Visualize Azure Analysis Services Data in Sisense

Sisense lets you join, analyze, and picture data to make more intelligent business decisions and craft effective strategies. The CData JDBC Driver for Azure Analysis Services makes it easy to integrate with Azure Analysis Services data in Sisense. This article shows how to create an ElastiCube that connects to Azure Analysis Services data and use the ElastiCube to visualize Azure Analysis Services data in Sisense.

Configure the Connection to Azure Analysis Services

Before creating the ElastiCube, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Azure Analysis Services 20XX\lib) or copy the jar file (cdata.jdbc.aas.AAS.jar) to a new folder in the Sisense JDBC driver directory (typically C:\ProgramData\Sisense\DataConnectors\jdbcdrivers).

1. In the Data page of the Sisense application, create a new ElastiCube (or open an existing one).
2. In the Model Editor, click "+ Data" to open the Add Data dialog box.
3. Click Generic JDBC to open the JDBC settings. 👁 Connecting via JDBC
   
4. Set the connection string property to the JDBC URL for Azure Analysis Services, adding required properties.

   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.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Azure Analysis Services JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.aas.jar
   

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
   

   When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   A typical example follows:

   jdbc:aas:URL=asazure://REGION.asazure.windows.net/server;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
   

5. Set the JDBC JARs folder property to the location of the CData JDBC Driver JAR file (see above).
6. Set the driver's class name to the class name for the JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.aas.AASDriver
7. Leave the username and password properties blank.
8. Click Next. 👁 A configured connection in Sisense (HubSpot is shown).
   

Add Azure Analysis Services Data to an ElastiCube

Once you are connected to Azure Analysis Services, you can add views to your ElastiCubes.

1. From the Tables list, select the tables and/or views you wish to work with.
2. (Optional) Click "+" to customize the data you want to import with SQL.
3. Click Done. 👁 Selected tables to add to the ElastiCube
   
4. Click Build to build the ElastiCube for analytics.

Visualize Azure Analysis Services Data

With Azure Analysis Services tables added to your ElastiCube, you can perform analytics on your Azure Analysis Services data.

1. Navigate to the Analytics page of the Sisense application
2. Select a Dashboard (or create a new one)
3. Select your Data Source and click Create 👁 Selecting the newly created ElastiCube
   
4. Click "+ Select Data" and choose fields to add to your visualization. 👁 Visualizing data in Sisense (HubSpot is shown).
   

With the CData JDBC Driver for Azure Analysis Services, you can access Azure Analysis Services data right in Sisense for powerful visualization and analytics. Download a free, 30-day trial and start working with Azure Analysis Services data in Sisense today!