If you are trying to pull subscriber data, contact records, and email engagement KPIs — sends, opens, clicks, bounces — from Salesforce Marketing Cloud into Azure Data Factory, you have probably run into the same wall every SFMC and Azure team hits eventually.

You set up the official SFMC connector in ADF. You install the package, assign scopes, configure OAuth. Then the dataset dropdown shows cryptic objects like SFMC.Contacts_Schema and SFMC.TransactionalMessagingEmailNotSent. No _Open. No _Click. No _Sent. No subscriber table. No custom Data Extensions.

This guide explains exactly why that happens and walks through the production-grade workaround that Genetrix and virtually every serious SFMC-Azure team is running in 2026. No hacks, no third-party middleware — just native tooling used correctly.

Azure Data Factory linked services — the official SFMC connector looks promising until you need Data Views, contacts, or email KPIs.

Why the Official ADF SFMC Connector Falls Short

The ADF SFMC connector is built on SFMC’s REST API. For certain standard transactional objects, it works. But the data you actually need for subscriber analytics and email reporting does not live in those REST API objects. It lives in Data Views and Data Extensions, neither of which the connector exposes. This is a hard architectural limitation confirmed in Microsoft’s official documentation:

The Proven Workaround: SFMC to SFTP to ADF

The pattern that works in production is straightforward: use SFMC’s Automation Studio to export the data you need into CSV files, push those files to SFMC’s Enhanced FTP, then use ADF’s SFTP connector to pick them up reliably on a schedule. This gives you complete access to every Data View and subscriber field with no custom code.

Step-by-Step Implementation

SELECT
    s.SubscriberKey,
    s.EmailAddress,
    s.JobID,
    s.EventDate        AS SendDate,
    o.EventDate        AS OpenDate,
    c.EventDate        AS ClickDate,
    c.URL              AS ClickedURL,
    b.BounceCategory,
    b.BounceSubcategory,
    b.EventDate        AS BounceDate,
    u.EventDate        AS UnsubscribeDate

FROM _Sent         s
LEFT JOIN _Open   o ON s.SubscriberKey = o.SubscriberKey AND s.JobID = o.JobID
LEFT JOIN _Click  c ON s.SubscriberKey = c.SubscriberKey AND s.JobID = c.JobID
LEFT JOIN _Bounce b ON s.SubscriberKey = b.SubscriberKey AND s.JobID = b.JobID
LEFT JOIN _Unsubscribe u ON s.SubscriberKey = u.SubscriberKey

WHERE s.EventDate >= DATEADD(day, -1, GETDATE())

{
  "name": "LS_SFMC_SFTP",
  "type": "LinkedService",
  "properties": {
    "type": "Sftp",
    "typeProperties": {
      "host":               "YOUR_SFMC_SFTP_HOST",
      "port":               22,
      "authenticationType": "SshPublicKey",
      "userName":           "YOUR_SFTP_USERNAME",
      "privateKeyContent": {
        "type":        "AzureKeyVaultSecret",
        "store":       { "referenceName": "AKV_LinkedService", "type": "LinkedServiceReference" },
        "secretName":  "sfmc-sftp-private-key"
      },
      "skipHostKeyValidation": false
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions