What is backward compatibility of data sources?

< 1 min read

Backward compatibility means source changes still support existing reports without breaking them.
Old fields, formats, and structure remain usable after system updates.
In my project, API version upgrade added columns but kept old response keys.
Power BI refresh continued successfully without modification.
When database renamed columns, we created a view with old column names.
This protected multiple dashboards dependent on that dataset.
Without compatibility, refresh failures and KPI mismatches occur.
Staging layer mapping helped align new schema with old model.
Users saw consistent reports during backend migration.
So it ensures stable reporting despite source system upgrades.

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