Project overview
A leading office supply retailer needed faster, cost-efficient access to sales and inventory data. Users across sales, inventory, merchandising, planning, management, HR, and field operations relied on detailed reports. However, the existing MicroStrategy setup had slow load times and high maintenance costs. The client sought a solution that could store and process large datasets while ensuring fast load and refresh times.
Business challenges
· High storage costs: Over 70 GB of highly granular transaction- and SKU-level data was costly to maintain.
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Slow load times: Reports accessed by up to 50 concurrent users took 35-70 seconds to load.
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Lengthy refresh cycles: Full refreshes (two years of data) required 10+ days. Incremental refreshes (six weeks of data) took over an hour, delaying decision-making.
Our approach
With deep expertise in Iceberg tables, Snowflake, and Microsoft Fabric, we implemented a shortcut-based architecture to improve speed and reduce costs.
Data from Snowflake was exported to Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) using an external volume dump. We then created Fabric shortcuts in OneLake, built a semantic model, and connected Power BI reports using DirectLake. This approach allowed us to access the latest data without duplicating storage in OneLake or Power BI datasets.
We conducted extensive testing, including security, data integrity, load performance, and billing scenarios. The solution used a Fabric F256 SKU (replacing the prior P3 capacity with autoscale enabled), delivering strong performance for concurrent user loads while reducing infrastructure costs.
| Figure 1: Solution architecture |
Business outcomes
· Load time reduced from 35-60 seconds to 8-15 seconds per report.
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Storage and compute costs decreased by approximately 60%.
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Improved user satisfaction with stakeholders noting significant performance gains and effective project execution despite the novel approach.
Looking ahead
Following a successful pilot, the solution is now deployed in production and consistently delivering strong performance. The next phase will focus on implementing a monitoring framework for data refreshes, to further enhance reporting efficiency and enable proactive decision-making.
Interested in learning more?
MAQ Software helps organizations accelerate business growth by combining the power of Snowflake and Microsoft Fabric. Our approach delivers faster insights, higher customer satisfaction, and measurable cost savings.
Contact CustomerSuccess@MAQSoftware.com to discover how Power BI and Snowflake can transform your analytics.