Traditionally, companies had to make a decision: Data Lake or Data Warehouse. While data lakes flexibly store large volumes of raw data, data warehouses offer a structured environment for clean reporting. Both worlds had advantages and disadvantages.
With the Lakehouse in Microsoft Fabric Microsoft combines these approaches in a single platform.
What is a lakehouse?
A lakehouse combines the Scalability and flexibility of a data lake with the Structural and query advantages of a data warehouse.
In Fabric this means:
Data can Raw and unstructured (e.g. from IoT, NAV exports or CSV files) can be saved.
At the same time, this data can structured for SQL queries and reporting - without redundant copies.
Why is this exciting for Dynamics NAV, Navision and Business Central?
Many medium-sized companies work with ERP systems such as NAV or Business Central. Typical challenges:
Exports end up in Excel or CSV and have to be processed manually.
Data analyses become slow if too many tables or long histories are involved.
Different departments maintain their own databases.
These problems can be solved with a Lakehouse:
A central storage location for all ERP data, supplemented by external sources (CRM, logistics, IoT).
Seamless integration in Power BI for real-time reporting.
Historicization of data, without complicated ETL processes.
Advantages at a glance
Standardized database instead of silos.
Cost savings, as data does not have to be stored multiple times.
Future security, as both classic SQL analyses and modern AI models are supported.
Speed, as data does not have to be moved from lake to warehouse.
Conclusion
The Lakehouse in Fabric is the perfect answer to the growing data requirements of SMEs.
For companies with Dynamics NAV, Navision or Business Central it offers the opportunity to use operational data more efficiently - whether for controlling, sales or production.
This creates a Scalable, standardized data platform, that lays the foundations today for the decisions of tomorrow.
Do you have any questions or would you like to find out more about our methods? Get in touch with us - We show you how you can use your data for sustainable success.