Writing data back to operational systems

How to write clean data back to your operational systems

After CluedIn has unified and cleaned your data, you can write mastered data back to the systems that run your business. This article covers two proven patterns:

  • Export Targets to generic data backplanes such as Azure Event Hubs and Azure Service Bus.
  • Reverse ETL via the CluedIn Power Automate integration, giving you access to 1000+ connectors to write back into SaaS and line‑of‑business apps.

Use these approaches together: publish an authoritative event stream for broad consumption, and use targeted Reverse ETL flows where you must invoke system‑specific APIs or business logic.

When to use which pattern

Pattern Use when Strengths Considerations
Event backplane (Event Hubs / Service Bus) Many consumers need the same change events (analytics, integration, microservices) High throughput, decoupled, replayable Consumers must subscribe and apply changes
Power Automate (Reverse ETL) You need to push updates into specific SaaS/LOB systems using native connectors 1000+ connectors, low/no‑code, retries built‑in Per‑system flow logic; throughput depends on connector limits

Architecture at a glance 

CluedIn (Mastered Changes)
        │
        ├─ Export Target → Azure Event Hubs  → Subscribers (microservices, Synapse, Databricks, Functions)
        │
        └─ Export Target → Power Automate    → 1000+ connectors (Dynamics, Salesforce, ServiceNow, SharePoint, SAP, custom APIs)

Tip: Start by publishing to an event backplane for broad access. Add Power Automate flows for systems that require validated API calls, complex transforms, or approvals.

Prerequisites

  • A CluedIn environment with Export Targets enabled.
  • Access to Azure Event Hubs and/or Azure Service Bus (namespace, hub/queue, credentials/Managed Identity).
  • Access to Microsoft Power Automate with permission to create flows and use target connectors.
  • A clear definition of which entity types and which changes you want to publish (e.g., Customer upserts, Address deletes, Product price changes).

Event backplanes with Azure Event Hubs / Service Bus

CluedIn can publish change events (golden record upserts/deletes, property changes, edge changes) to an Azure messaging fabric. Consumers subscribe and apply those changes to their own stores.

1) Create an Export Target

  1. In CluedIn, go to Integrations → Export Targets.
  2. Choose Azure Event Hubs (streaming) or Azure Service Bus (queue/topic).
  3. Provide Namespace, Hub/Queue/Topic name, and credentials. Prefer Managed Identity or short‑lived SAS tokens.
  4. Select entity types to publish (e.g., Customer, Organization, Product) and the event kinds (Upsert, Delete).
  5. Set partition key (recommended: stable identity such as entityId or a composite like entityType:entityId).

Emit compact, versioned, self‑describing messages.

{
  "specVersion": "cluedin-1.0",
  "eventType": "EntityChanged",        // EntityChanged | EntityDeleted
  "entityType": "Customer",
  "entityId": "cluedin:entity:7f2a...",
  "version": 42,                        // monotonically increasing
  "timestamp": "2025-08-24T03:15:21Z",
  "externalIds": [
    { "system": "crm", "id": "12345" },
    { "system": "billing", "id": "ACME-001" }
  ],
  "changes": {
    "attributes": {
      "name": { "value": "Acme Pty Ltd", "provenance": "crm", "confidence": 0.98 },
      "email": { "value": "ap@acme.com", "provenance": "crm" }
    },
    "edges": [
      { "rel": "billTo", "to": { "externalId": { "system": "erp", "id": "ACME-001" } } }
    ]
  },
  "hash": "sha256:...",
  "previousHash": "sha256:..."
}

Headers (suggested for Service Bus):

  • messageId: ${entityType}:${entityId}:${version} (deduplication)
  • correlationId: CluedIn request or pipeline correlation id
  • contentType: application/json
  • subject: ${entityType}.${eventType}

3) Delivery & reliability tips

  • At‑least‑once: Make consumers idempotent using messageId and version.
  • Ordering: Choose a partition key that keeps related updates together (e.g., entityId).
  • Replay: Use Event Hubs consumer groups and checkpoints to reprocess. For Service Bus, use sessions and dead‑letter queues.
  • Filtering: Publish only fields that downstreams need, or keep full payloads and let consumers select.
  • PII: Mask/redact fields not required by consumers. Apply data classification tags for governance.

Reverse ETL via Power Automate (CluedIn integration)

Use CluedIn’s integration with Power Automate to call system‑specific connectors (Dynamics 365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, SharePoint, SAP, custom HTTP, etc.).

1) Create a Power Automate Export Target

  1. In CluedIn, create an Export Target → Power Automate.
  2. Choose which entities and events to send (e.g., Customer upserts).
  3. Copy the Flow endpoint URL or connect using the CluedIn Power Automate connector (if available in your tenant).

2) Build the flow in Power Automate

  • Trigger: When an HTTP request is received or CluedIn — On entity change.
  • Parse JSON: Use the sample payload above to generate a schema.
  • Branching: Use conditions to route by entityType, eventType, or changed fields.
  • Actions: Use target connectors (e.g., Dynamics 365 — Update a row, Salesforce — Upsert record, ServiceNow — Update record, SharePoint — Create item, HTTP — Invoke API).
  • Idempotency: Use entityId + version as a natural de‑dup key; many connectors support upsert based on an external ID.
  • Error handling: Configure retry policies, scope with run after on failure, and send alerts to Teams/Email.

Example mapping (pseudo):

IF eventType == 'EntityChanged' AND entityType == 'Customer':
    Dynamics.UpdateRow(
        table='account',
        key=externalIds['crm'],
        name=changes.attributes.name.value,
        email=changes.attributes.email.value,
        source='CluedIn',
        version=version
    )

3) Throughput & limits

  • Use concurrency control in the trigger and action steps.
  • Batch writes where connectors support it; otherwise, shard by entityType or route via Event Hubs → Azure Functions → Connector.
  • Respect connector API quotas; enable per‑flow and per‑user limits as needed.

Best practices

  • Publish only “clean” changes: filter on golden status, minimum confidence, or approved stewardship state.
  • Model deletes as tombstones: send EntityDeleted with entityId, version, and timestamp; let consumers decide physical delete vs. soft‑delete.
  • Use consistent versions: monotonic version per entity to simplify consumer logic.
  • Keep provenance: include provenance and lastSeen per attribute for auditability.
  • Protect sensitive data: apply column‑level masking where not needed downstream; prefer per‑consumer event contracts.
  • Observability: capture delivery success rate, dead‑letter counts, consumer lag, connector API errors, and average end‑to‑end latency.
  • Rollout safely: canary by entity type or by subset of records; use shadow topics/queues before switching consumers.

Common patterns

Backplane → Function → System

Use Event Hubs as the single export; Azure Functions subscribe, transform, and write to SAP/CRM/ERP with native SDKs or Power Automate webhooks.

Direct Reverse ETL

For business apps with well‑behaved connectors (Dynamics, Salesforce), send directly to Power Automate and upsert into the target object. Keep a control table/log of last pushed version per entity in the target for audit and rollback.

Security & governance

  • Authentication: Use Managed Identity for Event Hubs/Service Bus where possible. Store secrets in Key Vault.
  • Authorization: Scope connectors and SAS tokens to least privilege.
  • Network: Restrict namespaces with private endpoints where feasible.
  • Compliance: Tag messages with data classification; ensure downstreams inherit retention/DSAR policies.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Likely cause Fix
Consumers see duplicates At‑least‑once delivery Use messageId + version for idempotency; ignore lower versions
Lost ordering for the same entity Partitioning by a non‑stable key Partition by entityId; enable sessions (Service Bus)
Connector throttling (429/5xx) API limits Enable retries with backoff, add concurrency caps, batch where supported
Flow runs succeed but target doesn’t change Wrong key mapping Verify external ID used for upsert; log target response IDs
PII leakage to broad consumers Over‑rich event payload Publish per‑consumer schemas; mask unnecessary attributes

FAQ

Can I publish only approved stewarded changes?
Yes. Filter on stewardship state or confidence before emitting to the Export Target.

What about bi‑directional sync?
Treat inbound changes from operational systems as new facts; CluedIn re‑masters and emits a new version. Avoid blind echo loops by checking provenance or version before writing back.

Do I need both Event Hubs and Power Automate?
Not always. Use Event Hubs for broad distribution and analytics; add Power Automate when you must call specific application connectors or orchestrate approvals.

Quick start checklists

Event Hubs / Service Bus

  • Export Target created with correct namespace & hub/queue/topic
  • Partition key = entityId (or stable composite)
  • Message headers set (messageId, subject, correlationId)
  • Consumer checkpoints configured; dead‑letter monitored

Power Automate

  • Flow trigger wired to CluedIn export (HTTP or connector)
  • Parse JSON step with validated schema
  • Upsert action mapped to correct external ID
  • Retry and alerting configured; concurrency tuned

Summary

  • Use Azure Event Hubs / Service Bus Export Targets to publish a high‑quality, replayable stream of mastered changes.
  • Use Power Automate (Reverse ETL) to push clean data into operational systems via 1000+ connectors with minimal code.
  • Design for idempotency, ordering, security, and observability so downstream systems remain accurate and auditable.