This series closely examines the Tableau Blueprint and shares the role of InterWorks in providing architected expertise and support within this framework, as well as helping people apply it to produce agility, proficiency and community in their organizations.
Here’s a question: When it comes to life, are you the spontaneous type, or are you more of a planner? Hold onto that answer. Now, let me ask you the same question in respect to your work: Do you prefer working on the fly, or would you rather have a plan? My guess is that regardless of your life answer, your work answer likely leans towards having a plan. Humans inherently crave structure, so it makes sense for us to enjoy a good plan.
All those things that apply to life and work also apply to analytics. You know you need a good plan, but how do you pick the one that’s right for you—one that’s balanced, flexible and empowering. Maybe you’re not even sure where to start. Though they’re not the first to put structure around the world of analytics, Tableau recently released a wonderful plan of their own called the Tableau Blueprint.
The Tableau Blueprint
What exactly is the Tableau Blueprint, and how does it differ from any other plan you might have seen in the past? InterWorks Regional Solutions Practice Lead Karl Riddett sums it up quite well:
“I think what this blueprint does is make official guidelines outlining a really good way to implement the Tableau platform and even analytics at a higher level.”
If that sounds simple, that’s because some of the very best plans are simple. The beauty of the Tableau Blueprint is that it offers enough structure to point you in the right direction while also providing enough flexibility to mesh with your existing flow. It gives you the lay of the land first (as shown below) and outlines clear paths to success. You can then dive deeper into any of those areas for more practical steps in achieving those goals:
The Tableau Blueprint is obviously a treasure trove of knowledge. Because we’re so close with Tableau, we know exactly how much accumulated experience and thought went into creating this Blueprint. Simply having it as reference material can pay dividends in improving your analytics practice. But here’s another thought: What if, in addition to having this Blueprint at your disposal, you had a trusted guide to not only help you understand how it applies to your organization but to also help you apply it directly with maximum impact? Let’s analyze for a second.
A blueprint is typically used to design a building, house or some intricate, architectural structure. The Tableau Blueprint is exactly that: a guide on how to best construct analytics on the Tableau platform. Maybe you’re good at taking a blueprint and translating it into action. Most folks aren’t experts at that. Think of your house or your office building as examples. If you were involved in the building process, you likely hired an architect and/or a general contractor to lead the effort. He or she would know exactly who needed to do what and when to execute the blueprint. That’s where InterWorks comes in.
InterWorks Is the Blueprint
What do we mean when we say InterWorks is the blueprint? Is this some additional blueprint you need to need to know about? In truth, we’re using the exact same structure as the original Tableau Blueprint. The difference is that we show you exactly where we can jump in to help you build agility, proficiency and community at an accelerated rate. Just like the blueprint/architect analogy mentioned above, we help you make sense of the Blueprint AND act on it, essentially making it an all-in-one package. We also focus on building those things to be sustainable and not fleeting. Here’s what that looks like at a glance:
The image above is just the start. In the coming weeks, the InterWorks team is going to be working on an entirely new blog series devoted to breaking down each section of the Blueprint and where we add practical value. Maybe you excel in some areas while other pieces are still works in progress. The point of the series is to give you an expansive look into all the possibilities and proven methodologies we’ve found to hopefully shape your analytics strategy for the better.
It’s worth noting that even though the Tableau Blueprint and recommended actions above are “new,” these are the same principles and solutions we’ve been employing with analytics clients for over a decade now. What you see above, and what you’ll see in the coming blog posts, is simply the distillation of that knowledge into blog format. We hope you stay tuned, but most of all, we hope this Blueprint proves useful to you in some way!
Why Wait? Let’s Draft Your Blueprint Today.
We only wish we could be like Netflix and drop these articles all at once for you to binge like the latest season of Stranger Things, but our authors/consultants are usually kept busy applying these principles for clients in the real world. The good thing about that is you don’t have to wait to start creating your Blueprint. In fact, you can reach out to us today and we can dive right in! Hit us up below, and we’ll get with you ASAP to start building the cohesive and personalized Blueprint your organization needs to reach that next level of agility, proficiency and community.
