Battery Manufacturer Supercharges PowerBI Dashboards with Real-Time Data Using CData Connect Cloud

We’re big fans of PowerBI here at CData. We love seeing the amazing data visualizations and business intelligence (BI) reports that our customers are building across industries and use cases. However, when it comes to analyzing near real-time data, built-in refresh limitations can create hurdles for those who need up-to-the-minute insights for a growing number of business use cases. By default, Power BI refreshes data automatically eight times maximum per day for Pro users, with additional refreshes available only to Premium subscribers. These limitations can hinder the ability to make timely decisions—when data changes frequently throughout the day, your dashboards and reports must too.

A high-output battery manufacturer “plugs in” Connect Cloud to supercharge their PowerBI dashboards

For a recent real-world example, a high-output manufacturing company approached us to uplevel their PowerBI dashboards. This company produces billions of components daily, and the pace of its operations means massive datasets that require frequent, accurate monitoring. The company was initially using Power BI to track key metrics but quickly found that Power BI’s refresh limit wasn’t enough to keep up with the speed and volume of minute-by-minute changes in production data.

The premium tier of Power BI does increase refresh frequency, but real-time data is still important for managing fast-changing operations. That’s when they stumbled upon CData Connect Cloud.

How Connect Cloud enhances Power BI for real-time insights

Connect Cloud provided the battery manufacturer with direct, live connections to their SAP HANA databases, feeding real-time data into their Power BI dashboards without requiring infrastructure overhauls or the need to upgrade their Power BI subscription. Within days, they were able to validate their use case with Connect Cloud, enabling their dashboards to show the most recent data instead of snapshots updated only a few times throughout the day.

For their high-frequency production monitoring, this made all the difference. With real-time insights, they could proactively manage production workflows, ensuring that any disruptions were immediately addressed to maintain efficiency. Connect Cloud removed the limitations of Power BI's scheduled refreshes, transforming their dashboards into a reliable source of continuous, real-time operational intelligence.

Getting set up with Connect Cloud and PowerBI is easy. Start your free Connect Cloud trial, then connect and authenticate to your source data systems and PowerBI Desktop or Online under Connections and Client Tools. Connect Cloud also offers a suite of tools to explore, blend, and filter data to set up even more powerful and flexible dashboards in PowerBI. Select the data table from Connect Cloud in your PowerBI dashboard, and then build your dashboard as you normally would. After setup, Connect Cloud will automatically push upstream changes from source systems to PowerBI for you, bypassing refresh limits and automating so you don’t have to worry.

Learn more about how Connect Cloud is empowering other companies with real-time data.

Unlocking more data sources and flexibility in real-time

The benefits of Connect Cloud don’t stop at upgrading to real-time insights. Connect Cloud also greatly enhances the versatility of Power BI by expanding connectivity to hundreds of additional data sources beyond Power BI’s native connectors. From ERP systems to cloud services and relational databases, Connect Cloud allows users to pull in data from platforms like NetSuite, Salesforce, Google Analytics, and more—opening up new opportunities for data-driven decision-making.

Why real-time data connectivity matters

For many organizations, having data that is hours or even minutes old can mean the difference between seizing an opportunity or missing it. Manufacturers rely on real-time data to keep production lines efficient. Retailers need it to respond to sales trends as they happen. Finance teams benefit from the latest transaction data for reconciling accounts.

Connect Cloud makes all of this possible by enabling direct, live data connectivity to key systems—ensuring that your Power BI dashboards are as dynamic as your business needs them to be. With Connect Cloud, you can bypass refresh limitations and access real-time insights, empowering your teams to make smarter, faster decisions.

Start enhancing your Power BI dashboards today

If you’re struggling with Power BI’s refresh rate limitations or want to take your analytics capabilities to the next level, try Connect Cloud to unlock real-time data, expand your Power BI connectivity to hundreds of data sources, and start making more current and informed data-driven decisions.

Start your 30-day trial today to uplevel your BI and analytics with a real-time single source of truth.