Perspectives: Our solution to dashboard sprawl

What if I told you that you're using dashboards wrong?

Imagine this: You're on a call with your team, staring at a big, static dashboard full of graphs and numbers. Someone pipes up, "Okay, so what now?" Everyone exchanges glances, unsure of how to move forward. You've got the data, but somehow, you're still stuck.

If you’re nodding along, we feel you. The truth is, the way we’ve been using dashboards is outdated. They’re static. They’re rigid. And they don’t always give you the full story.

What if the issue isn’t your dashboard, but the lack of depth and detail? With most dashboards, you only get a surface-level view. But what if you could go further—drill down into the details and explore every layer of data?

Introducing: Perspectives

At SquaredUp, we’re not just throwing another static dashboard at you. We’re giving you something different—a way to explore data as naturally as you think about it. Imagine your dashboard isn’t just a screen full of charts but portals into deeper insights, where you can drill down and get the full picture. We call this feature Perspectives, and it changes the game.

When you click on an object—whether it’s a server, application, or KPI— our perspective engine finds all the relevant dashboards scattered across your organization and brings them into one view, filtered to the object you’re interested in. No manual filtering. No creating new dashboards from scratch.

Plus, with over 100 native data sources and prebuilt perspectives created by experts, you’ll have detailed, relevant insights right out of the box—ready to explore, no extra work required. Take a look:

If you’re already familiar with dashboard variables, skip to 3:22 for the juicy demo of perspectives!

Ending dashboard sprawl!

We think Perspectives really change the game, but what does that look like in practice… perhaps this sounds a little familiar:

• You’ve got 10 tools (cloud console, networking, storage, performance…)
• Each tool has 5 dashboards relating to your VMs
• Each tool is owned by a different team
• You might not even know about the new tool, or the new dashboard that Bob from the Security team just built.
• You manually correlate information across these tools and teams to try and find what you’re looking for.
• You have dashboard sprawl! 😱

Instead, we want to introduce a new way of doing things:

• SquaredUp is connected to all your tools
• You drill down to a particular object in SquaredUp, e.g. a virtual machine
• This becomes the context for your analysis
• Dashboards specific to this context magically populate with everything you need to know
• You find the answer you’re looking for ✨

Let’s take a look at how that might work with a couple of scenarios:

Scenario 1: The overloaded system admin

You’re a busy system administrator. It's Monday, and something’s up with one of your VMs. You’re already 10 tabs deep into different monitoring tools, trying to figure out if it’s a memory issue, a storage issue, or if your server’s just got that Monday feeling.

Now imagine this: You drilldown to that VM in your dashboard, and suddenly, everything you need appears. Cluster metrics, SAN availability, hypervisor stats, memory spikes, recent alerts, performance trends—all in one click. You didn’t have to context switch between 10 tools or create new tiles. Our perspectives engine did it for you. It found the relevant dashboards, filtered to your VM, and said, “Here’s everything you need to know right now.”

Boom. Issue identified. Crisis averted. 💥

Scenario 2: The data analyst

You’re a data analyst, and your company is laser-focused on reducing customer churn this quarter. Your boss wants to understand the latest churn numbers in the context of product usage. Normally, you’d have to sift through reports and piece this together manually. But with Perspectives, you simply drill down into your customer data dashboard, and contextual insights appear.

You now see not just churn, but product engagement trends, support interactions, and subscription history—all tied together in real time. It’s like your dashboard is showing you the answer before you even ask. 🪄

Why we built Perspectives

Most dashboards suck. They’re static, they’re full of clutter, and they often leave you with more questions than answers. At SquaredUp, we understand that when people say, “I need a dashboard,” they’re really asking for something much more profound: “Show me the data that matters.” Today’s users demand a dynamic experience—one where they can explore data, drill down into specifics, and gain real insights without hitting a dead end.

At SquaredUp, we’re committed to evolving the way you work with dashboards. Perspectives is just the beginning of a broader vision for dynamic, interactive data exploration. By making it easier to explore, drill down, and discover insights, Perspectives helps you make informed decisions without the frustration of static, outdated dashboards.

We’re excited to bring you this new feature, and we can’t wait to see how it transforms the way you interact with your data.

Read more about our vision for the future of dashboarding

Still not convinced?

We want to hear what you think. What does your dashboard experience look like today? What’s been missing, or what’s working well? Feel free to reach out and let’s chat. After all, it’s all about perspective 😉

Try it for yourself

Ready to see Perspectives in action? You can experience it right now in SquaredUp. No more static views, no more dead ends. Just dynamic data exploration built for how you think.