Data silos are the silent killers of collaboration. They slow down decisions, frustrate teams, and leave stakeholders in the dark. Marketing can’t find campaign performance data, finance is stuck chasing budget figures, and product managers are left guessing about user engagement.
Lightdash’s Google Sheets data integration flips the script. It connects your teams with a shared, up-to-date source of truth. By bridging the gap between analytics and collaboration, it keeps everyone aligned and focused on what really matters: making smarter, faster decisions.
A Use Case: The Cross-Functional Collaboration Hub
Let’s take a marketing and finance team as an example:
- Marketing wants daily updates on campaign performance metrics, such as click-through rates and conversions.
- Finance needs the same data for budgeting projections.
The challenge? Both teams work in different systems and need to manually request reports from the analytics team, which can lead to delays and miscommunication.
With Lightdash’s Google Sheets Sync, this scenario transforms:
- Automatic Updates for Everyone: Metrics from Lightdash sync directly to a shared Google Sheet on any schedule.
- The schedule as well as the last update time are automatically published in a tab called ‘Metadata’
- Consistent Calculations: Queries built directly from your semantic layer mean you can have faith in consistent data no matter who pulls the report.
- Familiar Territory: Teams can model and manipulate the synced data directly in Google Sheets – combining analytics insights with their workflow preferences.
How to Set Up Google Sheets Sync
Syncing charts from Lightdash to Google Sheets is straightforward:
- Create a Sync:
- Open your chart and click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
- Select Google Sheets Sync and create a new sync.
2. Configure Your Sync:
- Name your sync and set the frequency (hourly, daily, weekly, or even a custom Cron job).
- Select an existing Google Sheet to sync your data to (or create a new one).
3. Review and Activate:
- Verify your settings and click Sync. Lightdash will handle the rest, updating the first tab of your Google Sheet with the chart’s data.
Best Practices for Using Lightdash Syncs
- Ensure your target Google Sheets are well-organized and labeled for easy navigation.
- Let collaborators know about the metadata tab, which details update frequency and timing.
- Use custom Cron expressions to tailor sync times to your team’s needs or your ETL loads (no need to run syncs if you data hasn’t refreshed).
- Admins can review sync statuses in the Syncs & Scheduled Deliveries section under Project Settings.
- Review the Google Sheets API policy to ensure you won’t run into quotas / policy issues.
This integration empowers teams to bridge the gap between robust analytics and collaborative workflows. It’s especially beneficial for non-technical team members who need access to up-to-date data in a familiar format.
Why Lightdash + Driftwave?
Lightdash is part of the modern data stack. Being open-source, it delivers powerful advantages like no vendor lock-in and unmatched flexibility. At Driftwave, we make Lightdash even better by removing hosting headaches:
No Per-User Fees: Share insights across departments without worrying about growing costs.
Exportable Instances: Prefer to self-host down the line? Your data and setup are always yours to keep.
Scalable and Secure: Our hosting solutions ensure your Lightdash environment is always fast, secure, and reliable.
Want to try out Lightdash risk free?