Use the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365 in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365, you gain database-like access to live Dynamics 365 data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Dynamics 365 as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Dynamics 365 data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Dynamics 365 data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Dynamics 365, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Dynamics 365 and utilizes the embedded SQL Engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze Dynamics 365 data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Getting Started

---

Connect to Dynamics 365 as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Dynamics 365 follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

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

When you configure the DSN, 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.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365 in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData Dynamics365 Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365
Description = My Description
OrganizationUrl = https://myaccount.operations.dynamics.com/
Edition = Sales
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize Dynamics 365 Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Dynamics 365 in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Dynamics 365 in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Dynamics 365 data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Dynamics 365 data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData Dynamics365 Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
👁 Creating a new data source for Dynamics 365.

6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Dynamics 365 data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM GoalHeadings
   

   👁 Querying Dynamics 365 for data.
   NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Dynamics 365 data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Dynamics 365, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver. 👁 Visualize Dynamics 365 data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365 in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Dynamics 365 data. Read our other articles on connecting to Dynamics 365 in MicroStrategy and connecting to Dynamics 365 in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.