DATACON, a Microsoft Data Platform conference, brings together top experts, industry leaders, and data professionals for an immersive five-day experience. Focused on cutting-edge Microsoft data technologies—including Azure SQL Databases, Microsoft Fabric, SQL Server, and Real-Time Intelligence—DATACON delivers deep technical insights and practical solutions to help individuals and organizations unlock the full potential of their data.
With two days of intensive preconference workshops followed by three days of expert-led sessions, attendees gain hands-on experience and in-depth knowledge across a range of specialized tracks, including,&nbsp;Azure Data Services,&nbsp;SQL Server Optimization &amp; Best Practices,&nbsp;SQL Server Data Solutions for Enterprise,&nbsp;Data Warehousing,&nbsp;Data Integration &amp; Transformation,&nbsp;Power BI &amp; Data Visualization,&nbsp;Microsoft Fabric, and&nbsp;Data Security &amp; Governance.
At DATACON, learning comes from the best in the industry. Our speakers include Microsoft MVPs, Microsoft Certified Masters (MCMs), Microsoft Program Managers, Engineers, MCTs, and Regional Directors—each bringing expert-level insights into Azure SQL Databases, SQL Server, Purview, Power BI, Fabric, and more.
Choose a complete learning track to deepen your expertise or mix and match sessions to fit your organization’s specific needs. Whether you’re focused on building data pipelines, designing dashboards, integrating AI into your workflows, or mastering data governance,&nbsp;DATACON&nbsp;is your destination for actionable insights and transformative learning.

DATACON

Room 340-342

This workshop equips developers and database professionals with the practical skills needed to implement robust data protection in their SQL Server environments. It creates systems where sensitive information remains secure even from privileged users like database administrators.

Through structured, hands-on exercises, participants will:

Discover and Classify sensitive data using SQL Server's built-in tools—establishing the foundation for a comprehensive security strategy

Implement Column-Level Protection through Dynamic Data Masking and Always Encrypted, including advanced scenarios with secure enclaves that maintain query performance while protecting data confidentiality

Deploy Row-Level Security to enforce granular access controls based on user context, ensuring proper data isolation and visibility

Establish Audit Trails to monitor and track all interactions with classified data, supporting compliance requirements and enabling security incident investigations

Throughout the day, participants will progressively build a secured database and a .NET web application, integrating each security feature into a cohesive solution. By the session's end, attendees will have developed a proof-of-concept that demonstrates enterprise-grade data protection techniques that satisfy security requirements while maintaining application functionality.

Advanced Data Protection Strategies with SQL Server: A Hands-on Workshop

Query store + Azure SQL Copilot, which is the baddest query in my instance.

On-premises or Azure, it doesn't matter, Query Store will help you finding out how your queries are performing. 

Get your performance to the next level knowing how to digg into Query Store data. Understand how it works, and how you can use Query Store data to solve performance issues and detect problems before they create a situation. 

Do you want to know how to mine Query Store: plans, queries?
Learn how to get the best of it in an instance with several databases.

We will also discuss the available options for troubleshooting using Azure SQL Copilot

Based on Microsoft support experience.

Query Store and Azure SQL Copilot, who is the fairest in the land?

This session delves into the advanced security features of Microsoft Fabric, specifically designed for data warehousing. Attendees will learn how to classify and protect sensitive data using sensitivity labels and policies in Microsoft Purview. 

The session will cover the implementation of Row-Level Security (RLS) to restrict access at the row level, ensuring users only see data relevant to their roles. Additionally, it will explore Column-Level Security (CLS) to secure specific columns in datasets, providing an extra layer of protection for sensitive information.

Participants will also discover how to use data masking techniques to obfuscate sensitive data, making it unreadable to unauthorized users while maintaining usability for authorized personnel. The session will emphasize aligning data warehousing practices with regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA, leveraging Microsoft Fabric’s compliance tools and features. 

Join us to gain a comprehensive understanding of how to secure your data warehouse end-to-end within Microsoft Fabric.

Microsoft Fabric: Ultimate Data Security for Robust Data Warehousing

1. Data Ingestion & Integration
     Utilize Microsoft Fabric’s OneLake to unify governance data from Purview, M365, and third-party data sources.
    Implement Synapse Data Engineering to transform governance metadata into structured insights.
2. Governance Metrics & Compliance Monitoring
   Define key governance KPIs, including:
       *   Data Quality Scores (accuracy, completeness, consistency).
       *   Compliance Status (GDPR, HIPAA, industry-specific regulations).
       *   Data Lineage & Sensitivity Labels (metadata classification).
       *   User Access & Data Usage Trends.
3. Self-Service Dashboard with Purview
       Integrate Purview with Fabric for real-time metadata visualization.
       Design interactive dashboards in Power BI with drill-down capabilities for governance teams.
      Enable role-based access control for different user personas (CIO, Data Stewards, Compliance Officers).



Generate self-service governance dashboard using Microsoft Fabric and Purview

Your organization's data will always be a primary target for adversaries.  If you are using SQL Server to store this data, there are a wealth of settings and tools available to improve your security posture.  In this talk, we will look at different methods of securing a SQL Server instance, from venerable (principle of least privilege, Transparent Data Encryption) to modern (Always Encrypted with secure enclaves, Microsoft Defender), and many things in between.  These tools and techniques will show us ways for developers, database administrators, systems administrators, and network specialists to work together to secure SQL Server instances.

Securing SQL Server

Have you struggled with the wide variety of ways to implement AI in and around your data? Which API to call? Which model to deploy? Where do I go for help? Did you know there are built-in AI skills in Microsoft Fabric that provide a single place for you to utilize AI in and around your Fabric data? Join me for this demo-rich 1-hour session as we learn about what AI skills can do for your data in Microsoft Fabric - and for you!

Skills to Pay The Bills: Using AI Skills in Fabric

While executives are familiar with Power BI's impact on business intelligence, many remain unaware of how Microsoft Fabric revolutionizes the entire data value chain. This session bridges that knowledge gap, equipping data leaders with practical strategies to transform Fabric from "just another BI tool" into a compelling platform for enterprise-wide data transformation.
Learn how to build a clear, staged roadmap that starts with familiar Power BI territory and progressively demonstrates Fabric's game-changing capabilities in data integration, lakehouse architecture, and real-time analytics. Through real-world case studies, you'll see how leading organizations have successfully expanded from departmental BI to enterprise-wide data transformation using Fabric's unified platform.
We'll explore how to identify and prioritize quick wins that build momentum while laying the foundation for broader adoption. You'll learn effective techniques for quantifying ROI at each stage of implementation, addressing security and governance concerns, and managing organizational change from your existing data stack to Fabric's modern architecture.
Whether you're just starting to evaluate Fabric or looking to accelerate adoption, you'll leave with a practical blueprint for moving your organization beyond Power BI into the full potential of Microsoft's unified data platform.

How to Pitch Fabric to your Leadership

We'll cover best practices when developing solutions using Microsoft Dataverse. We'll cover guidance for API usage, form design, app performance, security, maintenance and more!

Best practices and Guidance when using Microsoft Dataverse

Working with APIs can be tricky, and even more so when it's an OAuth 2.0 API. Add to that an ETL platform and automation, and you now have a perfect storm that's pretty difficult to navigate. 

This session is about my journey with OAuth 2.0 APIs while trying to extract my own financial data, how I struggled with the authorization flow and how it finally started making sense. 

We'll talk about what an OAuth 2.0 API is, and why they are so difficult to deal with when your tool of choice is an automated ETL platform. After that we'll take a closer look at the steps to develop an ADF pipeline that extracts data from an OAuth 2.0 API, and review some tools that can help you throughout the development process.

Working with OAuth 2.0 APIs in Azure Data Factory

With the Preview 1 release of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 21 in November, the SQL Tools team made available the biggest set of updates to SSMS in recent memory, including numerous requests that customers have been waiting to see...for years in some cases.

In this session we'll show off what's new in SSMS 21, what's in progress, and what we have planned for SQL 2025.  We'll start by walking through installation and jump to the first step for each launch - connecting. You'll want to connect to a database using our new connection dialog - we'll take a tour through the experience and take feedback (we're always listening :) We'll also cover updates you'll find throughout SSMS such as changes to Azure authentication, and improvements in the query editor and results grid. Folks have been excited about support for Git in SSMS, so we'll show you how to get started. If Git is new to you, it may seem daunting. Don't worry, if we can figure it out, so can you!

Expect lots of demos, as many tips, tricks, and updates as we can fit in.

SSMS 21 Spotlight: What's new and why it matters

Developers often create excellent reports, only to be asked for data exports to Excel. 

Ultimately, users want only one thing: easy access to data that helps them do their job. While Power BI reports and dashboards are powerful, they can't answer every question. Users may need to create their own reports, build Excel pivots, or extract data for other processes. 
These needs must be met securely and consistently, avoiding governance bypass, duplicated calculations, or compromised security.

Enter the Semantic Layer.
The semantic layer connects Power BI and Microsoft Fabric back-end systems to end users, offering secure, governed, and user-friendly data access. Certified semantic models means that the content meets the organisation's quality standards and can be regarded as reliable, authoritative, and ready for use across the organisation.


This session will cover:

1. What is a Semantic Model?
Define the semantic layer, its components, and its role in self-service BI.

2. The Certification Process
Explore the structured, repeatable steps required to certify semantic models. This introduces the certification process map and checklist - a list of best practices a model requires to pass to be certified.

3. Deep dive into the Certification Checklist
Learn some common best practices, optimization tips, security considerations, and practical advice for building robust semantic models.


Who Should Attend?

This session is for Data Analysts, Data Engineers, and BI Developers aiming to upgrade models to meet enterprise business and self service needs.

Led by Steve Campbell, a Microsoft MVP and co-owner of a Microsoft data consultancy. Steve previously led data analytics for large-scale EMEA platform implementations.

Key Takeaways
- Understand the Role of Semantic Models.
- Learn the Certification Process and a repeatable framework for ensuring your models meet organisational standards.
- Take away practical tips for optimisation, security, and best practices.

The Power of Semantic Layers: Ensuring Reliable and Governed BI

Many companies use one or more Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings when working with Microsoft Azure. However, these companies don't want to allow the network traffic to these PaaS services to go over the public Internet. In this session, we will learn more about why companies want to secure this network traffic and, more importantly, how to secure this traffic and what application changes need to be made to use these private connections.

Securing Azure PaaS Network Communications

This session focuses on leveraging Microsoft Fabric's Real-Time Intelligence and Generative AI capabilities to monitor and analyze streaming customer review data in retail. Participants will learn how to:

1. Ingest and process streaming data from customer reviews in real-time.
2. Utilize AI agents to detect anomalies in sentiment trends and unusual patterns.
3. Generate insights using Microsoft Fabric’s Real-Time Intelligence, Co-Pilot Studio, and ML notebooks.