VizQL Data Service: Extend Your Data Beyond Visualizations

In today's data-driven world, organizations have invested significant time and resources in refining their published data sources within Tableau. As the backbone of data analysis and visualization, these sources of truth provide invaluable insights that influence decision making.

However, many people want to use their data sources in ways beyond traditional visualizations. With the help of the revolutionary VizQL Data Service API, Tableau is unlocking a new world of possibilities.

What is VizQL Data Service?

VizQL Data Service is an innovative API that allows you to access published data sources in Tableau through programmatic queries rather than visualizations. Designed to maximize the versatility of your Tableau assets beyond traditional visualization, VizQL Data Service helps you tap into the analytic power of your data model anywhere, unlocking unprecedented flexibility and efficiency.

How does VizQL Data Service work?

Through an API, developers can script data queries to filter, aggregate, and transform data directly from published Tableau data sources. VizQL Data Service leverages Tableau's existing VizQL data engine, which traditionally powers visual query rendering and the Pulse metrics layer, to now handle data queries.

The resulting data can be returned in multiple formats, making it easy to integrate with other systems and applications, automate workflows, or feed into machine learning models. VizQL Data Service ensures that all data access adheres to the existing security protocols while maintaining organizational data governance standards.

VizQL Data Service gives you direct access to published data through programmatic queries—without any dependency on the Tableau UI or viz creation.

Key benefits of VizQL Data Service

VizQL Data Service is a game changer. Its capabilities allow you to uncover new potentials with your data, driving efficiency and innovation.

• Enable swift decision making with automated data retrieval and analysis: Automating data processes is essential for modern businesses, and VizQL Data Service makes this easier by allowing you to execute scripted queries directly on your data sources. This means no more manual data extraction or complex workflows to integrate data into applications. Automating data retrieval and analysis significantly speeds up workflows, reduces manual effort, and ensures that decision makers receive timely and accurate information.
• Empower efficiency for developers and end users: VizQL Data Service changes how developers work by offering a programmatic way to access published data sources. You can use existing Tableau connectivity and data models to create advanced and tailored data-driven applications more efficiently, and focus on developing innovative solutions. This capability gives your users access to specific insights without having to create intermediate visualizations, boosting productivity.
• Break free from visualizations: One of the most transformative aspects of VizQL Data Service is its ability to decouple data analysis from traditional visualizations. You can now use your data models in any context, breaking free from the confines of visual tools and bringing the analytic power of your data to new frontiers through applications, integrations, embedding, and more.

Revolutionizing use cases with VizQL Data Service

Let's dive into a few ways that you can use VizQL Data Service to open up a world of new possibilities with your published data sources.

• Supercharge your AI applications: Integrating high-quality data with AI applications becomes straightforward with VizQL Data Service. Imagine an insurance company utilizing AI technology to provide customer support for claims inquiries and policy information. By integrating VizQL Data Service, the AI interface directly accesses relevant data from Tableau sources, enabling efficient responses to customer queries. This integration enhances the insurance company's ability to offer timely and accurate assistance to policyholders, ensuring a smoother claims process and a more satisfactory customer experience.
• Embed your data in custom solutions: VizQL Data Service lets you add your own data queries directly to your apps. For example, a retail store can add Tableau's analytics to their own sales dashboards. This means managers can see important information without switching between different tools. This makes work easier, gives you customized visualizations, and helps decision makers get the data they need faster, right in the apps they already use.
• Integrate with third-party platforms: Consider a marketing agency that uses a third-party campaign management platform. By using VizQL Data Service, they can integrate Tableau's refined data sources into their platform, enabling comprehensive campaign performance analysis and real-time optimization. This integration enhances the agency's ability to provide data-driven insights to its clients.
• Simplify data bursting: Many businesses have clients who prefer to work with raw data rather than visualizations. Using VizQL Data Service, businesses can deliver data directly to their customers, allowing them to use their own tools and platforms for analysis. For example, a financial services company can automatically burst out reports to provide clients with current financial data, enabling them to perform detailed analysis and create custom reports as needed. This flexibility empowers clients to leverage the data in ways that best suit their specific needs and workflows.
• Add automation within applications: Automating data workflows with third-party platforms is made easy with VizQL Data Service. Consider a logistics company that uses supply chain management software: Integrating VizQL Data Service automates data retrieval and processing, providing notifications on the changes in the inventory levels for each of our warehouses. This automation reduces manual workload and errors, enhancing ‌and improving decision making with up-to-date information.

An e-bike company can use VizQL Data Service to show partners a quick glance at the sales ($, $$, $$$) for each model through an internal view of their product inventory.

Want to learn more? Watch the session from Tableau Conference 2024 to see VizQL Data Service in action, or read the VizQL Data Service help article.

Join the Revolution: Sign up for the Dev Preview

We're excited to bring these revolutionary capabilities to our users and can't wait to see how you will innovate with VizQL Data Service. To be among the first to experience the future of data utilization, we invite you to join our Dev Preview. Explore the endless possibilities and take advantage of the full potential of your data with the power of VizQL Data Service.

Sign up for the Dev Preview today!