Discover how a bimodal integration strategy can address the major data management challenges facing your organization today.
Get the Report →Connect to Live SAP Data in MicroStrategy through CData Connect Server
Create a virtual database for SAP in CData Connect Server and connect to it from MicroStrategy.
MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with CData Connect Server, you gain database-like access to live SAP data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through creating a virtual database for SAP in Connect Server and connecting to Connect Server in MicroStrategy to create a simple visualization of SAP data.
As a hosted integration platform, Connect Server is ideal for working with cloud-based BI and analytics tools. With no servers to configure or data proxies to set up, you can simply use the web-based UI to create a virtual database for SAP and connect from MicroStrategy to start performing analytics based on live SAP data.
About SAP Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from SAP. Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access every edition of SAP, including SAP R/3, SAP NetWeaver, SAP ERP / ECC 6.0, and SAP S/4 HANA on premises data that is exposed by the RFC.
- Perform actions like sending IDoc or IDoc XML files to the server and creating schemas for functions or queries through SQL stored procedures.
-
Connect optimally depending on where a customer's SAP instance is hosted.
- Customers using SAP S/4HANA cloud public edition will use SAP NetWeaver Gateway connectivity
- Customers using SAP S/4HANA private edition will use either SAP ERP or SAP NetWeaver Gateway connectivity.
While most users leverage our tools to replicate SAP data to databases or data warehouses, many also integrate live SAP data with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel.
Getting Started
Connect to SAP from MicroStrategy
To work with live SAP data in MicroStrategy, we need to create a virtual database for SAP in Connect Server.
Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for SAP Data
CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
- Select "SAP" from Available Data Sources.
-
Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP.
You can connect to SAP systems using either librfc32.dll, librfc32u.dll, NetWeaver, or Web Services (SOAP). Set the ConnectionType connection property to CLASSIC (librfc32.dll), CLASSIC_UNICODE (librfc32u.dll), NETWEAVER, or SOAP.
If you are using the SOAP interface, set the Client, RFCUrl, SystemNumber, User, and Password properties, under the Authentication section.
Otherwise, set Host, User, Password, Client, and SystemNumber.
Note: We do not distribute the librfc32.dll or other SAP assemblies. You must find them from your SAP installation and install them on your machine.
For more information, see this guide on obtaining the connection properties needed to connect to any SAP system.
- Click Save Changes
- 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 SAP data from MicroStrategy.
Connect to and Visualize SAP Data Using MicroStrategy
You can connect to SAP in MicroStrategy by adding a data source based on the native SQL Server functionality. Once you have created a data source, you can build dynamic visualizations of SAP data in MicroStrategy.
- Open MicroStrategy and select your account.
- Click Add External Data, select Databases, and use Select Tables as the Import Option.
- In the Import from Tables wizard, click to add a new Data Source.
- Select "SQL Server" in the Database menu and select "SQL Server 2017" in the Version menu.
-
Sat the connection properties as follows:
- Server Name: e.g. connect_server_url
- Port Number: 1433
- Database Name: the name of your SAP connection (e.g. SAPERP1)
- User: a Connect Server user
- Password: a Connect Server password
- Data Source Name: a name for the new external data source, like "CData Connect SAP"
- Expand the menu for the new data source and choose "Edit Catalog Options"
-
Edit the "SQL statement retrieve columns ..." query to include TABLE_SCHEMA = '#?Schema_Name?#' in the WHERE clause, and click Apply and then OK (the complete query is below).
SELECT DISTINCT TABLE_SCHEMA NAME_SPACE, TABLE_NAME TAB_NAME, COLUMN_NAME COL_NAME, (CASE WHEN (DATA_TYPE LIKE '%char' AND (CHARACTER_SET_NAME='utf8' OR CHARACTER_SET_NAME='usc2')) THEN CONCAT('a',DATA_TYPE) ELSE DATA_TYPE END) DATA_TYPE, CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH DATA_LEN, NUMERIC_PRECISION DATA_PREC, NUMERIC_SCALE DATA_SCALE FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_NAME IN (#TABLE_LIST#) AND TABLE_SCHEMA='#?Schema_Name?#' ORDER BY 1,2,3
- Select the new data source and select the Namespace that corresponds to your virtual SAP database (like SAPERP1).
- Drag tables into the pane to insert then. Note: Since we create a live connection, we can insert whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products to customize our datasets.
- Click Finish, choose the option to connect live, save the query, and choose the option to create a new dossier. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to high-performance data processing native to CData Connect Cloud.
- Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of SAP data. Data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to SAP, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed by the CData SQL engine embedded in Connect Cloud.
- Once you have finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.
Using CData Connect Server with MicroStrategy, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on SAP data. For more information on creating virtual databases for SAP (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect Server page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live SAP data in MicroStrategy.