How to configure the connector to use Power BI with Dynamics 365?

Today, businesses of all sizes generate a voluminous quantity of data. However, the real value of this data lies in the insights when you visualize your data using data visualization tools like Power BI.

To extract the true meaning, you need a powerful business intelligence (BI) team and the latest BI tool that can help you visualize and analyze the collected data.

One such tool is Microsoft Power BI, a business analytics service provided by Microsoft that enables its users to visualize and share insights from their data.

With Power BI, you can create interactive reports and dashboards that provide you with a real-time view of your business operations spread at distinct locations.

You can also connect Power Platform (via Power BI connectors available at no cost) to a wide range of data sources from the suite of business apps – Microsoft Dynamics 365, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, a powerful customer data platform that can help businesses gain a 360-degree view of their customers.

Note: Microsoft provides the connectors for Power Platform at no cost. However, the licensing may differ with respect to sharing options. Unlike Power Platform, with a Power BI Pro license, you can connect and construct from any source and share with other Pro users or even test it out for free.

Remember, users with a Power BI Pro and Microsoft 365 E5 license can upgrade to Power BI Premium per user with an add-on available at the cost of USD 10 per user per month. Contact Power BI experts at Dynamics Square (Microsoft Dynamics Partner) for more information.

Steps to Customize Your Power BI for Dynamics 365 Products

Here are the steps to configure the Power BI connector for Dynamics 365:

Step – 1: Open Power BI Desktop and select "File" > "Get Data".

Step – 2: Click "See more" and search for "Dynamics 365 Customer Insights".

Step – 3: Click "Connect".

Step – 4: Sign in with the same organizational account you use for Customer Insights and click "Connect".

Note: The account you use in this step is only for fetching data from Customer Insights and doesn't have to be the same as the one you use to sign into Power Platform.

In the Navigator dialog box, you'll see a list of all the environments you have access to.

Then, you can expand an environment and open any of the folders to see the entities, measures, segments, and enrichments available.

Step – 5: Check the boxes next to the entities you want to include and click "Load". You can select multiple entities from multiple environments.

Step – 6: A loading dialog box will appear while your entities are being loaded. Once all the selected entities have loaded, you can use the visualization capabilities of Power BI to analyze the data.

Note: If you need to reset the account used for data fetching, you can do so by going to "File" > "Options" > "Settings" > "Data source settings" in Power BI. From there, select "Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Login" from the list of data sources and click "Clear permissions". The same can do with other Dynamics 365 products like Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain Management, or Dynamics 365 Marketing and Commerce.

How to Export Data from Dynamics 365?

Exporting data from Dynamics 365 Customer Insights to Power Platform is a simple process.

Your BI teams can easily connect Power BI to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights instance from within Power Platform and create custom reports and dashboards that are tailored to your business needs.

With this powerful integration, businesses can gain deeper insights into their customer data and use this information to drive growth and success.

What is the Benefit of using Power BI with Dynamics 365?

By connecting Dynamics 365 Customer Insights to Power BI, you can gain deeper insights into your customer data and use this information to make informed decision-making better.

For example, your business analysts can use Power BI to create interactive dashboards that show you your customer demographics, purchase history, and behavior.

The BI team can also track customer engagement and sentiments in real time and show trends and patterns in their customer data.

So, integrate Power BI with Dynamics 365 to empower every member of your organization with real-time analytics and enable a data-driven culture, where confident decision-making is possible and is better at every level.

Here are the core benefits:

1. Achieve Enterprise-Level Self-Service Analytics

Streamline your analytics solutions, reduce costs, complexity, and security risks by using a scalable analytics platform that can be used by individuals and the entire organization.

2. Leverage Intelligent Tools for Powerful Outcomes

Discover and collaborate on valuable insights using over hundreds of data visualizations, built-in AI features, Excel integration, and both pre-built and customized data connectors.

3. Safeguard your Analytics Data

Maintain the security of your data with cutting-edge data security capabilities such as sensitivity labeling, end-to-end encryption, and real-time access monitoring.

Who uses Power BI?

With Power BI, you take your data with you. No matter where you go or wherever you are.

Below are the world's popular organizations that use Power Platform to keep going forward:

Swiggy – India’s one of the popular and rapidly growing food delivery organization.

Fairlife – An American brand, known for ultra-filtered milk, is distributed in Canada, China, and the United States via "The Coca-Cola Company."

Hendrick Motorsports –  One of the USA's professional auto racing organizations that participates in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Grant Thorton LLP - United States’ 6th largest accounting and advisory firm, and the American member of the world's 7th largest accounting network, the Grant Thornton International.

PWC – In short, PricewaterhouseCoopers, is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alongside Deloitte, EY, and KPMG. It is the world's second-largest professional services network.

Conclusion

Power BI is a popular tool for businesses seeking true results.

You can integrate it with Dynamics 365 to gather insights from the vast amount of data generated at your organization.

Power Platform offers interactive reports and dashboards that help businesses like yours gain a complete view of their operations and customers across multiple locations.

With Power BI, businesses can connect and construct from any available data source and share with other Pro users or test it for free.

The integration of Power Platform with Dynamics 365 has multiple benefits, including achieving self-service analytics at an enterprise level, using intelligent tools for powerful outcomes, and safeguarding analytics data.

Top-notch organizations like Swiggy, Fairlife, Hendrick Motorsports, and Grant Thornton LLP use Microsoft Power BI to get real-time insights and make informed decisions.

Therefore, companies of all sizes should consider integrating Power BI with Dynamics 365 to enable a data-driven culture and improve decision-making at every level.

author
Ayush Jain

Ayush Jain is a seasoned Digital Marketing specialist renowned for his expertise in harnessing the power of cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to propel business growth. With an impressive track record spanning more than four years, he has cultivated fruitful partnerships with numerous SaaS enterprises, driving substantial brand recognition and unlocking revenue potential.

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