At BIChart, we spend lot of time working with Tableau environments to help clients assess what needs to be migrated or archived. In this article, we will explore simple, free tactics for Tableau inventory and cleanup.
The first step is to create a top-level Archive folder. Grant access only to Tableau administrators.
Non-Utilized Workbook Archive
The fastest way to cleanup your Tableau environment is to clean up abandoned workbooks. View workbooks, sort views by last 12 months, and move anything with 0 views in bulk.
For environments that are not regularly maintained, we see Tableau cloud and server environments, where up to 50% of the workbooks can be archived.
Low- Utilized Workbooks
For archiving low-utilized workbooks we evaluate the last 3 months of usage. As a result, we often see a few patterns:
- Duplicate workbooks as version control – We see workbooks named V1,V2, etc. Often, Tableau creators publish multiple versions of the same dashboard to allow side by side testing and validation. The old version and new version remain for a period of time.
- Abandoned reports due to time / analysis sensitivity – The speed and ease to create comprehensive analysis results in Workbooks that are no longer relevant for today’s dynamics.
Considerations for Low Utilized Workbooks:
- Who is the audience? – Make sure you don’t archive quarterly or annual analysis workbooks. We recommend placing quarterly, annual, and executive reports in their own “project folders.”
- Newly created reports – A dashboard that is <1 month old may not have enough time to generate utilization.
Tableau Inventory Views and Workbook Bloat
One of the most challenging aspects of migrations is establishing what is relevant inside of a workbook without utilization data. It is one of the reasons we built our BIChart Tableau Assessment.
To illustrate why managing assets in Tableau can be confusing and complicated, Tableau does not differentiate “Dashboards” vs “Sheets.” The illustration below, is misleading. Visually you would think you can archive 6 sheets. However many of these sheets are included in our sales dashboard. Trying to manage this across hundreds or thousands of dashboards could be someone’s full time job.
Published Connections Tableau Inventory
Managing data connections and lineage without Tableau’s data management tools is nearly impossible for Tableau admins and creators. When we perform a Tableau assessment, admins are rarely surprised to find a lot of duplicative work.
Published Connections
Tableau will display and allow you to navigate published connections, evaluate views, and related workbooks, which is incredibly helpful.
We have seen many different tactics employed to reign in published connections.
Stale / Un-needed Extracts
Tableau allows you to schedule connections for automated extraction. Historically this was used to combat slow running queries and legacy database / warehouses where complex SQL procedures are needed. We often run into extracts that are stale or extracts that run every day with no workbook views. Seeking these scenarios could translate to cost savings, if you are using data warehouses like Snowflake that charge for utilization.
Embedded Connections
Tableau allows creators to embed SQL and CSV directly inside of connections within a workbook. Without publishing those connections, those assets are only available for exploration by opening a workbook. In the example below you can see Snowflake and CSV embedded inside of a workbook.
Without connecting to the Tableau APIs, it is difficult to get your arms around these connections.
Value: There is tremendous value where analysts who are closest to business understanding may have created useful data assets that could add value for other creators.
Risk: As time progresses, if there is business logic residing inside of the embedded connection, outdated calculations originally intended for quick analysis could become outdated.
Moving from Surface Level Tableau Inventory to Deep Dive
If you would like to do a deep dive into your Tableau org, we are here to help at BIChart. We have a standard Tableau Assessment that we originally built for Tableau to Power BI migration, but have re-purposed for helping enterprises long before migration or consolidation is considered.
