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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/dynamicscrm-cloud-acl-analytics.rst

⇱ Connect to Dynamics CRM Data in ACL Analytics

Connect to Dynamics CRM Data in ACL Analytics

👁 Stanley Liu
Stanley Liu
Associate Technical Product Marketer
Connect to Dynamics CRM data via CData Connect AI in ACL Analytics to run your data analysis workflows with real-time access to Dynamics CRM data.

ACL Analytics, part of Diligent HighBond, is a powerful data analysis software primarily used for audit, risk management, and compliance. It enables professionals to examine and analyze large volumes of data to identify anomalies, trends, and potential risks or fraudulent activities.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for Dynamics CRM, enabling analytics directly from live Dynamics CRM data within ACL Analytics, all without the need for data replication to a native database. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Dynamics CRM. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested Dynamics CRM data.

About Dynamics CRM Data Integration

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

  • Read and write data in the Dynamics CRM 2011+ Services and Dynamics CRM Online.
  • Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
  • Authenticate securely with Dynamics CRM 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.

CData customers use our Dynamics CRM 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 CRMa 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 CRM Connectivity for ACL Analytics

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

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

    The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances. To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.

    Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.

    👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics CRM 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 CRM data from ACL Analytics.

Connect to Dynamics CRM from ACL Analytics

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from ACL Analytics to create a new Dynamics CRM data source. The CData Connect AI Virtual SQL Server allows you to establish a connection to your data from integration tools that support connections to SQL servers. The Virtual SQL Server mimics the behavior of a traditional SQL server, and it supports a range of query options.

  1. With your Analytics File open, select 'Import' --> 'Database and application' 👁 Creating a new data source
  2. Create a new connection
  3. Set the connection information
    • Server: tds.cdata.com
    • Port: 14333
    • Auth Scheme: Password
    • Username: a Connect AI user, for example, [email protected]
    • Password: the PAT for the above Connect AI user
    • Database: the name of your Dynamics CRM connection, for example, DynamicsCRM1
    👁 Connecting to Connect AI
  4. Click "Test Connection"
  5. Click "OK"
  6. You are now ready to work with your Dynamics CRM data in ACL Analytics! 👁 See your data in ACL Analytics

Live connections to Dynamics CRM data from your applications

ACL Analytics can now connect to live Dynamics CRM data directly through Connect AI, allowing you to analyze Dynamics CRM data without duplicating it.

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your applications, try CData Connect AI today!