Create Dynamics CRM Dashboards in Bold BI

Bold BI allows you to create, share, and collaborate on interactive BI dashboards. When paired with CData Connect Server, you get instant access to Dynamics CRM data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to create a virtual database for Dynamics CRM and build reports from Dynamics CRM data in Bold BI.

CData Connect Server provides a pure SQL Server interface for Dynamics CRM, allowing you to easily build reports from live Dynamics CRM data in Bold BI — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you build visualizations, Bold BI generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Server pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Dynamics CRM, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Dynamics CRM data.

Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for Dynamics CRM Data

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
2. Select "Dynamics CRM" from Available Data Sources.
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 Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to Dynamics CRM data from Bold BI.

Visualize Live Dynamics CRM Data in Bold BI

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Server from Bold BI to create a new Dynamics CRM data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into your Bold BI instance, click the data sources tab, create a new data source, and choose the SQL Server connector.
2. Choose the basic configuration and set the connection properties:
   • Name: Name your connection
   • Server name: Your Connect Server instance (CONNECT_SERVER_URL)
   • Port: 1433
   • Username: Your Connect Server username
   • Password: Your Connect Server password
   • Mode: Choose Live to query Dynamics CRM on-demand or choose Extract to load the data into Bold BI
   • Database: Choose the database you created from the drop-down menu (dynamicscrmdb)
3. Click Connect
4. Select the table to visualize and drag it onto the workspace.
5. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
6. Click the gear icon for the visualization to configure the visualization properties and assign columns to the visualization.

SQL Access to Dynamics CRM Data from Applications

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

To get SQL data access to 200+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your applications, see the CData Connect page.