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Here’s proof that Tableau Zen Masters are much more than data viz whizzes. As part of our back-to-school series, we asked our Zen Masters to share tips for our community of data explorers. And what we got in return was a wealth of wisdom that range from data tips to life lessons. Here are their insights, which can benefit all of us—as data explorers and as human beings.

In its beginning days, cloud was seen as a cost-cutting tool. Now the top reason organizations embrace the cloud is business agility, according to a 2014 Forrester survey. Other factors like speed to deployment and lower costs now rank lower.

With the launch of Tableau 9.1, there are now four major areas of extensibility for developers to leverage to extend Tableau in new directions, automate tedious tasks, and connect to more data sources. We’ve also got a new home for developers to get everything they need.

An effective data visualization lets users see and understand the data at the speed of thought. You can visualize data from biology labs, accounting case studies, or any other subject you’re studying to find answers faster. Here are five ways to improve the overall value of your dashboards.

A dashboard is only effective if it answers useful questions for people. That’s why a customized, user-specific dashboard is more impactful than a ready-made, one-size-fit-all report. Here at Tableau, we always design visualizations with the user in mind. Here are several techniques we use to customize our sales dashboards.

Tableau 9.1 includes our new Web Data Connector, which lets you connect to any web data accessible over HTTP. In conjunction with this great new feature, we are excited to introduce the Tableau 9.1 Web Data Connector Software Development Kit. Want to quickly start building your own connectors? In addition to great documentation, a test simulator, and our JavaScript library, the SDK features a number of code samples to help kickstart your efforts.

Like any company, Tableau needs to make decisions about sales data. And as a data company, we’re always on the hunt for the best way to look at sales information. Here are five ways we look at our own operations to help make decisions about quota, territory management and must-win deals.

One the many gems in this month’s roundup: a Tableau personality test! Put this test to the test by using the sliders to answer the questions, says Matt Francis, who created the test using a radar chart.