Connect Power BI with CRM Dynamics 365 in Real Time

[Anonymous]

I'm developing a report with Power BI, which is embedded in Dynamics. I'm connecting to CRM Dynamics 365 online to get the data. The problem is every time there is a new record in CRM dynamics, I have the requeriment to see this new record into the report, e.g if they create a new customer it should be visualized in the embedded report. 

After seeking for information in the internet, I'm not sure if this is possible. Facts:

-I have a Power BI Pro license.

-I know it is imposible to connect via Direct Query from Power BI to CRM Dynamics Online.

-One solution could be use a third party program to push data from CRM to SQL Server and connect with Direct Query from Power BI to SQL Server.

-Refresh the data 8 times a day (this solution is ruled from client).

-I've read about Power BI rest API and Push dataset but is not clear to me if it applies to what I need.

Any suggestion?

[v-shex-msft]

HI @Anonymous ,

As nickyvv said, current you can't use normal connectors to link dynamic CRM data sources with live mode. 

For your requirement, I'd like to suggest you try to use custom connector to manually custom personal connector with a specific data source.

As the following document mentioned, you can enable direct query mode on the ODBC driver. (I also check dynamic CRM documents and fount it supports to use odbc driver to get data: Dynamics CRM ODBC Driver (32/64 bit) )

Enabling direct query for a data source via an odbc driver 

M Extensions custom connector#next-steps 

Use custom data connectors with the on-premises data gateway 

If you are interested in custom connector, you can post to develop forum to get further support.

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[nickyvv · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous, let me firstly elaborate on your last point: Push dataset is for getting rows in a Power BI dataset via the API. So this is not applicable for your case.

Secondly, unfortunately I think there's no way to "live" connect to your CRM instance with Power BI. It can only be done on a refresh basis, whether manual or scheduled.

There was a similar question posted a few years back: Whether Power Bi can access live data from MS CRM Online/Prem.

And another one a bit more recent: Sql server to dynamics crm to power bi

And one a few months ago: Do we have an option to use direct query for dynamics 365 online.

They all share the same conclusion, direct query is not possible, but you could submit an idea.

I understood your question "it should be visualized in the embedded report" as: it should be available right away in the Power BI report. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If you want it to "just show up some time later", then refreshing the dataset is an option.

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