Search External Adobe Analytics Objects in Salesforce Connect

CData Connect Cloud, enables you to access Adobe Analytics data from cloud-based applications like the Salesforce console and mobile applications like the Salesforce Mobile App. In this article, you will use CData Connect Cloud and Salesforce Connect to access external Adobe Analytics objects alongside standard Salesforce objects.

Connect to Adobe Analytics from Salesforce

To work with live Adobe Analytics data in Salesforce Connect, we need to connect to Adobe Analytics from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the Adobe Analytics data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to Adobe Analytics through Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

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.

Connect to Adobe Analytics from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

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

   Adobe Analytics uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the "Getting Started" section of the help documentation for a guide.

   Retrieving GlobalCompanyId

   GlobalCompanyId is a required connection property. If you do not know your Global Company ID, you can find it in the request URL for the users/me endpoint on the Swagger UI. After logging into the Swagger UI Url, expand the users endpoint and then click the GET users/me button. Click the Try it out and Execute buttons. Note your Global Company ID shown in the Request URL immediately preceding the users/me endpoint.

   Retrieving Report Suite Id

   Report Suite ID (RSID) is also a required connection property. In the Adobe Analytics UI, navigate to Admin -> Report Suites and you will get a list of your report suites along with their identifiers next to the name.

   After setting the GlobalCompanyId, RSID and OAuth connection properties, you are ready to connect to Adobe Analytics.

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

Configure Adobe Analytics Endpoints for Salesforce Connect

After connecting to Adobe Analytics, create a workspace and virtual dataset for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Virtual Datasets page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the Adobe Analytics connection (e.g. AdobeAnalytics1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Adobe Analytics data from Salesforce Connect.

Connect to Adobe Analytics Data as an External Data Sources

Follow the steps below to connect to the feed produced by Connect Cloud.

1. Log into Salesforce and click Setup -> Integrations -> External Data Sources.
2. Click Now External Data Sources.
3. Enter values for the following properties:
   • External Data Sources: Enter a label to be used in list views and reports.
   • Name: Enter a unique identifier.
   • Type: Select the option "Salesforce Connect: OData 4.0".
   • URL: Enter the URL to the OData endpoint of Connect Cloud: https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
4. Select JSON in the Format menu.
5. In the Authentication section, set the following properties:
   • Identity Type: If all members of your organization will use the same credentials to access Connect Cloud, select "Named Principal". If the members of your organization will connect with their own credentials, select "Per User".
   • Authentication Protocol: Select Password Authentication to use basic authentication.
   • Certificate: Enter or browse to the certificate to be used to encrypt and authenticate communications from Salesforce to your server.
   • Username: Enter a CData Connect Cloud username (e.g. [email protected].
   • Password: Enter the user's PAT.

Synchronize Adobe Analytics Objects

After you have created the external data source, follow the steps below to create Adobe Analytics external objects that reflect any changes in the data source. You will synchronize the definitions for the Adobe Analytics external objects with the definitions for Adobe Analytics tables.

1. Click the link for the external data source you created.
2. Click Validate and Scan.
3. Select the Adobe Analytics tables you want to work with as external objects.

Access Adobe Analytics Data as Salesforce Objects

After adding Adobe Analytics data as an external data source and syncing Adobe Analytics tables as external objects, you can use the external Adobe Analytics objects just as you would standard Salesforce objects.

• Create a new tab with a filter list view:

• Create reports of external objects:

Simplified Access to Adobe Analytics Data from Cloud Applications

At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Adobe Analytics data from Salesforce. For more information on gaining simplified access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources in cloud applications like Salesforce, refer to our Connect Cloud page.