Synapse Link for Dataverse

What is Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse

Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse is a built‑in Power Platform feature that synchronizes Dataverse table data to an Azure Data Lake and, optionally, to an Azure Synapse Analytics workspace. This allows near‑real‑time access to business data for analytics, integration, and advanced reporting without impacting Dataverse operational performance.

The solution is configured directly from the Power Apps Maker Portal and requires no third‑party tools. However, an active Azure subscription with pre‑provisioned services is mandatory.

Main Components

• Azure Storage Account – Hosts the replicated data from Dataverse as Parquet files in a hierarchical folder structure. It must be created in the same region as the Dataverse environment.
• Azure Synapse Analytics Workspace – An optional environment for executing SQL queries, Spark jobs, and advanced analytics on the replicated data.
• Azure Data Factory – Used to orchestrate ETL/ELT pipelines between Dataverse, Data Lake, and destination databases such as Azure SQL or Azure Cosmos DB.

The replication process is incremental and near‑real‑time: data is refreshed approximately every 15 minutes, keeping Dataverse and the Data Lake synchronized. You can query the data using Synapse Studio or external tools such as SQL Server Management Studio.

Configuration and Prerequisites

Before enabling Synapse Link for Dataverse, make sure the following technical prerequisites are met:

1. An active Azure subscription in the same region as your Power Platform environment.
2. An Azure Storage account with Hierarchical namespace enabled (required for Data Lake Gen2).
3. An Azure Synapse workspace configured with access to the same storage account.
4. Owner role assigned to the administrator for both services.

In the Maker Portal, go to your Dataverse environment and select Azure Synapse Link. Enter your storage and workspace parameters, then choose the tables to replicate. Only tables with the Track Changes feature enabled can be included.

Integration with Azure Data Factory

Once Synapse Link is configured, you can use Azure Data Factory to move and transform replicated data. This service acts as a modern cloud ETL that allows building pipelines between multiple systems. For example, you can transfer data from Data Lake to Azure SQL Database or Cosmos DB.

Each pipeline may include copy actions, Power Query or Spark transformations, and triggers that start automatically when Data Lake updates occur. For more information, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation: Azure Data Factory Documentation.

Configured pipelines can run on a schedule or on‑demand. Combining Synapse Link with Data Factory enables highly scalable data‑driven architectures for analytics, data warehousing, and enterprise integration.

Data Transformation and Analytics with Apache Spark

Within the Synapse workspace, you can use the Apache Spark engine to transform and analyze data replicated from Dataverse. Spark is a distributed parallel processing framework ideal for analyzing large data volumes.

Using Synapse Studio, you can create Spark notebooks to manipulate replicated datasets. For example, filter opportunities based on estimated value, aggregate sales by region, or generate persistent views that can be reused in Power BI.

For more information, see the Microsoft documentation: Apache Spark in Azure Synapse Analytics.

Connecting to Power BI

Once data replication is active, Power BI can connect directly to the Synapse workspace or associated SQL database. This enables the creation of interactive reports without overloading Dataverse. Available connectors include:

• Azure Synapse Analytics SQL
• Azure Synapse Analytics Workspace

This approach allows combining Dataverse data with other analytical sources, ensuring high performance and automatic refreshes.