March 2019 Summaries

Connecting Fivetran through Snowflake Partner Connect and then linking Snowflake to Tableau allows users to quickly deploy a comprehensive data stack. The process begins with setting up a Snowflake account, which doesn't require a credit card, followed by connecting to Fivetran via Partner Connect. Users can then access the Fivetran UI to configure connectors. For setting up Tableau, users need to ensure compatible drivers are installed, with specific instructions varying across operating systems like Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux. After establishing the connection to Snowflake, users can create data visualizations in Tableau using features like histograms, trendlines, and bar charts. Visualizations can be organized into worksheets and dashboards, which can be published online via Tableau Online. This streamlined setup demonstrates the simplicity and efficiency of establishing a robust data pipeline for business intelligence, analytics, and data science.

Fivetran introduces its first REST API BETA, allowing Enterprise account holders to automate workflows by programmatically managing users, groups, and connectors. The new endpoints enable creating, modifying, and deleting connectors and users, as well as adding or removing users from groups. Additionally, it allows retrieval of summary information about these entities. This API assists in building automations for essential functions like connecting new data sources automatically and updating sync frequency across multiple connectors. It also simplifies the onboarding and offboarding process for users needing access to Fivetran connectors. The API's potential uses are vast, with full documentation available online.

Fivetran has introduced Custom Roles for its Enterprise users, allowing top-level administrators (Owners) to create roles with custom permissions and assign them to users. This feature enables organizations to specify exactly which data sources a role can manage, thereby enhancing security and access control. By default, four roles are offered: Admin, Analyst, Uploader, and Read Only. Custom Roles provide the flexibility for organizations to grant varying levels of access based on user needs and data sensitivity.

Fivetran was awarded EMEA Technology Partner of the Year at Snowflake Partner Summit in London, where they also learned about Snowflake's strategy for the upcoming year and heard customer success stories. As a Snowflake Platinum Partner with over 180 joint customers globally, Fivetran continues to strengthen its partnership with Snowflake to best serve their customers. The company opened an EMEA office in Dublin a year ago, and this award reflects the value they bring to businesses through strong partner collaborations.

The article discusses a tutorial on setting up Fivetran data pipelines through Snowflake Partner Connect, which simplifies and accelerates the data loading process. It involves logging into your Snowflake account, selecting Partner Connect, choosing the Fivetran tile, activating the account, creating a password, starting a free trial, and accessing the Fivetran UI to add connectors. The 14-day trial allows users to have their data delivered in an easy-to-query format. Support is available for any questions or assistance during setup.

Schema changes can significantly disrupt workflows, particularly when building data pipelines or performing traditional ETL processes. These changes may be caused by alterations to data sources or updates to business requirements. Fivetran addresses this issue in two ways: firstly, it automatically propagates schema changes from the source to the data warehouse, and secondly, it shifts the "transform" stage of ETL to the end of the process, allowing analysts to build data models using SQL without requiring engineers to reengineer pipelines. This approach helps reduce time and effort spent on handling upstream changes that may not affect analysis, enabling more focus on actual data analysis.

Homeday, a digital real-estate agency based in Berlin, leveraged advanced Business Intelligence (BI) to answer complex business questions. The company utilized Fivetran for data replication into their warehouse, Snowflake as the leading cloud-based data warehouse, and Tableau for robust analytics. LEROI, a consulting agency in Data & Analytics, provided Homeday with expertise in technology, data, and data-driven cultures to ensure tangible benefits from data insights. Since its founding in 2014, Homeday has significantly impacted the German real estate market by lowering commission rates and improving the overall experience for buyers and sellers.

Fivetran has introduced a new connector for accessing Lightspeed Retail data, allowing businesses to gain deeper insights into their operations. The connector extracts data from the platform and loads it into a data warehouse, where business intelligence tools can be applied. Instructions on how to set up this connector are provided in Fivetran's documentation. By centralizing Lightspeed Retail data with other sources, businesses can generate more powerful and robust metrics for analysis.

Charles Wang announced on March 1, 2019 that five prebuilt AdWords reports are now available to assist users with ad analytics. These include ACCOUNT_STATS, AD_STATS, AUDIENCE_STATS, CAMPAIGN_STATS, and KEYWORD_STATS. The reports can be directly plugged into Looker AdWords blocks. Users can generate these prebuilt reports at setup and use them to analyze various aspects of their advertising campaigns, such as the best time of day to purchase ads.