Powerful combination of Microsoft Fabric and TimeXtender
It won't have escaped your notice, but Microsoft Fabric is booming. Microsoft is using a lot of marketing muscle to promote Fabric. The company is positioning it as a single platform on which you can go from data source to Power BI reporting you can manipulate data to make it suitable for data analysis, among other things. That sounds good, but if you have Microsoft Fabric and TimeXtender with each other, what happens?
Although Fabric is presented as one data platform, underlying it there are still separate products. These products are bundled and sold under the name Fabric. All components use a single central data store called OneLake.
Microsoft Fabric and TimeXtender a powerful solution
Perhaps you are reading this article because you are getting your bearings on Fabric and/or because you are curious about the combination of Fabric with TimeXtender. Although you can view TimeXtender separately from Fabric, the combination actually provides a powerful solution. This article highlights the benefits of combining TimeXtender with Fabric.
In TimeXtender, data is often duplicated multiple times within different (ETL) layers. This process can become more efficient with the launch of OneLake in Fabric. In doing so, TimeXtender will take advantage of this new technology, so data will not be duplicated multiple times within the different layers of TimeXtender.
TimeXtender is working hard to support Fabric. TimeXtender will make this support available in three phases, as shown below.
Currently, phase 1 is already completed and generally available for use.
Benefits of Microsoft Fabric and TimeXtender
What are the benefits of combining Microsoft Fabric and TimeXtender? In a nutshell, it's all about Automation, Data Lineage, Data Quality and Technology Lock-In, but since this is a bit too brief, we'd like to explain.
Automation through a central interface
Fabric is a data platform that integrates several products. This means that for each product you need specialized knowledge with various programming languages (Spark, T-SQL, etc.) to use them optimally at the right times. One of the most important features of TimeXtender is automation. TimeXtender generates the required scripts automatically. In doing so, TimeXtender provides one central interface on Fabric, so you only need to know one product with one language.
TimeXtender knows which Fabric products are needed in which steps and ensures that the necessary script is generated automatically. Thanks to the extensive automation and the limited technical knowledge required, you can therefore develop much faster with TimeXtender than if you had to script everything (mostly) manually in Fabric.
Data Lineage for all Fabric components
Because Fabric consists of separate products, it is not possible to generate a complete and detailed data lineage view across these various products. Because the data lineage in Fabric is not complete, the dependencies between these individual products are unclear. This can mean that changing, for example, a column name in one of these products can cause subsequent steps in the other products within Fabric to no longer function correctly. Moreover, within Fabric it is not possible to view the different products side by side in one screen, which does not enhance the user-friendliness within Fabric.
TimeXtender offers one product that allows you to open all layers within your data solution side by side. Based on metadata, all these layers are linked together. This also makes it possible to easily create a detailed data lineage from data source to Power BI. The dependencies between these different layers within TimeXtender are also known. Changing a column name, for example, will therefore be automatically implemented in all the necessary steps/products in Fabric and thus not lead to problems in the data load.
Data Quality monitoring
Currently, Fabric offers no capabilities for automated data quality checks. TimeXtender, through various modules, provides capabilities to monitor data quality, send notifications based on data quality issues and even stop a data reload when data quality is inadequate.
Technology Lock-In
Fabric is developed by Microsoft, which means the data is stored in Microsoft products. Although this data can be accessed by other tools, such as Qlik, for example, you are bound to Microsoft as a vendor and technology. TimeXtender is technology independent, which means that the code automatically generated by TimeXtender can be deployed on different technology platforms. Currently, these include Microsoft SQL (Azure and on-premises), Amazon AWS, Snowflake and Microsoft Fabric.
Summary
Briefly, the difference between Microsoft Fabric and Fabric combined with TimeXtender can be summarized as shown in the table below.
| Criteria | Fabric | Fabric i.c.w. TimeXtender |
|---|---|---|
| Metadata & Data Lineage | Metadata stored per product and not across all products. End-to-end data lineage is not possible. | One central metadata store enabling end-to-end data lingeage and documentation. |
| Automation & Productivity | If you want to use the full suite of products within Fabric, you will need (in-depth) knowledge of various programming languages such as T-SQL, Python and Power M Query. | Code is generated automatically by TimeXtender using the low-code principle. |
| Time to Value | High dependence on (in-depth) technical knowledge. | By automation to 70% faster development. |
| Data Quality | Limited built-in capabilities for data quality and master data management. | Continuous automated monitoring of data quality and master data manager checks. |
| Technology Lock-in | Supplier and technology lock-in in Microsoft ecosystem. | Works with various technical infrastructures such as Microsoft, AWS and Snowflake. |
Want to know more?
If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Fabric, TimeXtender or the combination of both products, please take contact with us at 088 – 200 75 00 or info@cmotions.com.
