How do I modernize an existing application without rewriting it?
Many business-critical applications still rely on architectures where the database is the most dependable integration point. These applications may have been built years ago, long before event-driven patterns became mainstream. Even after moving such workloads to Azure, teams are often left with the same question: how do we get data changes out of the database quickly, reliably, and without adding more custom plumbing?
This is where Change Event Streaming (CES) comes in.
We are happy to announce that Change Event Streaming for Azure SQL Managed Instance is now in Public Preview. CES enables you to stream row-level changes - inserts, updates, and deletes - from your database directly to Azure Event Hubs in near real time.
For workloads running on Azure SQL Managed Instance, this matters especially because many of them are existing line-of-business applications, modernized from on-premises SQL Server environments into Azure. Those applications are often still central to the business, but they were not originally designed to publish events to downstream systems. CES helps bridge that gap without requiring you to redesign the application itself.
What is Change Event Streaming?
Change Event Streaming is a capability that captures committed row changes from your database and publishes them to Azure Event Hubs or Fabric Eventstreams. Instead of relying on periodic polling, custom ETL jobs, or additional connectors, CES lets SQL push changes out as they happen.
This opens the door to near-real-time integrations while keeping the architecture simpler and closer to the source of truth.
A diagram conceptually visualizing data flow from SQL, with an arrow towards Azure Event Hubs, from where a number of arrows point to different final destinations.Why CES matters for Azure SQL Managed Instance
Incremental modernization for existing applications
Azure SQL Managed Instance is a database of choice where application compatibility matters and where teams want to modernize from on-premises SQL Server into Azure with minimal disruption. In these environments, the database often becomes the most practical place to tap into business events - especially when the application itself was not designed to emit events or integrate in real-time.
With CES, you do not need to retrofit an older application to emit events itself. You can publish changes at the data layer and let downstream services react from there. This makes CES a practical tool for modernization programs that need to move step by step rather than through a full rewrite.
Lower operational complexity
Before CES: teams typically had to assemble integration flows out of polling processes, ETL pipelines, custom code, or third-party connectors. Those approaches can work, but they usually bring more moving parts, more credentials to manage, more monitoring overhead, and more latency tuning.
With CES: SQL Managed Instance streams changes directly to the configured destination. This reduces architectural sprawl and helps teams focus on consuming the events instead of maintaining the mechanics of moving them.
Better decoupling across the estate
Once changes are published to Azure Event Hubs or Fabric Eventstreams, multiple downstream systems can consume them independently. That is useful when one operational workload needs to feed analytics platforms, integration services, caches, search indexes, or new application components at the same time.
Instead of teaching an existing application to integrate with every destination directly, you can stream once from the database and let the message bus handle fan-out.
Typical scenarios
Breaking down monoliths
Many modernization efforts start with a large existing application and a database that serves many business functions. CES can help you carve out one capability at a time. A new component (microservice) can subscribe to events from selected tables, build its own behavior around those changes, and be validated incrementally before broader cutover decisions are made.
Real-time integration for line-of-business systems
If an operational system running on SQL Managed Instance needs to notify other platforms when data changes, CES provides a direct path to doing that. This can help with partner integrations, internal workflows, or downstream business processes that should react quickly when transactions are committed.
Real-time analytics
Operational data often becomes more valuable when it can be analyzed quickly. CES can stream data changes into Fabric Eventstreams or Azure Event Hubs, from where they can be consumed by analytics and stream processing processes for timely insights or actions.
Cache and index refresh
Applications often depend on caches or search indexes that need to stay aligned with transactional data. CES can provide a cleaner alternative to custom synchronization logic by publishing changes as they occur.
How it works
CES uses transaction log-based capture to stream changes with minimal impact on the publishing workload. Events are emitted in a structured JSON format that follows the CloudEvents standard and includes details such as the operation type, primary key, and before/after values.
Azure SQL Managed Instance can publish these events to Azure Event Hubs or Fabric Eventstreams using AMQP or Kafka protocols, depending on how you connect your downstream consumers.
Conclusion
Change Event Streaming for Azure SQL Managed Instance is an important step for customers who want to make existing applications more connected, simplified into smaller pieces or easier to integrate with modern data and application platforms.
For teams modernizing long-lived SQL Server workloads in Azure, CES offers a practical path: keep the application stable, tap into the data layer, and start enabling near-real-time scenarios without building another custom integration stack.
As CES enters Public Preview for Azure SQL Managed Instance, we encourage you to explore where it can simplify your architecture and accelerate modernization efforts.
Availability notes
Besides SQL Server 2025 and Azure SQL Database, where CES is already in Public preview, CES is available as of today in Public Preview for Azure SQL Managed Instance.
This preview brings the same core CES capability to SQL Managed Instance workloads, helping customers apply event-driven patterns to existing operational systems without adding another custom integration layer.
For feature details, configuration guidance, and frequently asked questions, see:
We welcome your feedback through Azure Feedback channels or support channels. The CES team can also be reached via email: sqlcesfeedback [at] microsoft [dot] com.
Useful resources
Microsoft