Mixpanel Project Topologies
If you are a consortia, you need to determine whether to select the Independent Institutions Mixpanel project topology or the Centralized Mixpanel project topology. Refer to the following table to compare the differences.
| Feature/Aspect | Individual IZ Project Management | Centralized Consortium (Data View Method) |
|---|---|---|
| Data Container | A Project represents the core data container, with clear separation between the projects for each institution. | All institutions share one Mixpanel project. |
| Data Separation Mechanism | Clear separation between the projects. | Separation occurs within the project using customized Data Views, typically filtered by properties such as Institution ID. |
| Holistic View (NZ) | It is impossible to get a holistic view across multiple projects. | Provides a holistic view of all data in one place for the NZ, accessible via the Global View. |
| Comparison and Analysis | Requires switching between projects for different analyses. | Easy to compare and analyze different segments of data (IZs) within a single report. |
| Management Efficiency | Can become difficult to manage with many projects. ( for the NZ ) | Easier to maintain one unified project; improves management efficiency for the NZ. |
| User/Activity Visibility | Activity, names, and emails are held within the project and visible only to the members of that specific institution. | Members of different Views can see each other's activities, names, and emails within the shared project environment. (However, boards can be set to private.) |
| Administration (NZ Role) | A member from the NZ can be invited as a Project Admin or any other role for each individual project. | The NZ Project Admin centrally manages all Users, creates all Data Views, and is responsible for enforcing consistency. (However, if the NZ assigns an IZ user as a project administrator, the IZ user can access the project settings and data across multiple institutions.) |
| Data View Creation | Can be used for creating data views with the institution's data (not relevant when using boards for filtering the data). | Only the Project Admin can create or modify a Data View for each institution. |
| Impact of Changes (Schema) | Configuration or schema changes only affect that specific institution's project. | Any schema change affects all institutions simultaneously. |
| Risk of Cross-Data Exposure | Lower risk of accidental data exposure since data is structurally separate. | Granting an IZ user the Project Admin role allows them to access data views of other IZs and the aggregated Global View. |
| IZ User Role & Access | IZ user can invite the NZ member with any role, including Project Admin. | IZ members are typically assigned the Analyst role, giving them access only to their specific data view. |
| Project Settings Access | The IZ members invited as Project Admin can access project settings and potentially delete data or modify configurations. | IZ members with the Analyst role have no access to the project settings. (unless they are invited as Project Admin) |
| Maintenance Burden (IZ) | Requires the IZ to manage its own structure and setup. | IZ users benefit from the NZ managing the structure and setup, resulting in less technical burden. |
| Board Creation/Context | Boards are created and visualized within the dedicated project for that institution. | Boards are created at the project level, but the data shown is always filtered according to the selected Data View. |
| Scalability/Organization | Can become difficult to manage with many projects. (for the NZ) | Must be well-organized to support a large number of Data Views. |
| OTB Board Modification | OTB boards are managed within the individual project context. | OTB boards must be set as Viewer to remain intact; users must duplicate them before making modifications. |
| Autonomy/Flexibility | Greater flexibility for individual institutions. | Limited autonomy for the IZ—they cannot fully manage their own settings and are dependent on the NZ for updates or issue resolution. |
| Collaboration Method | Sharing insights and reports often requires manual effort between separate projects. (enabling public boards feature or any other way of sharing) | Provides easier sharing of insights and benchmarks across project members within a single environment. |