This week we've got a handful of interesting announcements. The first being the public preview of automatic scaling for dataset scale-out which is another (the last?) feature bringing functional parity with Azure Analysis Services. Great news for large scale deployments. We've also been told about the new ways to create connected tables in Excel connected to Power BI, and been given a Heads up: Changes to Excel workbook support in Power BI workspaces where we've been made aware of the deprecation of certain features for Excel workbooks in Power BI workspaces - do check it out to see if it impacts your org's workflows. Diverging slightly, but sticking on the Excel theme, you must have seen the announcement around Python in Excel? I think this is a great feature, allowing people the flexibility to choose which familiar tool to use for the particular job at hand. It also enables more advanced visualizations, with popular charting libraries like matplotlib and seaborn being available by default. Exciting stuff.

Finally, continuing his tech-leader focussed Microsoft Fabric series, my colleague Barry has written about Exploring Strategies Enabled By Microsoft Fabric, using Wardley Maps as a tool to build situational awareness and visualize the evolution of disciplines and technology.