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In this episode of The Power BI Edge, Evert Augustyns, Senior Manager in Data and Analytics at TriFinance Belgium, joins Host Erik Lidman to discuss a crucial topic often overlooked as Power BI adoption explodes: governance. As 550,000 companies now run Power BI, many struggle with their workspace turning into "Power BI spaghetti", leading to different versions of the truth and security risks. Evert shares TriFinance's framework for implementing light but effective governance, balancing self-service flexibility with central control. 🔑 Key Topics: - The Governance Framework: Tri Finance's four-pillar approach focusing on people, processes, tools, and underlying data. - Balancing Self-Service and Control: Defining different layers of self-service, from personalized visuals on validated data to building reports from scratch on a semantic model. - Case Study: From Spaghetti to Structure: A real-world example of moving a telecom company from 50 different workspaces and untrusted data to a robust data warehouse, defined KPIs, and a structured sprint process. - Fabric and Future Governance: The challenge and opportunity of Fabric integrating data engineering and business reporting, requiring security alignment from the source (OneLake). - Advice for Beginners: Start small with proof of concepts and implement governance step-by-step as usage grows —It's better to start without governance than not at all, but be aware of future growth. ⌛ Episode Highlights and Timestamps: [00:00:00] - Evert Augustyns: Senior Manager, Data and Analytics at Tri Finance. [00:04:17] - The Power BI Spaghetti Problem: How Power BI replaces Excel spaghetti but creates a new kind of mess without governance. [00:07:36] - Balancing Control and Self-Service: Starting from a validated data set. [00:14:35] - Source Code Control: Advanced users adopt it for semantic models, but it's often too complex for key business users. [00:16:03] - The Aimplan Edge: Adding data input (budgeting, commenting) directly to Power BI reports. [00:23:50] - Case Study: The Telecom Company: Moving from 50 separate workspaces and untrusted data to a robust data warehouse and structured process. [00:28:37] - Fabric's Governance Challenge: Integrating data engineering and business reporting requires pushing security alignment further to the source (OneLake). [00:30:23] - Closing Remarks and Contact Information (trifinance.be) 📱 Follow our guest, Evert Augustyns: 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evert-augustyns-848a5a41/ 📱 Follow our TriFinance Belgium: 👉 Website: https://www.trifinance.com/en-be 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trifinance-belgium/ 👉 Instagram:

In this episode of The Power BI Edge, Host Erik Lidman speaks with Pam Lahoud, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, to explore the latest developments in Microsoft Fabric, particularly the integration of SQL Databases into the Fabric ecosystem. The discussion sheds light on how this new architecture supports planning, forecasting, analytics, and operational reporting within a unified data environment, all powered by the trusted SQL Server engine. Pam Lahoud is a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft with nearly 20 years of experience. She currently works on the Customer Advisory Team (CAT) for Azure SQL, focusing on customer success and product feedback. Pam has deep roots in the SQL Server world, having worked in both support and engineering roles, and is now a key figure in shaping the SQL Database experience within Microsoft Fabric. Expect to LearnWhat Microsoft Fabric is and how it transforms data operations. Key advantages of integrating SQL Databases into Microsoft Fabric. How SQL in Fabric supports both analytical and transactional workloads. Real-world use cases including planning, forecasting, and reverse ETL. Practical guidance for getting started with SQL Databases in Fabric. Episode Breakdown with Timestamps[00:00:00] - Teaser [00:01:17] - Introduction to the Episode  [00:03:10] - What Does a Program Manager at Microsoft Really Do? [00:04:24] - What is Microsoft Fabric? [00:06:29] - Three Key Advantages of Using Fabric [00:09:12] - The New SQL Databases in Fabric [00:13:48] - Use Cases for SQL in Fabric [00:19:15] - Customer Transformation and Business Impact [00:23:12] - How to Get Started with SQL Databases in Fabric [00:27:49] - Where to Learn More [00:32:40] - Conclusion 📱 Follow the Guest Pam Lahoud: 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pam-lahoud 👉Company’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft 👉Company’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Microsoft/ 👉Company’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/microsoft/?hl=en 📱 Follow the Host Erik Lidman: 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eriklidman/ 📱 Follow Aimplan: 👉 Website: https://www.aimplan.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aimplan/ 🔗 Listen to Power BI Edge: 👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aimplan

Ready to push your financial intelligence past the dashboard? Introducing Power BI Edge, the new podcast where we tackle the most pressing question for finance leaders: When does Power BI stop being enough for FP&A? Join host Erik Lidman, CEO of Aimplan and a 25-year veteran in Financial Planning and Analysis, as he invites controllers, CFOs, and tech experts for candid, deep-dive conversations. In each episode, we expose the gap between business intelligence and critical financial operations - like true budgeting, forecasting, and master data management - and show you how to build the bridge. Don't miss the essential insights needed to move your company from manual spreadsheets to integrated, efficient, and automated financial workflows. Power BI Edge. Coming soon to your favorite podcast platform.