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The Fabric Governance Illusion: Why Your Data Strategy Is Rotting

The Fabric Governance Illusion: Why Your Data Strategy Is Rotting

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 Most organizations believe Microsoft Fabric governance is solved the moment they adopt the platform. One tenant, one bill, one security model, one governance story. That belief is wrong — and expensive. In this episode, we break down why Microsoft Fabric governance fails by default, how well-intentioned governance programs turn into theater, and why cost, trust, and meaning silently decay even when usage looks stable. Fabric isn’t a single platform. It’s a shared decision engine. And if you don’t enforce intent through system constraints, the platform will happily monetize your confusion. What’s Broken in Microsoft Fabric Governance Fabric Is Not a Platform — It’s a Decision Engine Microsoft Fabric governance fails when teams assume “one platform” means one execution model. Under the UI lives multiple engines, shared capacity scheduling, background operations, and probabilistic performance behavior that ignores org charts and PowerPoint strategies. Governance Theater in Microsoft Fabric Most Microsoft Fabric governance programs focus on visibility instead of control:
  • Naming conventions
  • Centers of Excellence
  • Approval workflows
  • Best-practice documentation
None of these change what the system actually allows people to create — which means none of them reduce risk, cost, or entropy. Cost Entropy in Fabric Capacities Microsoft Fabric costs drift not because of abuse, but because of shared compute, duplication pathways, refresh overlap, background load, and invisible coupling between teams. Capacity scaling becomes the default response because it’s easier than fixing architecture. Workspace Sprawl and Fabric Governance Failure Workspaces are not governance boundaries. In Microsoft Fabric, they are collaboration containers — and when treated as security, cost, or lifecycle boundaries, they become the largest entropy generator in the estate. Domains, OneLake, and the Illusion of Control Domains and OneLake help with discovery, not enforcement. Microsoft Fabric governance breaks when taxonomy is mistaken for policy and centralization is mistaken for ownership. Semantic Model Entropy Uncontrolled self-service semantic models create KPI drift, executive distrust, and refresh storms. Certified and promoted labels signal intent — they do not enforce it. Why Microsoft Fabric Governance Fails at Scale Microsoft Fabric governance fails because:
  • Creation is cheap
  • Ownership is optional
  • Lifecycle is unenforced
  • Capacities are shared
  • Metrics measure activity, not accountability
The platform executes configuration, not intent. If governance doesn’t compile into system behavior, it doesn’t exist. The Microsoft Fabric Governance Model That Actually Works Effective Microsoft Fabric governance operates as a control plane, not a committee:
  • Creation constraints that block unsafe structures
  • Enforced defaults for ownership, sensitivity, and lifecycle
  • Real boundaries between dev and production
  • Automation with consequences, not emails
  • Lifecycle governance: birth, promotion, retirement
The cheapest workload in Microsoft Fabric is the one you never allowed to exist. The One Rule That Fixes Microsoft Fabric Governance If an artifact in Microsoft Fabric cannot declare:
  • Owner
  • Purpose
  • End date
…it does not exist. That single rule eliminates more cost, risk, and trust erosion than any dashboard, CoE, or policy document ever will.

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If this clashes with how you’ve seen it play out, I’m always curious. I use LinkedIn for the back-and-forth.
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