Create Reports from Zendesk Data in Looker Studio

Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, empowers users to craft customized reports featuring data visualizations that can be shared with clients while reflecting your brand identity. When combined with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Zendesk data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Zendesk and generating reports from Zendesk data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect AI offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Zendesk, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Zendesk data within Looker Studio without the need for data replication. As you create visualizations, Looker Studio generates queries to retrieve data. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Zendesk. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Zendesk data.

Configure Zendesk Connectivity for Looker Studio

Connectivity to Zendesk from Looker Studio is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Zendesk data from Looker Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Zendesk connection.

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

2. Select "Zendesk" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Zendesk.

   Connecting to Zendesk

   To connect, set the URL and provide authentication. The URL is your Zendesk Support URL: https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com.

   Authenticating to Zendesk

   You can authenticate using the Basic or OAuth methods.

   Using Basic Authentication

   To use Basic authentication, specify your email address and password or your email address and an API token. Set User to your email address and follow the steps below to provide the Password or ApiToken.

   • Enable password access in the Zendesk Support admin interface at Admin > Channels > API.
   • Manage API tokens in the Zendesk Support Admin interface at Admin > Channels > API. More than one token can be active at the same time. Deleting a token deactivates it permanently.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for an authentication guide.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Zendesk Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Zendesk data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Zendesk Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Looker Studio to create a new Zendesk data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Looker Studio, click data sources, create a new data source, and choose CData Connect AI Connector.
👁 Create a new connection in Looker Studio

2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account. 👁 Granting permissions to the Connector
   
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect AI instance 👁 Authenticating with CData Connect AI
   
4. In the CData Connect AI Connector in Looker Studio select Connections to import from the dropdown and click Next
👁 Importing from Connections

5. Now select a Connection (e.g. Zendesk1) and click Next 👁 Selecting a Connection
   
6. Select a Table (e.g. Tickets) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue 👁 Selecting a Table
   
7. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.
👁 Configuring column definitions

8. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
9. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.
👁 Visualizing Zendesk data in Looker Studio

Live Access to Zendesk Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Zendesk data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Zendesk data.

Try CData Connect AI and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.