Summarize the Content of the Blog
Key Takeaways
Dashboard Studio is the recommended framework for new custom Splunk dashboards, offering Grid and Absolute layouts with advanced visualization options
Executive dashboards need different metrics than SOC dashboards - focus on risk scores, MTTD/MTTR, incident trends, and ROI rather than raw event data
Use Splunk ES pre-built dashboards as starting points - Risk Analysis and Executive Summary dashboards provide proven frameworks you can customize
Keep visualizations simple - single values, time charts, and tables work better for executives than complex displays requiring interpretation
Performance matters - use report acceleration and summary indexes so dashboards load quickly when executives need them
Scheduled reports deliver value - set up automated PDF/CSV delivery so executives can review security metrics on their schedule
Dynamic coloring guides attention - use red/yellow/green thresholds to highlight what needs executive action versus what's normal
Integration with Splunk DMX enables federated search and data optimization, reducing costs while maintaining searchability
Maintenance is ongoing - review metrics quarterly, gather feedback, and evolve dashboards as security priorities change
When security leaders need to make rapid decisions about their organization's security posture, they don't have time to wade through raw logs or technical reports. They need clear, actionable insights delivered in real-time. This is where custom Splunk dashboards become critical for executive security reporting.
Why Executive Dashboards Matter
Executive security dashboards serve a fundamentally different purpose than operational Security dashboards. While SOC analysts need detailed event data and drill-down capabilities, executives need high-level visibility into security trends, risk exposure, and key performance indicators that impact business decisions.
The real-time nature of these custom Splunk dashboards allows executives to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive stance. Instead of learning about security incidents after the fact, leaders can identify patterns and potential issues before they escalate into major problems.
Understanding Splunk's Dashboard Framework
Splunk offers two primary dashboard frameworks for creating executive security reporting:
Dashboard Studio provides an intuitive, visual approach to dashboard creation with advanced customization options. It offers two layout types—Absolute and Grid—giving you flexibility in how visualizations are displayed. The Absolute layout works like a free-form canvas where you can place elements with pixel-perfect precision, while the Grid layout provides automatic snap-to alignment for faster dashboard building.
Classic Dashboards (Simple XML) remain available for organizations with existing dashboards, though Dashboard Studio has become the recommended approach for new custom Splunk dashboards due to its enhanced capabilities.
Building Your First Executive Security Dashboard
Step 1: Define Your Key Metrics
Before opening Dashboard Studio, identify what your executives actually need to see. Common metrics for executive security reporting include:
- Risk scores trending over time
- Number of active security incidents
- Mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR) are key metrics for optimizing security operations
- Critical asset exposure
- Notable event patterns
- Detection coverage across the environment
Splunk Enterprise Security includes an Executive Summary dashboard out of the box that provides insight into security operations through key metrics, notables, and risk data. You can use this as a starting point and customize it to your organization's specific needs.
Step 2: Access Dashboard Studio
Navigate to the Dashboards view in your Splunk interface. Click "Create Dashboard" and select Dashboard Studio as your framework. You'll be prompted to choose between Grid and Absolute layouts. For executive dashboards where visual polish matters, Absolute layout offers more control, but Grid layout will get you results faster.
Step 3: Configure Your Canvas
In the Configuration panel, set your canvas dimensions and appearance. Dashboard Studio allows you to add background images, which can be useful for corporate branding. The image size limit is 16 MB.
You can adjust the Display Mode between "Fit to Width" and other options, depending on how executives will view the dashboard. Consider that executives may access these dashboards on large conference room displays, tablets, or laptops.
Step 4: Create Data Sources
Every visualization on your dashboard needs a data source. In Dashboard Studio, you create searches that pull data from your Splunk indexes. For executive security reporting, these searches typically aggregate data rather than showing individual events.
For example, a Splunk risk analysis dashboard might include searches that:
- Calculate total risk scores by risk object
- Track risk modifiers by MITRE ATT&CK annotations
- Display recent changes to risk scores
- Identify entities with the highest risk scores
When creating searches for executive dashboards, keep performance in mind. Use summary indexes or report acceleration when possible, as executives expect dashboards to load quickly.
Step 5: Add Visualizations
Dashboard Studio provides numerous visualization types. For executive security reporting, focus on visualizations that communicate trends and status at a glance:
Single Value visualizations work well for KPIs like total active incidents or current risk score. You can configure these with dynamic coloring to show red/yellow/green status based on thresholds.
Time charts (line, area, or column charts) effectively display security trends over time. Use these to show how metrics like incident volume or detection coverage have changed over weeks or months.
Tables can display ranked lists, such as highest-risk users or most critical open findings. Keep tables concise—limit to 10-15 rows for executive dashboards.
Single Value Radial and Gauge visualizations provide an intuitive way to show progress toward goals or current status against thresholds.
For more complex relationships, Sankey diagrams can show how security events flow through your environment, though use these sparingly as they require more cognitive effort to interpret.
Step 6: Apply Dynamic Coloring
One of Dashboard Studio's strengths is dynamic coloring. You can apply color rules based on numerical ranges or string matches. For executive security reporting, use color strategically:
- Red for critical issues requiring immediate attention
- Yellow for warnings that need monitoring
- Green for normal operations
- Blue or neutral colors for informational data
Dashboard Studio supports this through the Dynamic Coloring section in the configuration panel, available for Single Value, Table, Choropleth SVG, and several other visualization types.
Step 7: Add Context with Text and Shapes
Executives viewing your dashboard may not be security experts. Use Dashboard Studio's text boxes (available in Absolute layout) to provide context or definitions. You can also add shapes and lines to visually group related visualizations or create visual hierarchy.
Leveraging Splunk Enterprise Security for Executive Dashboards
If you're using Splunk Enterprise Security, you already have powerful pre-built dashboards that can inform your custom executive reporting:
Risk Analysis Dashboard
The Splunk risk analysis dashboard displays recent changes to risk scores and identifies entities with the highest risk scores. It allows you to assess relative changes in risk and examine events contributing to an entity's risk score.
Key features you can incorporate into custom executive dashboards:
- Risk score trends showing how organizational risk is changing over time
- Top risky users and assets
- Risk modifiers by MITRE ATT&CK annotations for compliance reporting
- Behavioral analytics detections contributing to risk
You can build custom dashboards that streamline risk analysis by creating drill-downs to investigate specific risk rules or entities. The official Splunk documentation recommends creating dashboards with panels for threat objects, risk rules, and detailed event timelines.
Executive Summary Dashboard
Splunk ES includes a dedicated Executive Summary dashboard designed to provide high-level insight into security operations. This dashboard surfaces key performance indicators for:
- Investigations created and their status
- Notable events trending over time
- Overall security health metrics
- Risk evaluation across the organization
You can use this dashboard as-is or customize it by editing the underlying searches and visualizations to match your organization's specific executive security reporting requirements.
Automating Executive Security Dashboards
Real-time dashboards are powerful, but executives also need scheduled reports they can review at their convenience. Splunk's scheduled reporting capabilities integrate seamlessly with dashboards. Organizations struggling with maintaining these automations often turn to Splunk managed services for expert assistance.
Creating Scheduled Reports
You can convert dashboard panels to scheduled reports that run automatically. The process:
- Navigate to the dashboard containing the panel you want to schedule
- Click Edit and select the Panel Properties icon
- Choose "Convert to Report"
- Set up a schedule (hourly, daily, weekly, or custom cron expression)
- Configure actions such as email delivery with PDF or CSV attachments
Scheduled reports can run as frequently as needed, though you should consider the computational overhead of frequent complex searches. Use the Schedule Priority option judiciously to ensure critical executive reports run on time.
Report Acceleration
For datasensAI dashboards or other dashboards with complex searches that executives need to load instantly, consider report acceleration. This feature causes Splunk to pre-compute search results at scheduled intervals, dramatically reducing dashboard load times.
You can enable acceleration when creating or editing a report. The trade-off is increased storage requirements and computational load during the acceleration process, but the performance benefit for end users is substantial.
Advanced Techniques for Executive Visibility
Setting Tokens from Search Results
In recent versions of Splunk Cloud Platform, Dashboard Studio supports setting tokens from search results or job metadata. This enables more sophisticated executive security reporting scenarios, such as:
- Setting default dashboard values when the dashboard loads
- Creating dynamic text that updates based on current data
- Cascading filters where one selection influences available options elsewhere
This capability unlocks use cases like automatically highlighting the most critical security concern when an executive opens the dashboard.
Conditional Panel Visibility
Dashboard Studio now supports conditional panel visibility based on complex scenarios. For executive dashboards, you might:
- Show different visualizations based on the executive's role or department
- Display additional detail panels only when certain thresholds are exceeded
- Present different views for different time ranges selected
This creates more focused, relevant executive security reporting without overwhelming executives with information that doesn't apply to their current need.
Custom Visualizations
While Splunk provides extensive built-in visualizations, you may have unique requirements. Dashboard Studio supports custom visualizations that you build yourself or install from Splunkbase. Any custom visualization apps installed in your environment become available in Dashboard Studio through the "Add chart" option.
This is particularly valuable for specialized datasensAI dashboards or industry-specific security metrics that aren't well-served by standard chart types.
Splunk Observability ROI Through Executive Dashboards
Executive dashboards don't just provide visibility—they should demonstrate return on investment. When building custom Splunk dashboards for executives, include panels that track:
- Cost avoidance metrics: Time saved through automation, incidents prevented through proactive detection
- Efficiency gains: Reduction in MTTD and MTTR over time, analyst productivity improvements
- Coverage improvements: Growth in monitored assets, expansion of detection coverage
- Risk reduction: Trending risk scores showing decreased organizational risk exposure
These metrics help executives understand the business value of security investments and make informed decisions about future resource allocation. By connecting security operations to business outcomes, you transform executive security reporting from a compliance exercise into strategic intelligence.
AI-Powered Splunk Insights for Executive Reporting
Modern Splunk deployments increasingly leverage machine learning and behavioral analytics. When creating executive dashboards, incorporate AI-powered Splunk insights that help executives understand not just what's happening, but what it means:
Behavioral Analytics Integration
Splunk Enterprise Security's behavioral analytics service can enhance executive security reporting by identifying anomalous behavior that traditional rule-based detections miss. You can create dashboard panels showing:
- User behavior anomalies detected through machine learning
- Unusual access patterns that might indicate compromised credentials
- Behavioral analytics detections contributing to entity risk scores
The Risk Analysis dashboard includes panels showing which behavioral analytics detections are active and pointing to the risk index, giving executives visibility into this proactive detection capability.
Predictive Strategies
While raw predictions may be too granular for executive dashboards, you can aggregate predictive analytics into meaningful metrics. Show executives how predictive models are identifying potential issues before they occur, demonstrating the proactive security posture these technologies enable.
Best Practices for Splunk ES Executive Visibility
Based on Splunk's official guidance, follow these best practices when creating executive security reporting:
Keep It Simple
Executives don't need to see every data point. Each panel should answer a specific question or highlight a specific concern. If a visualization requires explanation, it's probably too complex for an executive dashboard.
Use Consistent Time Ranges
Splunk Dashboard Studio supports a global time range picker that applies to all panels using the default data source. This ensures executives see a coherent story across all visualizations. You can also add specific time range pickers for individual panels when executives need to examine different time windows.
Enable Drill-Down Thoughtfully
While executives need high-level views, they occasionally want to investigate further. Dashboard Studio supports drill-down interactions where clicking a visualization can open another dashboard, filter other panels, or launch a search. Implement these capabilities, but don't make them the primary interface—executives should get value from the top-level view alone.
Optimize for Performance
Executives won't wait for slow dashboards. Use data model acceleration, report acceleration, and efficient search practices. The risk analysis dashboard in Splunk ES, for example, allows you to specify whether panels use the test or risk index, letting you optimize data sources for performance.
Provide Context
Use the Configuration panel's view options to add dashboard-level context. Consider adding a text panel at the top of executive dashboards explaining what they're looking at, when it was last updated, and who to contact with questions.
Maintaining Your Executive Dashboards
Custom Splunk dashboards require ongoing maintenance. As your security environment evolves, your executive security reporting should evolve with it:
- Review metrics quarterly: Ensure the KPIs you're tracking still align with organizational security priorities
- Gather executive feedback: Ask the dashboard's users what's valuable and what's not
- Monitor performance: Track dashboard load times and optimize searches as data volumes grow
- Update visualizations: As Dashboard Studio adds new capabilities, consider whether they would enhance your executive reporting
- Document customizations: Maintain documentation explaining each panel's purpose and data source so future administrators can maintain and improve the dashboards
Conclusion
Creating effective custom Splunk dashboards for executive security reporting requires understanding both Splunk's technical capabilities and executive information needs. By leveraging Dashboard Studio's visual design tools, Splunk Enterprise Security's pre-built analytics, and automated security dashboards through scheduled reporting, you can provide executives with the real-time visibility they need to make informed security decisions.
The key is translating complex security data into clear, actionable insights. Use the Splunk risk analysis dashboard framework as a foundation, customize it to your organization's specific needs, and continuously refine based on executive feedback. When done well, executive security dashboards transform from information displays into strategic decision-making tools that demonstrate measurable Splunk Observability ROI.
Start with the basics—a few key metrics, clean visualizations, and reliable data sources—then expand as you better understand what resonates with your executive audience. The investment in thoughtful dashboard design pays dividends in faster decision-making, better resource allocation, and improved security outcomes across your organization.
Beyond Security Metrics: Understanding Data Utilization
While the dashboards we've discussed focus on security posture and operational metrics, there's another critical question executives often ask: "Are we actually getting value from all the data we're ingesting into Splunk?"
This is where understanding data utilization becomes crucial. Many organizations discover that 70-80% of their data sits unused—teams aren't building dashboards, reports, or alerts around it. That untapped data represents wasted licensing and storage costs, which directly impacts your Splunk ROI.
If your executives are asking these questions about data utilization and ROI optimization, solutions like datasensAI from bitsIO can provide the answers. datasensAI is a Splunk-certified app that evaluates how effectively teams are using their data by analyzing knowledge object creation—the dashboards, reports, and alerts your teams actually build. It assigns a score to each data source, showing executives which investments are driving insights and which represent optimization opportunities.
What makes this particularly relevant for executive reporting is the speed and simplicity. With just 2-4 hours of effort from an admin-level user and no direct access required by bitsIO, you can deliver comprehensive data utilization insights to executives in days. This complements your security dashboards by adding a financial and operational efficiency lens that resonates strongly with executive audiences.
Learn more about maximizing your Splunk data utilization at bitsioinc.com/solutions/datasensai.
