Extract, Transform, and Load Avalara AvaTax Data in Informatica PowerCenter

Informatica provides a powerful, elegant means of transporting and transforming your data. By utilizing the CData ODBC Driver for Avalara, you are gaining access to a driver based on industry-proven standards that integrates seamlessly with Informatica's powerful data transportation and manipulation features. This tutorial shows how to create a simple Workflow in Informatica PowerCenter to extract Avalara AvaTax data and load it into a flat file.

Add Avalara AvaTax as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, install the driver on the PowerCenter server and client machines. On both machines, specify the 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.

The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

• User: Set this to your username.
• Password: Set this to your password.

Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

• UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

• AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
• LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.

Create an ETL Workflow in PowerCenter

Follow the steps below to create a workflow in PowerCenter to pull Avalara AvaTax data and push it into a flat file.

Create a Source Using the ODBC Driver

1. In PowerCenter Workflow Manager, add a new ODBC relational connection by going to Connections -> Relational, and in the first window select the ODBC type and click New.
2. In the Relational Connection Editor, set the name of the newly created connection and set the User Name and Password based on the credentials utilized to connect to your Repository. Under the Connection String input your System DSN, which by default is called 'CData AvalaraAvatax Sys'.
3. In PowerCenter Designer, connect to your repository and open your folder. If you do not already have a folder created, you will need to manually create a folder for your repository. To create a folder, open Informatica PowerCenter Repository Manager, connect to your Repository Service and go to Folder -> Create to create a new folder.
4. Select the Source Analyzer, click the sources menu, and select Import from Database...
5. In the drop-down menu for ODBC data source, select the DSN you previously configured (CData AvalaraAvatax Sys).
6. Click connect and select the tables and views to include.
7. Click OK.

Create a Flat File Target Based on the Source

1. Select the Target Designer and drag and drop the previously created source onto the workspace. Using the existing source copies the columns into the target.
2. Right-click the new target, click edit, and change the database type to flat file.

Create a Mapping to Between Avalara AvaTax Data and a Flat File

1. Click on the Mapping Designer.
2. Drag the source and target to the workspace (name the new mapping, if prompted).
3. Right-click on the workspace and select Autolink by Name.
4. Drag the columns from the source qualifier to the target definition.
5. Save the folder (Ctrl + S).

Create Workflow Based on the Mapping

With the source, target, and mapping created and saved, you are now ready to create the workflow.

1. Right-click the mapping and select generate workflow to open the Workflow Generation wizard.
2. Create a workflow with a non-reusable session.
3. Ensure that you have properly configured the connection object and set the prefixes. If you have not already done so, you will need to create an Integration Service. To create an Integration Service, open your Administrator site, and under Domain, create a new PowerCenter Integration Service. Under the PowerCenter Repository Service, select the Repository you are referring to, and as Username and Password, use your Administrator login information.
4. Configure the Connection as needed.
5. Review the Workflow and click Finish.

With a workflow created, you can open the PowerCenter Workflow Manager to access and start the workflow, quickly transferring Avalara AvaTax data into a flat file. With the CData ODBC Driver for Avalara, you can configure sources and targets in PowerCenter to integrate Avalara AvaTax data into any of the elegant and powerful features in Informatica PowerCenter.