Tableau is a lot of things, a lot of wonderful things. For one, it is has made data analytics easy. Track back on that for a second. Data analytics made easy? Sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, doesn’t it? So, let’s go a bit more into that. The type of power you can unleash with Tableau includes spatial analysis and dashboard visualizations. Easy as pie, right?
There will be some end users in your business that will nod their head vigorously to that statement. There will also be some whose eyes glaze over when they read “spatial analysis.” Tableau Server's interface indeed has a lot of useful functionality, which is what makes so powerful and versatile. That said, some users need a more streamlined approach when it comes to viewing their Tableau dashboards.
Let's do a quick comparison.
If you're not too familiar with Tableau, you might look at the interface above and ask: What are workbooks? What are data sources?
Inevitably, there is going to be a segment of your end users that require the data in Tableau, but have the technical limitation of only being able to run the latest version of Internet Explorer.
There is an easy solution. You can embed your visualizations inside of a content management system to leverage a variety of benefits. Check out the following screenshot from a demonstration Tableau portal that we recently designed:
If you're a fan of the streamlined approach, this web portal might seem like an easier way to explore and process your dashboards. That brings us to the specific benefits such a portal can offer.
Note: At InterWorks, we recommend using Drupal for building a portal. It’s open-source and easily-customized to a variety of uses.
Here are five great reasons to wrap your Tableau dashboards in a Drupal portal:
1. Enterprise Portal
Company intranets and enterprise portals have many well-documented advantages. There is no reason that Tableau dashboards should reside anywhere else, particularly if an enterprise portal already exists. There are custom-designed modules (like the one we designed, for instance - queue falsely modest smiley face) that can seamlessly allow Tableau visualizations to reside within Drupal like any other embedded object.
Some general advantages include:
- A single point of login for all resources
- Aggregating essential business information
- Tracking user adoption of new systems and information traffic
2. Context
How many published PowerPoint presentations have you seen with page after page of lonely graphics or chat? None. That’s because context is vital to presenting information, even data visualizations as beautiful as what you can produce from Tableau. That context can frame the information, provide essential insights to variance in the data or even act as a call to action for further insight from the report audience.
Drupal or another CMS can provide that context quite easily. Even a non-technical user can create entries that include embedded Tableau visualizations with a simple rich-text editor. If they can use Microsoft Word, then they can easily produce a post.
3. Ease of Use
Perhaps the biggest advantage of a Tableau portal is that the interface mimics a website. No specific knowledge of how to move around Tableau Server or Desktop is required. Users of any technical ability can point and click to the resources they need straight away. Iterations of the same report with different parameters can be split out across different links, making it that much easier for your end users to quickly and easily access the information (and only the information) that is most important to them.
There are also a lot of tools, some built by InterWorks, that allow you to export your visualizations from Drupal into a more portable form (CSV, PDF and image).
4. Global Variables
In Tableau, moving across different workbooks will reset your parameters and filters. If you’re dealing with multiple reports several times throughout the day, resetting those parameters can be annoying and time-wasting.
Hmm, if only there was a solution?
Yep, you guessed it. You can pass these parameters as global variables in Drupal. That means you move across different dashboards and maintain the same filters. Keep in mind that Drupal (or the CMS of your choice) also maintains security, permissions and access.
5. Interactivity
Drupal (and many other CMS platforms) offers a great deal of interactivity with their posts. This can be vital in building a collaborative and cooperative business environment. Types of interactivity can be shares, comments, ratings and more.
Imagine you’ve got a dashboard that you’ve posted and your end users can ask specific questions on that same page alongside the visualization.
Conclusion
With a content management system serving as a portal, you can fully leverage the power of Tableau’s data visualizations to every facet of your organization, even those outside of analytics and technology. Remove all of the hurdles in adoption and get your end users off and running with a single mouse click.
And, if you need a little help here or there along the way, let us know. We’re pretty good at this kind of thing.