What is BI Connector: Functions, Benefits & Features and Top BI Connectors

Business Intelligence (BI) tools are analytics software that makes it possible to analyze data and generate valuable insights for business decision-making. These platforms don’t work in isolation – they need to be fed data in some ways. An average organization uses several enterprise tools to coordinate different aspects of its day-to-day operations across various departments. These platforms generate data that are useful for understanding user behavior, usage trends, efficiency, and other metrics. While many enterprise tools have inbuilt analytics features, you stand to learn more from available data when it is exported to data visualization software like Microsoft Power BI or Tableau as their capabilities are often more extensive, one can learn the demanding skill by undergoing Power bi Training offered by various Institutes.

Whether your organization uses Jira to handle IT issues, Zendesk for managing customer interaction, or ServiceNow to organize workflow, you generate a lot of data by using any of these digital tools. A BI connector makes it possible to send data seamlessly from these enterprise solutions to your Business intelligence software for analytics without complex coding. This post explains what a BI connector is, what it is used for, as well as the key functions and benefits of using it.

BI Сonnector: What is it and what is it for

A BI Connector is a custom solution designed to integrate specific enterprise data sources such as ServiceNow, Jira, Zendesk, Shopify, and so on with a business intelligence solution like Power BI, Tableau, BigQuery, etc for in-depth analysis and data visualization. A BI connector makes fast and easy data export possible.

Any software or tool that generates business-critical data needs to be connected to a business intelligence solution for in-depth analysis to provide valuable insights and make impactful business decisions. BI tools provide a more flexible and hands-on approach to data analysis. They allow you to transform data in different ways, сonsolidate reporting across all business functions, and use different data sources in single analytics.

In most cases, connecting these tools to your favorite BI tool can be quite complicated (usually requiring coding experience). BI connectors simplify this process and allow hassle-free data export. This way, anyone can connect their BI solution to a data source easily in just a few clicks.

Overview of BI Connectors Key Features and Benefits

Many enterprise tools offer built-in reports to help users get a better understanding of the metrics they generate. However, most organizations prefer to use specialized data analytics and visualization tools to generate unique reports for their organization. BI connectors are designed to facilitate this since they make it easy to integrate data sources with different business intelligence platforms. The following are some of the key features & benefits of using a BI connector.

BI Connector Features

Convenient Data Export

BI Connectors facilitate hassle-free data exports, allowing you to analyze data and generate custom reports quickly and easily. With a custom data connector, you can export data to Power BI, Tableau, or other business intelligence software in just a few clicks. You don’t need to waste your time on data preparation and dealing with API, connector will do everything for you.

Create any amount of data sources

With a BI connector, you can create multiple data sources and include any amount of tables and fields to the data source without worrying about restrictions or limitations. In addition, you can merge your particular data source with any other data sources for comprehensive analytics.

Export custom fields

BI data connectors allow you to export not only default fields, but also any custom fields. Thus you can export and visualize all the data you need without missing out on important data and make truly informed decisions.

No limitations in exported data

With a Business Intelligence data connector, there’s no limit to the amount of data you can export. By being able to export an unlimited amount of data, you eliminate the need to extract data in chunks to avoid any performance implications and impact on other services.

Exported data will be ready for analysis

With a connector, the exported data will be converted to the target data types. This means it will be ready for analysis right away.

Apply advanced filters

You can manage data selection more seamlessly when you use a custom-built connector. It would allow you to set advanced filters for data selection, this way, you can export only the data you need for analysis and reduce the time required for the extraction.

Scheduled refreshes for actual reporting

With BI Connector you can schedule periodic refreshes in order to get actual reports to a needed time. Such automation will not only save you time but will also allow you to always operate with up-to-date data, which is so important when analyzing data.

Permissions settings and access management

BI connectors help to keep enterprise data secure with advanced security settings such as permission settings and access management. This way, you can grant access to your data sources only to selected users, manage permissions, and set predefined user roles to determine the level of access and permissions each user gets.

Familiar user interface

The intuitive and familiar interface of a connector plugin simplifies the data export process. In general, you need no more than 10 minutes to create your first data export. Users without programming skills can easily create data sources and manage data exports. In addition, you always have the opportunity to get any help you may need from a professional support team.

Constant updates

Behind each ready-to-use BI connector is a team of specialists who work daily to improve it, taking into account both user requests and the ever-changing requirements of the software industry. By choosing a connector as a solution, you can be sure that it is always up to date, and that any problems will be resolved as soon as possible.

BI Connector Benefits

The BI connector is a ready-to-use app that allows you to fetch data from various data sources to your preferred business intelligence platform. Of course, this comes with a lot of benefits for users and organizations. Here are a few benefits of using a BI Connector.

Translate data into information and visualize it to make proper decisions and plan your future business strategies

Servicenow, Zendesk, Jira, and other business tools are valuable data sources that can provide a lot of accurate information about various aspects of your business operations. Using a connector allows you to integrate this data into a robust analytics platform where you can generate solid insights to plan future business strategies and find the key to improving your processes, operations, and decisions.

Improve efficiency within your organization and, as a result, increase productivity

By ensuring the accuracy of data exports and creating a hassle-free framework for analyzing data, you can generate highly insightful strategies that improve the efficiency of internal processes. This goes a long way in boosting the productivity of internal processes.

Keep all your data together to create actionable insights

Business intelligence platforms can take data from multiple sources and analyze them together to create informative visualizations. Connectors make it easy to integrate these data sources and easily identify new opportunities, prioritize investments, allocate resources, and make better business decisions.

Use the full potential of BI software by different teams without any access permissions concerns

Managing data sharing is a major challenge for teams that work with critical business data. For flexible access control, connectors provide the ability to precisely control access to data and permissions. A certain user may be able to edit data sources, while someone else can only view them. This allows not only to have full control over the data but also expands the team’s ability to collaborate.

Increase ROI from BI investments, and enhance data governance

Data connectors help you do more with your BI solution than you would typically do. It also enhances your data governance. Leveraging the full potential of your BI solution ensures that you’re getting maximum returns on your investment in the long run.

Must-Have BI Connectors for Power BI, Tableau, and other BI Software

Alpha Serve builds ready-to-use enterprise-grade connectors for integrating specific business operation platforms with the most popular Business Intelligence tools. These connectors simplify data export to Tableau, Power BI, and other BI solutions. They’re particularly useful for teas that want to consolidate reporting and data analytics across different business functions. Here is a list of BI Connectors offered by Alpha Serve. They have been categorized based on the business intelligence solution they’re built for.

Power BI Connectors List

Microsoft Power BI is one of the most powerful data visualization tools out there for integrating data sources and carrying out a comprehensive analysis. Read why to integrate your Business Software with Power BI here. Here’s our Power BI connectors list for different business tools.

1. Power BI Connector for Jira

Jira is an enterprise tool for issue tracking, bug tracking, and project management. The Power BI custom connector for Jira allows you to build complex data models in Power BI using data from Jira. This makes it possible to generate insightful custom reports on your workloads, issue tracking velocity, bugs, projects, and issue breakdowns among other things.

2. Power BI Connector for ServiceNow

ServiceNow is a cloud platform that helps businesses manage digital workflows for day-to-day business operations. The Power BI customer data connector for ServiceNow allows direct integration of both platforms. This makes further processing of ServiceNow data possible and allows you to add ServiceNow as a data source to your data pool.

3. Power BI Connector for Shopify

Shopify store owners who want to review the performance of their store, visualize sales data, or analyze pricing and other valuable day-to-day metrics of their store will find the Power BI Connector for Shopify to be quite valuable for them. The connector makes it easy to export Shopify data to Microsoft Power BI safely and quickly.

4. Power BI Connector for Zendesk

Zendesk is a professional app for managing customer relationships. The Power BI connector for Zendesk allows you to export data about customer tickets, agent and user interactions, and other valuable data to improve how your company interacts with customers.

Tableau Connectors List

Businesses that use Tableau as their main Business Intelligence tool will benefit immensely from using data connectors that allow them to take data from various sources and connect them to Tableau. This ensures that they always have up-to-date data for in-depth analysis and consistent decision-making. Alpha Serve offers Tableau Connectors for Jira and Shopify.

1. Tableau Connector for Jira

The Tableau Connector for Jira allows you to seamlessly export all your data from Jira to Tableau in just a few clicks. This allows you to create rich and interactive reports and impressive visualizations in Tableau based on data from your Jira platform. Here’s Alpha Serve’s Tableau connectors list for different business platforms.

2. Tableau Connector for Shopify

Alphaserve’s Tableau data Connector for Shopify is a Shopify integration that allows you to export key e-commerce data from Shopify to Tableau in a seamless way. Once the connector is installed, you can easily export Shopify store data To Tableau in an easy-to-understand format, schedule automated exports and create interactive visualizations with your data.

3. Tableau Connector for Zendesk

The Tableau Connector for Zendesk allows you to export Zendesk Support data to Tableau in just a few clicks. You can then create rich and interactive reports and impressive visualizations in Tableau based on Zendesk data.

Jira Connectors for BigQuery, Oracle Analytics, and SAC Users

Companies that use BigQuery or Oracle Analytics as their main Business Intelligence platform can add Jira as a data source. The process of importing Jira Data to these platforms is seamless when you use Alpha Serve’s Jira Connector for BigQuery and Oracle Analytics.

1. BigQuery Connector for Jira

The BigQuery connector for Jira allows you to stream your data from Jira to BigQuery. This way you can create interactive reports and generate informative visualizations based on Jira data in just a few clicks.

2. Oracle Analytics Connector for Jira

The Oracle Analytics Connector for Jira makes it possible to import Jira data into Oracle analytics quickly and seamlessly. You can import default Jira fields or create custom fields to build interactive visualization in Oracle Analytics without advanced programming knowledge or specialized Jira admin skills.

3. SAP Analytics Cloud Connector for Jira

SAP Analytics Cloud Connector for Jira provides an easy way to build Jira reports and complex data models in SAP Analytics Cloud, with proven scalability and security. It comes up with a simple interface, through which you can export Jira data to SAP Analytics Cloud without a need for coding skills.

Summing Up

Advanced business intelligence solutions like Power BI, Tableau, BigQuery, SAC and Oracle analytics allow you to combine data from hundreds of sources to create a unified source of truth for your business. As an organization looking to make better data-informed decisions, you will benefit immensely from leveraging Alphaserve’s Tableau and Power BI data connectors to seamlessly get data from Jira, Zendesk, and other business tools you use actively for deeper analytics and custom visualization.