What is Zendesk Explore?

Zendesk Explore is a reporting and analytics tool designed for businesses to analyze, understand, and share information. It serves as a platform to view and interpret customer interactions, support resources, and other key business metrics.

Prebuilt and Custom Reports

With prebuilt reports, Zendesk Explore provides users with immediate insights into customer and agent performance. Users can also create custom reports to address specific data needs and make informed decisions based on tailored information.

Collaboration and Training

Explore facilitates collaboration by allowing users to share and work on reports together. It offers on-demand training to enhance user proficiency and effective use of the tool.

User Roles and Permissions

Different user roles, including Editors, Admins, and Viewers, ensure controlled access to sensitive business information within Zendesk Explore, securing data while enabling teamwork.

Dashboards and Widgets

Dashboards in Zendesk Explore act as a visual space for presenting data through widgets, which can include an array of elements like reports, images, and text. Prebuilt dashboards offer instant visibility into essential product and agent metrics.

Reports, Datasets, and Components

Reports in Zendesk Explore are structured queries ranging from simple ticket counts to complex agent performance analytics. They are displayed in forms such as charts or tables for ease of interpretation. Datasets harness information from various Zendesk products, using metrics and attributes to construct meaningful reports.

What is Zendesk Explore?

Zendesk Explore is a reporting and analytics tool included in the Zendesk Suite. It provides the ability to schedule dashboards with end users and share dashboards outside of Zendesk. As part of the Suite, it is available with Lite, Team, Growth, and Enterprise plans, enhancing the capabilities of Zendesk Support Professional and Enterprise with its inclusion.

Features of Zendesk Explore

Explore offers access roles, including viewer, editor, and admin, and leverages Support Enterprise custom roles for permission assignments. It features granular editor authorizations and an hourly data refresh rate. Custom field support extends to multi-select and multi-line types, and the tool boasts over 500 customization options for reports and over 20 visualization types. Advanced dashboard customization, real-time data, and testable email scheduling are also part of its extensive feature set.

Explore Legacy

The free version, Explore Legacy, mirrors the features of Explore Professional and includes additional scheduling and sharing capabilities. However, it does not include features released after October 11, 2022.

Zendesk Explore vs Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics

Integration with Zendesk Suite

Zendesk Explore is seamlessly integrated with the Zendesk Suite, providing a native reporting and analytics experience for users of Zendesk Support and Sell. In contrast, Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics is not a native Zendesk extension and may require additional integration efforts.

Availability and Accessibility

Zendesk Explore is available as part of the Zendesk Suite and is included in Support and Sell plans. Pentaho is a separate platform that typically requires a stand-alone subscription and configuration.

User Roles and Permissions

Explore offers predefined access roles such as viewer, editor, and admin, as well as the ability to use Support Enterprise custom roles for permission assignment. Pentaho's user role configuration may differ and is not tailored to Zendesk's ecosystem.

Real-Time Data and Customization

Zendesk Explore provides real-time dashboards and an hourly data refresh rate, catering to dynamic reporting needs. It also offers 500+ customization options for reports. Pentaho's real-time capabilities and customization options may vary and are not specifically designed for Zendesk data.

Legacy Version Features

Explore Legacy, the free version of Zendesk Explore, offers advanced scheduling and sharing features, matching the professional version except for features released after October 11, 2022. Pentaho's offerings may not include a comparable legacy version with similar advanced features.

Feature Updates

While Explore Legacy does not include features released after October 11, 2022, the standard Zendesk Explore plan provides ongoing updates and feature releases. Pentaho's update cycle and new feature release frequency are independent of Zendesk's schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between Zendesk Explore and Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics?

Zendesk Explore is a user-friendly business intelligence and customer analytics tool with lower software and maintenance costs, detailed report sections, and the ability to handle large data sources without lag. It offers detailed report segments and formats and integrates with the Zendesk suite. Pentaho is an open-source business intelligence and analytics suite that has been used to improve overall business processes and aid managers and directors in analyzing data, and it is part of a large project to encompass all business processes within an organization.

How does Zendesk Explore's reporting capabilities compare with Pentaho's?

Zendesk Explore has a more detailed report section than Pentaho, does not experience lag when creating reports from large data sources, and allows for more detailed report segments and formats.

Which tool is considered more user-friendly, Zendesk Explore or Pentaho?

Zendesk Explore is considered more user-friendly than Pentaho.

What are the cost implications when choosing between Zendesk Explore and Pentaho?

Zendesk Explore has lower software and maintenance costs compared to Pentaho.

How do Zendesk Explore and Pentaho impact business processes?

Zendesk Explore provides analytics with a focus on customer service efficiency and ticket analytics, whereas Pentaho has been recognized for improving overall business processes and is involved in a significant project integrating all business processes within an organization.

Why Choose Sourcetable Over Zendesk Explore and Pentaho

Sourcetable simplifies data analysis by merging the capabilities of a data warehouse and a spreadsheet interface. It allows for real-time data queries, akin to Zendesk Explore, but with the added advantage of handling over a million rows and direct manipulation akin to a spreadsheet. This positions Sourcetable as a robust alternative for bulk CSV analysis and data interaction.

Unlike Pentaho's platform, Sourcetable's no-code GUI and Excel-like formulas make it accessible for non-technical users to create charts, graphs, and dashboards. It removes the complexity of coding, making it a user-friendly option for teams seeking quick and efficient data collaboration and report automation.

Sourcetable's turnkey data warehouse offers a centralized storage solution, facilitating data syncing from over 100 business applications and databases. This feature surpasses the integration capabilities of Zendesk Explore and Pentaho, providing a comprehensive data infrastructure for businesses.

With its interactive visualizations and automated reporting, Sourcetable serves as a single point of truth for team dashboards and data analysis. The platform's built-in templates and AI assistant streamline the report creation process, offering an efficient alternative to the more technical approaches of Zendesk Explore and Pentaho.

The platform ensures data integrity with end-to-end encryption and a no-overwrite policy, highlighting a commitment to security that matches the demands of modern data analytics. Sourcetable's integrations and data library features create a collaborative environment for data-driven decision-making, making it a standout choice for businesses seeking a comprehensive and secure data analysis tool.