How to Set Up Destination Tables for Effective Writeback in Power BI 

Enable flexible, real-time planning and forecasting in Power BI with seamless writeback to your preferred data platform—whether it's Snowflake, Databricks, Azure SQL, or Microsoft Fabric. Business users can collaboratively input budgets, forecasts, and simulations using an intuitive, Excel-like interface, all without relying on ETL processes or IT intervention. This end-to-end capability is powered by Inforiver Writeback Matrix, designed to bring enterprise-grade writeback functionality directly into your Power BI workflows. 

In this blog post, we’ll share expert tips to help you utilize the full potential of Inforiver’s writeback capabilities – streamlining your planning, budgeting, and forecasting for maximum efficiency. 

1. Writing back to the same table from different visuals 

To maintain the structural integrity of your writeback tables, each Inforiver Writeback Matrix visual must use a unique table name within the same schema and database. If a table name is already assigned in one visual, attempting to use the same name in another will result in an error—this ensures consistency and prevents conflicts across visuals.  

Key insight: Ensure that you maintain a 1:1 relationship between a writeback destination table and an Inforiver Matrix visual.  

2. Deleting reports or visuals 

Before deleting a report or an Inforiver Matrix visual, any writeback destinations associated with that report must be deleted. 

Unless the writeback table is dropped in the database and deleted from the visual, you will not be able to reuse any writeback table names in new reports, even if a user deletes the PBIX report itself or the visual itself.  

Please bear in mind that even if you delete the destination from the Inforiver Matrix visual or Admin console, the table and data will still be retained in the database. The table must be explicitly dropped after connecting to the database, provided you no longer require the data. 

Key insight:  

• Delete configured writeback tables from the Inforiver visual before deleting a report or a visual.  

• Drop the table from the database. 

Both steps are essential if you intend to reuse the writeback table name in a new visual. 

3. Crosscheck the destination in the admin console 

Inforiver Writeback Matrix admins can view all the destinations created on a tenant from the admin console. Click on the details icon to view the database and schema. The admin console is the right place to check if you face errors while configuring a destination. 

Key insight: Use the Admin Console to verify whether a table already exists in a particular schema and database. 

4. Optimal performance with batched writeback 

Leverage the batched writeback option for faster inserts and updates when the writeback payload exceeds 50k records. The payload will be split into multiple chunks and processed in parallel for a performance boost. 

Main insight: For writeback payloads exceeding 50k, use batched writebacks for enhanced performance. 

5. Writeback performance and data volume optimizations 

Enable the Execute Writeback using optimized approach toggle from the admin console > Writeback Settings to trigger faster writebacks for volumes up to 1 million cells.  

Key insight: Ensure that the Execute Writeback using optimized approach toggle is enabled in the admin console. 

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