PBIMCR presents Leon Gordon & Vito Schittone

Join us for September's PBIMCR meet-up

When: Thursday 24th of September 2026
Time: arrive for 5:30pm with talks starting from 6pm start prompt
Address: Canopius Group - 100 Barbirolli Square Manchester M2 3AB
Complimentary drinks & pizza provided by our hosts Canopius Group & sponsors Robert Walters

Leon Gordon

Session Title

# Who's Really in Control? Monitoring & Governing Microsoft Fabric the Smart Way

Microsoft Fabric is powerful, but without the right monitoring and governance in place, it can quickly become a black box of ballooning costs, failed refreshes, and unclear ownership.

In this interactive session, we’ll break down:
The real-world governance challenges teams face in Microsoft Fabric
What Microsoft offers out-of-the-box and where it falls short
How to monitor your data estate, refreshes, and usage in a meaningful way.

Proven strategies to track, forecast costs, audit, and optimise your Fabric environment.

We’ll also showcase how you can enable data teams to:
- Score their governance maturity
- Monitor all of your capacities, refresh and workspace activity in real-time
- Get AI-powered recommendations to improve platform performance
- Make informed decisions across cost, access, and risk

Whether you’re a CTO, BI lead, platform owner, or Power BI pro, this session will equip you with practical tools and a smarter mindset to take full control of your Fabric environment.

Bonus: Live demo of governance scoring and AI-powered Fabric optimisation monitoring in action.

Vito Schittone
Title:
Advancing Your Career in Data
Vito’s session is built on his experience, learning, and skills developed over more than a decade in the industry.
He has 12 years of experience across five sectors, and within two years of graduating, while working as a Medical Laboratory Assistant, he was already leading national analytics. He drove adoption of a previously under‑used tool and delivered analytics valued in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. Over the following ten years, he progressed from Information Management Officer to Chief Technology Officer (CTO), leading SaaS development for commercial use. During this period, he automated over 7,500 working hours in under a week and built multiple enterprise‑level solutions.

Vito holds 12+ recognised Microsoft certifications with an average score of 850/1000, including Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): Data Management and Analytics as well as Microsoft Certified: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect. He describes himself as a Power BI and Fabric specialist, and is the founder of Data Driven Innovations (DDI), which has grown to around 1.5k members after just three sessions.
He uses a practical, experience‑driven approach and summarises the session with his own quote:

“The advantage of learning from someone who talks the talk and walks the walk is that real‑world experience collapses the learning curve, revealing in minutes what others take years to try, and often fail, to explain.” — Vito Schittone

Topics Covered: Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Analysis Services, Azure AI, OneLake, Real-Time Data

1st time attendees what to expect:
Engaging tech talks/demos/presentations and an opportunity to network in a friendly community environment with complimentary drinks and pizza served.