Using Looker in a Custom Integration
May 18, 2018
Using Looker in a Custom Integration
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Looker
We built a custom integration with Looker that auto-generates dashboards and visualizations from data that our platform accumulates. Because of this custom integration, we are often limited in our options on how we use the platform and what cool Looker tools we can use as well. Additionally, this integration has our clients interacting with Looker and they are often unimpressed and frustrated by how technical the platform is as well as the speed. Our integration and what we allow them to do and see could be a contributing factor in this so please keep that in mind as you read the rest of my review.
- Incredibly advanced analytics tool that is even more capable if you learn how to use LookML which is Looker's custom programming language.
- Quick access to the raw data that is being visualized allows you to spot check for data integrity.
- My usage with Looker is limited because of our integration but, having seen their updates over time, the integrations with Slack, Salesforce, and other tools appear to greatly improve organizations' workflows.
- The time it takes to load data has been INCREDIBLY frustrating to our clients. How much of this is the fault of our developers, I don't know. What I do know is that it's the slowest time to see a visualization of any BI tool I've used. By far.
- There is A LOT of exerting setup required for custom dashboards. When adding our custom integration into the mix it's been nearly impossible to get things done.
- The calculation field can be incredibly useful but, again, requires technical expertise which not all of our users have.
Unfortunately, I was not in charge of the decision to select Looker as it was before my time. I can see why the decision was made as I do see the potential. We have felt the need to supplement Looker with another free tool and, if our integrations weren't so deep and our development resources so limited, we'd likely look at replacing it or at least spending that significant amount of time required getting it to run how you'd like.