In a perfect world, we’d have a single comprehensive data source to meet all our analytical needs. When that can’t happen, I frequently turn to Tableau’s Data Blending functionality that allows me to access and combine data stored in multiple systems.

Data blending is a fantastic resource for situations where I have been working with a single data source and need to blend in information from outside my original source. One common scenario is comparing actual sales reporting data with budget/planned sales numbers that live outside the data warehouse. Tableau 7 has been built to analyze the data sources and automate blending when possible. Occasionally, though, my blends need to be more complex and span multiple fields.

Join me for a quick video walkthrough of blending together two data sources using a complex blend across multiple fields. Feel free to download the attached Packaged Workbook and see for yourself how powerful this technique can be with the proper application.