Modern Data Platform Transformation for London Business School

Client

London Business School (LBS) is a top global institution shaping the next generation of business leaders It offers world-class MBA, Master’s, PhD, and executive education programs, delivered by world-renowned faculty and enriched by a global community of more than 50,000 alumni and a strong research ecosystem. To keep driving impact, LBS relies on data, to understand performance, plan resources, and make smarter marketing and operational decisions.

Challenge

LBS faced a fragmented data ecosystem composed of legacy on-premises systems and partial cloud migrations. This disjointed infrastructure made it difficult for departments to access unified insights, limiting marketing performance analysis, resource planning, and overall efficiency.

The school sought more than modernization: it needed an AI-ready foundation that would scale with its ambitions.

Solution

DataArt launched London Business School’s Data Strategy Modernization journey with the successful deployment of a Data Platform built on Microsoft Fabric, establishing a strong foundation that is now being scaled across the wider business.

The transformation went beyond a technical upgrade and focused on reshaping how data is collected, shared, and used across the organization. Working closely with LBS teams, DataArt delivered a key marketing use case, enabling data-driven campaign decisions through advanced analytics and real-time insights. This improved visibility into performance, increased agility, and supported more effective marketing outcomes.

Microsoft Fabric proved especially valuable by providing a unified and AI-ready environment that allows the school to manage data more efficiently, trust its insights, and prepare for future AI-driven initiatives.

Core Technologies

• Microsoft Fabric – Foundation for the modern data platform
• Microsoft Purview – Data governance, cataloging, and compliance
• Microsoft Azure – Cloud infrastructure supporting Fabric
• Azure Data Lake / OneLake (within Fabric) – Unified data layer enabling scalability and performance

Business Impact and Benefits

By integrating six diverse data sources into Microsoft Fabric and implementing a medallion architecture, London Business School achieved a significant improvement in data quality and usability. All key data sources are now available on a single platform, creating operational efficiencies and enabling faster, more informed decision-making across teams. The Gold layer standardizes, cleanses, and consolidates datasets, ensuring consistent and reliable insights.

This improvement directly impacted decision-making. Previously, ROI reporting was fragmented and time consuming due to the data wrangling required. Now, with accurate Power BI reports, the marketing team can quickly pinpoint underperforming areas and make data-driven adjustments.

For London Business School, this expertise helped simplify data architecture, reduce infrastructure complexity, and create a scalable, well-governed foundation ready for AI-driven growth.

Our Microsoft Expertise

Microsoft Fabric is a relatively new technology, yet DataArt has already developed strong expertise and delivered successful projects using it. Backed by over 20 years of partnership with Microsoft and multiple Solutions Partner designations — Data & AI (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), and Security (Azure) — as well as Advanced Specializations in Analytics, AI Platform, and Infra & Database Migration, DataArt brings proven experience in Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Fabric to every engagement.

Strategic Value for Microsoft

The project highlights Microsoft Fabric’s potential in the education sector, demonstrating how it can streamline data ecosystems, improve governance, and prepare institutions for AI adoption.

Without this transformation, LBS would still be struggling with:

• Fragmented data silos
• Delayed insights caused by manual reconciliation
• Inefficient resource use limiting innovation
• Increased compliance and data governance risks

The new Microsoft Fabric–based data platform enables LBS to act with confidence, scale innovation, and continue its mission of empowering global business leaders through data-driven education.

By partnering with DataArt, Microsoft expanded the reach of its data and AI technologies into the educational system.