Developing Data Governance Practices

This last chapter is slightly different from the others. We will not discuss a feature to be used in a Tableau dashboard or on Tableau Server but rather the data capabilities related to data governance in Tableau – who has access to which data, who viewed which dashboard how often, what the data components of a dashboard are, where the data came from, and more.

We will discuss the following topics:

• What is data governance?
• Data governance principles
• Data governance in Tableau
• Follow-along examples

In recent times, especially in the last 20 years, data governance has gained more importance, which shows the increasing maturity in this field. While in earlier days, data governance was a sole IT task and often limited to data cataloging, today’s data governance is a task shared by many. The more data companies store, the more analysts they hire, the more data is used, and the more rules and guidelines...

What is data governance?

Data governance is all about the generation and implementation of data-related policies following regulations and industry standards. Its primary goal is to guarantee the usefulness, accessibility, and security of information. Enhanced data governance leads to improved data analytics, granting analysts peace of mind by ensuring that the data they rely on originates from reliable sources, has been verified, and has undergone rigorous data quality assessments, among other measures.

On the www.tableau.com website, you can find a whitepaper that introduces Tableau users to data management, including data governance: https://www.tableau.com/learn/whitepapers/tableau-data-management.

And if you would prefer a video, you will find a walk-through at the following link: https://www.tableau.com/products/data-management#content-446367.

Both the whitepaper and the video talk about this setup:

Figure 16.1: Tableau data management

In general, data...

Data governance principles

If you are planning to work on data governance, you should know that data governance principles are typically the heart and soul of the entire endeavor. To illustrate this, let’s examine the seven principles outlined in the GDPR (https://gdpr-info.eu/) as an example and explore how Tableau can be employed to enforce them effectively:

• Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency
• Purpose limitation
• Data minimization
• Accuracy
• Storage limitations
• Integrity and confidentiality
• Accountability

Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency

This mandates that personal information collected for providing goods or services must be obtained lawfully and fairly, with individuals informed about the purpose of its use. Furthermore, personal information can only be collected with the explicit consent of the individuals, and a record of this consent must be kept.

Purpose limitation

Personal information should...

Data governance in Tableau

Tableau provides a range of features and capabilities that aid in supporting data governance initiatives within an organization, acting as a complementary tool that aligns with data governance principles.

Many of the following features are only available when buying the data management add-on for Tableau Server (https://www.tableau.com/products/data-management). Please be aware of this while reading the rest of this chapter.

Data source connectivity

Tableau’s data source connectivity allows organizations to set up centralized data governance by connecting to diverse data sources, promoting a trusted and curated approach to data management.

Data source connectivity makes it easier to adhere to the GDPR principle of integrity and confidentiality because data is stored securely, and access can be controlled.

Data access controls

Tableau enables administrators to manage user access to data sources and dashboards, implementing...

Follow-along examples

In this last part of the chapter, you can try some of the data governance features yourself; feel free to follow along in your version of Tableau Server.

Certifying data sources

Certifying a data source involves designating it as a trusted and reliable asset through a process that verifies its quality, accuracy, and compliance. This certification instills trust, ensures data quality, supports compliance, promotes consistency, strengthens data governance, enhances decision-making, facilitates data discovery, and is conducted by data governance teams or experts within an organization.

You can certify a data source in Tableau by following these steps:

1. Open Tableau Server.
2. Open a data source.
3. Click on the three dots next to the data source name.
4. Select Edit Certification…:

Figure 16.2: Certification

5. You can now type a message visible to data source users holding the reason for the certification...