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Recommended: LS Central with bc2adls and Analytics in Azure
Setting up Analytics means connecting your LS Central data to reports in Power BI. The recommended way to do this is with bc2adls, and a step-by-step onboarding wizard guides you through the whole process.
Before you start, have a look at the Prerequisites - Before you start. They list what you need in place, such as an Azure subscription and the right permissions. Each wizard also explains them in its first pages.
Recommended: LS Central with bc2adls and Analytics in Azure
This is the way to set up Analytics for LS Central SaaS. The free bc2adls app exports your data from LS Central to Azure, and Analytics picks it up from there and prepares it for reporting. Everything runs in the cloud, so you don't need a server or virtual machine of your own, and all report templates work as they are.
Works with LS Central version 27.0 and later.
Legacy architecture
Note: This method of using Analytics is not in active development from version 2026-3. The options below are kept for existing customers. New customers should use bc2adls.
LS Central on-premises or on Azure VM and Analytics in Azure
For LS Central on-premises, or running on a virtual machine in Azure. This option creates an SQL server, a database and Azure Data Factory in Azure, and uses a gateway to read from your LS Central database.
LS Central on-premises or on Azure VM and Analytics database on-premises
For customers who want to keep the Analytics database on their own SQL server instead of paying for one in Azure. An Azure account is still needed for Azure Data Factory, which moves the data.
LS Central SaaS and Analytics in Azure
An earlier option for LS Central SaaS, which copies data through web services using the LS Retail Data Director. It requires a virtual or physical machine, so it is not fully cloud-based. Works with LS Central version 17.0 and later.
Tip for partners: To use the LS Central demo data VM as a source, choose one of the two on-premises wizards. The server path on the VM is LSCENTRAL\SQLEXPRESS.