Data engineering · Business intelligence · Data security
I turn the data and systems a company already owns into decisions it can trust.
I am David A. Fantin, a data engineering, business intelligence and data security professional based on the Treasure Coast of South Florida. For nearly two decades I have designed, built, secured and operated the data platforms that regulated businesses run on: SQL Server and Windows Server estates, data warehouses and semantic models, Power BI and SSRS reporting, integration pipelines and the governance around them.
What I do
My work sits where three disciplines meet. Data engineering: designing OLTP and OLAP models, building ETL/ELT pipelines (SQL Server Integration Services, Azure Data Factory, Microsoft Fabric, Prefect, dbt) and keeping them running under real operational pressure. Business intelligence: Power BI semantic models with calculation groups and dynamic security, paginated and SSRS reports for regulated reporting, and custom web dashboards (HTML5, CSS3, Node.js, Tailwind, D3, Python) where a packaged tool is the wrong fit. Data security and governance: row-level security, encryption, least-privilege access, lineage, quality testing and the incident-response discipline that comes from having protected production data platforms through two employer ransomware events.
Industries
Healthcare and diagnostics, insurance, banking and financial services, federal and DoD, county courts, e-commerce, food distribution and multinational distribution.
Platforms
SQL Server, Windows Server, Azure, Microsoft Fabric and OneLake, Power BI, SSRS, Azure Data Factory, SSIS, Python, Prefect, dbt, Node.js and the modern web stack for custom analytics.
How I work
Requirements written down before vendors are chosen. Models that reconcile to the general ledger. Security designed in, not bolted on. Documentation that survives my leaving.
Career highlights
- BI platform decision at a national diagnostics company. Steered leadership away from a planned third-party BI purchase and toward a SQL Server-first BI platform the team could own and extend. The recommendation converted a temporary engagement into a permanent role, and I later served as technical lead on a Salesforce-to-Dynamics CRM migration.
- Incident response on production data platforms. Worked recovery on the data platform through two employer ransomware attacks, validated that no data was lost or compromised, then hardened and monitored the environment.
- Vendor accountability on a failed integration project. When a data-integration implementation failed, my documented pre-sales requirements and error-level evidence showed the vendor had overcommitted on database compatibility, supporting the company’s exit from the contract.
- Enterprise technical point of contact. Repeatedly the person colleagues came to for systems and data integration, third-party vendor implementations, Azure and OPEX cost reduction, and project delivery.
- Service. United States Navy, Cryptologic Technician (Administrative), Department of Defense, Washington, D.C., 2001–2007.
- Education. B.A., Marketing and Mass Communications, Quinnipiac University (cum laude). Microsoft and CompTIA certifications; currently preparing for EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v13).
Why I write here
Most data advice is written for companies with a platform team of forty. The businesses I serve have a SQL Server, an ERP, a few hundred spreadsheets and one or two people who understand how they connect. This site is for them: practical, cited, implementation-ready guidance on Power BI, SSRS, OLTP and OLAP modeling, Microsoft Fabric and Data Factory, Prefect and dbt, custom dashboards, and what generative AI really changes in analytics.
