Visualize Live Anaplan Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to Anaplan data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to Anaplan, connect to Anaplan data from Power BI and then create reports on Anaplan data in Power BI.

Configure Anaplan Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to Anaplan from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Anaplan data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a Anaplan connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Anaplan" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Anaplan.

   Authenticating to Anaplan

   The driver supports authenticating with Basic, Certificate, or OAuth. In every case, set Region to the region where your Anaplan account data is hosted (e.g., US1, which is the default).

   Using Basic Authentication

   Set AuthScheme to Basic, then supply your Anaplan User and Password. If your workspace uses single sign-on (SSO), you must be assigned as an Exception User to use Basic authentication.

   Using Certificate Authentication

   Set AuthScheme to Certificate, then supply the Certificate, CertificateType, and PrivateKey properties (and the matching CertificatePassword / PrivateKeyPassword if either is encrypted). The certificate must be a CA-issued X.509 certificate registered with your Anaplan tenant administrator.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   Register a custom OAuth application in Anaplan, then set the following properties:

   • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
   • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your application.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH to have the driver manage the OAuth token exchange and refresh automatically.

   See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to creating a custom OAuth app and using OAuth.

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

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Anaplan data from Power BI.

Query Anaplan Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull Anaplan data into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account
3. After signing in, click "Connect"
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your Anaplan data from Power BI

Create Anaplan Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to Anaplan Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to Anaplan data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Anaplan data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Anaplan) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.