Connecting Your Data World: What’s New in Microsoft Fabric Data Factory

In today’s world of modern analytics, connectivity is everything.

Your data is only as powerful as your ability to connect it — across systems, departments, and tools — and to move it securely and quickly. That’s why Microsoft Fabric has been investing heavily in expanding and improving its Data Factory connectors: the technology that joins all your data sources together.

These updates make it simpler than ever to connect systems, automate data movement, and keep your business intelligence fresh and accurate.

Here’s a quick look at the latest innovations and what they mean for your organisation.

Broader Connectivity for Any Data Landscape

No matter where your data lives — in the cloud, on-premise, or within specialist systems — the latest Fabric connectors make it easier to bring everything together. Microsoft has added new connectors for Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, PostgreSQL, Teradata, and more. This means:

• Less need for custom integration work.
• Easier access to all your business data in one place.
• Faster time from data collection to insight.

In short, Fabric helps you break down silos and build a unified, connected data ecosystem.

Faster Data Movement for Better Performance

When you’re dealing with millions of records, speed matters.

The updated Salesforce connectors now support partitioned reads — which simply means they can pull large datasets much faster by automatically splitting tasks into smaller chunks. No manual setup, no complex tuning — just faster results and smoother data refreshes.

If your business relies on Salesforce data for reporting, dashboards or analytics, this improvement will make your daily workflows noticeably quicker.

Enterprise-Ready Flexibility

Microsoft Fabric Data Factory has also added new enterprise-grade features to help teams keep their data accurate, resilient, and adaptable. Key highlights include:

• Smarter data updates: You can now merge (upsert) new or changed records into existing datasets, avoiding full reloads.
• Dynamic schema handling: The connectors automatically adapt when columns or field names change — no broken pipelines.
• Support for large text data: Perfect for importing detailed customer feedback, long-form content or logs.
• Improved time-based data accuracy: Timestamp and date fields are preserved exactly as stored in the source systems.
• Controlled data access: Choose which catalog or role to use in Databricks, DB2, or Snowflake — keeping data access governed and secure.

These updates reduce manual maintenance, simplify change management, and improve trust in your analytics.

Stronger Security and Compliance

Security is non-negotiable. The latest connector updates focus heavily on protecting data at every stage:

• Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) authentication: Use corporate credentials for seamless, secure access.
• TLS 1.3 encryption: The latest industry standard for safeguarding data in transit.
• Workspace identity authentication: Allows connectors to use managed identities — no passwords stored in pipelines.

This makes it easier for enterprises to maintain compliance and manage data securely at scale.

Looking Ahead

As businesses continue to scale their analytics and AI capabilities, the need for secure, connected, and flexible data infrastructure keeps growing. Microsoft Fabric Data Factory is evolving to meet that need — with smarter automation, stronger governance, and even tighter integration with enterprise systems.

Whether you’re modernising your data platform or simply want to streamline your reporting, these updates help you:

• Bring all your data together
• Keep it accurate and secure
• Turn insight into action faster

In short — your data becomes a connected ecosystem, not a collection of silos.

How Board North Can Help

At Board North, we help businesses get more from Microsoft Fabric by building the right operating system around it — aligning vision, data, and automation so leadership teams can act with confidence. Our CFO-led approach combines data strategy, AI integration, and business performance dashboards to give you one version of the truth and faster, measurable growth.

If you’re exploring Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, or AI-driven automation, we can help you design a connected system that delivers clarity, control, and smarter decision-making.

Book a demo or strategy call to discover how Board North can help you connect your data and scale your business with confidence.