NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator
Plan your move from Power BI Premium to Microsoft Fabric with confidence.
Make the mandatory move from Power BI Premium to Microsoft Fabric with a controlled transition plan, with NHS-specific guidance and funding options that may be available subject to scoping and approval.
- Central Tenancy or your own tenant.
- Funded delivery, subject to scoping.*
- Readiness and best practice adoption.
For many NHS organisations, moving from Power BI Premium capacity (P-SKU) to Microsoft Fabric capacity (F-SKU) is more than a licensing change. As NHS England continues to evolve its direction for the Central Tenancy and national data platforms, it is also an opportunity to improve how data is managed, governed, shared and used across your NHS organisation, whilst maintaining performance, reporting continuity and control.
Explore the right approach for your organisation with our NHS experts today.
What is the NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator?
The NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator is a structured programme designed to help NHS organisations navigate the move from Power BI Premium (P-SKU) to Microsoft Fabric (F-SKU). This is particularly important as NHS England continues to evolve its direction on the Central Tenancy and national data platforms, where understanding how Fabric fits within your organisation’s architecture is essential to making the right decisions early.
We assess your current position, identify the steps needed for a smooth and managed transition, and help you make informed decisions around capacity, governance, timing and next steps. Rather than treating this as a purely technical migration, we focus on what matters most to the many NHS organisations we partner with: reducing uncertainty, avoiding unnecessary cost, protecting day-to-day reporting, and creating practical routes to value with Microsoft Fabric.
Is the NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator right for your organisation?
The NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator is designed for NHS organisations starting from one of three positions:
Using the NHS Central Tenancy for Power BI today.
Running Power BI Premium in your own tenant.
Using Power BI Pro or another visualisation tool.
If you are using the NHS Central Tenancy today, we also support migration and connectivity support into your new local Fabric capacity.
Why the move from Power BI Premium to Microsoft Fabric matters for NHS organisations
Moving from Power BI Premium to Microsoft Fabric is an opportunity to modernise your data platform, improve data governance, and create a stronger foundation for future Data and AI value.
The move to Fabric introduces new opportunities, but it also raises important questions. What does the transition mean for your current data estate? How should you think about capacity, governance and readiness? Which use cases should you prioritise first? And how do you make progress without creating unnecessary disruption? The answers will vary by organisation, but the transition itself opens up clear opportunities. This move will:
Build on your existing Power BI investment.
Use Fabric as a unified data layer, connecting existing platforms and enabling data science, AI and real-time intelligence capabilities.
Support local Microsoft Fabric adoption as well as P-SKU to F-SKU migration in the Central Tenant if you have it, and connectivity between the two.
Create a good foundation for long-term NHS data strategy, readiness and best practice adoption.
The NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator is designed to answer those questions in a structured, practical way. It helps NHS organisations move from a Power BI estate to a more connected, Fabric-aligned future.
Benefits of the NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator:
Gain a clear understanding of the commercial and technical implications of moving from P-SKU to F-SKU.
Deploy and migrate your production-ready Microsoft Fabric platform.
Review your current Power BI and data estate against Fabric readiness.
Identify dependencies, risks and areas that need attention before transition.
Prioritise NHS-focused use cases that can deliver early value.
Build a realistic roadmap for transition, adoption and next steps.
NHS Central Tenant reporting: F64 capacity concession available
As NHS organisations review their Microsoft Fabric transition plans, many are evaluating how they will continue to access Power BI reports hosted within the NHS.net Central Tenant. Microsoft is currently offering eligible NHS Trusts a 100% discount on one Microsoft Fabric F64 three-year Reserved Instance to support read-only access to Power BI reports hosted in the NHS.net Central Tenant. This concession is designed to avoid NHS organisations incurring duplicate licensing costs simply to consume centrally published reporting.
How the model works:
- Your Trust’s patient, clinical and operational data remains entirely within your own Azure tenant.
- No data is moved into the NHS.net Central Tenant.
- Access to centrally published reports is provided through secure cross-tenant sharing.
- The discounted F64 capacity is used solely to enable read-only report consumption.
Eligibility requirements
To qualify for the concession, NHS organisations must:
- Maintain their own Microsoft Fabric capacity of at least F64 within their local tenant.
- Self-fund and retain that local Fabric capacity for the full three-year reservation period.
- Use the discounted capacity exclusively for NHS.net Central Tenant reporting access.
Important considerations
Before planning around the concession, organisations should be aware that:
- The offer is restricted to cross-tenant Power BI report viewing only.
- The capacity cannot be used for wider Fabric workloads or additional compute requirements.
- Only one discounted F64 Reserved Instance is available per eligible Trust.
- Ordering must take place during a specific Microsoft ordering window.
- Contract amendments typically need to be processed by approximately the 25th of the preceding month to enable the next available ordering period.
- If the required local Fabric capacity is removed, or additional discounted capacity is ordered, Microsoft may apply standard commercial pricing.
What’s included in the NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator
Readiness and impact assessment
We review your current environment, explore how Power BI Premium is being used today, and identify the dependencies, risks and considerations that may affect the move to Fabric.
It includes a practical view of current estate maturity, transition readiness and early blockers.
A clear view of your current transition position, translated into language that is useful for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Fabric platform deployment and migration
We configure and deploy your production-ready Microsoft Fabric platform.
Where required, we also configure an on-premises data gateway to maintain secure connectivity with your existing infrastructure.
A validated, production-ready Fabric environment with capacities, workspaces, domains, Role Based Access Control (RBAC), automation and pipelines configured and tested, with validation and sign-off, ready for data workload migration and user onboarding.
NHS use case prioritisation
We work with you to identify where Fabric can create the most value in your organisation.
This may include areas such as population health, waiting list analytics, integrated care insight, or other use cases aligned to your local priorities.
A small set of prioritised use cases that can shape the next stage of your Fabric journey and support stronger business cases for investment.
Concession eligibility, tenancy strategy and planning
Assess your eligibility for the Microsoft concession, determine what tenancy approach is right for your organisation, model the financial implications, and plan cross-tenant reporting access and governance requirements.
A clear understanding of your concession eligibility, a recommended tenancy model, a financial comparison against your current spend, and a governance framework for cross-tenant reporting and data sharing.
Practical guidance to make informed decisions about your transition tailored to your organisation.
Proof of Value
Where appropriate, we help demonstrate how Fabric could work in practice using a focused example aligned to your environment and priorities.
This is intended to make the opportunity tangible and not just theoretical by showing how improved integration, performance or operational insight could be achieved.
A practical demonstration of potential value, helping stakeholders understand what the transition could enable in real terms.
Transition roadmap
We bring the findings together into a practical roadmap that outlines the recommended path from Power BI Premium to Fabric.
This includes sequencing, dependencies, risks, mitigation considerations and the investment view needed to support planning.
A board ready roadmap that supports clear decision-making and gives stakeholders a credible basis for next steps.
NHS funding opportunity:
Eligible NHS Trusts may qualify for a 100% discounted three-year Fabric F64 Reserved Instance to enable read-only access to Power BI reports in the NHS.net Central Tenant.
Speak to our NHS Fabric specialists to understand eligibility requirements and how this may influence your tenancy strategy.
Why NHS organisations choose Simpson Associates for Microsoft Fabric transition support
We understand that NHS organisations need more than product knowledge. They need support that reflects the realities of public sector delivery, governance expectations and the complexity of existing data estates.
Our approach is practical, collaborative and grounded in real delivery experience. We do not just describe the transition in abstract terms. We help you understand what it means in your organisation, what good looks like, and how to move forward in a controlled and achievable way.
Ready to take the next step from Power BI Premium to Microsoft Fabric? Complete the form >>>
Ready to take the next step from Power BI Premium to Microsoft Fabric?
The NHS Fabric Transition Accelerator gives you a controlled way to plan your move, with practical guidance for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
*Funding options may be available, subject to scoping, eligibility and approval by Microsoft and Simpson Associates.