How to Migrate from WebFOCUS to Power BI: Step-by-Step Guide

Are you still struggling with limited integration with cloud platforms, slower performance on large datasets, and higher costs of your WebFOCUS business intelligence platform? Yes, then it is the right time to transition from the legacy system to modern platforms like Power BI. Power BI offers greater agility, flexibility, self-service capabilities, faster insights, seamless integration with Microsoft tools, and enhanced collaboration. WebFOCUS to Power BI will give a more cost-effective solution.

This blog will guide you through the steps to perform a smooth WebFOCUS to Power BI migration with clarity and ease.

What Makes the WebFOCUS to Power BI Migration Beneficial?

WebFOCUS has served its purpose for decades. However, we now need to adopt modern practices. Power BI has emerged as a top choice for enterprises seeking a scalable, user-friendly, and cost-effective solution. The benefits we get from migrating to Power BI are

• User-friendly interface: Due to its drag-and-drop functionality, users find it more intuitive for accessing and analyzing data. When compared to the traditional complex environment of WebFOCUS, even non-technical users find it easy to use.
• Data connectivity and visualization: Power BI excels in data visualization, which offers a variety of interactive and engaging visual options. Through their features like drill-throughs, custom visuals, and modern filtering, they enhance data exploration. This differentiates static or paginated reports. 
• Cost-efficiency: Power BI is more affordable than WebFOCUS, allowing a lower total cost of ownership and stronger return on investment. Since there is no infrastructure for Power BI, it reduces server, maintenance, and administrative overhead.
• Scalability and Cloud Readiness: Power BI can easily scale to meet growing data demands, and you can pay for the capacity you use. This gives more agile and efficient solutions rather than managing WebFOCUS servers.
• Integration: Power BI offers cutting-edge visualization tools, self-service analytics, and integration with Microsoft’s ecosystem, including Office 354, Azure, and Teams. This simplifies access to diverse data sources and enables organizations to deliver interactive dashboards. It integrates with the entire Microsoft stack, which includes Excel, SharePoint, Teams, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Microsoft Fabric.
• Enhanced security and Governance: Power BI uses existing Microsoft Entra ID for SSO authentication and user management, which creates a security layer by applying enterprise-grade governance controls automatically.

Challenges faced during WebFOCUS to Power BI Migration and ways to overcome

Though the WebFOCUS to Power BI migration gives lots of benefits, all transitions come with a set of challenges that need to be addressed by careful planning and execution. 

• Data Model differences: WebFOCUS uses Master Files (FOC files) to define data structures, whereas Power BI depends on relational and semantic data models. Converting these architectural changes is different and needs to be planned. To overcome this, conduct a thorough assessment and build a detailed migration plan with a phased approach. Conduct Proof of Concepts (POCs) and use task management systems to track progress.
• Compatibility Issues: Both WebFOCUS and Power BI use different query languages, data modeling approaches, and visualizations, which creates incompatibility between them. To mitigate this, restructure, clean, and transfer disparate systems into Power BI’s preferred format.
• Report conversion and Logic: WebFOCUS gives us status, customized, and pixel-perfect reports. Power BI offers a visually appealing and interactive interface. WebFOCUS often uses FOCUS or WebFOCUS reporting syntax, complex joins, custom calculations, and unique data processing capabilities. Converting this into Power Query and DAX’s M language is difficult. To overcome this hurdle, use Power BI Paginated reports, which come as part of Power BI Report Builder. For operational and analytical purposes, redesign the reports in Power BI with more interactive features using Power BI Report Builder.
• Migration cost, effort, and automation: Since there is no direct automation tool for converting WebFOCUS to Power BI, manual effort is required. Organizations may hold thousands of data points and make manual migration impractical. To overcome this, use a phased approach and start moving critical reports first. Do a parallel run for a certain period of time and validate data integrity and ensure business continuity. This will reduce complexity and cost. 
• Training and Change Management: For the past time, users may have gotten adjusted to WebFOCUS and may resist adopting Power BI’s interface and self-service approach. To solve this, conduct training sessions, user guides, and a Center of Excellence (CoE) for ongoing support. Make them understand the benefits of real-time insights and self-service flexibility.
• Security and Access Control: WebFOCUS offers granular role-based security at the report level. To provide a solution for this, map security models from WebFOCUS to Power BI‘s Row-Level Security (RLS) and workspace-based access controls. 
• Performance and Scalability: Large data reports may not perform well in Power BI if not optimized. Data refreshes and visuals can slow down. To solve this, use DirectQuery for real-time needs and import mode for high-performance scenarios.
• Governance, Security, and Compliance: Migrating sensitive data to Power BI needs strict adherence to security protocols and regulatory compliance standards. To overcome this, implement encryption, robust access controls, and utilize Power BI’s features like row-level security and SSO to maintain data integrity even after migrating to Power BI.

Best Practices for a Smooth WebFOCUS to Power BI Migration

To fully utilize the modern analytics potential of Power BI and to minimize the risks, follow the best practices below.

• Do a comprehensive audit of WebFOCUS reports to avoid migrating unnecessary data.
• Prioritize moving critical reports and dashboards for migration.
• Go on with a phased migration approach rather than a whole lift and shift approach. Using structured approaches for cataloging, migration, performance tuning, and validation to ensure cost-effective and minimal-risk migration.
• Create a centralized, well-structured data model like a Star schema for Power BI for consistent, high-performance reports.
• Establish clear governance policies for data access, refresh, and usage by implementing row-level security, encryption, and SSO.
• It is better to involve users early in the process by planning regular validations and business reviews. This will make them aligned with user needs and expectations.
• Continuously test, validate, and optimize migrated reports to confirm accuracy, performance, and alignment with business requirements.

9 Step WebFOCUS to Power BI Migration Process

WebFOCUS to Power BI migration is a multi-stage process that requires careful planning, execution, and data validation. Here is a breakdown of the process:

1. Assessment and Planning: Conduct a thorough analysis of the current WebFOCUS environment. Find all details such as report inventories, data sources, business logic, usage patterns, dashboards, Master Files/Synonyms, procedures/FOCEXECs, schedules, and security setup. Now, draft a plan that describes the need for WebFOCUS to Power BI migration, whether it is cost savings, advanced analytics, self-service BI, or better integration with Microsoft 365. Prioritize which high-value, high-usage reports first for the migration by analyzing the usage logs.
2. Develop a migration plan: Make a plan outlining the steps for data and report migration, and mention the steps to be carried out. Include governance model and initial architecture for the new Power BI environment. Choose the deployment strategy methods, whether it is pilot, staged, or full, and define success metrics.
3. Proof of Concept (POC): Develop a Proof of Concept (POC) to validate technical assumptions and mitigate risks. Choose a small set and start migrating medium-complexity reports and their underlying data model components for a POC. Start translating a sample WebFOCUS report, which focuses on data extraction and correct mapping in Power BI.
4. Data source mapping and model design: Power BI can connect to a variety of data sources and cloud services. The next step is to map all WebFOCUS data sources to Power BI’s connection methods. Determine if data needs to be redesigned or centralized. WebFOCUS uses Master files to describe data structures. Create a data model in Power BI that is optimized for performance capabilities. Power BI logic is recreated using relationships, star schema, and tabular data models. All the joins, filters, and aggregations of WebFOCUS need to be replicated in Power Query or DAX. This step ensures the logic gets aligned with reporting needs. Proper ETL will ensure the consistency and performance of the Power BI reports.
5. Data migration: Translate WebFOCUS data logic( MAster Files/Synonyms) and calculations into Data Analysis Expressions in Power BI Dataflows or Datasets. Redefine the data model again in Power BI by using a Star Schema model. Establish data connections to new data sources.
6. Security and Governance setup: WebFOCUS security settings must be translated into their equivalent in Power BI. All the role-based access and row-level security should be compliant with data governance policies. Unauthorized access should not be allowed to ensure data integrity.
7. Report Re-creation: With all in one place, rebuild reports and dashboards in Power BI. In this step, we can remove the static part in WebFOCUS reports and apply interactiveness using Power BI.
8. Testing and validation: Proper testing only ensures that Power BI outputs match the results in WebFOCUS. Validate performance, data accuracy, calculations, KPIs, and user experience in the new Power BI environment.
9. Deployment: Publish the validated Power BI reports to the designated production workspace in Power BI Service. 

Things to Be Considered Post WebFOCUS to Power BI Migration

WebFOCUS to Power BI is a strategic move towards modernizing and empowering users with self-service capabilities. But the WebFOCUS to Power BI migration will be complete only when the post-migration considerations are done. Here are the critical considerations:

• Data validation and accuracy: Continuously test migrated reports, dashboards, and data models for data accuracy and performance. Do a parallel run of both WebFOCUS and Power BI reports. Do user acceptance testing, involving business users early in the process. 
• Monitor and Optimize: Reports and dashboards should evolve with business needs. Carefully review KPIs, visualizations, and optimize queries for better performance.
• Governance and support: As Power BI encourages self-service, it can lead to issues in the reports. Maintain and establish governance policies for report publishing, version control, and naming conventions of the reports. As new users and roles emerge, ensure your Row-Level Security (RLS) rules remain accurate and used effectively.
• User training and adoption: Users accepting the new Power BI features will only say about the success of the migration. Post migration, continuous training, knowledge-sharing sessions, and ongoing support ensure that employees have adopted Power BI’s features.
• Decommission WebFOCUS: Best practice is to run both WebFOCUS and Power BI in parallel for a period. It will actually act as a time frame to fix the issues that arise during testing. Gradually start decommissioning WebFOCUS once the new Power BI is stabilized. This approach will minimize the downtime and any disruption in business hours.

How can Entrans help with WebFOCUS to Power BI Migration?

With more modern analytical capabilities, Power BI is taking a step forward towards building a future-ready data culture. A good partner like Entrans will accelerate the transition. But also ensure data governance, user adoption, and long-term scalability. 

We have proven migrations, domain knowledge, and skilled professionals in both WebFOCUS and Power BI. They can handle the WebFoCUS to Power BI migration with ease. Through our clear migration methodologies, flexible pricing models, and cost-effective solutions, we aim to align with your business goals.

Ready to move from WebFOCUS to Power BI? Unlock the full potential of Power BI with us. Book a consultation call.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

1. How long does a WebFOCUS to Power BI migration take?

WebFOCUS to Power BI migration may depend on the data sources, the number of reports, and customizations. Small projects may take 6 months, and medium projects may take over a year.

2. How does Power BI handle security compared to WebFOCUS?

Power BI offers enterprise-grade security with role-based access. By its cloud-native feature and integration with Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft Purview, which are used for authentication and data loss prevention (DLP), Power BI keeps security first.

3. How can we ensure a smooth WebFOCUS to Power BI transition for the end-users?

A smooth WebFOCUS to Power BI transition can be achieved by providing comprehensive user training, clear documentation, and ongoing support. By creating a network for peer support and gathering feedback, we can mitigate the risks that come along with the migration.

4. Is there any automation tool for WebFOCUS to Power BI migration?

No, there is no direct automation tool for WebFOCUS to Power BI migration. But there are third-party tools to accelerate the migration of WebFOCUS code, reports, and data pipelines to Power BI.

5. How does Power BI handle the data model compared to WebFOCUS Master Files (FOC files)?

WebFOCUS Master files are metadata files that describe the data source structure and access logic. Whereas Power BI uses a Tabular Data model using a Star schema to handle complex calculations and logic.

6. What do you mean by "Pixel Perfect" or highly formatted reports?

Pixel-perfect reports or highly formatted reports are static documents in which every element's position, font, and spacing is precisely controlled. They use a specific and fixed template.