Speaker: Nikola Ilic, Data Mozart, DataPlatform MVP

For hundreds of years, alchemists tried to figure out how to turn ordinary metals into gold. The modern version of alchemists, let's call them Data Alchemists, try to turn raw, messy data into a high-quality, business-valuable asset.

A medallion architecture represents the most widely adopted pattern for organizing the data in modern data platforms, yet it's hard to believe that something so fairly simple by its nature may cause so much confusion and debate in the data industry

This session serves as a definitive guide to designing and implementing medallion architecture the right way! We'll start by explaining the core principles and recommended practices for implementing a medallion design pattern in a data platform solution.

We'll then examine different approaches to crafting medallion layers and answer the following questions: Should your bronze layer contain anything in addition to the raw data? Should you model your silver layer as a 3rd-normal-form-like-tables, or keep them as a "1 to 1" copy of the bronze layer? Star schema vs One-big-table in the gold layer? Should you perform calculations in the silver or in the gold layer? Or maybe in both?

Theory without practice is like a soup without salt - so, I'll take you on a ride to build the entire medallion architecture in Microsoft Fabric using a fictitious company that is just embarking on its data modernization journey. I'll teach you how to become their Chief Data Alchemist!

📅 Thursday\, December 11th \| 🕢 19:30 CET \| 🌐 Online Event 🎤 Speaker: Nikola Ilic (Microsoft MVP) We’re closing our 4-part DP-600 preparation series with a powerhouse session led by Nikola Ilic, covering some of the most advanced — and increasingly important — capabilities in Microsoft Fabric. This final session focuses on real-time analytics, security fundamentals, and the administration layer within Fabric — all essential for the exam and for operating Fabric in production.

📚 What we’ll cover in Session 4

1️⃣ Real-Time Intelligence

How to work with real-time data, event streams, and architectures that support instant insights.

2️⃣ Security

Key security concepts in Fabric: workspace governance, access models, data protection, and platform-wide best practices.

3️⃣ Fabric Admin

Administration capabilities every DP-600 candidate should understand — monitoring, capacities, governance, cost management, and operational oversight.

🎯 Who is this session for?

• DP-600 exam candidates
• Data engineers & analytics engineers
• Power BI developers expanding into Fabric admin and security
• Anyone deploying or maintaining Fabric solutions in production environments

🔔 Call to Action

👉 RSVP now to join the final session of the series! 👉 Share the event with your network and help others prepare for DP-600. Let’s wrap up the series strong and continue building momentum in the Athens and Berlin Power BI communities!

In the rapidly evolving world of data and analytics, professionals face the challenge of navigating complex platforms in order to build more efficient solutions. Microsoft Fabric, hailed as Microsoft’s “biggest data product in history after SQL Server,” offers powerful capabilities but comes with a steep learning curve. The myriad of choices within Fabric can be overwhelming, with multiple ways to tackle tasks, not all of which are equally efficient. This book serves as a definitive roadmap to understanding Microsoft Fabric—and leveraging it to suit your needs. Authors Nikola Ilic and Ben Weissman demystify the core concepts and components necessary to build, manage, and administer robust data solutions within this game-changing product. Discover the core Microsoft Fabric components and understand key concepts and techniques for building a robust data platform Learn to apply Microsoft Fabric effectively in your day-to-day job Understand the concept of a lake-centric architecture Gain the skills to implement a scalable and efficient end-to-end analytics solution Manage and administer a Fabric tenant

You've heard about the Direct Lake mode in Microsoft Fabric, and, as a Power BI professional, you are curious to learn what all the fuss is about and how you can leverage this groundbreaking feature in real-life scenarios. How does Direct Lake work under the hood? Is it a replacement for the Import and DirectQuery mode? When and why to use Direct Lake over Import mode? These are just some of the questions that we are going to address in this demo-packed session.

We will dive deep into Direct Lake's architecture, explain its core concepts, and put it in the ultimate 1:1 comparison with the Import mode! We'll examine various concepts and features that are exclusively relevant to Direct Lake, such as how to refresh the data in Direct Lake models, why some columns are hot and some others are not, and many more...

By the end of this session, you'll get not only a deep understanding of Direct Lake internals, but also learn in which scenarios to choose the "Direct Lake path".

A little about Nikola: I'm making music from the data! Power BI and Microsoft Fabric addict, Microsoft Data Platform MVP, Pluralsight Author, O'Reilly Instructor, blogger, speaker...Interested in everything related to data - always eager to extract valuable info from raw data in the most effective way.

Multi-year experience working with (predominantly) Microsoft Data Platform (SQL Server, SSAS, SSIS, SSRS, and Power BI). Father of 2 and a true football (and Barca) fan!

PBIBRUM - November meetup with Chris Webb and Nikola Ilic!

Join us in person for the #PBIBRUM November meetup in the Robert Walters offices.

Agenda:

17:45 - Doors open

18:00 - Intros

18:05 - Chris Webb: What’s new in Power Query in Power BI, Excel and Fabric? Power Query is the self-service data transformation tool in Power BI Desktop, Fabric Dataflows and Excel. In this session you'll find out about new user interface features, new M functions, new data sources and data destinations, and lots more new functionality that has been added in the last year.

18:50 - Break - Networking with free pizza and drinks!

19:10 - Nikola Ilic: Crash course on Data Visualisation in Power BI You've connected to a data source and imported data into Power BI - now what? You need to display the information to users in the most effective way!

Is 40 million of revenue good or bad? Are your visuals equally accessible to anyone? How to display detailed data, or highlight important points?

In this session, we'll examine different ways of (mis)representing data in your visuals. You'll understand why context is the key, how to choose the appropriate visualization type for certain business scenarios, and how to configure and format visualizations to provide additional value to your Power BI reports.

20:00 - Finish

📍Location: Eleven Brindley Place, 9th Floor 11, 2 Brunswick Square, Birmingham B1 2LP

Fabric Explorers is back, right where we left off! We are excited to invite you to our upcoming community event on October 28th with Nikola Ilic!

Direct Lake in Microsoft Fabric - Everything you need to know! Date: October 28th, 2024 Time: 18:00 CET to 19:30 CET Speaker: Nikola Ilic, Data Mozart, Microsoft Data Platform MVP

You've heard about the Direct Lake mode in Microsoft Fabric, and, as a Power BI professional, you are curious to learn what all the fuss is about and how you can leverage this groundbreaking feature in real-life scenarios. How does Direct Lake work under the hood? Is it a replacement for the Import and DirectQuery mode? When and why to use Direct Lake over Import mode? These are just some of the questions that we are going to address in this demo-packed session. We will dive deep into Direct Lake's architecture, explain its core concepts, and put it in the ultimate 1:1 comparison with the Import mode! We'll examine various concepts and features that are exclusively relevant to Direct Lake, such as how to refresh the data in Direct Lake models, why some columns are hot and some others are not, and many more... By the end of this session, you'll get not only a deep understanding of Direct Lake internals, but also learn in which scenarios to choose the "Direct Lake path".

To attend, mark yourself as "Going" on the event page and add to your calendar. The join link will be shared closer to the session date. Check back on the event page at session time for the link.

(en español a continuación)

This time around Nikola Ilic will be presenting at PUG Barcelona and he will tell us all about Direct Lake the new connection mode that came with MS Fabric. Nikola is super active on Twitter and LinkedIn, and does a ton of trainings and articles on his blog. And last but not least Nikola is a fan of Barcelona, and in particular FC Barcelona. We love to have him around!

En esta ocasión Nikola Ilic dará una sesión en PUG Barcelona y nos contará todo sobre Direct Lake, el nuevo modo de conexión que viene con MS Fabric. Nikola es muy activo en Twitter y LinkedIn, y realiza un montón de formaciones y artículos en su blog. Y por último, pero no menos importante, Nikola es fanático de Barcelona y, en particular, del FC Barcelona. ¡Nos encanta tenerlo con nosotros!

La traducción simulánea se realizará en esta reunion de google meet https://meet.google.com/tjd-mthm-kfw

Join our Microsoft Fabric - UK User Group for our webinar in association with Onyx Data (https://onyxdata.co.uk).

This session we are excited to announce our host Microsoft MVP Leon Gordon and co-host Microsoft MVP Pragati Jain will be introducing Microsoft MVP Nikola Ilic.

Join the Microsoft Fabric UK - User Group on -

Microsoft Community - https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-BI-UK-User-Group/gh-p/pbi_UK_usergroup LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8909321/ MeetUp - https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-power-bi-uk/

Session Abstract -

You've heard about the Direct Lake mode in Microsoft Fabric, and, as a Power BI professional, you are curious to learn what all the fuss is about and how you can leverage this groundbreaking feature in real-life scenarios. How does Direct Lake work under the hood? Is it a replacement for the Import and DirectQuery mode? When and why to use Direct Lake over Import mode? These are just some of the questions that we are going to address in this demo-packed session.

We will dive deep into Direct Lake's architecture, explain its core concepts, and put it in the ultimate 1:1 comparison with the Import mode! We'll examine various concepts and features that are exclusively relevant to Direct Lake, such as how to refresh the data in Direct Lake models, why some columns are hot and some others are not, and many more... By the end of this session, you'll get not only a deep understanding of Direct Lake internals, but also learn in which scenarios to choose the "Direct Lake path".

Biography

I'm making music from the data! Power BI and Microsoft Fabric addict, Microsoft Data Platform MVP, Pluralsight Author, O'Reilly instructor, blogger, speaker...Interested in everything related to data - always eager to extract valuable info from raw data in the most effective way. Multi-year experience working with (predominantly) Microsoft Data Platform (SQL Server, SSAS, SSIS, SSRS, and Power BI). Father of 2 and a true football (and Barca) fan!

Social Media / Website Links http://data-mozart.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikola-ilic-data-mozart/ https://twitter.com/DataMozart

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming community event on March 6th featuring two insightful sessions:

Session 1: A Whirlwind Tour on Microsoft Fabric! Date: March 6th, 2024 Time: 18:00 CET Speaker: Nikola Ilic, Data Mozart, Microsoft Data Platform MVP Session Description: So, you’ve heard about the “latest and greatest” Microsoft solution that will automagically solve all your data analytics and AI challenges? But, is it really like that? Should we all migrate to Fabric or should we stick with our current data solutions? If you ask yourself any of these questions, then this session is for you! We’ll explain what Microsoft Fabric is, and what are the core components of this new offering. You’ll also learn about the underlying architecture, Fabric licensing options, and possible real-life use cases.

Questions If any , Then Break

Session 2: Git Source Control In Power BI and Fabric Date: March 6th, 2024 Time: 19:00 CET Speaker: Dennes Torres, Data Platform MVP Session Description: Git support is a long awaited feature in Power BI. It's finally available in Power BI Desktop and Microsoft Fabric Portal (former Power BI Portal). Let's discover how it works and what are the possible architectures we can implement using Power BI GIT Support.

To attend, mark yourself as "Going" on the event page and add to your calendar. The join link will be shared closer to the session date. Check back on the event page at session time for the link.

Looking forward to insightful discussions!

We are 🔙, and we are back with a great event! On the 16th of January Microsoft MVP Nikola Ilic will guide us through a tour of Microsoft's new data platform: Fabric!

Are you interested in going beyond the hype and demystifying the platform's features and underlying technology? Do you want to know more about the licensing options and real use-cases? 🧐

Then join us and Nikola on January the 16th! 🤩 See you soon!

LinkedIn event

Join our Microsoft Fabric - UK User Group for our webinar in association with Onyx Data (https://onyxdata.co.uk).

In this session we are excited to announce our host Microsoft MVP Leon Gordon and co-host Microsoft MVP Pragati Jain will be introducing hosting a table talk with Microsoft MVP's Andy Cutler, Injae Park, Mark Wilcock and Nikola Ilic.

Join the Microsoft Fabric UK - User Group on -

Microsoft Community - https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-BI-UK-User-Group/gh-p/pbi_UK_usergroup LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8909321/ MeetUp - https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-power-bi-uk/

Join us for an immersive table talk session at the Microsoft Fabric UK User Group 2023 Wrap-Up, featuring an esteemed panel of Microsoft MVPs - Andy Cutler, Injae Park, Mark Wilcock, and Nikola Ilic. In this engaging discussion, we will dive deep into the exciting world of Power BI and Microsoft Fabric, exploring the news, releases, and trends that shaped 2023.

Get ready to hear firsthand insights from our MVPs, as we share our personal favorites and explore topics like Fabric, Copilot, other LLM products, conferences, and predictions for the upcoming year.

Key Takeaways: 1️⃣ Power BI and Microsoft Fabric News: Stay up-to-date with the latest developments and announcements in the Power BI and Microsoft Fabric ecosystem. Explore the new features, enhancements, and tools that were introduced in 2023, and gain a comprehensive understanding of their impact on data visualisation, analysis, and overall data-driven decision-making. 2️⃣ Unveiling Our Favorites: Hear from our MVP panelists as they reveal their favorite Power BI and Microsoft Fabric releases of 2023. Gain insights into the functionalities, advantages, and unique use cases that made these releases stand out, and discover how they can enhance your data analytics journey. 3️⃣ Exploring Fabric, Copilot, and LLM Products: Discussing the capabilities of Microsoft Fabric, Copilot, and other LLM (Large Language Models) products. Understand how Fabric drives a lake-centric and open approach to data management, empowering organizations to realize the full potential of their data. Discover the advantages of Copilot in generating code and insights, and explore the wider LLM product landscape to uncover hidden gems for your data projects. 4️⃣ Insights from Conferences: Extract key learnings and highlights from influential conferences in the Power BI and Microsoft Fabric sphere and discover the emerging trends that will shape the industry in the coming year. 5️⃣ Predictions for the Future: Engage in stimulating conversations as our MVPs share their predictions and visions for the future of Power BI and Microsoft Fabric. Explore the potential advancements, challenges, and opportunities that lie ahead, and gain valuable insights to help you stay ahead of the curve in the evolving data landscape.

The Microsoft Fabric UK User Group 2023 Wrap Up promises to be an information-packed session, providing you with an insider's view of the latest Power BI and Microsoft Fabric news and releases.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from industry experts MVPs as we discuss our favorites, explore key topics, and predict what's next for Power BI and Microsoft Fabric.

Secure your seat at the table talk and join us in unraveling the exciting possibilities that lie ahead in the dynamic world of Power BI and Microsoft Fabric!