Managing Write-Back Permissions (Authorization)

Owned by Ricardo Pires
Last updated: Nov 22, 2021 by Adriana Guedes

Question

Who can use Write-Back? How can I manage permissions?

When you are publishing dashboards with Write-Back you probably want to manage who is able to do what and also make sure that the dashboard layout and storytelling are according to the user needs, so you can steer them on what is most important. 

Answer

Every user on Tableau Server that has view access to a dashboard with Write-Back will be able to submit data, even viewers can do it. Write-Back authorization is achieved by leveraging Tableau Server permissions this means that each role should have its own dashboard.  When published the dashboards should have the permissions set in a way that they are only visible to the users who are entitled to submit data on Write-Back for that part of the process. This is similar to what you do on a normal Tableau dashboard but besides taking in consideration who can see the data you also take into consideration who is entitled to make that particular interaction through Write-Back.

Let's take a look at an example:

  • The most simple example is when you have a specific group of users that is responsible for filling the data and a wider audience for the end result. For instance, a group of country managers is responsible to do forecasting but the end result is then shared across the whole sales team so anyone can see the forecast. In this scenario you will need:
    • Dashboard for country managers
      • This dashboard has Write-Back configured for forecast and is focused on ensuring the country manager fill the information correctly.
      • It has visualizations that answer these questions:
        • What is the outcome of the forecast?
        • Has the country manager submitted all information? What is still missing?
      • Country can be used to filter with row-level security so that the same dashboard is published to all managers but each one can only see his country
      • Only country managers see this dashboard so with this combination we ensure only the manager can submit to their country.
    • Dashboard for the sales team
      • This dashboard doesn't have Write-Back configured but it uses the Write-Back dataset as a data source.
      • It has visualizations that allow the sales team to get an overview of the final result of forecasting and answer such questions:
        • What is the overall forecast across all countries?
        • What is the forecast per country?
        • What is the forecast on my responsibility?
      • Both country managers and the sales team can see this dashboard and check all the information inside. 

More complex examples can be easily created by combining the Write-Back features making the data submission easier with the Tableau visualizations and Tableau Server permissions. The main point is you should always create a separate dashboard per role (manager, sales team, etc) or stage of the business process (submission, approval, revision) if you have different people executing them. In the end, each of these dashboards will be tailored for a specific need and provide the best user experience with the right security. 


Tableau Server Permissions