Custom Connectors in PowerBI

Andy Parkerson�Web Developer Extraordinaire & Hero to the Flemish�ShoppersChoice.com, LLC

UGWEDNESDAY

The Problem

The Problem

Connectors to your data do not exist in Power BI.

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Google Analytics?

Google AdWords?

Bing Ads?

Yahoo (Gemini) Ads?

Current Workflow

Refresh

Refresh

Current Clever Workflow

The Other Problem

The Other Problem

Your reporting team isn’t full of devs.

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“Can you help me with a query?”

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“My report takes forever to refresh.”

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“These numbers seem weird – can you take a look?”

Other Current Workflow

The Solution

The Solution

Custom Data Connectors

Old Workflows

Refresh

Refresh

New Workflow

What Custom Connectors can offer

• Creating a business analyst friendly view for a REST API
• Providing branding for a source that Power Query supports with an existing connector (such as an OData service, or ODBC driver)
• Implementing an OAuth v2 authentication flow for a SaaS offering
• Exposing a limited/filtered view over your data source to improve usability
• Enabling Direct Query for a data source via an ODBC driver

Example

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• Nested API endpoints by category
• Dynamically generated
• ODBC allows for Query Folding
• Won 2^nd Place in Hackathon

Takeaways

• Analyst Friendly
• Branded
• Pre-formed Queries
• Direct Query

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Thank You

Andy Parkerson

andyparkerson@gmail.com

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ShoppersChoice.com, LLC

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Leading E-tailer in BBQ Grills, Patio Furniture, Outdoor Kitchens

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PHP Developers Wanted:

• Framework (Yii, Laravel, etc.)
• MySQL
• JavaScript / jQuery et al.