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  • Data & Analytics · Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, OneLake

Decisions you can prove. Data that runs the business.

Microsoft Fabric on OneLake. Your operational data and your analytics on the same plane, one source of truth your whole business can trust. Built and governed by Braintree, on the South African Azure regions.
Book the scoping call
Run the 8-minute benchmark

Runs on

PBI LogoCreated with Sketch. Power BI
Microsoft Fabric
Copilot
Purview
South African businesses grown
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Microsoft Azure regions in South Africa
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Microsoft-certified professionals
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Years on the Microsoft data platform
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  • The wedge no global data partner can claim

What no global data partner can claim

OneLake is one copy of your data, multiple compute engines on top. Fabric reads operational data from Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 directly. No ETL. No copy. No integration project. Snowflake reads its own copy, kept in sync by pipelines you maintain. Microsoft Fabric removes the ETL layer between your operational and analytical workloads.
  • The platform you land on

The Microsoft data stack you'll run. Five products. One unified platform.

Microsoft Fabric

The unified analytics platform. Power BI, Data Engineering, Data Science, Real-time and Fabric Activator on the same compute fabric.

One capacity, every analytics workload

Copilot native across the platform

Runs on the South African Azure regions

OneLake

One copy of your data. Multiple compute engines. No data movement between Microsoft workloads.

PBI LogoCreated with Sketch.

Power BI

Semantic models on OneLake. Native Copilot in Power BI. Real-time dashboards on Fabric Activator streams.

Customer Insights Data

The customer data platform inside Dynamics 365. The same unified record CRM and Marketing use.

Microsoft Purview

Data governance, lineage and POPIA-aligned cataloguing. Required for auditable AI on operational data.

  • The data pipeline. End to end.

Every stage. One unified platform.

From source ingestion to governed serving, the Microsoft data stack is organised by lifecycle stage. We deploy agents where the TCO case is proven. Not by default.
01 · Ingest

No copy. No ETL.

The tooling
Reads Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and Azure SQL directly. No copy. No ETL.
Why it matters
Native connectors mapped to the operational systems that already hold your data, so the platform reads from them rather than replacing them.
02 · Land
One landing plane
The tooling
Schema-on-write to OneLake Delta. Native connectors for SAP, Salesforce, Excel and stream sources.
Why it matters
One landing plane for every source, Microsoft and non-Microsoft, so the data arrives once and serves every compute engine on top.
03 · Transform
Auditable logic
The tooling
Fabric notebooks plus Dataflows Gen2. Spark and SQL on the same data, no copy.
Why it matters
Power Query for the analyst pattern. Versioned and governed, so the logic that shapes the numbers is auditable, not buried in a spreadsheet.
04 · Serve
The current picture
The tooling
Power BI plus Copilot in Fabric. Semantic models on OneLake. Native Copilot in Power BI.
Why it matters
Real-time dashboards on Fabric Activator streams, so the people making the call see the current picture, not last week’s export.
05 · Govern
Audit-ready
The tooling
Lineage across Microsoft and connected non-Microsoft sources. POPIA-aligned cataloguing.
Why it matters
Microsoft Purview, audit-ready by default, so when the auditor asks “where is your data lineage?” the answer is already on the page.

Custom agents. Built by Braintree on Microsoft Foundry

Where Microsoft does not yet ship a named agent, Braintree builds custom domain agents on Microsoft Foundry, Copilot Studio and Power Automate. SA-grounded. Production. POPIA-aligned. Custom agents enter through the AI Value Framework, the same business-case discipline as the named agents.

Built by Braintree

  • How we deploy

Map, Evaluate, Deploy, Build.

Four stages. Business case first. The full TCO modelled. Deployed only where the case proves out.
01

Map

Map data sources, decision workflows and reporting fragmentation where unification carries the strongest TCO case.

02

Evaluate

Full TCO and payback model on Fabric vs Snowflake or status quo. Presented to management. Sign-off before any migration.

Management sign-off gate

03

Deploy

Microsoft's named data agents and Power BI workloads, deployed only where the business case warrants them.

04

Build

Custom domain agents on Microsoft Foundry where Microsoft does not yet ship a named one.

  • The AI Value Framework is the gate

Braintree doesn't deploy AI agents by default. We deploy them where the TCO case is proven.

  • Two paths to one Microsoft data platform

The fork is where you start, not where you land.

Greenfield Fabric or migrate off your current warehouse. Different starting points need different scoping work. Read the column that applies. We meet you there.

Stand up Fabric, greenfield

Best when you have not yet stood up an enterprise data platform.
  • The cleanest entry point to Fabric. OneLake stands up in days. The first dashboard ships in week two.
  • Governance and a central semantic model built in from the start, not retrofitted later.
  • Power BI on a handful of dashboards today is the usual starting point. No central model required first.
  • Typical first project: 8 to 12 weeks. Two analysts. One business sponsor.

Migrate from a legacy warehouse

Best when you’re on Snowflake, Databricks or a legacy data warehouse.
  • OneLake reads existing warehouses via Fabric mirroring before any data moves. The migration runs in parallel with the existing dashboards. Zero downtime.
  • Schema converts to Delta tables natively. Existing dashboards rebuild in Power BI.
  • Historical records archive to OneLake for compliance retention.
  • Typical migration: 6 to 12 months. Joint Braintree plus customer team. Phased cut-over.
  • One agreement. The commercial case.

One Microsoft Customer Agreement. Not a stack of vendor contracts.

How the commercial model changes when your data, analytics, Microsoft 365 and Azure run on one Microsoft agreement. Most enterprises buy Snowflake credits on one contract, Power BI seats on another and Azure consumption on a third. Braintree replaces all of it with a single agreement and a single team.
A vendor per workload.

Before. Three contracts, three clocks.

  • Snowflake credits on one contract. Power BI seats on another. Azure consumption on a third. Cross-cloud egress fees stack each month
  • Three vendors finger-pointing when a dashboard breaks. Renewals stagger across the year. No negotiating power
  • Data residency depends on which vendor and which region
One agreement. One team.

After. One Intelligent Agreement.

  • One Microsoft Customer Agreement covers Fabric capacity, Power BI, OneLake storage, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365
  • No cross-cloud egress. The data plane stays inside Microsoft Azure. One renewal. One negotiation. One reference architecture
  • Data residency is yours to set. Microsoft Azure South Africa North in Joburg, 3 AZs, or Microsoft Azure South Africa West in Cape Town
dat present | Braintree
Decisions defended with the numbers on the wall. The platform underneath is Fabric on OneLake.
  • Proof, not promises

31,000+

organisations run Microsoft Fabric. Source: Microsoft, FabCon and SQLCon 2026.
Microsoft is a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools for the fifth consecutive year, 2021 through 2025. 90% of the Fortune 500 run Microsoft data platform workloads. Braintree puts that platform on the South African Azure regions, POPIA-aligned, for 220+ SA businesses.

Gartner MQ Leader, 5 years running

Data Integration Tools, 2021 through 2025. Independent analyst evaluation.

90% of the Fortune 500

Run Microsoft data platform workloads today.

  • The honest comparison

Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, and the practical winner.

What matters Snowflake
Operational data Separate copy of operational data, sync pipelines you maintain
✓ OneLake reads from Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 directly. One copy.
AI on the data Cortex AI, Snowpark for Python
✓ Native Copilot in Power BI and Excel. Agents on OneLake via Foundry, cross-domain on the same record.
SA data residency Connector library, Snowflake-side compute
✓ Microsoft Azure Joburg plus Cape Town. POPIA-aligned.
What you can build on top Snowpark, Streamlit and the Snowflake Marketplace, on Snowflake compute
✓ Power Platform plus AppSource plus open formats, Delta and Iceberg, on OneLake
Total cost on the Microsoft estate Snowflake credits plus cross-cloud egress plus integration build
✓ One Microsoft Customer Agreement covers Fabric capacity, Dynamics, Microsoft 365 on one renewal
Cross-cloud flexibility Cross-cloud compute and a deep partner network on top of Snowflake Strongest inside the Microsoft estate, by design
5 to 1 in Braintree's favour. Snowflake wins on cross-cloud compute flexibility. Honest.
  • Talk to a specialist

Three data specialists. Matched to your scoping call.

We match you to the right specialist when you book the scoping call. Names land in your calendar invite, not on a page you scrolled past.

BI

Analytics Practice
Lead

Power BI, Fabric & semantic models

Microsoft Certified · Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate

DE

Data Platform
Architect

OneLake architecture & data engineering

Microsoft Certified · Azure Data Engineer Associate

CL

Commercial Lead, One Intelligent Agreement

Fabric capacity & the commercial spine

Microsoft Customer Agreement · CSP
  • 8-minute benchmark

How does your data stack compare to the SA enterprise median?

8 questions, mapped against benchmarks from 220+ SA clients. You get a tier. Above median, at median, or below median, and the actions to close the gap.
Run the benchmark
  • How it works

Three steps. Five-day SLA. No sales pitch.

01

Give us read-only access

NDA in place day one. Read-only Microsoft Fabric and Power BI access. Warehouse credentials only if a migration is in scope. We never write to your data.

02

Get the findings

5 working days. Your current state mapped, the unification opportunities ranked by TCO impact, the named Microsoft agents we'd deploy first, and a 3-year TCO model.

03

Decide the next move

We walk you through the response. You decide if you want a full Phase 02 Evaluate. No deck. No pitch. Just findings and the question, is this the right next move?

Book the 30-minute scoping call
  • FAQ

What CDOs ask before they book.

Where does our data live if we move to Microsoft Fabric?
On Microsoft Azure South Africa North in Joburg (with three Availability Zones) or Microsoft Azure South Africa West in Cape Town. POPIA-aligned by default. Fabric capacity runs in your region of choice. OneLake stores one copy per region. The Information Regulator’s 2026/27 priorities shifted from reactive complaints to proactive industry sweeps. The first direct-marketing fine of R100,000 was issued to FT Rams Consulting. The maximum penalty is R10 million or 10 years. A global Snowflake deployment cannot truthfully say your data stays in South Africa. Microsoft Fabric on Braintree can.
On data unification, OneLake reads from Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 directly. No ETL. Snowflake reads its own copy, kept in sync by pipelines you maintain. On AI, Fabric agents share the same customer record across Sales, Service, Insights and Contact Center. On TCO, the Microsoft Customer Agreement covers Fabric capacity plus Dynamics plus Microsoft 365 on one renewal. Snowflake wins on cross-cloud compute flexibility and a deep partner network. Microsoft is named a Leader in Gartner’s Data Integration Tools MQ for the fifth consecutive year. Honest comparison.
Step 01 Map produces a Snowflake-to-OneLake entity map. Tables migrate via Fabric mirroring (OneLake reads Snowflake schemas without copying data first), then convert to Delta tables natively. Active dashboards rebuild in Power BI on the same data. Historical records archive to OneLake for compliance retention. Integrations rebuild on Power Automate or Microsoft Foundry. Typical migration runs 6 to 12 months. Braintree is one of three Microsoft Managed Partners in SA, with proven enterprise data migration experience.
Fabric replaces the data warehouse layer (Synapse, Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery), the data lake layer (separate ADLS or S3), the BI tool (when Power BI is already in use), the data integration layer (where Fivetran or Stitch sits), and parts of the data science layer (where standalone Synapse Studio or notebooks sit). It does not replace your operational systems (Dynamics, Salesforce, Microsoft 365). It reads from them via OneLake, not by replacing them.
Step 02 Map produces a 3-year TCO model per shortlisted agent before any deployment. Sales agent TCO usually models against pipeline contribution and seller-hours saved. Finance agent TCO models against forecast accuracy and audit cycle time. Service agent TCO models against case deflection and CSAT. Microsoft published its own Sales Development Agent benchmark across 61,734 outreaches with a 15.1% lead-to-opportunity rate. We model your environment, not Microsoft’s. Braintree doesn’t deploy AI agents by default. We deploy them where the TCO is proven.
Customer Insights Data is the customer data platform inside Dynamics 365 and Fabric. It unifies records from sales, service, marketing, finance and external sources into a single profile on OneLake. A separate CDP makes sense when the data sources are heavily non-Microsoft and the activation channels are heavily non-Microsoft. For an enterprise consolidating onto Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Microsoft Foundry, Customer Insights is the default answer. The unified record matters more than the CDP brand on the box.
Purview handles data discovery, lineage, classification and POPIA-aligned cataloguing across the Microsoft estate plus connected non-Microsoft sources. Fabric handles the data and analytics workloads. They share OneLake’s metadata layer but solve different jobs. For SA enterprises with POPIA exposure or AI deployments running on personal data, Purview moves from “nice to have” to “required” once auditors ask “where is your data lineage?” We typically deploy Purview at the same time as Fabric for clients in regulated sectors.

Three answers. Credentials. Braintree is one of nine Microsoft Managed Partners in South Africa. 220+ SA clients. 220+ SA clients, 100+ Microsoft-certified professionals, 10+ years on the Microsoft data platform. Data residency. The only honest answer to “your data stays in South Africa” comes from a partner with SA Azure operations. Method. The AI Value Framework gates every agent deployment against TCO, every time. Most data partners sell the agent catalogue. Braintree sells the case for each one. Braintree doesn’t deploy AI agents by default. We deploy them where the TCO is proven.

  • From the practice

Insights for CDOs and CIOs evaluating Microsoft Fabric.

TCO

A beautiful scenery image of a mountain top with a lake.

Snowflake vs Microsoft Fabric in 2026. The honest TCO scorecard for SA enterprises.

Snowflake compute pricing versus Microsoft Fabric capacity units. Cross-cloud egress versus same-Azure data plane.
  • In production
Two woman in an office with a laptop open looking at data.

Lift-and-shift versus rebuild. When each makes sense for your data stack.

Migration

Lift-and-shift migrates the data and inherits the technical debt. Rebuild on OneLake costs more on day one, less by month twelve.
  • In production
Work colleagues gathering around a machine looking at data.

Agents

From dashboards nobody opens to decisions nobody questions.

Microsoft published Fabric customer benchmarks. 31,000+ in production. Run Microsoft data platform workloads.
  • In production
  • Where this connects

What connects to Data and Analytics.

AI Jumpstart

The entry point for AI. Custom domain agents on Microsoft Foundry, ready in 90 days. Operational data from your Fabric estate becomes the training set. Value measured against decision throughput, not just model accuracy.

Visit AI Jumpstart

CRM

Sales and Customer Engagement. Dynamics 365 Sales, Service, Customer Insights and Contact Center on the same unified customer record. The data you unify in Fabric becomes the record CRM agents act on.

Visit CRM

Modernise ERP

The operational core underneath. Your operational ERP data on Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management feeds OneLake directly. The same data drives both your transactions and your decisions.

Visit Modernise ERP
  • Get your CDO defending decisions, not chasing data

Let's grow.

Book the 30-minute scoping call. We assess your stack, map the unification
plays that pay back, and tell you whether Microsoft Fabric is the right move.
On one agreement, with one team accountable. No pitch deck.
Book a scoping call
Run the 8-minute benchmark
Specialists in Business Applications, Modern Workplace and Azure.