In the scenario described, the sales managers at Universal Containers require a Gauge chart that not only shows the current percentage of opportunities in their pipeline but also indicates whether they are below or beyond their set targets. The appropriate widget parameters to achieve this visualization in Salesforce CRM Analytics (formerly known as Einstein Analytics) are:

Reference Line: This parameter is crucial for defining a specific target value on the gauge chart. It visually marks a point that represents the target goal, providing an immediate visual cue as to whether the current percentage is below or above this point.

Markers: Markers are used to represent and highlight specific values on the gauge chart. They can be utilized to emphasize the current percentage level of the pipeline, making it instantly visible how close or far the current value is from the reference line or target.

Conditional Formatting: This feature allows the chart to change color or style based on whether the current values meet, exceed, or fall below the target. It is a critical visual tool for quickly communicating performance against targets. Conditional formatting can be set to alter the appearance of the gauge's fill color based on whether the values are above, equal to, or below the reference line, thereby providing an intuitive visual representation of performance relative to targets.

The combination of these three parameters enables a highly effective visualization for sales managers to monitor their performance against key metrics and targets directly on their dashboards. This setup is aligned with Salesforce's best practices for creating meaningful and actionable insights within CRM dashboards, ensuring that users can easily interpret and react to the data presented.

For more details on configuring these parameters, you can refer to Salesforce documentation and specific Trailhead modules that cover dashboard creation and customization:

Wave Analytics Explorer

Building Lenses, Dashboards, and Apps in CRM Analytics

These resources provide in-depth training and examples to help users effectively use Salesforce CRM Analytics for a wide range of data visualization needs.

To ensure that CRM Analytics dashboards are optimally usable on both desktop and mobile devices, creating multiple layouts tailored to each device type is crucial. Here's why Option C is the best approach:

Device-Specific Layouts: By creating specific layouts for each device type, you ensure that the dashboard contents are presented in a manner best suited to the screen size and interaction model of the device.

Layout Selectors: These are used to automatically display the appropriate layout based on the device accessing the dashboard, enhancing user experience without manual intervention.

Widget Customization: Resizing or hiding certain widgets for specific device layouts ensures that the dashboard remains clean, uncluttered, and easy to navigate, regardless of the device used.

To address issues with unauthorized access to sensitive data and dashboards, the best practice is to create separate apps, datasets, and dashboards for different user groups and then manage their sharing settings appropriately. This allows you to maintain data security while ensuring that users only access the data and insights that are relevant to their roles. In this scenario, applying separate apps for managers with defined sharing rules will prevent users who shouldn't have access from seeing sensitive data. Reference: Managing Data Access and Sharing in CRM Analytics