Access Live Azure Analysis Services Data in Excel 365 Online (Excel for the web)

Microsoft Excel for the web represents a cloud-native iteration of Microsoft Excel. When integrated with CData Connect Cloud, you gain immediate access to Azure Analysis Services data directly from within Excel. This access facilitates data analysis, collaborative work, calculations, and more. This article provides a step-by-step guide on connecting to Azure Analysis Services within your Connect Cloud instance and accessing live Azure Analysis Services data in Excel for the web spreadsheets, whether for viewing or updating purposes.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Azure Analysis Services, allowing you to easily access live Azure Analysis Services data in Excel for the web. Simply use the Connect Cloud Add-In to query live data (or write your own). Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported query operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Azure Analysis Services, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Azure Analysis Services data.

Configure Azure Analysis Services Connectivity for Excel

Connectivity to Azure Analysis Services from Excel is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Azure Analysis Services data from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a Azure Analysis Services connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Azure Analysis Services" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Azure Analysis Services.

   To connect to Azure Analysis Services, set the Url property to a valid server, for instance, asazure://southcentralus.asazure.windows.net/server, in addition to authenticating. Optionally, set Database to distinguish which Azure database on the server to connect to.

   Azure Analysis Services uses the OAuth authentication standard. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Azure Analysis Services using the browser. You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. See the Help documentation for more information.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Azure Analysis Services Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Azure Analysis Services data from Excel for the web.

Access Live Azure Analysis Services Data in Excel for the web

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from Excel to access live Azure Analysis Services data.

1. Log into Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Insert and click Office Add-ins. (if you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4).
3. Search for CData Connect Cloud Add-In and install the Add-in.
4. Click Data and open the CData Connect Cloud Add-In.
5. In the Add-In panel, click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect Cloud instance
6. In the CData Connect Cloud panel in Excel, click Import
7. Choose a Connection (e.g. AAS1), Table (e.g. Customer), and Columns to import
8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
9. Click Execute to import the data

Live Access to Azure Analysis Services Data from Cloud Applications

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Azure Analysis Services data from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try CData Connect Cloud and get real-time data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.