Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Earn the coveted Fabric Analytics Engineer certification. 100% off your exam for a limited time only!

Reply
denpries
Resolver I
Resolver I

CRM online - best solution to connect?

Dear all,

 

I am asked to build a Power BI report using (a lot of) CRM data. 

If i want to custom-build this using the desktop version i wonder - How to do this in the best way?

 

First of all i found this

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn708055.aspx

 

But what i really want to know is:

Does this use static content only (when i refresh as admin and republish) or can i let the users also choose to update the data / allow live looking at the data through directquery or something?

 

The reason I ask is that I dont want the users to view the data with a delay

7 REPLIES 7
Greg_Deckler
Super User
Super User

I do not believe that the connectors support Direct Query.


@ me in replies or I'll lose your thread!!!
Instead of a Kudo, please vote for this idea
Become an expert!: Enterprise DNA
External Tools: MSHGQM
YouTube Channel!: Microsoft Hates Greg
Latest book!:
Mastering Power BI 2nd Edition

DAX is easy, CALCULATE makes DAX hard...

So how does it work then for embedded BI reports in CRM?

Are they always lagging behind on real data, depending on when they get refreshed?

@denpries,

Yes. And tile refresh updates the cache for tile visuals, on the dashboard, once data changes. This happens about every fifteen minutes. 

Reference:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/refresh-data

Regards,
Lydia

Community Support Team _ Lydia Zhang
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Dear v-yuezhe-msft,

 

So to summarize and see if I understand correctly

If i connect from Power BI desktop to the ODATA feed of CRM Dynamics 365  using get data and publish it to an APP, the data is automatically refreshed. I do not need to setup a scheduled refresh from my computer, nor do i need the on premises data gateway.

Any changes made to the CRM system are typicall becoming visible in the visualisation tiles of the APP every 15-30 minutes or so. 

 

Am i correct?

Is this default behavior? Or do i need to make some additional adjustments?

 

@denpries,

Firstly, You would need to set schedule refresh for your dataset in Power BI Service.

Secondly, as you connect to online Dynamics 365, gateway is not required to refresh the dataset in Power BI Service.

Thirdly, after the dataset changes based on the refresh schedule, tiles in dashboard refresh about 15 minutes.



Regards,
Lydia

Community Support Team _ Lydia Zhang
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Ok, so that is exactly my point. You do still need to set up a scheduled refresh in the BI service, and this can be done, depending on the plan you have, up to 48 times a day (premium).

 

So worst case scenario in case of maximum refresh count: a user wants to look at CRM dynamics online data using a report made in Power BI  to track the business and might see 30 minute old data. Correct?

@denpries,

If you want to the tiles in dashboard to show updated data after the data changes, you can force the tile to refresh as shown in this article.

Regards,
Lydia

Community Support Team _ Lydia Zhang
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Helpful resources

Announcements
April AMA free

Microsoft Fabric AMA Livestream

Join us Tuesday, April 09, 9:00 – 10:00 AM PST for a live, expert-led Q&A session on all things Microsoft Fabric!

March Fabric Community Update

Fabric Community Update - March 2024

Find out what's new and trending in the Fabric Community.