The client encountered several issues with Looker:

• Limited Reporting Capabilities: Looker’s functionalities fell short of effectively presenting Network & Cloud inventory and compliance data, a crucial aspect of their SPM product. Customers needed a more granular view of their security posture.
• High Cost of Ownership: Looker’s software licenses significantly increased the overall cost of the SPM solution, impacting both the client and their end-users.
• Lack of On-Premise Flexibility: Looker offered limited support for on-premise deployments, which didn’t align with the client’s preference for a self-hosted solution within their infrastructure.

The project team identified Superset, an open-source BI platform, as a compelling alternative due to its technical strengths:

• Open-Source Advantage: Superset eliminated ongoing licensing costs, providing a significant financial benefit compared to Looker.
• Intuitive Interface and User Empowerment: Superset’s user-friendly interface with a no-code visualization builder empowered security analysts to create informative reports and visualizations without extensive coding expertise.
• Extensive Data Source Support: Superset seamlessly integrated with the client’s existing data infrastructure, ensuring smooth data access for security posture analysis.
• Rich Visualization Library and Customization: Superset offered a comprehensive library of pre-built visualizations along with the ability to customize existing visuals and create custom plugins. This flexibility allowed for the development of visualizations tailored to specific security posture metrics.
• On-Premise Deployment with Kubernetes: Unlike Looker, Superset offered on-premise deployment compatibility through Docker and containerization, aligning with the client’s preference for self-hosting within their Kubernetes environment.

Following a collaborative discussion and client approval, the team embarked on a 3-sprint migration process:

• Data Source Integration: Data pipelines were established to seamlessly transfer network inventory and compliance data from the original Looker sources to Superset’s data store.
• Custom Security Posture Visualizations: Leveraging Superset’s capabilities, the team crafted custom dashboards utilizing tables, trendlines, tiles, and bar charts. These visualizations provided a clear and insightful view of various security posture metrics like vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance gaps.
• Security Integration: The team ensured proper security configurations within Superset to align with the client’s existing access control protocols and user authentication mechanisms.
• Knowledge Transfer: Training sessions were conducted to equip security analysts with the necessary skills to effectively utilize Superset for report creation and data exploration.

• Cloud Infrastructure (assumed): AWS (based on the presence of Kubernetes)
• Development Framework: Java with Spring Boot (for building any custom components needed for the migration)
• Business Intelligence Tool: Superset
• Container Orchestration: Kubernetes (for on-premise deployment of Superset)

This migration to Superset demonstrates significant benefits:

• Superset’s open-source nature translates to substantial cost savings compared to traditional BI tools, making it an attractive option
• The user-friendly interface empowers security analysts to create reports and visualizations independently, reducing reliance on development teams and accelerating time-to-insight.
• Superset’s rich visualizations enable clear communication of complex security posture data to customers, fostering better understanding and informed decision-making.
• Superset’s on-premise deployment with Kubernetes ensures data security within a company’s infrastructure and facilitates future scalability to accommodate growing customer needs.
• The active open-source community around Superset provides ongoing support, potential contributions for further development, and a platform for innovation within the SPM domain.

By leveraging Superset’s open-source nature, user-friendliness, and customization options, the project team successfully delivered a cost-effective and scalable solution. This empowered the client to provide their security posture management product with enhanced reporting features, ultimately improving customer experience and communication of critical security insights.