The visualisation tool owned by Salesforce is a powerhouse for advanced visualisation.
In this 3rd part of our five-part series on data analytics front-end tools we look at Tableau, the old and mature, yet restless innovator.
Its main strengths in a nutshell: Pushing the boundary in advanced visualisations.
Founded in 2003, Tableau soon became a frontrunner. The acquisition by Salesforce in 2019 gave it extra resources for faster development. That soon showed with new features like Tableau Bridge, which improves data migration from data warehouses to Tableau, and a focus on Software as a Service.
Easy access to complicated dashboards
Its intuitive drag-and-drop functionality and its elegant UI enable inexperienced users to create appealing interactive dashboards. These excel with advanced and customisable visualisations.
It also provides simple ways to connect data from different sources, be it relational databases, cloud storage or web data. They can all be easily combined and analysed.
Fresher or faster?
To boost efficiency, Tableau offers two approaches to load data: live connections, that keep real-time data flowing but require more computing power.
The other approach consists of Hyper extracts that provide a snapshot of data optimized for efficient aggregation with various capabilities for scheduled updates.
With these two options users can choose their sweet spot: make their data either as up-to-date or as efficiently processed as possible.
Productive geeks
One of Tableau’s strengths is its active community of supporters and lead users. They have a strong connection to the company via public events which Salesforce hosts and sponsors. They also support the software’s development through feedback and solutions based on practical experience.
Thanks to services like Tableau Public, lead-user generated content can be uploaded for testing and viewing by the wider public. This creates a repository of unique visualisations and methods for data interpretation. According to Salesforce, it is the largest such library to explore, create and share insights worldwide.
Finally, Tableau is particularly strong in providing BI as a service. The new premium offering Tableau Plus with a focus on AI and with consistent updates often has a slight edge over competitors. That became apparent with the recent release of Tableau Cloud, an AI-based platform, combining existing capabilities from Tableau and Salesforce with new features.
Summary: Well-positioned to fend off Microsoft’s rising challenge
In sum, Tableau is the innovative powerhouse. It unites cutting-edge tools for AI applications, speedy update cycles and enthusiastic power-users producing publicly available add-ons. That makes it a good choice for large scale implementations of bigger companies and for the BI as a service model popular today.
All that has given it formidable power in defending its position against the increasing challenge from Microsoft’s Power BI, that we will turn to next.
