Use the CData ODBC Driver for Act CRM in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Act CRM, you gain database-like access to live Act CRM data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Act CRM as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Act CRM data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Act CRM data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Act CRM, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Act CRM and utilizes the embedded SQL Engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze Act CRM data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Act CRM as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Act CRM follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

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.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Act CRM in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize Act CRM Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Act CRM in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Act CRM in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Act CRM data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Act CRM data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData ActCRM Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Act CRM data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query. SELECT * FROM Activities NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Act CRM data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Act CRM, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver.
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Act CRM in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Act CRM data. Read our other articles on connecting to Act CRM in MicroStrategy and connecting to Act CRM in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.