Vendor:
Founded:
Headquarters:
Tableau Software
2003
Seattle, WA
Customers:
Deployment Model:
Free Trial:
35,000
Cloud, On-Premise
Yes
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Tableau At A Glance
Product Overview
Tableau was founded on one simple mission: Help people see and understand their data.
Tableau provides intuitive business intelligence (BI) tools to enhance data discovery and understanding for all types of companies and business users. With simple drag-and-drop features, a user is able to easily access and analyze key data, create innovative reports and visualizations, and share critical insights across the company.
Tableau offers three main products for robust data discovery:
- Desktop – Desktop is used to easily collect and correlate disparate data, and create highly innovative reports to identify patterns in just a few clicks.
- Server – This allows users to securely collaborate and share critical insights and information through comprehensive dashboards.
- Online – Tableau Online is a hosted version of Tableau Server. It not only saves time and money by skipping hardware setup, it also has mobile access for data discovery anytime, anywhere.
In addition to the tools above, Tableau provides other products to make your BI efforts simpler:
- Mobile – Access, analyze and share data from any device.
- Public – Explore and publish data insights to websites and blogs.
- Reader – Open and view visualizations made in Desktop for free.
Features
Each of Tableau’s products (Desktop, Server and Online) work together seamlessly to accelerate your BI efforts and improve your data discovery. Below are the notable features of the software:
- Drag-and-drop integration – With drag-and-drop abilities, easily integrate data and create visuals to pinpoint patterns with a few clicks.
- Data-source connection – Tableau connects to a number of data sources. No coding knowledge is necessary for this, simplifying how you integrate and correlate data.
- Report & story creation – Easily create innovative reports and presentations that tell the story of your data.
- Robust dashboards – Quickly dig down into information and securely share insights across the company. Tableau’s dashboards are scalable tools that foster collaboration and data-driven decision making.
In addition, its latest version, Tableau 9.2, offers the following features:
- Mobile
- Native iPhone app
- Geolocation
- Faceted search
- Mapping
- Map box
- Map data
- Map options dialogue
- Visual Analytics
- Hierarchical tree maps
- Totals
- Label options
- Web authoring
- Fix axis
- Recent colors
- Use as filter
- Data Prep
- Sub-table detection
- Data grid editing
- Data pane
- Enterprise
- Set project permissions
- Lock project permissions
- Toolbar improvements
- Performance
- Authentication
- Ad Hoc Analysis?
- Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)?
- Predictive Analysis?
- Profit Analysis?
- Trend Indicators?
- Ad Hoc Reporting?
- Automatic Scheduled Reporting?
- Customizable Dashboard?
Target Market
With over 35,000 customer accounts, Tableau serves a wide variety of industries, including major corporations and banks, educational institutions and healthcare providers.
Below is a list of some of its major clients:
- The Coca Cola Company
- Johns Hopkins University
- Target
- SpaceX
- Accenture
- Allstate Insurance
- Charles Schwab
- Discovery Communications
- Deloitte
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Implementation/Integration
Tableau provides a variety of implementation and consulting services. For enterprise-level deployment, there’s a four-step process:
- Phase 1 – This phase involves IT planning, architecture consulting, pre-install checkup, server installation and verification, and validation of security configuration.
- Phase 2 – Phase 2 involves working with data and data migration, including data modeling, data mining, data extraction, data sources and business workflow.
- Phase 3 – In Phase 3, there’s a two-day classroom training covering Tableau Fundamentals, hands-on advanced coaching, and building and formatting visualizations.
- Phase 4 – This final phase helps companies expand Tableau usage across their business. It includes implementation workshops where topics such as evaluating action plans and defining measurable outcomes are discussed.
Regardless of your company’s size and deployment method, Tableau offers a Quick Start Service for your needs. Examples include:
- Server Rapid Start – For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Tableau plans, installs and implements its server in a four-day timeframe.
- Server Kick Start – In two days, Tableau helps companies plan, install and implement out-of-the-box deployments of its server.
- Desktop Kick Start – In two-hour increments, companies can use Tableau’s phone sessions to help them implement its Desktop version.
Customer Service & Support
Tableau provides four levels of support services to its customers: complimentary, technical support, elite program and OEM program.
Complimentary
Tableau offers a number of resources to its customers, including access to the Tableau community and Knowledge Base repository, on-demand training, live weekly Web training, and on and offline product documentation. This will handle non-critical issues like defects with the software, installation, activation and downloading assistance, basic questions about configuration, and access to major and minor releases.
If you’re not sure if your case fits in the Complimentary category, you can contact the Tableau support team by submitting your case online.
Technical Support
The Technical Support Program is automatically included with a one-year license purchase. This includes the benefits of the Complimentary level, as well as multiple location support, multi-channel communication and an escalation process for critical issues. An annual renewal is required for ongoing software support and maintenance.
Elite Program
In Tableau’s Elite Account Management Program, your company is assigned a technical account manager to ensure your support cases will be prioritized appropriately. In addition to all the benefits of the Technical Support level, you’ll also have 24/7/365 access to Emergency Priority 1 Support.
OEM Program
The OEM Technical Support Program is for customers who have integrated Tableau into their current software suites. Adding on to the benefits of Technical Support, you’ll be able to access Emergency Priority 1 Support, 24/7/365. You’ll also be assigned a Partner Support Engineer to help with critical issues related to your integration.
Tableau provides quick links and FAQs on its support page, along with information about consulting services and training.
Shortcomings
Although it has a large range of data-source connectivity, Tableau’s ability to integrate combinations of these sources for analysis is still weak. As a workaround, some customers have used other solutions with self-service data preparation and the option to output to Tableau’s native TDE (Tableau data extract) format.
Screenshots
About
Tableau Software focuses on business intelligence and data analytics products that both liberate data and empower people. It was founded in 2003 by innovators Chris Stolte, Pat Hanrahan and Christian Chabot, and it’s headquartered in Seattle. Tableau is consistently ranked as one of the “Leaders” in the business intelligence marketplace by Gartner in its annual Magic Quadrant Survey.
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