Create Reports from Dynamics CRM Data in Looker Studio

Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, empowers users to craft customized reports featuring data visualizations that can be shared with clients while reflecting your brand identity. When combined with CData Connect Cloud, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Dynamics CRM data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Dynamics CRM and generating reports from Dynamics CRM data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect Cloud offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Dynamics CRM, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Dynamics CRM data within Looker Studio without the need for data replication. As you create visualizations, Looker Studio generates queries to retrieve data. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect Cloud efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Dynamics CRM. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Dynamics CRM data.

Configure Dynamics CRM Connectivity for Looker Studio

Connectivity to Dynamics CRM from Looker Studio is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Dynamics CRM data from Looker Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Dynamics CRM connection.

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

   The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances. To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.

   Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.

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

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Dynamics CRM data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Dynamics CRM Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from Looker Studio to create a new Dynamics CRM data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Looker Studio, click data sources, create a new data source, and choose CData Connect Cloud Connector.
2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account.
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect Cloud instance
4. In the CData Connect Cloud Connector in Looker Studio select a Connection (e.g. DynamicsCRM1) and click Next
5. Select a Table (e.g. Account) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue
6. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.
7. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
8. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.

Live Access to Dynamics CRM Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Dynamics CRM data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Dynamics CRM data.

Try CData Connect Cloud and get real-time data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.