How Microsoft Established A Center Of Excellence Power Bi

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 10, 2025, 7:49 PM

how microsoft established a center of excellence power bi

Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories. This article focuses on Microsoft's experience establishing a Center of Excellence. When setting up your own Center of Excellence, we recommend that you also review the information covered in the Fabric adoption roadmap.

This article targets IT professionals and IT managers. You'll learn how to set up a BI and analytics Center of Excellence (COE) in your organization, and how Microsoft has set up theirs. For some, there's a misconception that a COE is just a help desk—this thinking, however, is far from reality. There was an error while loading. Please reload this page. Trust our experts to help your high-performing team integrate architecture, analytics, and AI for stronger data initiatives.

Power BI is a powerful tool that transforms the way your enterprise visualizes and leverages data. But, Power BI only delivers on its potential if your enterprise team knows how to wield it, especially as Microsoft Fabric evolves the platform with enhanced AI capabilities, improved governance tools, and deeper integration... Data governance seems daunting for many organizations, but maintaining data integrity is easier than you think. A Center of Excellence helps drive BI tool adoption, sets best practices for reporting, and enables end-users to use Power BI confidently in today’s rapidly evolving analytics landscape. Do you have a Power BI Center of Excellence (CoE) framework in place? Here’s why you need one and how to build it for success in 2025 and beyond.

When you implement a new tool like Power BI in your organization, you clearly want high adoption rates. Without the right processes and best practices in place, it’s all too easy for your team to fall back into old habits and use less reliable, clunky, antiquated tools…like Excel. Organizations implementing Microsoft Fabric can significantly enhance their data capabilities by establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE). This structured approach provides centralized expertise, standardized processes, and better governance—resulting in improved data quality, enhanced knowledge sharing, and greater business value from data investments. This article outlines the concept, organizational models, and benefits of creating a Microsoft Fabric Center of Excellence as a strategic imperative for organizations of all sizes. Working with various clients in the initial implementation phase of Microsoft Fabric, it has become evident that many organizations underestimate the importance of establishing a Fabric Center of Excellence.

While Power BI Centers of Excellence were typically reserved for large-scale organizations, the comprehensive nature of Microsoft Fabric elevates the need for structured expertise in organizations of all sizes. Even medium-sized organizations should consider adopting a Center of Excellence approach when implementing Microsoft Fabric. The benefits are substantial: improved processes, increased knowledge sharing, extensive data culture adoption, and higher-quality data products. This article explores what a Center of Excellence is, how it can be structured, and why it should be adopted early in your Microsoft Fabric journey. A Center of Excellence serves as the headquarters for intelligence surrounding a specific skillset, technology, or product—in this case, Microsoft Fabric. It consists of a team or structure of people who manage and own the product, skills, and technology implementation across the organization.

This team becomes the primary resource for: Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories. This article focuses on Microsoft's experience establishing a Center of Excellence.

When setting up your own Center of Excellence, we recommend that you also review the information covered in the Fabric adoption roadmap. This article targets IT professionals and IT managers. You'll learn about our BI strategy and vision, which enables us to continuously leverage our data as an asset. You'll also learn how we successfully drive a data culture of business decision making with Power BI. Some background first: Today, the explosion of data is impacting consumers and businesses at breakneck speeds. Succeeding in this data-intensive environment requires analysts and executives who can distill enormous amount of data into succinct insights.

The revolutions in Microsoft's BI tools have changed the way that Microsoft itself explores their data and gets to the right insights needed to drive impact in the company. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories. This article forms part of the Microsoft Fabric adoption roadmap series of articles.

For an overview of the series, see Microsoft Fabric adoption roadmap. A data or analytics Center of Excellence (COE) is an internal team of technical and business experts. The team actively assists others within the organization who are working with data. The COE forms the nucleus of the broader community to advance adoption goals, which align with the data culture vision. A COE might also be known as competency center, capability center, or a center of expertise. Some organizations use the term squad.

Many organizations perform the COE responsibilities within their data, analytics, or business intelligence (BI) team. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories. The Power Platform CoE Starter Kit is a comprehensive reference implementation that demonstrates how to build sophisticated governance, monitoring, and adoption capabilities using Power Platform's native low-code tools.

This collection of components and solutions helps you develop a strategy for adopting and supporting Power Platform while showcasing what's possible with the platform's out-of-the-box features. A Center of Excellence (CoE) is a team or entity within an organization that provides leadership, best practices, research, support, and training for a specific focus area—in this case, Power Platform. The Power Platform CoE Starter Kit doesn't represent the entire Center of Excellence or CoE. Managing a CoE requires more than tools. A CoE needs people, communication, and defined requirements and processes. Tools are a means to an end, and each organization must thoughtfully design its CoE based on its unique needs and goals.

Learn more about creating a Center of Excellence for Power Platform adoption in Establish a Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories. This article targets IT professionals and IT managers.

You'll learn about BI solution architecture in the COE and the different technologies employed. Technologies include Azure, Power BI, and Excel. Together, they can be leveraged to deliver a scalable and data-driven cloud BI platform. Designing a robust BI platform is somewhat like building a bridge; a bridge that connects transformed and enriched source data to data consumers. The design of such a complex structure requires an engineering mindset, though it can be one of the most creative and rewarding IT architectures you could design. In a large organization, a BI solution architecture can consist of:

The platform must support specific demands. Specifically, it must scale and perform to meet the expectations of business services and data consumers. At the same time, it must be secure from the ground up. And, it must be sufficiently resilient to adapt to change—because it's a certainty that in time new data and subject areas must be brought online. There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories. Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories. Establishing a Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence or Center of Enablement (CoE) is a strategic move that can maximize the platform’s potential and ensure its sustainable, scalable, and secure use across the enterprise. The CoE’s mission is to drive a culture of excellence by fostering innovation and efficiency.

The aim is to create a strong foundation for rapid solution development and deployment, boosting productivity and supporting your commitment to excellence. This article outlines the key steps and best practices for setting up a successful Power Platform CoE. Establishing a CoE is key to driving operational excellence. A CoE offers governance, best practices, and support to help your organization adopt Power Platform more effectively. A key principle is to clarify why you're setting up a CoE, what you aim to accomplish, and the key business outcomes you hope to achieve. Then get started and learn and evolve along the way.

Defining clear vision, metrics, and goals helps you achieve positive business outcomes and alignment with your organizational strategy.

How Microsoft Established A Center Of Excellence Power Bi

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