This post is a part of the DP-600: Implementing Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric Exam Prep Hub; and this topic falls under these sections: 
Maintain a data analytics solution 
    --> Implement security and governance 
        --> Endorse items

To Do:
Complete the related module for this topic in the Microsoft Learn course: Secure data access in Microsoft Fabric

Item endorsement is a governance feature in Microsoft Fabric that helps organizations identify trusted, high-quality, and officially supported analytics assets. Endorsements guide users toward the right data and reports, reduce duplication, and promote consistent decision-making.

For the DP-600 exam, you should understand what endorsement is, the types of endorsements available, who can apply them, and how endorsements affect user behavior (not security).

What Does It Mean to Endorse an Item?

Endorsing an item signals to users that the content is:

• Reliable
• Well-maintained
• Appropriate for reuse and decision-making

Endorsement is not a security mechanism. It does not grant or restrict access—it provides trust and visibility cues within the Fabric experience.

Endorsements can be applied to:

• Semantic models (datasets)
• Reports
• Dashboards
• Other supported Fabric items

Types of Endorsements

Microsoft Fabric supports three endorsement states:

1. None

There is no endorsement on the content.

2. Promoted

Promoted items are considered:

• Useful
• Reviewed
• Suitable for reuse

Key characteristics:

• Any item owner can promote their own content
• Indicates quality, but not official certification
• Common for team-approved or department-level assets

Typical use cases

• A curated dataset used by multiple analysts
• A well-designed report shared across a department

3. Certified

Certified items represent the highest level of trust.

Key characteristics:

• Only authorized users (often admins or designated certifiers) can certify
• Indicates the item meets organizational standards for:
  • Data quality
  • Governance
  • Security
• Intended for enterprise-wide consumption

Typical use cases

• Official financial reporting datasets
• Executive dashboards
• Enterprise semantic models

Who Can Endorse Items?

• Promoted: Item owners
• Certified: Users authorized by Fabric or Power BI tenant settings (often admins or data stewards)

This distinction is important for the exam: not everyone can certify content, even if they own it.

Where Endorsements Appear

Endorsements are visible across the Fabric and Power BI experiences:

• In search results
• In lineage view
• In the data hub
• When users select data sources for report creation

Certified items are typically:

• Ranked higher
• More visible
• Preferred in self-service analytics workflows

Endorsements vs Security Controls

A common exam trap is confusing endorsements with access control.

Feature	Endorsement	Access Control
Purpose	Trust and quality	Security and restriction
Limits access?	No	Yes
Affects visibility	Yes	Yes
Enforced by system	No (informational)	Yes (mandatory)

The “Make discoverable” setting

Within the selection settings dialog for Endorsement, there is also a selection option for “Make discoverable“. This option, when selected, allows users to discover the content even if they do not have access to it, and they can then request access.

Summary table

Endorsement and Discovery state	What it is	Who can do it	Typical Use Cases
None	There is no endorsement on the content
Promoted	The content is endorsed/flagged as Promoted Promoted items are considered: – Useful – Reviewed – Suitable for reuse Key characteristics: – Any item owner can promote their own content – Indicates quality, but not official certification – Common for team-approved or department-level assets	– Users can assign “Promoted” without any specific admin settings. – Users can “Promote” as long as they have write permissions on a semantic model.	– A curated dataset used by multiple analysts – A well-designed report shared across a department
Certified	The content is endorsed/flagged as Certified. Certified items represent the highest level of trust. Key characteristics: – Only authorized users (often admins or designated certifiers) can certify – Indicates the item meets organizational standards for: Data quality, Governance, and Security – Intended for enterprise-wide consumption	“Certification” requires admin approval to be able to set it.	– Official financial reporting datasets – Executive dashboards – Enterprise semantic models
Make discoverable	The content is endorsed/flagged as Findable. And the discoverability can be set for selected users, the entire company, or all except selected users.		Make content discoverable even to those that do not currently have access, so that they become aware it’s available and can request access to it.

Key takeaway:
A user must still have workspace or item-level access to use an endorsed item.

Role of Endorsements in Governance

Endorsements support governance by:

• Encouraging reuse of approved assets
• Reducing “shadow BI”
• Helping users choose the right data source
• Aligning self-service analytics with enterprise standards

They are especially important in large Fabric environments with:

• Many workspaces
• Multiple datasets covering similar subject areas
• Mixed technical and business users

Common Exam Scenarios

Expect questions such as:

• When to use Promoted vs Certified
• Who is allowed to certify an item
• Whether certification affects access permissions (it does not)
• How endorsements support discoverability and trust

Example scenario:

Business users are building reports from multiple datasets and need guidance on which one is authoritative.
Correct concept: Certified semantic models.

Best Practices to Remember

• Promote items early to guide reuse
• Reserve certification for high-value, governed assets
• Combine endorsements with:
  • Clear workspace organization
  • Descriptions and documentation
  • Proper access controls
• Review certifications periodically to ensure relevance

Key Exam Takeaways

• Endorsements indicate trust, not permission
• Two endorsement levels: Promoted and Certified
• Certification requires special authorization
• Endorsements improve discoverability and governance in Fabric

Final Exam Tips

• If a question is about helping users identify trusted or official data, think endorsements.
• If it’s about restricting access, think workspace, item-level, or data-level security.
• Know the difference between Promoted and Certified
• Expect scenario questions about:
  • Data trust
  • Self-service vs governed BI
  • Discoverability in Data hub
• Remember:
  • Endorsements ≠ security
  • Endorsements ≠ performance tuning
• Certification permissions are centrally controlled

Link to documentation on this topic: Endorse your content

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Practice Questions

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Question 1 (Single choice)

What is the PRIMARY purpose of endorsing items in Microsoft Fabric?

A. Improve dataset refresh performance
B. Control data access permissions
C. Identify trusted and authoritative content
D. Apply compliance policies

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:
Endorsements help users quickly identify reliable, trusted content such as official semantic models and reports.

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Question 2 (Multi-select)

Which endorsement types are available in Microsoft Fabric? (Select all that apply.)

A. Certified
B. Promoted
C. Verified
D. Approved

Correct Answers: A, B

Explanation:
Fabric supports Promoted and Certified endorsements. “Verified” and “Approved” are not valid endorsement types.

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Question 3 (Scenario-based)

A business analyst creates a report that is useful but not officially validated. What endorsement is MOST appropriate?

A. Certified
B. Promoted
C. Deprecated
D. Restricted

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:
Promoted indicates content that is useful and recommended, but not formally governed or validated.

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Question 4 (Scenario-based)

Your organization wants only centrally governed semantic models to be marked as official sources of truth. Which endorsement should be used?

A. Promoted
B. Shared
C. Certified
D. Published

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:
Certified content represents authoritative, validated data assets approved by data owners or governance teams.

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Question 5 (Single choice)

Who can typically certify an item in Microsoft Fabric?

A. Any workspace Member
B. Only the item creator
C. Users authorized by tenant or workspace settings
D. External users

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:
Certification is restricted and controlled by tenant-level or workspace-level governance policies.

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Question 6 (Multi-select)

Which Fabric items can be endorsed? (Select all that apply.)

A. Semantic models
B. Reports
C. Dashboards
D. Dataflows Gen2

Correct Answers: A, B, D

Explanation:
Semantic models, reports, and dataflows can be endorsed. Dashboards are less commonly emphasized in Fabric exam contexts.

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Question 7 (Scenario-based)

A user searches for datasets in the Data hub. How do endorsements help in this scenario?

A. They hide non-endorsed items
B. They improve query performance
C. They help users identify trusted content
D. They automatically grant access

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:
Endorsements improve discoverability and trust, not access or performance.

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Question 8 (Single choice)

What is the relationship between endorsements and security?

A. Endorsements enforce access controls
B. Endorsements replace RLS
C. Endorsements are independent of security
D. Endorsements automatically grant read access

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:
Endorsements do not control access. Security must be handled separately via permissions and access controls.

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Question 9 (Scenario-based)

Your organization wants users to prefer centrally curated datasets without blocking self-service models. What approach BEST supports this?

A. Apply row-level security
B. Disable dataset creation
C. Certify governed datasets
D. Use Direct Lake mode

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:
Certifying official datasets encourages reuse while still allowing self-service analytics.

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Question 10 (Fill in the blank)

In Microsoft Fabric, ________ items represent fully validated and authoritative content, while ________ items indicate recommended but not formally governed content.

Correct Answer:
Certified, Promoted

Explanation:
Certified = authoritative source of truth
Promoted = useful and recommended, but not governed

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