Informatica Cloud Integration (BETA)

Informatica Corporation provides enterprise data integration and management software, including Informatica Cloud. Informatica Cloud can be a data source for a Birst space. Data from other sources that is available in Informatica Cloud is therefore accessible to Birst.

Informatica provides an SDK to create cloud connectors that facilitate data integration to Informatica SaaS and on-premise applications that are not natively supported by Informatica Cloud. The cloud connectors address the most common use cases such as moving data into and retrieving data from the Informatica Cloud.

Implementation and Usage Notes

The integration process requires setup in both Informatica Cloud and in Birst.

The Birst Cloud Connect Connector supports the following objects and tasks:

DSS Target
Insert

Enabling and Downloading the Birst Cloud Connect Connector

To enable the Birst Cloud Connect Connector, contact Informatica Support or your Informatica representative.

After it is enabled, download the connector using the Informatica Secure Agent. To install the agent, see Installing the Informatica Secure Agent.

Creating a Birst Cloud Connect Connection

After you download and enable the connector, create a connection in Informatica Cloud.

To Create a Birst Connection in Informatica Cloud

On the Informatica Cloud Home page, click Configure.
Select Connections from the menu. The Connections page appears.
Click New. The New Connection page appears.
Specify the following information:

Connection Name: Enter a unique name for the connection.
Description: Provide a relevant description for the connection.
Type: Select Birst Cloud Connect from the list.
Secure Agent: Select appropriate secure agent from the list.
Username: Enter your Birst application user name.
Password: Enter your Birst application password.
Endpoint URL: Enter Birst Webservices end-point URl. For example: https://app2101.bws.birst.com/CommandWebService.asmx
Space ID: UDID of Birst Space in which you want to upload data
Enable Debug Logger: Click Enable Debug Logger to enable debug logging.
Configuration Location: Temporary storage for internal configuration.

Click Test to verify the connection. If needed, update the information and test again.
After the test connection validates, click OK to save the connection.

Creating a Data Synchronization Task (DSS)

After you configure a connection, set up a data synchronization task in Informatica Cloud.

To Set Up an Insert Task Operation

On the Informatica Cloud home page, click Applications.
Select Data Synchronization from the menu. The Data Synchronization page appears.
Click New. The Definition tab appears.
Enter the Task Name.
Enter a Description.
Select the Task Operation Insert.
Click Next. The Source tab appears.
Select the source Connection.
Click the Source Type.
Select the Source Object.
Click Next. The Target tab appears.
Select the target Connection, the Birst Cloud Connect Connector.
Click Create Target to define the Object fields required for the task.
In the Create Target screen, select the target object.
Select the list of columns from the target object.
Click OK to return to the Target tab.
Click Next.
Click Next. The Birst Cloud Connect Connector does not support data filters.
In the Field Mapping tab, drag and drop the fields to map the source fields to their target fields.
Click Next. The Schedule tab appears.
In Schedule tab, schedule the task as per your requirements.
Click Save.

To Specify Advanced Properties

Go to Advanced Target Properties.
Enter the chunk size for the upload operation.
Specify the additional Birst upload options.

To Run the Task

In the Schedule tab, click Save - Save and Run the task.

After you save and run the task, the Monitor Log page appears.
Monitor the status of the data synchronization tasks.

Data Synchronization Example

For example, you want to analyze your Concur expenses in Birst. In Informatica Cloud you can create a source connection for a Concur connector and a target connection for Birst Cloud Connect Connector. Then you configure a synchronization task to upload ExpenseEntry from the Concur connection to the Target Birst connection space. Once data is uploaded to Birst, using the Informatica Cloud Synchronization task, the Birst Space Administrator processes data through the Birst Cloud and business analysts can then analyze data by creating reports and dashboards in Birst.

You would map the ExpenseEntry source in Concur with the ExpenseEntry target object in Birst Cloud Connect Connector:

Source: The data synchronization task includes a Concur source that contains the ExpenseEntry source object. The source includes fields, such as Entry_ReportName, Entry_ExpName, etc.

Target: The data synchronization task includes ExpenseEntry Target Object. The target includes fields that are the same as fields selected in Concur.

Mapping: Map the fields of the Concur source to the Birst Cloud Connect target.

Troubleshooting Secure Agent Memory Issues

Sometimes you might need to increase the memory allocated to the Secure Agent.

To Increase Secure Agent Memory

On the Informatica Cloud home page, click Configuration.
Select Secure Agents. The Secure Agent page appears.
From the list, select the Secure Agent for which you want to increase memory.
Click the Edit Agent pencil icon for the agent. The Edit Agent page appears.
In System Configuration section, select “DTM” as the Type.
Enter “-Xmx512m”as the JVMOption1.
In the System Configuration section, select “TomCatJRE” as the Type.
Enter “-Xms256m -Xmx512m” as the INFA_memory.
Restart the Secure Agent.

About the INI File Parameter Configuration

The Birst Cloud Connect Connector configuration.ini file is located in the Secure Agent plugin folder, for example:

<Informatica Cloud Secure Agent Directory location> \main\tomcat\plugins\<Birst Plugin Number>\birstconfiguration.ini

<Informatica Cloud Secure Agent Directory location> \main\bin\rdtm\javalib\<Birst Plugin Number>\birstconfiguration.ini