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

⇱ Create Apps from Dynamics CRM Data in Qlik Sense Cloud

Create Apps from Dynamics CRM Data in Qlik Sense Cloud

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use CData Connect AI to connect to Dynamics CRM Data and build apps from live Dynamics CRM data in Qlik Sense Cloud.

Qlik Sense Cloud allows you to create and share data visualizations and interact with information in new ways. CData Connect AI creates a live connection to Dynamics CRM. By pairing Qlik Sense Cloud with CData Connect AI, you get true cloud-to-cloud connectivity to all of your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources — no need to migrate your data or write your integrations. Simply connect to Connect AI from Qlik Sense Cloud and get instant, live access to your Dynamics CRM data.

In this article, we walk through two connections:

  1. Connecting to Dynamics CRM in Connect AI
  2. Connecting to Connect AI from Qlik Sense Cloud to create a model and build a simple dashboard

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 Qlik Sense Cloud

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

  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.

    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 Qlik Sense Cloud.

Create a Qlik Sense App from Dynamics CRM Data

This section explains how to add Dynamics CRM data to a Qlik Sense app for visualizations, analytics, reporting, and more.

Create a New App and Upload Data

  1. Log into your Qlik Sense instance and click the button to create a new app 👁 Creating a new app
  2. Name and configure the new app and click "Create"
  3. In the workspace, click to open the new app
  4. Click to add data from files and other sources 👁 Selecting a connector
  5. Select the Microsoft SQL Server connector and set the configuration properties.
    • Set Server to tds.cdata.com
    • Set Port to 14333
    • Set Database to the connection you created (e.g. DynamicsCRM1)
    • Set User name to the Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
    • Set Password to the PAT for the above user
    👁 Configuring the connection
  6. Select an owner for the connection
  7. Select a Dynamics CRM entity (Table) to view 👁 Adding data to the app (Salesforce is shown.)
  8. Click Next, configure the model, and load the data into Qlik Sense.

Generate Insights or Customize Your App

With the data loaded into Qlik Sense, you are ready to begin discovering insights. You can build custom visualizations, reports, and dashboards engineered to gain actionable insights into your Dynamics CRM data.

👁 Generating insights on live data (Salesforce is shown.)

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a simple but powerful dashboard from live Dynamics CRM data. For more information on creating OData feeds from Dynamics CRM (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Dynamics CRM data in Qlik Sense Cloud.