Build Act CRM-Connected Dashboards Using Zoho Analytics

Zoho Analytics is a modern BI and Analytics platform that allows you to connect and analyze your data, while also creating visualizations and dashboards to discover hidden insights. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, Zoho Analytics provides instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Act CRM data for reporting and analytics. This article demonstrates how to connect to Act CRM using Connect Cloud and analyze Act CRM data by creating dashboards in Zoho Analytics.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Act CRM, allowing you to analyze Act CRM data in Zoho Analytics — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Act CRM, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Act CRM data quickly.

Configure Act CRM Connectivity for Zoho Analytics

Connectivity to Act CRM from Zoho Analytics is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Act CRM data from Zoho Analytics, we start by creating and configuring a Act CRM connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Act CRM" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Act CRM.

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

   • Connecting to Act! Premium

     In addition to the authentication values, the URL to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

     Additionally, you must specify the ActDatabase you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

   • Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

     To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the ActCloudName property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

   Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the CacheMetadata property to store the metadata locally.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Act CRM Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Act CRM data, import data, and create dashboards from Zoho Analytics using CData Connect Cloud.

Connect to Act CRM in Zoho Analytics Using CData Connect Cloud

To establish a connection from Zoho Analytics to CData Connect Cloud, follow these steps.

1. Log in to Zoho Analytics.
2. Create a new connection and select Cloud Databases to open the connection modal.
3. Enter the following information:
   • Database Type - select MS SQL Server.
   • Endpoint - enter tds.cdata.com
   • SQL Server Instance Name - leave this blank.
   • Port - enter 14333
   • Username - enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, user@domain.com.
   • Password - enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
   • Database Name - enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect Cloud data source you want to connect to (for example, ActCRM1).
   • Click Next.
4. Choose the table that you would like to import from, e.g. Activities.
5. A Data Preview of the table should pop up. Next, enter a Workspace Name and Table Name to be able to refer to in Zoho Analytics. Click Next.
6. There is an option to schedule the import periodically. After configuring, click Create.
7. Now, the import has been initiated. Click OK.
8. View your new connection in the Zoho Analytics Explorer.
9. Click on the new connection to see the table.
10. Zoho Analytics can auto-generate dashboards for the user, as seen here:

We have successfully imported Act CRM data into Zoho Analytics and created dashboards.

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