Microsoft Fabric QuickStart Assessment

Microsoft Fabric Quickstart Assessment

The Microsoft Fabric Quickstart Assessment is EPC Group's fixed-fee, 4-week engagement to determine whether Microsoft Fabric is the right next step for your data platform — and if so, what the implementation roadmap looks like. Output is a written architecture decision record with capacity sizing, TCO modeling, migration risk assessment, and 90-day implementation plan.

EPC Group has delivered Microsoft Fabric engagements since the original Microsoft Power BI Project Crescent beta program (2010-2013). We've delivered Fabric Quickstart Assessments for Fortune 500 healthcare, financial services, government, manufacturing, and technology organizations.

TL;DR — What's Included

Week 1: Discovery

Current-State Inventory

• Microsoft 365 footprint (E3, E5, F1/F3 license counts)
• Power BI footprint (Pro, PPU, Premium per Capacity)
• Microsoft Synapse Analytics (if any)
• Snowflake / Databricks footprint (if any)
• On-premises SQL Server / Oracle / SAP HANA inventory
• Azure Data Factory pipelines
• Data warehouse and data lake architecture

Workload Characterization

• Semantic model count and complexity
• Refresh frequency (hourly, daily, weekly)
• Concurrent user count (peak and average)
• Data volume (GB to TB)
• ETL pipeline complexity
• Real-time / streaming use cases
• ML workload mix

Compliance Discovery

• HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, FINRA, CMMC, GDPR requirements
• Data residency requirements
• Microsoft Purview sensitivity-label coverage
• Audit log retention requirements

Week 2: Architecture Design

Use-Case Prioritization

• Workloads that benefit most from Fabric (Direct Lake mode, OneLake shortcuts, Real-Time Intelligence)
• Workloads that should remain on existing platforms (multi-cloud Snowflake, Spark-heavy Databricks ML)
• Workloads that should retire or consolidate

Capacity Sizing

• F-SKU recommendation based on peak utilization analysis
• Reserved vs Pay-As-You-Go portfolio design
• Multi-region capacity considerations
• Auto-scale configuration

OneLake Architecture

• Lakehouse vs Warehouse decision
• OneLake shortcut strategy for existing Snowflake/Databricks
• Data domain organization
• Microsoft Purview integration

Week 3: TCO Modeling

Three-Year Cost Projection

• Microsoft Fabric F-SKU costs (Reserved + PAYG)
• Migration tooling and labor
• Decommissioning costs for legacy platforms
• Microsoft 365 Copilot integration costs
• Comparison vs Snowflake-Power BI Premium alternative
• Comparison vs Databricks-Power BI Premium alternative

ROI Analysis

• Licensing consolidation savings (typical 30-50% for Microsoft 365-anchored enterprises)
• Direct Lake mode performance gains (typical 60-80% query time reduction)
• Power BI Copilot productivity gains (typical 25-32% time savings)
• Real-Time Intelligence capability addition (new use cases)

Week 4: Implementation Plan

90-Day Pilot Plan

• Capacity provisioning sequence
• 1-3 use cases with measurable success criteria
• Pilot user selection
• Training and adoption plan
• Governance handoff to internal team or managed services

Production Roadmap

• Phased migration sequence
• Risk register with mitigation
• Decommissioning plan for legacy platforms
• Microsoft 365 Copilot enablement timing

Final Deliverables

• Written Architecture Decision Record (ADR)
• 3-year TCO model (Excel)
• Capacity sizing model
• 90-day pilot plan
• 18-month production roadmap
• Executive presentation deck

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Microsoft Fabric Quickstart Assessment?

A fixed-fee 4-week engagement to determine whether Microsoft Fabric is the right next step for your data platform. Output: written architecture decision record with capacity sizing, TCO modeling, migration risk assessment, and 90-day implementation plan.

How much does the Quickstart Assessment cost?

EPC Group fixed-fee Microsoft Fabric Quickstart Assessment: $50,000 (mid-market) to $120,000 (Fortune 500 with multi-region complexity). Includes 1 senior architect, 1 principal consultant, and project manager for 4 weeks.

Who delivers the assessment?

EPC Group senior architects with combined 65+ years of Microsoft data platform experience. Errin O'Connor was on the original Microsoft Power BI beta team (Project Crescent, 2010-2013) and is a 4-time Microsoft Press & Sams author. Senior architects bring deep specialized backgrounds in healthcare, financial services, federal/government, or manufacturing.

What if my organization is not yet ready for Fabric?

The assessment may recommend remaining on existing platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, Synapse) for specific workloads. The output is honest — if Fabric isn't the right answer, we say so and explain why. Most assessments result in phased Fabric adoption with selective coexistence on existing platforms.

Can the assessment include Microsoft 365 Copilot scoping?

Yes. Most assessments include Power BI Copilot scoping (semantic-model grounding requirements, F64+ capacity tier sizing, governance preparation) and Microsoft 365 Copilot integration considerations.

What's the next step after the assessment?

Most clients move directly into a 90-day Fabric Pilot Implementation (fixed-fee) covering 1-3 use cases with measurable success criteria. Larger enterprises move to Enterprise Implementation for full production rollout.

Does the assessment cover regulated-industry compliance?

Yes. Healthcare (HIPAA), financial services (FINRA, SOC 2), government (FedRAMP, CMMC), and other regulated-industry requirements are scoped during Week 1 Discovery and incorporated into the architecture design. Output includes audit-defensible documentation.

Next Steps

Schedule a 30-minute discovery call at /schedule or call (888) 381-9725. Senior architects (not sales reps) take discovery calls. We'll discuss your current data platform footprint, evaluate Fabric Quickstart Assessment fit, and outline next steps.

Related reading: Microsoft Fabric Consulting Services Guide, Microsoft Fabric vs Snowflake, and Microsoft Fabric vs Databricks.