Use CData Connect Cloud to Access Sugar CRM Data in Microsoft Power Pivot



Use CData Connect Cloud to connect to live Sugar CRM data in the Power Pivot business intelligence tool.

This article will explain how to use CData Connect Cloud to present Sugar CRM 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 Sugar CRM data in Power Pivot.

Connect to Sugar CRM from Power Pivot

To work with Sugar CRM data from Power Pivot, we need to connect to Sugar CRM from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Sugar CRM data.

Connect to Sugar CRM from Connect Cloud

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

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

    The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SugarCRM user credentials. This will use the default OAuth token created to allow client logins. OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are required if you do not wish to use the default OAuth token.

    You can generate a new OAuth consumer key and consumer secret in Admin -> OAuth Keys. Set the OAuthClientId to the OAuth consumer key. Set the OAuthClientSecret to the consumer secret.

    Additionally, specify the URL to the SugarCRM account.

    Note that retrieving SugarCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in the "Caching Metadata" chapter of the help documentation.

  4. Click Create & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Sugar CRM Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect Cloud through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect Cloud. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Sugar CRM Endpoints for Power Pivot

After connecting to Sugar CRM, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

  1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
  2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
  3. Select the Sugar CRM connection (e.g. SugarCRM1) and click Next.
  4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
  5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Sugar CRM data from Power Pivot.

Import Sugar CRM 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. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name})
  3. On the next screen, select Basic and configure the username and password. Password will be your PAT.
  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 Sugar CRM data in Power Pivot.

Free Trial & More Information

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

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

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