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CRM Power BI Apps

This article outlines how to access the CRM Power BI App.

Andrew Ardron avatar
Written by Andrew Ardron
Updated over a week ago

Power BI is Microsoft's Business Intelligence Tool, and the CRM's Power BI Apps are a quick and easy way to get started with using Power BI to analyse the data in your CRM solution.

Before you begin, you must have a Power BI online account (powerbi.microsoft.com), a CRM account, and have authority to generate Personal Access Tokens (PATs).

If you don't know how to create a PAT (Personal Access Token) please see our article here

Once you've got a PAT, connecting Power BI to the CRM is pretty straight forward.

Step 1: Log in to Power BI Online

If you haven't already done so, log into your Power BI Online Account (not the Power BI Desktop App, but your online account at https://app.powerbi.com).

Step 2: Get Data

Click 'Get Data' at the bottom of the left-hand navigation pane.

Step 3: Go to Services

Locate the Services box and click 'Get'.

Step 4: Find Prospect in the App Store

Search the available Apps for 'Prospect CRM' to find all the content packs currently available. Find the one you want to use and click 'Get it now'. Please note: Microsoft is transitioning from Content Packs to Apps. To get the latest versions, choose those where the title ends in 'Preview' - i.e. those called "Prospect CRM...(Preview)'.

Please note: the new Prospect Apps for Power BI can also be installed from these direct links: 

Step 5: Install the App & Explore Sample Data

Power BI then prompts you to install the the app. Once it's installed, you may need to locate it either via 'Apps' or 'Workspaces' in the Power BI menu. Once you have opened the app, you'll be offered the option to 'Explore with sample data' or 'Connect your data'. We suggest you start just by exploring the sample data, as this allows you to see the dashboards and reports - even if you don't yet have suitable data in your own data set.

Step 6: Connect your Dataset

If you'd like to connect to your own dataset, then navigate to 'Apps' in the Power BI menu, and then click on your app. This will re-open the welcome screen, where you can choose to 'Connect your data'. This opens a screen where you can enter connection details to the Prospect OData service. The URL is already set for you enter the login details. The CRM doesn't allow anonymous access to your data, so choose 'Basic' (the term 'Basic' doesn't relate to the level of security - merely the method of authentication). Then, enter your login email address as the username, and your PAT (generated above) as the password. Please view our article here on how to get your PAT. You CANNOT use your standard CRM password on this screen - we don't allow that as we don't want you sharing your own password with third parties - even with Microsoft. Using a PAT keeps your password secret and also allows you to revoke the PAT any time you choose.

If you've accurately copied and pasted your PAT, clicking 'Sign In' will (not surprisingly) connect to the Prospect OData service and build your dashboards.

If, for any reason your PAT was incorrect, it runs out (if you enabled it only for a limited period) or if you revoke it, you can simply create a new PAT and update the credentials. 

Changing the OData Authentication Credentials

There are times you may have entered the wrong credentials or want to change the credentials at a later point in time. To update the credentials: under Settings, click on the 'Datasets' tab > Prospect Datasource on the left. Under Data source credentials click on 'Edit credentials for OData'. Here, you can update the credentials used. Be sure to select 'Basic' for the authentication method.

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