. A practical design keeps specialist systems where they are useful, defines the authoritative records and models, and chooses which data to reference, copy, or reshape for each workload.
Work with TruNova
Where are you starting?
Start
Outgrown the tools you have? Let us plan the next system around your team.
Optimize
Already using the tools? Let us help with the steps that still take too much work.
Rescue
In the middle of an implementation that is going wrong? Bring us what is stuck.
Support and ongoing education for your system and your team.
Already using Microsoft Fabric workloads? The $4,000 System optimization review covers one application over two weeks, with up to five priority pain points and a report with cost estimates. Implementation of recommendations is a separate project.
What could your project cost?
Wondering what it would take? Tell the estimate tool a little about your team and your systems for an initial planning range. We can talk through the details together.
A starting point for planning. We confirm scope and pricing during discovery.