Create Reports from Sage X3 Cloud 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 AI, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Sage X3 Cloud data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Sage X3 Cloud and generating reports from Sage X3 Cloud data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect AI offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Sage X3 Cloud, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Sage X3 Cloud 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 AI efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Sage X3 Cloud. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Sage X3 Cloud data.

Configure Sage X3 Cloud Connectivity for Looker Studio

Connectivity to Sage X3 Cloud from Looker Studio is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Sage X3 Cloud data from Looker Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Sage X3 Cloud connection.

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

2. Select "Sage X3 Cloud" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Sage X3 Cloud.

   Sage X3 Cloud uses the OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials flow, and an X-API-Key is also required for API access. Set AuthScheme to OAuth and specify the following connection properties:

   • URL: The base URL of your Sage X3 Cloud instance.
   • OAuthAccessTokenUrl: The OAuth token endpoint (e.g., https://your-auth-domain/oauth/token).
   • OAuthClientId: Your OAuth application client ID.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Your OAuth application client secret.
   • Audience: The API audience value for the token request.
   • XAPIKey: The X-API-Key provided by your Sage X3 Cloud administrator.
   • Folder: The Sage X3 folder name (e.g., SEED). This folder is used as the default schema.
   • Folders (optional): A comma-separated list of Sage X3 folders (e.g., SEED,PERF). Each folder is exposed as a separate schema, so you can query across folders with the Schema.Table syntax.

   The driver obtains an access token with the Client Credentials flow and sends it with the X-API-Key on every API request. With InitiateOAuth set to GETANDREFRESH (the default), the driver acquires and refreshes the token automatically.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Sage X3 Cloud Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Sage X3 Cloud data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Sage X3 Cloud Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Looker Studio to create a new Sage X3 Cloud 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 AI Connector.

2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account.
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect AI instance
4. In the CData Connect AI Connector in Looker Studio select Connections to import from the dropdown and click Next

5. Now select a Connection (e.g. SageX3Cloud1) and click Next
6. Select a Table (e.g. BPCUSTOMER) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue
7. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.

8. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
9. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.

Live Access to Sage X3 Cloud Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Sage X3 Cloud data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Sage X3 Cloud data.

Try CData Connect AI and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.