Use the CData ODBC Driver for Sugar CRM in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Sugar CRM data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Sugar CRM, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Sugar CRM 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 Sugar CRM data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Sugar CRM as an ODBC Data Source

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

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SugarCRM user credentials. This will use the default OAuth token created to allow client logins. OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are required if you do not wish to use the default OAuth token.

You can generate a new OAuth consumer key and consumer secret in Admin -> OAuth Keys. Set the OAuthClientId to the OAuth consumer key. Set the OAuthClientSecret to the consumer secret.

Additionally, specify the URL to the SugarCRM account.

Note that retrieving SugarCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in the "Caching Metadata" chapter of the help documentation.

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 Sugar CRM 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 SugarCRM Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Sugar CRM
Description = My Description
User = MyUser
Password = MyPassword
URL = MySugarCRMAccountURL
CacheMetadata = True

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

Connect to and Visualize Sugar CRM Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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 Sugar CRM data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM Accounts
   

   👁 Querying Sugar CRM 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 Sugar CRM data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Sugar CRM, 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 Sugar CRM data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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