Build Azure Synapse-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 Azure Synapse data for reporting and analytics. This article demonstrates how to connect to Azure Synapse using Connect Cloud and analyze Azure Synapse data by creating dashboards in Zoho Analytics.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Azure Synapse, allowing you to analyze Azure Synapse 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 Azure Synapse, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Azure Synapse data quickly.

Configure Azure Synapse Connectivity for Zoho Analytics

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

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

   Connecting to Azure Synapse

   In addition to providing authentication (see below), set the following properties to connect to a Azure Synapse database:

   • Server: The server running Azure. You can find this by logging into the Azure portal and navigating to Azure Synapse Analytics -> Select your database -> Overview -> Server name.
   • Database: The name of the database, as seen in the Azure portal on the Azure Synapse Analytics page.

   Authenticating to Azure Synapse

   Connect to Azure Synapse using the following properties:

   • User: The username provided for authentication with Azure.
   • Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Azure Synapse 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 Azure Synapse data, import data, and create dashboards from Zoho Analytics using CData Connect Cloud.

Connect to Azure Synapse 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, AzureSynapse1).
   • Click Next.
4. Choose the table that you would like to import from, e.g. Products.
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 Azure Synapse data into Zoho Analytics and created dashboards.

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