Connect to Live Avalara AvaTax Data in MicroStrategy through CData Connect Server

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with CData Connect Server, you gain database-like access to live Avalara AvaTax data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through creating a virtual database for Avalara AvaTax in Connect Server and connecting to Connect Server in MicroStrategy to create a simple visualization of Avalara AvaTax data.

As a hosted integration platform, Connect Server is ideal for working with cloud-based BI and analytics tools. With no servers to configure or data proxies to set up, you can simply use the web-based UI to create a virtual database for Avalara AvaTax and connect from MicroStrategy to start performing analytics based on live Avalara AvaTax data.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax from MicroStrategy

To work with live Avalara AvaTax data in MicroStrategy, we need to create a virtual database for Avalara AvaTax in Connect Server.

Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for Avalara AvaTax Data

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
2. Select "Avalara AvaTax" from Available Data Sources.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Avalara AvaTax.

   The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

   • User: Set this to your username.
   • Password: Set this to your password.

   Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

   • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

   Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

   Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

   • AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
   • LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.
4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to Avalara AvaTax data from MicroStrategy.

Connect to and Visualize Avalara AvaTax Data Using MicroStrategy

You can connect to Avalara AvaTax in MicroStrategy by adding a data source based on the native SQL Server functionality. Once you have created a data source, you can build dynamic visualizations of Avalara AvaTax data in MicroStrategy.

1. Open MicroStrategy and select your account.
2. Click Add External Data, select Databases, and use Select Tables as the Import Option.
3. In the Import from Tables wizard, click to add a new Data Source.
4. Select "SQL Server" in the Database menu and select "SQL Server 2017" in the Version menu.
5. Sat the connection properties as follows:
   • Server Name: e.g. connect_server_url
   • Port Number: 1433
   • Database Name: the name of your Avalara AvaTax connection (e.g. AvalaraAvatax1)
   • User: a Connect Server user
   • Password: a Connect Server password
   • Data Source Name: a name for the new external data source, like "CData Connect Avalara AvaTax"
6. Expand the menu for the new data source and choose "Edit Catalog Options"
7. Edit the "SQL statement retrieve columns ..." query to include TABLE_SCHEMA = '#?Schema_Name?#' in the WHERE clause, and click Apply and then OK (the complete query is below).
   
   

   SELECT DISTINCT 
     TABLE_SCHEMA NAME_SPACE, 
     TABLE_NAME TAB_NAME, 
     COLUMN_NAME COL_NAME, 
     (CASE 
       WHEN 
         (DATA_TYPE LIKE '%char' AND (CHARACTER_SET_NAME='utf8' OR CHARACTER_SET_NAME='usc2')) 
       THEN 
         CONCAT('a',DATA_TYPE) 
       ELSE 
         DATA_TYPE 
     END) DATA_TYPE, 
     CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH DATA_LEN, 
     NUMERIC_PRECISION DATA_PREC, 
     NUMERIC_SCALE DATA_SCALE 
   FROM 
     INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
   WHERE 
     TABLE_NAME 
   IN 
     (#TABLE_LIST#) AND TABLE_SCHEMA='#?Schema_Name?#' 
   ORDER BY 
     1,2,3
   

8. Select the new data source and select the Namespace that corresponds to your virtual Avalara AvaTax database (like AvalaraAvatax1).
9. Drag tables into the pane to insert then. Note: Since we create a live connection, we can insert whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products to customize our datasets.
10. Click Finish, choose the option to connect live, save the query, and choose the option to create a new dossier. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to high-performance data processing native to CData Connect Cloud.
11. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Avalara AvaTax data. Data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Avalara AvaTax, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed by the CData SQL engine embedded in Connect Cloud.
12. Once you have finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using CData Connect Server with MicroStrategy, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Avalara AvaTax data. For more information on creating virtual databases for Avalara AvaTax (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect Server page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Avalara AvaTax data in MicroStrategy.