Why SMBs Struggle with Data Visibility
Last week, Khaled had the opportunity to join Kevin & Chris on “Fabric Friday” podcast, diving deep into the transformative power of Microsoft Fabric for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). The discussion touched on everything from simplifying data management to the competitive advantages of Fabric. Here’s a recap of the key insights shared.
Podcast Quote:
“I was an analyst running 10Ks and stuff like that with the CEOs and whatnot. And then I just got tired of IT telling me, ‘Three years down the road, I’ll give you all your data.’ I was like, there has to be a better way.”
For many SMBs, the challenge isn’t just about managing data—it’s about gaining timely access to insights. Traditional data solutions are expensive and require specialized skills, which often means SMBs are left behind when it comes to leveraging data for decision-making.
Real-World SMB Success Stories: Unlocking Data for Visibility and Decision-Making
Architectural Design Firm: Overcoming Cloud ERP Data Limitations
Many modern SMBs rely on cloud ERPs, which are great in a SaaS environment but come with a major drawback: the lack of direct access to the underlying database. Instead, businesses must extract data via APIs, which are often complex and limited in functionality, making it difficult to blend ERP data with other business-critical sources.
The challenge for this architectural design firm was clear, they needed to integrate ERP data with external business information, but API constraints made this difficult. With Microsoft Fabric, they were able to unify their data sources, creating seamless reports that provided a full business view in near real-time. This transformed their decision-making process, shifting from fragmented, disconnected data to a fully integrated analytics experience.
Podcast Quote:
“A company that doesn’t even know what a database is—for them, having a central data warehouse is good enough. They are not worrying and dreaming about whether they have the modern data stack with Medallion architecture.”
Manufacturing Firm: From Three Disconnected ERPs to a Unified, Automated System
Unlike the architectural firm’s cloud ERP challenge, this manufacturing company struggled with having three separate ERPs, each operating in silos. Their processes were heavily manual, repetitive, and fragmented across different teams. Reports were not only slow but often required impossible amounts of manual effort to consolidate.
Fabric changed everything. The company’s first dashboards and reports were built leveraging real-time data from Microsoft Fabric, enabling significantly faster reporting and eliminating manual data stitching. In many cases, the insights they gained were ones they had never seen before—Fabric gave them full visibility into their operations for the first time.
Podcast Quote:
“Now we can get Fabric deployed in two days, a couple of hundred bucks, and I have customers that are slightly over that, but they are about a hundred million in revenue and have been on Fabric production for over a year at this point. And their cost is less than 500 bucks.”
Why SMBs Care More About Visibility Than Cost Savings
Unlike larger enterprises that evaluate technology investments based on cost savings, SMBs aren’t focused on cutting Data & Analytics expenses—because they weren’t investing in the first place. The high cost of entry for advanced analytics kept them from implementing these solutions, leaving them at a competitive disadvantage.
Fabric isn’t just another disruptive tool—it’s an equalizer. For these SMBs, it was like getting eyeglasses for the first time. They weren’t worried about whether a different provider could offer a cheaper option; they were finally able to see their business clearly and make informed decisions. The real impact wasn’t about cost but about gaining a strategic advantage to compete with larger players.
Podcast Quote:
“SMBs aren’t just looking for cost savings—they need efficiency, decision-making power, and the ability to compete with larger companies. The technology is no longer the limiting factor. It’s about enabling teams to make better decisions faster, without creating overhead.”
The Cost Efficiency Pillars of Fabric
Fabric’s cost efficiency is built on three key pillars:
- Lower Total Cost of Ownership – Unlike traditional data solutions that require multiple disconnected services, Fabric consolidates everything into a single unified platform, reducing operational costs significantly.
- Minimal Infrastructure Overhead – With Fabric’s SaaS model, there’s no need for expensive database administrators, high-end infrastructure, or long-term contracts. This makes it perfect for SMBs that don’t have large IT budgets.
- Pay-as-You-Go Flexibility – SMBs can start with minimal investment and scale up as needed. Whether it’s running an F2 capacity for small-scale workloads or temporarily scaling up to F64 for intensive processing, costs remain manageable and predictable.
Podcast Quote:
“The difference comes when is it ready to be used? Security, configuring, networking, and whatnot. Right? If you want to be like blocking firewalls, getting it to work with your VPN and all the stuff you want to do a single sign-on and whatnot, those have gotten better. Not at the scale of Fabric, because Fabric, even though you spin up in Azure, it’s in the Power BI tenant. That means it has already the tenant security applied.”
The Fabric Advantage: Why SMBs Should Start Now
Fabric allows SMBs to:
- Gain real-time visibility into business performance with automated reporting
- Eliminate manual processes that previously slowed down decision-making
- Leverage existing teams without needing large IT investments
- Compete with larger enterprises by using enterprise-grade tools without enterprise complexity
- Optimize costs without sacrificing capability with a consumption-based pricing model
Final Thoughts: Just Start
For SMBs that have been hesitant about investing in data and analytics, Fabric removes the barriers that once made these solutions out of reach. The best part? You don’t need months of planning or a big IT team to get started.
Podcast Quote:
“Start. The cost of starting is very little, and you’ll be amazed by what problem it solves for you.”
Stay Connected & Watch the Podcast
Want to stay up to date with insights on data strategy, analytics, and SMB success stories? Follow Kevin, Chris, and Khaled on LinkedIn for more updates. If you’d like to hear the full discussion, watch the YouTube podcast episode and learn how Fabric transforms SMBs.
Let’s drive better decisions together!
