Use the Connect Server to Access Salesloft Data in Microsoft Power Pivot

This article will explain how to use the Connect Server to provide Salesloft data as OData services and then consume the data in Microsoft Excel's Power Pivot business intelligence tool. Follow the steps below to retrieve and edit Salesloft data in Power Pivot.

Connect to Salesloft from Power Pivot

To work with live Salesloft data in Power Pivot, we need to connect to Salesloft from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the Salesloft data.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a User to connect to Salesloft from Power Pivot through Connect Server.

1. Click Users -> Add
2. Configure a User
3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user

Connect to Salesloft from Connect Server

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

1. Open Connect Server and click Connections
2. Select "Salesloft" from Available Data Sources
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Salesloft. SalesLoft authenticates using the OAuth authentication standard or an API Key. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with SalesLoft using the browser.

   Using OAuth

   For OAuth authentication, create an OAuth app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the OAuth section in the Help documentation for an authentication guide.

   Using APIKey

   Alternatively, you can authenticate with an APIKey. Provision an API key from the SalesLoft user interface: https://accounts.salesloft.com/oauth/applications/. You will receive a Key which will be used when issuing requests.

4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for Reveal).

Add Salesloft OData Endpoints in Connect Server

After connecting to Salesloft, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
2. Select the Salesloft database
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Import Salesloft Tables in Power Pivot

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

1. In Excel, click Data -> Get Data -> From Other Sources -> From OData Feed
2. Fill out the OData feed URL (e.g. http://localhost:8080/odata.rsc)
3. On the next screen, select Basic and configure the username and password. Password should be your auth token.

4. Select the tables that you would like to import into Excel

5. After selecting your table(s) and clicking Load, you should see the data appear in an Excel spreadsheet

6. Now, click the Power Pivot tab on the ribbon, and then select Add to Data Model. This can now work with your Salesloft data in Power Pivot.

Free Trial & More Information

If you are interested in connecting to your Salesloft data (or data from any of our other supported data sources) from Power Pivot, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect Server today! For more information on Connect Server and to see what other data sources we support, refer to our CData Connect page.