Data Platform Bingo: Deployment Edition

An interactive 60-minute session on the failures, fixes, and hard-earned lessons behind modern data delivery.

The concept is simple: the audience gets a bingo card filled with recognizable data-platform disasters. During the session, two energetic Data Platform MVPs pull scenarios, ask the audience if they have seen them, tell short war stories, and explain what should have happened instead.

As the audience races to complete their bingo cards, the presenters translate every deployment disaster into a practical Database DevOps lesson. We cover version control, release flow, ownership, automation, approvals, testing, migrations, data movement, performance and, of course, communication.

This session is part AMA, part technical post-mortem, and part therapy session for data professionals. You will laugh, probably recognize too much, and leave with practical ways to make your next database deployment, data pipeline or platform migration a lot less bingo-worthy.

Maybe your deployment process felt like a game of chance, but it's now time to stop playing bingo with production and join our session!

Terraforming Fabric: From Zero to Workspace Hero

Every Microsoft Fabric implementation starts the same way... someone clicks "New Workspace".

That works for one workspace.

But what happens when your organisation needs 50? 200? Hundreds? You need DEV, ACC and PROD for each workspace?

In this session, I'll show how we transformed Microsoft Fabric into a fully automated, enterprise-ready platform using Terraform.

Instead of manually provisioning workspaces, we'll build a Workspace Vending solution where a simple Terraform definition automatically creates everything needed for a production-ready environment.

We'll cover how to:

- Automatically provision Microsoft Fabric workspaces
- Assign workspaces to the correct Domains
- Create Microsoft Entra ID groups using organisational naming standards
- Automatically map Viewer, Member and Admin permissions
- Apply governance and workspace settings consistently
- Configure deployment identities for Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines
- Build a secure VNet-integrated Microsoft Fabric platform
- Deploy the supporting Azure infrastructure, including Azure Policy, VNets, subnets, Key Vault integration and On-premises Data Gateways

Along the way we'll discuss the architectural decisions, governance considerations and lessons learned from implementing Infrastructure as Code for Microsoft Fabric in a real enterprise environment.

If you're responsible for Microsoft Fabric, Azure, Data Platforms or DevOps, you'll leave with practical patterns you can take straight back to your organisation to automate deployments, improve governance and remove hours of repetitive manual configuration.

Is This Just Real-Time… or Is It Just Fabric?

Everyone wants real-time data, but what does that actually mean? When your business users say real-time, are they talking about a few seconds, a few minutes, or just “faster than yesterday”?

In this session, we’ll pull back the curtain on the buzzword and explore what “real-time” really means from near-real-time micro-batching to true event-driven streaming and how you can build these patterns directly within Microsoft Fabric.

You’ll see practical examples of how to:

Ingest and process streaming data in real time using Fabric

Compare performance between small batch pipelines and traditional data warehouse ingestion

Choose the right architecture for your organization’s definition of “real-time”

Through live demos and relatable use cases, you’ll walk away knowing how to design a Real-Time Intelligence Fabric that fits your needs and how to stop chasing fantasy real-time.

Mastering Data Migration: Essential Standards and Protocols for Any Scale

With years of experience managing successful data migrations, I invite you to explore the essential standards and protocols that ensure smooth transitions, whether dealing with small databases or vast systems. This session outlines best practices for planning, executing, and validating migrations to maintain data integrity and security with minimal downtime. Drawing from my extensive track record of successful migrations, I’ll share insights into overcoming common challenges and highlight strategies to tailor your approach for projects of any size. Equip yourself with the expertise needed for flawless migrations every time.

Seamless Cross-Tenant Azure SQL Migrations with Geo-Replication

Discover how to perform seamless, no-downtime migrations of Azure SQL databases across tenants using geo-replication and the Microsoft backbone. This session will delve into the technical steps to set up secure cross-tenant geo-replication without exposing public endpoints. Learn how to maintain read-only replicas in the current tenant to keep applications running during the migration process, ensuring business continuity. Whether you’re planning a tenant-to-tenant migration or exploring strategies for hybrid operational setups, this session will equip you with practical insights and best practices to achieve secure, efficient, and downtime-free transitions.

Automating SQL Permissions Scripting for Daily Audits and One-Click Deployment

Discover the game-changing strategy to secure your SQL environment at our session, where we unveil an innovative approach to daily scripting of SQL permissions against the renowned StackOverflow2010 database. Join us and learn how this practice can transform your database auditing and security protocols.

Key Takeaways:

Audit and Compliance Mastery :
Learn how to seamlessly script all permissions to meet stringent auditing standards.
Gain the knowledge to simplify compliance reporting and certification processes.

Enhanced Traceability :
Understand the importance of maintaining an impeccable history of permission changes.
Acquire skills to trace permissions back to specific roles and users, enhancing accountability.

Boosted Disaster Recovery Readiness :
Dive into techniques for rapid restoration of permissions in case of accidental changes or losses.
Ensure your organization can quickly recover and maintain operational continuity.

Top-Notch Security Management :
Get insights into identifying and managing unnecessary permissions to fortify your security posture.
Master regular reviews and adjustments to align with the principle of least privilege.

I created and used these scripts which I offer on Github for all to use, I used them for multiple migration projects to make sure permissions were not an issue on the SQL Server Level.

Did i forget to mention you can deploy this in one click!

Unlocking the Power of Optimization in Azure Data Factory

Imagine deploying a project that seamlessly moves data from on-premises to Azure and Power BI—only to find your daily reports taking a staggering 18 hours to run in production.
In this session, I'll walk you through how I transformed this situation by rearchitecting the solution, significantly optimizing the performance. You’ll get an insider’s look at the different architectural designs and solutions available, and I'll share the good, the bad, and the ugly of working with Azure Data Factory.

Whether you’re looking to fine-tune your Data Factory pipelines or seeking ways to make your business more agile with faster data processing, this session is packed with practical insights. Discover how Azure Data Factory can help you achieve more, with less complexity and greater speed. Join me to learn how to turn potential roadblocks into streamlined, high-performance data solutions.

Talk to Your Data: The Future of Data Interaction with AI

In the evolving world of data, the ability to interact with your datasets and databases using natural language is a game-changer. This session will introduce you to the power of Azure OpenAI, Azure SQL, and Microsoft Fabric, showing you how to break down barriers that have traditionally required knowledge of T-SQL or other coding languages. By leveraging Azure OpenAI and Azure AI Search, you’ll learn how to ask questions of your data—like forecasting future trends—without writing a single line of code. We'll explore how to connect various databases and datasets, implement data cleansing, and ensure data quality through advanced prompt engineering. Whether you're a data professional or a business leader, this session will revolutionize the way you think about and work with data. Don't miss out on discovering the future of talking with your data.

In the evolving world of data, the ability to interact with your datasets and databases using natural language is a game-changer.

Changing Data Types on Large SQL Server Tables Without Downtime

Large SQL Server tables with growing identity columns can run out of integer capacity and require changing the datatype from INT to BIGINT – but a direct ALTER TABLE can cause extensive downtime due to index rebuilds and heavy logging. This session walks through a real-world approach used on a 500 GB, ~900 million row table to plan and execute the change with minimal production impact. You’ll learn techniques for creating a replica table with the new datatype, synchronizing data using ETL processes, using object-level restore to stage the change, and performing a final cut-over during a short maintenance window. Practical tips on testing, data consistency verification, and reducing downtime will help you safely implement datatype changes on high-volume systems.