Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online gets its own Power Query data source

Connecting Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Excel Power Query just got a little easier.

The Excel team announced recently that they have added a more streamlined Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online connector for Power Query. The update eliminates the OData feed setup process that has been required.

While the new connector appears to offer the same type of connection, the team says the raw OData approach "was not very discoverable for the majority of our users."

The new CRM Online connector is found under the "From Other Sources" selector in Power Query, meaning Dynamics CRM Online now joins other named connectors for systems from SAP, Salesforce, Facebook, and more. The prebuilt connector means you select Dynamics CRM Online, supply a feed URL and credentials for the organizational account, and Power Query connects and retrieves the list of tables and entities available in the Dynamics CRM endpoint.

As before, the Power Query navigator pane will allow users to pick one or multiple tables from Dynamics CRM and select and edit them as with any other data source. The user can select and preview items, apply transformations to fields, and can load tables into the data model.

Adding Dynamics CRM Online to the list of pre-built connectors should come as a welcome bit of progress for the Dynamics CRM community. Microsoft promised on - and delivered - a similar connector for Salesforce shortly after announcing their partnership in May of 2014. ...