Import SAP Ariba Procurement Data into the Power BI Service for Visualizations

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 Cloud, you get access to SAP Ariba Procurement data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to connect to SAP Ariba Procurement in CData Connect Cloud, publish a dataset from Power BI Desktop to the Power BI Service and then create reports on SAP Ariba Procurement data in the Power BI service.

Configure SAP Ariba Procurement Connectivity for Power BI Service

Connectivity to SAP Ariba Procurement from Power BI Service is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with SAP Ariba Procurement data from Power BI Service, we start by creating and configuring a SAP Ariba Procurement connection.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to SAP Ariba Procurement through Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

Connect to SAP Ariba Procurement from Connect Cloud

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

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

   In order to connect with SAP Ariba Procurement, set the following:

   • ANID: Your Ariba Network ID.
   • ANID: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Buyer or Supplier API based on your business role (possible values are PurchaseOrdersBuyerAPIV1 or PurchaseOrdersSupplierAPIV1).
   • Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

   Authenticating with OAuth

   After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

   • Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
   • Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

     For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

   Automatic OAuth

   After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

   APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

   When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

   1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
   2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
   3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.
   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SAP Ariba Procurement Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to SAP Ariba Procurement data from the Power BI service.

Publish a Dataset from Power BI Desktop

Once you connect to SAP Ariba Procurement in Connect Cloud, you can create a dataset in Power BI desktop and publish the dataset to the Power BI service.

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect Cloud and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect Cloud account
3. After signing in, click "Connect"
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your SAP Ariba Procurement data from Power BI

6. Define any relationships between the selected entities on the Relationships tab.
7. Click Publish (from the Home menu) and select a Workspace.

Build Reports and Dashboards on SAP Ariba Procurement Data in the Power BI Service

Now that you have published a dataset to the Power BI service, you can create new reports and dashboards based on the published data:

1. Log in to PowerBI.com.
2. Click Workspaces and select a workspace.
3. Click Create and select Report.
4. Select the published dataset for the report.
5. Choose fields and visualizations to add to your report.

Live Access to SAP Ariba Procurement Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct connection to live SAP Ariba Procurement data from the Power BI service. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating SAP Ariba Procurement data.

To get live data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect Cloud.