Visualize Live SAP Ariba Procurement Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to SAP Ariba Procurement data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to SAP Ariba Procurement, connect to SAP Ariba Procurement data from Power BI and then create reports on SAP Ariba Procurement data in Power BI.

Configure SAP Ariba Procurement Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to SAP Ariba Procurement from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with SAP Ariba Procurement data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a SAP Ariba Procurement connection.

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

2. Select "SAP Ariba Procurement" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP Ariba Procurement.

   In order to connect with SAP Ariba Procurement, set the following:

   • ANID: Your Ariba Network ID.
   • ANID: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Buyer or Supplier API based on your business role (possible values are PurchaseOrdersBuyerAPIV1 or PurchaseOrdersSupplierAPIV1).
   • Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

   Authenticating with OAuth

   After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

   • Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
   • Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

     For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

   Automatic OAuth

   After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

   APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

   When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

   1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
   2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
   3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SAP Ariba Procurement Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to SAP Ariba Procurement data from Power BI.

Query SAP Ariba Procurement Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull SAP Ariba Procurement data into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account 👁 Authenticating with Connect AI
   
3. After signing in, click "Connect" 👁 Connecting to Connect AI
   
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog 👁 The available tables. (Salesforce tables are shown)
   
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your SAP Ariba Procurement data from Power BI

Create SAP Ariba Procurement Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to SAP Ariba Procurement Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to SAP Ariba Procurement data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating SAP Ariba Procurement data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including SAP Ariba Procurement) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.