Create Reports from Azure Synapse Data in Looker Studio

Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, empowers users to craft customized reports featuring data visualizations that can be shared with clients while reflecting your brand identity. When combined with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Azure Synapse data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Azure Synapse and generating reports from Azure Synapse data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect AI offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Azure Synapse, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Azure Synapse data within Looker Studio without the need for data replication. As you create visualizations, Looker Studio generates queries to retrieve data. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Azure Synapse. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Azure Synapse data.

Configure Azure Synapse Connectivity for Looker Studio

Connectivity to Azure Synapse from Looker Studio is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Azure Synapse data from Looker Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Azure Synapse connection.

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

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

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Azure Synapse.

   Connecting to Azure Synapse

   In addition to providing authentication (see below), set the following properties to connect to a Azure Synapse database:

   • Server: The server running Azure. You can find this by logging into the Azure portal and navigating to Azure Synapse Analytics -> Select your database -> Overview -> Server name.
   • Database: The name of the database, as seen in the Azure portal on the Azure Synapse Analytics page.

   Authenticating to Azure Synapse

   Connect to Azure Synapse using the following properties:

   • User: The username provided for authentication with Azure.
   • Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Azure Synapse Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Azure Synapse data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Azure Synapse Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Looker Studio to create a new Azure Synapse data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Looker Studio, click data sources, create a new data source, and choose CData Connect AI Connector.
👁 Create a new connection in Looker Studio

2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account. 👁 Granting permissions to the Connector
   
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect AI instance 👁 Authenticating with CData Connect AI
   
4. In the CData Connect AI Connector in Looker Studio select Connections to import from the dropdown and click Next
👁 Importing from Connections

5. Now select a Connection (e.g. AzureSynapse1) and click Next 👁 Selecting a Connection
   
6. Select a Table (e.g. Products) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue 👁 Selecting a Table
   
7. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.
👁 Configuring column definitions

8. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
9. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.
👁 Visualizing Azure Synapse data in Looker Studio

Live Access to Azure Synapse Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Azure Synapse data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Azure Synapse data.

Try CData Connect AI and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.