When creating a new metric, two choices allow you to link to reports you've already developed in other BI platforms, like Tableau, Crystal Reports, or Microstrategy.  The difference between an 'External Report' and 'Other External Content' is that with an External Report you can actually drill down from another Metric Insights tile into the specified external report.  External Content, however, is just any URL of your choosing that will not be passed in any dynamic parameters from Metric Insights.

For Other External Content, any old static url is defined for each report. However, for External Reports that you wish to drill down to, you can use a URL template that will use the following variable place holders

• :measurement_start_time
• :measurement_end_time
• and, if the metric is dimensioned, by the dimension's bind_variable. So, if the metric is dimensioned by sales channel, for example, you might also have the :channel template variable

Metric Insights tiles will actually auto update and generate values based on the value of the metric.  In contrast, external report thumbnails will just be a static icon that the report developer sets. Sometimes report developers will actually take a screenshot of the external report and store it with the external report definition to allow for a more realistic and seamless transition from Metric Insights to the external BI tool.

Each URL that Metric Insights will link too will, of course, require some form of login for that system. Metric Insights will not be able to bypass authentication to any other system.

Once an external report is created, a business user will be able to seamlessly link to a variety of relevant reports all from their own personal list of favorites or report categories they have access to.