As part of our big tent philosophy at Grafana Labs, we think you should be able to dig into your data and find meaningful insights — wherever that data happens to live.
For many of our users, that data lives in Salesforce, the cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at how you can use the Salesforce Enterprise data source for Grafana to quickly and easily visualize your Salesforce data using Grafana dashboards. You can also learn more about the data source, and see a demo, in the YouTube video below.
First, a quick overview of Enterprise data sources
Grafana Enterprise data sources allow you to connect to external systems and popular proprietary platforms from within Grafana, so you can visualize data from a wide range of sources using the Grafana dashboards you already know and love. While many Grafana data sources are built by our partners or community members, Enterprise data sources are built and maintained by Grafana Labs, and they are only available in Grafana Enterprise and across all Grafana Cloud tiers, including our generous Cloud free tier.
To learn more about Grafana Enterprise data sources, check out our recent guide.
Why visualize Salesforce data in Grafana?
The Salesforce Enterprise data source for Grafana allows you to directly query and visualize your Salesforce data within Grafana.
It also enables you to visualize your Salesforce data alongside other data sources, so you can correlate sales and customer data with system metrics, logs, and more — all in a single dashboard. This can help you draw connections between business outcomes and operational metrics like system uptime or application performance.
Flexibility in how you query Salesforce data
One of the most powerful features of the Salesforce Enterprise data source is that it offers three unique ways to access and query your Salesforce data, based on your use case and familiarity with Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL).
These three methods include:
SOQL editor
This mode allows you to write native SOQL queries directly in Grafana. The editor supports autocomplete suggestions for entities and fields, making it easier to construct queries even if you’re not fully familiar with the schema. Use Ctrl+Space for suggestions after SELECT or WHERE. This mode is ideal for users comfortable with SOQL and who want more granular control over their queries.
Query builder
This mode offers a user-friendly, point-and-click interface for building SOQL queries without needing to know SOQL syntax.
You select the Salesforce entity (or table), choose fields, add filters, set ordering, and specify limits. The builder can display results as a table, aggregate, or time series. It also provides a SOQL preview, and you can switch to the SOQL editor to further customize the generated query.
Reports mode
This method provides a quick and easy way to access Salesforce reports. Simply click the drop-down menu for a list of available reports to view.
For more information on these three query methods, please visit our technical docs.
Other key features
Other features of the Salesforce Enterprise data source include:
Annotations: Add contextual annotations to charts for richer analysis.
Templates, variables, and transformations: Use Grafana templates, variables, and transformations to create dynamic, reusable dashboards.
Alerting: Set up alerts based on Salesforce data directly within Grafana.
Salesforce is a leading, cloud-based customer relationship management platform designed to help you build and improve your customer relationships. To learn more, check out the Salesforce website.
What is an Enterprise data source for Grafana?
Grafana Enterprise data sources allow you to connect to external systems and popular proprietary platforms from within Grafana, so you can visualize data from a wide range of sources using your Grafana dashboards. While many Grafana data sources are built by our partners or community members, Enterprise data sources are built and maintained by Grafana Labs, and they are only available in Grafana Enterprise and across all Grafana Cloud tiers, including our generous Cloud free tier.
Enhanced security capabilities, such as support for multiple authentication options
Where can I go to learn more?
To learn more about the Salesforce Enterprise data source, please check out our technical docs. We also have several resources you can use to learn more about Grafana Enterprise data sources, in general, including our documentation, plugin catalog, and this webinar.
The easiest way to get started with our Enterprise data source plugins is inGrafana Cloud.We have a generous forever-free tier that includes access to Enterprise data sources for 3 active users. If you haven’t already,sign up for free today!
