Access Live SAP Data in Excel for the Web (Excel 365/Online) through Connect Spreadsheets

Cameron Leblanc
Cameron Leblanc
Senior Technology Evangelist
Connect to SAP data from Excel 365 Online (Excel for the web) with Connect Spreadsheets.

Looking for Connect AI instructions?

Your Connect AI account includes Connect Spreadsheets, so you can use the instructions below. You can expect minor differences when referencing the Connect Spreadsheet platform, but the principles still apply!


Microsoft Excel for the web represents a cloud-native iteration of Microsoft Excel. When combined with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you gain immediate access to SAP data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to SAP in Connect Spreadsheets and access live SAP data in Excel spreadsheets online.

Connect Spreadsheets is the easiest way to get all your live data into Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets - no more downloading, wrangling, and uploading files again. Just connect to your data, select the dataset you'd like to see, and import it into your spreadsheet.

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.

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


This setup requires a Connect Spreadsheets instance and the Connect Spreadsheets Add-In for Excel. To get started, sign up a free trial of Connect Spreadsheets and install the free Connect Spreadsheets Excel Add-In.


Configure SAP Connectivity for Excel

Connectivity to SAP from Excel is made possible through Connect Spreadsheets . To work with SAP data from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a SAP connection.

  1. Log into Connect Spreadsheets, click Sources and click Add Connection
  2. Select "SAP" from the Add Connection panel
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP.

    The Java edition supports connecting to an SAP system using the JCo .jar file. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for information on using the Jco JAR file.

    The Windows edition supports connecting to SAP systems using either the librfc32.dll, the librfc32u.dll, NetWeaver, or Web Services (SOAP). Set the ConnectionType connection property to CLASSIC (librfc32.dll), CLASSIC_UNICODE (librfc32u.dll), NETWEAVER, or SOAP.

    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.

    All versions of Sync support connecting to an SAP system using Web services (SOAP). If you are using the SOAP interface you must enable SOAP access to your SAP system and set the Client, RFCUrl, SystemNumber, User, and Password properties, under the Authentication section. Additionally, set the ConnectionType to SOAP.

    See this guide on obtaining the connection properties needed to connect to any SAP system.

  4. Click Create & Test

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to SAP data from Excel for the web.

Access Live SAP Data in Excel for the web

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Excel to access live SAP data.

  1. Log into Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
  2. Click Insert and click Office Add-ins. (If you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4.)
  3. Search for Connect Spreadsheets and click "Get it now" to install the Add-in.
  4. Back in Excel, open the Data ribbon select and click the CData Connect Spreadsheets "Get Data" button.
  5. In the Add-In panel, click "Log in" to sign into and authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account
  6. In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel, click Import
  7. Choose a Connection (e.g. SAPERP1), Table (e.g. MARA), and Columns to import
  8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
  9. Click Execute to import the data

Live Access to SAP Data from Spreadsheets

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live SAP data from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try Connect Spreadsheets and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your spreadsheet apps.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about Connect Spreadsheets or sign up for free trial access:

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