Fabric RTI 101: Event Processing Outputs

Once events are flowing through an Eventstream, the next decision is: where should they go? This is where outputs come into play.

Fabric supports several key destinations. You can send events into a Lakehouse, which is ideal for combining real-time streams with historical data and keeping a permanent record for later analysis. You can push data into a Warehouse for structured reporting and BI queries. Or you can use a KQL database if your focus is on fast, interactive queries over logs, telemetry, or time-series data.

Beyond storage destinations, there are real-time consumption options. You can stream directly into Power BI for instant dashboards that update as new data arrives. Or you can connect to Activator, which is Fabric’s automation engine that can take action based on patterns or thresholds detected in your streams. That might mean sending alerts, triggering workflows, or automatically responding to anomalies.

One of the powerful features here is that an Eventstream can have multiple outputs at the same time. You don’t have to pick just one. For example, you might route the same stream into a KQL database for immediate anomaly detection, while also landing it in a Lakehouse for long-term history and replay. Or you might feed both Power BI for dashboards and Activator for automated alerts simultaneously.

Another consideration is whether you want your outputs to be real-time or persisted. Some scenarios, like monitoring dashboards, rely on immediate delivery. Others, like compliance audits or historical analysis, require durable storage. Fabric lets you support both in parallel, giving you flexibility across use cases.

The key step in designing outputs is choosing the right destinations for your business scenario. Ask yourself: do I need this data for instant action, for historical analysis, for structured reporting, or maybe all of the above? Eventstreams let you configure those choices so the data ends up exactly where it needs to be.

Learn more about Fabric RTI

If you really want to learn about RTI right now, we have an online on-demand course that you can enrol in, right now. You’ll find it at Mastering Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence

2026-03-16