Four-week, fixed-price independent assessment
Reporting Modernisation Assessment
Decide how to modernise legacy reporting, ERP data and analytics without assuming Microsoft Fabric is automatically the answer. Hopton assesses the current estate, reporting needs, data readiness, architecture options, cost and delivery risk, then gives you a written recommendation and roadmap.
The assessment can recommend Fabric, a simpler Power BI route, modernisation around the current ERP, a phased replacement or no immediate platform change. The output does not lock you into a Hopton build.
When to use it
The organisation needs a platform decision, not another demonstration
The Reporting Modernisation Assessment is for material decisions where the current reporting estate, ERP roadmap and target data platform are connected.
A legacy ERP is limiting reporting, but replacement is expensive.
The organisation needs to separate operational-system constraints from analytics constraints.
An ERP migration is planned.
Reporting history, extraction and continuity must be designed before the old environment is switched off.
Power BI adoption has exposed weak foundations.
Reports exist, but data history, definitions and ownership are not strong enough to scale.
Fabric is being proposed without a tested business case.
Capacity, source complexity, operating model and workload need an evidence-based assessment.
Several reporting tools must be rationalised.
Qlik, Tableau, SSRS, Cognos, Excel or local databases overlap, but active use and essential logic are not mapped.
Acquisition or growth has multiplied systems.
The business needs one route across entities without waiting for every source platform to become identical.
A board or investment decision needs credible cost and timing.
Leaders need options, dependencies and risk, not a single optimistic estimate.
If the primary issue is the health of an existing Power BI estate, use the two-week Power BI Health Check. If the target architecture is already agreed and the organisation is ready to build, use Establish instead.
The decision the report must support
The assessment answers the questions a platform proposal often skips
- What decisions and reporting obligations must the future environment support?
- Which current reports are active, critical, duplicated or safe to retire?
- Is the main constraint the ERP, the extraction route, the data model, the reporting tool or ownership?
- What history must be preserved and how accessible is it?
- Can Power BI deliver the immediate value without Fabric?
- If Fabric is justified, which workloads and governance model justify it?
- What architecture options are credible for the organisation's size and skills?
- What security, continuity, licensing and capacity risks must be resolved?
- What should happen first, what can wait and what should not be built?
- What are the realistic dependencies, cost categories and delivery sequence?
The assessment is complete only when the recommendation explains both what to do and why the rejected options are weaker for this organisation.
What is assessed
Business, reporting, data and platform readiness in one view
The assessment produces a decision-grade architecture and roadmap, not production pipelines, a completed semantic model or finished reports. Those belong to a separately approved implementation phase.
How it works
Four weeks from uncertain estate to defensible recommendation
Before week 1: scope and evidence request
Confirm the decision to be made, stakeholders, systems, report estate, access route, commercial assumptions and confidentiality requirements.
Week 1: outcomes and current state
Interview business, finance, technology and reporting owners. Map current reports, systems, pain points, obligations, planned ERP change and measures of success.
Week 2: data and architecture analysis
Review source accessibility, history, models, transformations, security and relevant platform evidence. Identify the real constraints and feasible architecture patterns.
Week 3: option design and challenge
Compare credible routes, including the option not to adopt Fabric. Test assumptions about licensing, capacity, skills, migration, continuity and operating ownership with the client.
Week 4: recommendation and roadmap
Finalise the target route, sequencing, risks, cost categories, decision log and next-stage scope. Present the recommendation to the decision-makers and deliver the written assessment.
The standard assessment is four weeks. Delayed access or unavailable decision-makers may require a revised calendar; any change is agreed rather than silently reducing the evidence base.
What you receive
A decision pack that can survive scrutiny
- 1
Executive recommendation.
The preferred route, business rationale and decisions required.
- 2
Current-state map.
Reporting tools, sources, ownership, critical dependencies and key pain points.
- 3
Report rationalisation view.
Active, critical, overlapping and retirement candidates at the agreed level of detail.
- 4
Data-readiness findings.
Access, history, quality, definitions and ownership risks.
- 5
Architecture options.
Credible choices compared on fit, cost, complexity, continuity and operating burden.
- 6
Fabric readiness decision.
A clear recommendation of yes, no, later or limited-scope, with the evidence behind it.
- 7
Target architecture.
A decision-grade view of the recommended data, semantic, reporting, security and release layers.
- 8
Migration and continuity plan.
How old and new reporting can coexist, validate and cut over safely.
- 9
Cost and timeline model.
Delivery and platform cost categories, dependencies and realistic sequencing. This is not a fixed Build quote unless separately stated.
- 10
Prioritised roadmap.
Work packages, owners, decisions, prerequisites and a clear first phase.
- 11
Playback session.
A decision-focused presentation for leadership and delivery stakeholders.
The written output belongs to the client and can be used with an internal team, in procurement or with another consultancy. Hopton may propose the next phase, but the assessment is not conditional on winning it.
More than one valid answer
Four outcomes the assessment can recommend
Power BI first, without Fabric
Use when a focused reporting and semantic layer can deliver the required outcome from accessible, manageable sources without a wider data platform.
Modernise around the current ERP
Use when the operational system can remain in place and a curated analytics layer can remove the reporting constraint more economically than replacement.
Power BI with Microsoft Fabric
Use when multi-source history, governed reuse, engineering workloads, scale or the broader Microsoft operating model justifies Fabric's capacity and governance overhead.
Phase the change or replace a source platform
Use when data accessibility, process design or operational-system limitations make an analytics-only solution insufficient, or when the risk is too high for a single cutover.
A recommendation against Fabric is a valid successful outcome. The purpose is to make the right decision before platform and implementation costs are committed.
Choose the level of evidence you need
Fabric decision tool or Reporting Modernisation Assessment?
Relevant delivery evidence
Modernise the reporting route without losing the business history
Nationwide Hygiene Group: QlikView, NAV and Business Central
Nationwide needed Power BI reporting across its old Dynamics NAV and new Business Central environments while keeping QlikView stable until the move was complete. Hopton combined old and new ERP data in one Power BI environment, protected continuity and reduced ongoing cost and platform risk.
Read the Nationwide Hygiene Group case studyWasabi: stabilise first, then extend
Wasabi's Microsoft estate was underperforming. Hopton rebuilt dependable foundations across Fabric, Power BI, Azure and Business Central, bringing more than 40 restaurant P&Ls, central kitchens and grocery into one view before extending into machine learning.
Read the Wasabi case studyCommon questions
Reporting Modernisation Assessment: scope and independence
Make the platform decision before the platform purchase
Discuss the Reporting Modernisation Assessment
Tell us which ERP and reporting tools are in use, what change is being considered and which decision needs evidence. We will confirm whether the four-week assessment is the right route or whether a simpler first step is enough.
Describe the modernisation decision
Other ways to get in touch
Response within one working day. No obligation.