The Challenge
What Was Holding the Business Back?
The organization required near real-time visibility into continuously changing operational data. Traditional ETL pipelines introduced delays, limiting the ability to respond quickly to business events and operational changes.
Data Latency
Conventional data pipelines could not deliver business insights fast enough for real-time decision-making.
Scalability
The solution needed to efficiently process growing volumes of streaming data without sacrificing performance.
Automation
Manual intervention in data processing workflows reduced operational efficiency and responsiveness.
Data Quality
Raw CDC events required filtering, enrichment, and transformation before they could be used for analytics.
Objective
What We Set Out to Achieve
Build a scalable real-time analytics platform using Microsoft Fabric that automates Change Data Capture, streamlines data transformations, and delivers live dashboards with minimal latency.
Our Approach & Solution
How We Delivered Results
Designed a Medallion Architecture in Microsoft Fabric using Event Streams, KQL Databases, Data Activators, and Fabric Notebooks to automate real-time ingestion, transformation, and visualization.
Bronze Ingestion
Captured Azure SQL CDC events through Event Streams and stored raw data in a Bronze KQL Database.
Silver Processing
Used Data Activators and Fabric Notebooks to filter, enrich, and refine streaming data before storing it in the Silver layer.
Gold Analytics
Applied advanced business logic and transformations to create analytics-ready datasets within the Gold KQL Database.
Results & Impact
The Outcome
The Microsoft Fabric solution enabled continuous data processing with automated workflows, significantly reducing reporting latency while improving scalability, operational efficiency, and decision-making.
Conclusion
The Bigger Picture
The Real-Time Change Data Capture Dashboard demonstrated the power of Microsoft Fabric as a unified real-time analytics platform. By combining Azure SQL CDC, Event Streams, KQL Databases, Data Activators, Fabric Notebooks, and Power BI Real-Time Dashboards, the organization established a scalable, automated, and low-latency architecture that transformed continuously changing data into actionable business insights, enabling faster operational decisions and future-ready analytics.
Additional Details
Client Region – USA
Company Size – 200 – 500 people
Domain – Software Development
Process Overview
Bronze Layer: Ingesting CDC Data from Azure SQL to KQL Database
- Source: The primary data source is Azure SQL Database enabled with CDC.
- Event Streaming: Data changes are captured via Event Stream and directly ingested into a KQL Database.
Silver Layer: Filtering and Enrichment
Data Activator:
- A Data Activator is configured to monitor the KQL Database in the Bronze Layer.
- On detecting specific triggers or thresholds, the activator invokes a Fabric Notebook.
Fabric Notebook:
- Performs column-based filtering and data refinement.
- The cleaned and enriched data is then ingested into a new KQL Database in the Silver Layer.
Outcome: The Silver Layer serves as an intermediate storage for filtered and partially processed data, ensuring efficiency and scalability.
Gold Layer: Advanced Transformation and Dashboard Integration
Data Activator:
- Another Data Activator monitors the KQL Database in the Silver Layer.
- Triggers a Fabric Notebook for advanced transformations and business logic implementation.
Fabric Notebook:
- Applies complex transformations to derive actionable insights.
- The processed data is stored in a KQL Database in the Gold Layer.
Dashboard:
- The Gold Layer’s KQL Database acts as the final data source for building a Real-Time Dashboard.
- The dashboard provides live metrics and visualizations, empowering decision-makers with instantaneous insights.