Visualize Live Salesforce Data 360 Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use the CData Power BI Connector and CData Connect AI to integrate live Salesforce Data 360 data into custom reports in Power BI.

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to Salesforce Data 360 data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to Salesforce Data 360, connect to Salesforce Data 360 data from Power BI and then create reports on Salesforce Data 360 data in Power BI.

Configure Salesforce Data 360 Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to Salesforce Data 360 from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Salesforce Data 360 data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a Salesforce Data 360 connection.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
  2. Adding a Connection
  3. Select "Salesforce Data 360" from the Add Connection panel
  4. Selecting a data source
  5. Salesforce Data 360 uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with Salesforce Data 360. Authenticating with OAuth (Salesforce is shown).
  6. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Salesforce Data 360 Connection page and update the User-based permissions. Updating permissions

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Salesforce Data 360 data from Power BI.

Query Salesforce Data 360 Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull Salesforce Data 360 data into the report:

  1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
  2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account Authenticating with Connect AI
  3. After signing in, click "Connect" Connecting to Connect AI
  4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog The available tables. (Salesforce tables are shown)
  5. Click Load to establish the connection to your Salesforce Data 360 data from Power BI

Create Salesforce Data 360 Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Visualizing data in Power BI (Salesforce data is shown)

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to Salesforce Data 360 Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to Salesforce Data 360 data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Salesforce Data 360 data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Salesforce Data 360) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.

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