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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/dynamics365-cloud-zoho-analytics.rst

⇱ Build Dynamics 365-Connected Dashboards Using Zoho Analytics

Build Dynamics 365-Connected Dashboards Using Zoho Analytics

👁 Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Use CData Connect AI to connect to Dynamics 365 Data from Zoho Analytics and import live Dynamics 365 data.

Zoho Analytics is a modern BI and Analytics platform that allows you to connect and analyze your data, while also creating visualizations and dashboards to discover hidden insights. When paired with CData Connect AI, Zoho Analytics provides instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Dynamics 365 data for reporting and analytics. This article demonstrates how to connect to Dynamics 365 using Connect AI and analyze Dynamics 365 data by creating dashboards in Zoho Analytics.

CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Dynamics 365, allowing you to analyze Dynamics 365 data in Zoho Analytics — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Dynamics 365, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Dynamics 365 data quickly.

About Dynamics 365 Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live Microsoft Dynamics 365 data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

  • Read and write data in the full Dynamics 365 ecosystem: Sales, Customer Service, Finance & Operations, Marketing, and more.
  • Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
  • Authenticate securely with Dynamics 365 in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to manage their Dynamics 365 entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.

CData customers use our Dynamics 365 connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources) or analyze live Dynamics 365 data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).


Getting Started


Configure Dynamics 365 Connectivity for Zoho Analytics

Connectivity to Dynamics 365 from Zoho Analytics is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Dynamics 365 data from Zoho Analytics, we start by creating and configuring a Dynamics 365 connection.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. 👁 Adding a Connection
  2. Select "Dynamics 365" from the Add Connection panel
    3. 👁 Selecting a data source
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365.

    Edition and OrganizationUrl are required connection properties. The Dynamics 365 connector supports connecting to the following editions: CustomerService, FieldService, FinOpsOnline, FinOpsOnPremise, HumanResources, Marketing, ProjectOperations and Sales.

    For Dynamics 365 Business Central, use the separate Dynamics 365 Business Central driver.

    OrganizationUrl is the URL to your Dynamics 365 organization. For instance, https://orgcb42e1d0.crm.dynamics.com

    👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics 365 Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI 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 AI. 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 AI 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. 👁 Creating a new PAT
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Dynamics 365 data from Zoho Analytics.

Connect to Dynamics 365 in Zoho Analytics Using CData Connect AI

To establish a connection from Zoho Analytics to CData Connect AI, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to Zoho Analytics.
    2. 👁 Logging into Zoho Analytics
  2. Create a new connection and select Cloud Databases to open the connection modal.
    3. 👁 Creating a new connection
  3. Enter the following information:
    • Database Type - select MS SQL Server.
    • Endpoint - enter tds.cdata.com
    • SQL Server Instance Name - leave this blank.
    • Port - enter 14333
    • Username - enter your CData Connect AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected].
    • Password - enter the PAT you generated.
    • Database Name - enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect AI data source you want to connect to (for example, Dynamics3651).
    • Click Next.
      • 👁 Displaying configuration settings
  4. Choose the table that you would like to import from, e.g. GoalHeadings.
    5. 👁 Choosing table to import
  5. A Data Preview of the table should pop up. Next, enter a Workspace Name and Table Name to be able to refer to in Zoho Analytics. Click Next.
    6. 👁 Displaying data preview
  6. There is an option to schedule the import periodically. After configuring, click Create.
    7. 👁 Scheduling the import
  7. Now, the import has been initiated. Click OK.
    8. 👁 Initiating the import
  8. View your new connection in the Zoho Analytics Explorer.
    9. 👁 Viewing new connection
  9. Click on the new connection to see the table.
    10. 👁 Viewing the table
  10. Zoho Analytics can auto-generate dashboards for the user, as seen here:
    11. 👁 Auto-generating a dashboard

We have successfully imported Dynamics 365 data into Zoho Analytics and created dashboards.

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