As the demand for data visualization and analytics tools increases, organizations need to constantly evaluate and upgrade their tools to keep up with the pace of business. In recent years, many organizations have been moving from on-premises deployments of Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud, a cloud-based version of the Tableau platform.
Migrating from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud can be a game-changer for your organization. Tableau Cloud offers many benefits over Tableau Server, including scalability, security, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility, all of which can help you do more with your data and stay ahead of the competition.
In this article, we will discuss the benefits and the steps of migrating from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud.
Benefits of Migrating to Tableau Cloud
Migrating from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud can help your organization do more with your data and help you stay ahead of the competition by providing powerful, secure, and cost-effective data visualization and analytics capabilities.
Scalability
Tableau Cloud enables organizations to respond quickly to your changing data environment and sources of data that drive insights. With Tableau Cloud, you can easily scale up or down your computing resources to meet your changing business requirements. For instance, you may need to scale up your computing resources during peak periods, such as end-of-quarter reporting, to handle the increased data load. On the other hand, during low periods, you can scale your computing resources down to reduce costs.
In addition, Tableau Cloud helps you eliminate the need to purchase and maintain costly on-premises hardware. Instead, you can take advantage of the flexibility and scalability of cloud-based computing resources, paying only for what you need at a given time.
Furthermore, Tableau Cloud ensures that the performance of your data visualization and analytics tools remains optimal, regardless of the size of your data or the number of users accessing it. This means that your team can continue to analyze and derive insights from your data, no matter how large or complex it may be.
Security
Tableau Cloud ensures that your data is always protected against ever-changing cyber threats and unauthorized access. With Tableau Cloud, you can take advantage of enterprise-level security features designed to keep data safe and secure.
One of the key security features of Tableau Cloud is data encryption. Tableau Cloud uses industry-standard encryption algorithms to encrypt data at rest and in transit. This ensures that data is protected from prying eyes, whether it is being transmitted over the internet or stored in the cloud.
Tableau Cloud also provides user authentication and access control features, which enable organizations to control who has access to their data and what they can do with it. Administrators can assign role-based access controls to users, ensuring that only authorized personnel can view, modify, or delete data. Additionally, Tableau Cloud offers security features such as threat detection, intrusion detection, and malware protection. These features monitor for potential security threats and notify administrators if any suspicious activity is detected, enabling them to take immediate action to prevent any data breaches.
By using Tableau Cloud, organizations can also benefit from the expertise of cloud service providers who have the resources and knowledge to manage and maintain robust security measures. Cloud providers such as AWS and Microsoft Azure invest heavily in security and compliance certifications to ensure that their platforms meet the highest standards of security.
Tableau Cloud gives you peace of mind as it provides robust data encryption, user authentication, access control, threat detection, and protection against malware. These features ensure that your organization’s data is secure and protected against cyber threats and unauthorized access.
Cost-effectiveness
Tableau Cloud can help your organization save money on hardware costs, IT support, and maintenance. By moving to the cloud, you can take advantage of a subscription-based pricing model, eliminating the need to invest in expensive hardware and software upfront. With Tableau Cloud, you pay only for the computing resources you need, and they can easily scale up or down based on your business requirements.
Tableau Cloud also eliminates the need for IT staff to manage hardware and software infrastructure, as cloud providers take care of the day-to-day maintenance and management of the infrastructure. This frees up IT staff to focus on more strategic initiatives, such as data analytics and business intelligence.
Accessibility
The Tableau Cloud platform allows your organization to access data and analytics tools from anywhere and at any time. With Tableau Cloud, your organization can provide its users with secure and reliable access to data and analytics tools, regardless of their location or device.
Tableau Cloud is a web-based solution, which means that users can access data and analytics tools from any web-enabled device, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This allows users to access the data they need, even when they are not in the office, making it easier for them to work remotely and collaborate with colleagues.
Tableau Cloud also provides a range of collaboration features, including real-time data sharing, commenting, and version control, making it easier for teams to work together and share insights. Additionally, Tableau Cloud integrates with other cloud-based solutions such as Microsoft Office 365, Google Drive, and Slack, allowing teams to collaborate more seamlessly across multiple platforms.
Most importantly, Tableau Cloud’s web-based architecture enables organizations to provide secure and seamless access to data and analytics tools to users outside their network. This is particularly useful for organizations that have partners or clients who need access to their data and analytics tools.
Steps for Migrating from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud
The migration process from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud typically follows three main steps: planning, migrating, and securing your data.
Planning
Tableau Server Assessment
A Tableau Server assessment is an evaluation of your Tableau Server environment, which is designed to help you optimize the performance, security, and scalability of your Tableau Server deployment. The assessment typically involves a comprehensive review of your Tableau Server configuration, including hardware, software, and network infrastructure.
The goal of a Tableau Server assessment is to identify any issues or areas for improvement in your Tableau Server environment, as well as to recommend best practices and solutions to optimize the performance and security of your deployment. The assessment can help you identify any bottlenecks, performance issues, security risks, and other areas of concern in your deployment.
The assessment may cover several areas, including server configuration, server hardware, network infrastructure, user adoption, security, and scalability.
Inventory Objects
Tableau inventory objects refer to the various elements or components that make up a Tableau Server deployment. These objects may include workbooks, data sources, projects, users, groups, and permissions.
Managing these inventory objects is critical to ensuring the smooth operation of a Tableau Server deployment. Having a clear understanding of these objects and their relationships can help administrators manage the server more effectively, optimize performance, and ensure that users have the appropriate access to the content they need.
Migration Roadmap
A Tableau Cloud migration roadmap is a plan or framework that outlines the key steps and milestones involved in migrating from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud. The roadmap typically includes a series of phases or stages that must be completed to ensure a successful migration. From discovery to deployment and optimization, it’s important to go over every single step in the planning stages to make sure the migration goes as smoothly as possible.
Having a clear Tableau Cloud migration roadmap can help your organization streamline the migration process, ensure that all necessary steps are completed, and reduce the risk of errors or issues during the migration. It can also help your organization set expectations for the timeline and resources required for the migration.
Migrating
Data Sources and Dashboards
When migrating data sources and dashboards to Tableau Cloud, the process typically involves assessing the current environment, preparing the data sources, migrating the data sources using Tableau tools, updating the dashboards to point to the new data sources, testing the dashboards, and finally publishing them to Tableau Cloud. This process can be complex, but careful planning and execution can lead to a successful migration.
Tableau Prep Flows
The process for migrating Tableau Prep flows to Tableau Cloud involves assessing your current flows, preparing them for migration, using Tableau tools to migrate them, testing them thoroughly, and finally publishing them to Tableau Cloud. It’s important you ensure compatibility and accuracy throughout the process to complete a successful migration.
Extract Refreshes and Subscriptions
Migrating Extract Refreshes and Subscriptions to Tableau Cloud involves assessing your current Extract Refreshes and Subscriptions, preparing them for migration, migrating them to Tableau Cloud, testing them to ensure they function correctly, and publishing them.
Testing is a critical step in this process to ensure that the Extract Refreshes and Subscriptions are functioning correctly. If any issues arise during testing, adjustments may need to be made to fix them. Once you have verified that everything is working correctly, you can publish the Extract Refreshes and Subscriptions to Tableau Cloud, where they will be accessible to your users.
Securing
Users and Groups
Tableau Cloud provides several ways to secure users and groups to ensure that your data is safe and accessible only to authorized users. Here are some ways to secure users and groups on Tableau Cloud:
- Use Single Sign-On (SSO): SSO is a secure way to authenticate users and manage their access to Tableau Cloud. SSO ensures that only authorized users can access the platform and provides an additional layer of security beyond a standard username and password authentication.
- Manage user permissions: Tableau Cloud allows you to control access to your content by managing user permissions. You can assign users to specific groups and then manage permissions for those groups based on the level of access they need to your data.
- Use SSL encryption: SSL encryption is a secure way to encrypt data in transit and protect it from being intercepted by unauthorized users. Tableau Cloud uses SSL encryption by default, ensuring that all data transmitted between the user’s browser and the Tableau Cloud servers is encrypted.
- Control access to data sources: You can also control access to data sources by setting up data source permissions. This allows you to manage access to data sources separately from access to the visualizations and dashboards that use them.
- Monitor and audit user activity: Tableau Cloud provides monitoring and auditing capabilities, allowing you to track user activity and identify any potential security risks. This can help you identify unauthorized access attempts, unusual usage patterns, and other potential security threats.
Project Permissions
You should only grant project permissions to trusted users who need access to your Tableau Cloud projects. You should regularly review and update the permissions to ensure that only authorized users have access to the project. Securing project permissions on Tableau Cloud is important for several reasons:
- Protecting sensitive data: Projects may contain sensitive data, such as financial information or personal data. By setting permissions, you can ensure that only authorized users have access to this information, reducing the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access.
- Maintaining data accuracy: When users have access to a project, they can modify or update the data. By setting permissions, you can ensure that only authorized users can make changes to the data, reducing the risk of errors or inaccuracies.
- Maintaining data privacy: Different users may have different roles and responsibilities within an organization. By setting permissions, you can ensure that each user only has access to the data they need to perform their job, reducing the risk of data privacy violations.
- Compliance with regulations: Many industries are subject to regulations that require them to protect sensitive data. By setting permissions, organizations can demonstrate compliance with these regulations.
Site Settings
Securing your site settings on Tableau Cloud is a crucial aspect of maintaining a secure and compliant environment for data analysis and visualization. By securing site settings, your organization can protect sensitive data, manage user accounts, and ensure compliance with data privacy regulations. Preventing unauthorized access to a Tableau site helps to prevent data breaches and unauthorized data access. In this way, securing site settings is essential to maintaining the integrity and security of a Tableau Cloud deployment. You can secure your site settings in several ways:
- Protecting sensitive information: Site settings contain sensitive information such as server configurations, authentication settings, data sources, and data connections. Securing site settings ensures that only authorized users have access to this information, reducing the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access.
- Maintaining data accuracy and integrity: Site settings can impact the accuracy and integrity of the data on the Tableau Cloud environment. By securing site settings, you can prevent unauthorized changes that may cause data inaccuracies or data loss.
- Complying with regulations: Certain industries and regions have specific regulations and compliance requirements. Securing site settings helps organizations comply with these regulations and demonstrate their commitment to data protection and privacy.
- Ensuring system stability: Site settings can affect the performance and stability of the Tableau Cloud environment. By securing these settings, you can prevent unauthorized changes that may cause system instability or downtime.
- Enforcing organizational policies: Organizations may have policies regarding data access and use. Securing site settings can help enforce these policies and ensure that the Tableau Cloud environment is configured to meet organizational requirements.
Migrate from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud with XeoMatrix
Tableau Cloud migration offers the advantages of an enterprise-level cloud platform hosted on a secure server. With the assistance of our certified experts, migrating to Tableau Cloud can be a seamless process, simplifying the transition for your organization. Contact us today and find out how XeoMatrix, a Tableau Gold Partner, can help you with a smooth Cloud Migration.
