Build BambooHR-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 AI, Zoho Analytics provides instant, cloud-to-cloud access to BambooHR data for reporting and analytics. This article demonstrates how to connect to BambooHR using Connect AI and analyze BambooHR data by creating dashboards in Zoho Analytics.

CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for BambooHR, allowing you to analyze BambooHR data in Zoho Analytics — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to BambooHR, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested BambooHR data quickly.

Configure BambooHR Connectivity for Zoho Analytics

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

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

2. Select "BambooHR" from the Add Connection panel

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

   To connect to BambooHR, generate an API key by logging in and navigating to your user menu (lower-left) > API Keys > Add API Key. Copy the key immediately (it is shown only once). Then set the following:

   • Domain: The subdomain of your BambooHR account URL. For example, if your URL is acmeinc.bamboohr.com, set this to acmeinc.
   • API Key: The API key generated from your BambooHR account.
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add BambooHR Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the 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 and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to BambooHR data from Zoho Analytics.

Connect to BambooHR in Zoho Analytics Using CData Connect AI

To establish a connection from Zoho Analytics to CData Connect AI, 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 AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected].
   • Password - enter the PAT you generated.
   • Database Name - enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect AI data source you want to connect to (for example, API1).
   • Click Next.
   
4. Choose the table that you would like to import from, e.g. Employees.

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 BambooHR data into Zoho Analytics and created dashboards.

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