Visualize Live Azure Analysis Services Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

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 AI, you get access to Azure Analysis Services data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to Azure Analysis Services, connect to Azure Analysis Services data from Power BI and then create reports on Azure Analysis Services data in Power BI.

Configure Azure Analysis Services Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to Azure Analysis Services from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Azure Analysis Services data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a Azure Analysis Services connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Azure Analysis Services" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Azure Analysis Services.

   To connect to Azure Analysis Services, set the Url property to a valid server, for instance, asazure://southcentralus.asazure.windows.net/server, in addition to authenticating. Optionally, set Database to distinguish which Azure database on the server to connect to.

   Azure Analysis Services uses the OAuth authentication standard. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Azure Analysis Services using the browser. You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. See the Help documentation for more information.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Azure Analysis Services Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Azure Analysis Services data from Power BI.

Query Azure Analysis Services Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull Azure Analysis Services data into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account 👁 Authenticating with Connect AI
   
3. After signing in, click "Connect" 👁 Connecting to Connect AI
   
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog 👁 The available tables. (Salesforce tables are shown)
   
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your Azure Analysis Services data from Power BI

Create Azure Analysis Services Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to Azure Analysis Services Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to Azure Analysis Services data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Azure Analysis Services data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Azure Analysis Services) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.