A new resource is now live that makes moving to Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse as clear as possible. The Microsoft Fabric Migration Guide outlines what you need to know, what actions to take, and key deadlines so your migration is smooth, informed, and avoids surprises. Whether your organization is just evaluating Fabric, or already leaning in, this guide bridges theory to practical steps.
Below you’ll find what the guide covers, why migration matters now, what to watch out for, and how to make your migration successful.
Microsoft’s freshly released guide puts everything in one place planning, upgrading, and fine-tuning. It explains prerequisites such as licensing with P or F SKUs, identifying which of your datamarts or SQL pools need to be migrated, and gathering metadata. It describes two main migration paths: using Microsoft-published accelerator scripts or migrating manually (exporting schemas, creating new warehouses, using Dataflow Gen2, etc.).
Also included are instructions for using the Fabric Migration Assistant to move from Azure Synapse Analytics’ dedicated SQL pools into Fabric Data Warehouse. The guide walks through the steps of uploading a DACPAC file, converting schema objects, fixing incompatible metadata, copying data, and redirecting report and API connections to the new warehouse.
The urgency isn’t just because new features sound appealing it’s because of upcoming changes that affect your operations. Starting June 1, 2025, attempts to create new Power BI datamarts will redirect to creating a Fabric Data Warehouse. Then by October 1, 2025, existing datamarts will no longer be supported; Microsoft will begin cleaning them up from workspaces. Reports, dashboards or workflows depending on those datamarts could break or lose data if they aren’t migrated in time.
Migrating now lets you take advantage of enhanced scalability, richer SQL capabilities, improved governance and security, and tighter integration with the rest of the Fabric ecosystem without disruption. Fabric Data Warehouse supports more enterprise-friendly features than datamarts, and the guide helps you avoid scrambling at the last minute.
To make migration go smoothly, here’s what you’ll want to do (drawn from the guide, described in narrative form):
Start by auditing your current datamarts, SQL pools, and workloads. Understand the nature of your dependencies: which reports, dashboards, dataflows, or external connections tie into your existing datamarts. Make a list of schemas, measures, row-level security settings, relationships, data volumes. Be sure you have proper licensing and confirm that your environment or region supports the required Fabric SKUs.
Next decide whether you’ll use the accelerator scripts or perform the migration manually. The scripts can speed up schema and table creation and metadata export, but manual migration gives you more control especially where custom schemas, complex dependencies, or unique security setups are involved. The guide offers both paths so you can choose the one suited to your risk profile and timeline.
If using the Migration Assistant, make sure you prepare a DACPAC file with all relevant schema objects tables, views, stored procedures, functions, security objects. When metadata translation hits unsupported T-SQL features or schema constructs, use the fixes that Microsoft provides or optionally use AI-assisted tools (such as Copilot) to analyze and patch scripts. Copying data comes next, with validation and testing. Be careful to set up parallel runs or comparison queries to ensure your new warehouse behaves as expected before making a full switch. Redirect those report connections, update dashboards, ensure security roles or row-level security policies are applied as before (or improved).
Throughout migration you’ll want a fallback or rollback plan. Test small, pick less critical workloads first, validate performance, check cost implications, monitor query behavior, response times, and user experience. Document decisions, keep stakeholders in the loop.
Even with a solid guide and tools, migrations can be tricky. Some of the frequent pitfalls are:
A successful migration isn’t just about moving bits and bytes it’s about continuity, improved performance, and better governance. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when your reports and dashboards display correct data, response times are acceptable or improved, security policies are properly enforced, and maintenance/refreshes work reliably. Users should notice little disruption. Ideally, after migrating you’ll see benefits such as faster query execution, more flexibility in building new analytics, better integration with AI tools, and simplified management of semantic models or dataflow pipelines.
Also, once migration is complete, decommissioning old datamarts carefully ensures you avoid paying for unused resources or maintaining duplicate systems. And reviewing your environment afterward will help you refine cost, performance, and governance.
With Microsoft’s Migration Guide now available, you have both direction and resources. This is your opportunity to move proactively rather than react when deadlines loom. Migrating to Fabric Data Warehouse in a planned, stepped way means you preserve data integrity, avoid surprises, and unlock the newer, more powerful features that will serve you long term.
If you haven’t already, schedule time to audit your datamarts, review your reports, test small migrations, and get your teams ready. The sooner the migration planning begins, the easier it will be.
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