Tableau Reviews

The drag and drop in development, design and usage; the Show Wizard feature.

As a BI and data visualization enthusiast and provider, I have compared Tableau against other BI and data visualization tools. It provides tremendous ease of use and a shorter learning curve when compared to the rest. Provides astonishing visualizations as well.

The user interface and ease of use requires a bit of a learning curve to pick up. No drag and drop functionality at the development stage, unlike its competitors.

The data preparation is quite good but not as powerful as the one I use or would recommend for data manipulation and cleansing as well. Tableau seems to focus on the data visualization end and provides, or has partnered with, some other software for data preparation.

Three years.

None at the moment.

Tableau, as noted above, does not provide much in terms of data preparation. Handling of large volumes of data sometimes does not work well with this all-in-one purpose tool making it less ideal for business users.

The Tableau online community is rich and vibrant and provides quick guidance on getting started with the basic use of Tableau.

None.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward for personal use, except when looking at deploying on local premises. Doing so entails some configuration during the installation process.

Tableau pricing and licensing is on the high side for a small company, but it’s competitive among its peers. They offer a monthly subscription for their cloud service.

As a consultant in the area of Business Intelligence and data analytics, I have personally evaluated BI tools such as QlikView, Qlik Sense, Power BI and MicroStrategy.

Invest in the memory and RAM of the PC or server you intend to use with Tableau. Though most database sources are available for connection, you should still ensure you have all the necessary resources and connectors installed for proprietary databases.

The data blending capabilities is a huge factor for our team. The ease of blending data from multiple sources has allowed us to generate new insight and bring a different level of questions to the meeting table. The type of dashboards we have been able to create have made it easier for individuals who are not use to looking at data to navigate and drill into their own material to find answers or ask questions they never thought to ask in the first place.

We’ve been able to replace several manual spreadsheet reports that took hours for individuals to complete. With Tableau Server and some automation processes put in place, those reports are now automatically delivered to the end users, saving time and money. We can also develop reports much faster than in the past plus provide an interface to a database which in the past might not of been used as much due to the lack of technical skills to write the queries.

Formatting controls could use some improvement. We’ve found that to be the most confusing part of developing reports, at least until you get use to where all the controls are at and how to use them. Ideally, making a user-friendly interface for formatting the worksheets and dashboards would be a big improvement and time saver. Recent version upgrades have added some new features such as being able to change the format for your entire workbook all at once. Still a work in progress though.

I have used it for eight years and sever administrator for 2 years.

Deployment and stability have been flawless so far. We’ve not encountered a data set that has slowed the software down and we use records with millions of rows. There is no clear-cut line of determining when best to consider switching over to an enterprise-wide model vs. per license, so there could be a better way of informing their customers on when to flip that switch.

We have never experienced an issue with the server software or any technical problems with the desktop or interactor licenses.

Once others in the company start seeing what it can do they immediately ask what needs to happen so they can get a license. We started down the path of looking at core enterprise licensing but were told the company is moving away from that model and sticking with a per user/license structure. Depending on how many in the company want to start using the software plus needing the additional interactor license to access the server the purchases can add up quickly.

Very little need to contact their customer service but when I did they were professional and quick to respond.

Both customer service and technical support have been excellent. Sales reps have been very nice to work with and you don’t end up with that used car salesmen feel. In fact, we typically meet with our reps about 3-4 times a year and have been extremely supportive.

No - most of our reporting was done between MS Excel and MS Access.

Setup was extremely easy. Essentially a plug-and-play right out of the box.

We implemented it in-house. Implementation was easy in comparison to other systems we’ve worked on in the past. QA testing was seamless and found no integration issues.

We’ve found quite a bit of savings using Tableau, based on the time it takes to develop ad-hoc reports, changes in process due to new insights and report automation.

Best advice on pricing is to anticipate the desire for more licenses once the results of this product are acknowledged in other parts of your company. Note that for others to interface with a published report on your server, they need what’s called an interactor license. We acquired several guest interactor licenses in order to lend out to departments so they can see the benefit of accessing their reports on the server vs. static reports. This encourages them to purchase their own interactor licenses or at least plan to purchase when preparing their budgets for the following year.

We evaluated several potential software systems such as Visier, Lumira, and Qlik, but found Tableau the easiest to use for individuals who did not need to have a programming background. Plus, the freedom to develop from a blank canvas with data that could be from any corner of the company appealed more to our team than working with a set of canned metrics to one specific department.

The annual Tableau customer conference is a huge learning opportunity for new and seasoned users alike. The week-long conference provides a large number of workshops to help increase your skills and many of these sessions are hands-on training. Also a great way to network with other users and see how they are using Tableau.

• Ease of use
• Efficiency
• Integration with sources
• Amazing way to view your data

Data visualization and analysis used to take much longer; we were able to shorten the delivery of the projects by 60%.

I would like to see improvement in licensing. It is expensive to provide licenses beyond the 10 we already have.

I have been using it for four years.

Our deployment issues are related to cost.

No, very stable product

Yes. licensing costs are an issue

Technical support is 9/10.

We didn’t have a data vis solution beyond Excel and MSRS before. I used Spotfire in my business school work.

Initial setup was straightforward. I created a data mart, plugged in Tableau and started creating dashboards.

A vendor team implemented it. Implementation was pretty straightforward – but our data was cleaned and well thought through. I would say, 80% of time should be spent on designing your data mart (if that’s the route you are taking) with clean data and valid data sources.

We haven’t calculated ROI, but we know that we shortened the delivery timeline by 60%.

Make sure you plan it into the 5 year plan - how many licenses you will need, etc.

When time came to select a tool for my work, I did thorough research. I downloaded trial versions of both products and selected Tableau based on my user experience and the ratings (Gartner quadrant).

Beware of licensing costs, but it shouldn’t deter anyone from using this product. Even if you just use Tableau desktop to provide static data vis’s, it’s worth it.

Ease of use, speed to develop and deploy solutions. The ability to quickly develop solutions is invaluable. We are managing an immense amount of data and can more quickly correlate multiple data sources to aid in our decision making. We don’t need a large team of technical staff to develop tactical solutions to support executive decisions makers, while also developing robust work queues to aid staff in prioritizing their work or improving health and outcomes of our patients.

We are much more nimble in our ability to provide tactical data and deploy scalable enterprise dashboards/visualizations to staff within the organization. It has allowed non-technical staff to build solutions to aid us in our decision making or improving clinical care for patients across the enterprise.

- More advanced capabilities to format dashboards
- More advanced data merging from multiple data sources
- More advanced management of data extracts

I have been using it for 5+ years.

I did not encounter any deployment, stability or scalability issues.

I rate the level of technical support at medium. Staff are responsive when there’s a major technical issue, but getting answers to trivial questions are handled via forums and can take time or might not match your environment or configuration.

Qlik and Business Objects were used previously. Tableau was selected based on feedback from staff and other peers that are using the product, as well as all of the success we have experienced within our organization. The benefits and speed to develop were key decision factors. Licensure costs was also a key factor in selecting Tableau.

Initial server setup is very easy and does not take a significant amount of technical expertise.

An in-house team implemented it so we could gain expertise in configuration and how to perform upgrades.

ROI is not easy to quantify at this point, but we have gained efficiency through some initial self-serve data and faster time to discover.

Licensing can be expensive, so it’s best to determine scope and implementation plan.

Utilize the trial version and test out functionality of the product. It’s very easy to get started and as you gain proficiency, you will want to learn more and develop more advanced solutions.

Data Preparation - This is a huge plus for Tableau as so many users have to spend time preparing the data before using Tableau

• Data Interpreter
• Splits -
• Really helps the average user

Drag and drop analytics:

Tableau 9.0 has a new Analytics pane that provides quick and easy access to common analytic features in Tableau.

You can drag reference lines, forecasts, trend lines, and other objects into your view from the Analytics panel. It is now easy to edit, format, and remove the analytic items that you have added, so you can experiment with different techniques as you explore the insights your data has to offer.

Ad--‐hoc calculations:

Ad--‐hoc calculations make it easy to add and edit calculated fields for your analysis. Double--‐click an existing field on the Rows, Columns, Marks, or Measure Values shelf to begin editing, or

double-click an empty area on a shelf to create a new calculation. As you type, a list of auto--‐complete options appears in a dropdown list, making it easier to find and pick the right elements.

Instant analytics:

Instant analytics provides an interactive experience for comparing summary information about a subset of marks to all the marks in your view. For example, you can compare the average for a few marks to the average for all the marks. After you’ve added trend lines, reference lines, reference bands, or distribution bands to your view, select one or more marks to see the new analytical indicators appear for the selection in addition to the analytical indicators for the whole view.

Level of Detail (LOD) Expressions:

New expression syntax in the Tableau calculation language lets you quickly create calculated fields that compute at the specified levels of detail. LOD calculations help you compute at multiple levels of aggregation and make it easier to create fields for analytical comparison (such as cohort analysis and totals or Average across segments), simplifying calculations that previously took several steps.

It's both intuitive and complex/deep. For our organization, it's given us opportunities to provide both on-sight and on-line training. We now have an online training product that more than offsets the expense associated with days of training. With Tableau, our customers more analytical.

It even has a connection to R and SAS for advanced users.

Also, it has given us the ability to collaborate with the Tableau servers, which is robust and can handle tens of thousands of users.

Tableau Server can now scale for unlimited users Enterprise scale brings with it the need for Governance. Data sources and workbooks must be vetted before they are "out there" to see except for the intended content consumers

The basic design of Tableau has some features that could be modified.

* There is no need to have five (5) ways to add a new worksheet. Brevity is rewarded - new users have so much to learn that 2 ways would do the job

* How to render time - When performing analysis, no single issue is more important than time series data. Tableau uses visual clues in many places - When one uses the pull down option for time that could be visualized better as a continuum. those selections should be presented in green to be visually consistent. Those above in blue.

If you're making a structured, strategic purchase, make sure that you have a plan for professional training.

• Go slow and methodically
• You must consider size of the company and types of users
• Desktop Plus server users - understand the constraints on the backend, and make sure you have enough CPU power
• There's lots of free stuff on their website that's great for the average user.

It's similar to what we do with Power BI. It is used for dashboarding as well as a few analyses.

When compared to Power BI, Tableau has more readily available resources. In any kind of material, learning material, or if I find a new chart and decide I want to do it, Tableau is more easily available than Power BI.

It's a little more complicated than Power BI.

More visualization options, but not the same as in Power BI, where there are simply more options. I see very few options here. Many of these must be customized and custom-built, which is a lengthy process.

I would like to see more options in visualization customization.

People are migrating to Microsoft BI due to the speed, which is quite slow to load, and the lack of visualization options. There are a few default options in Power BI that Tableau does not have.

I would like to see the added visualizations and possibly an easier way to process data, which are useful now that we all have Power BI, there is a whole power query interface that directly links to Microsoft BI, whereas with Tableau, I would have to go through an entirely different process for it.

I have been using Tableau for one year.

We use the latest version.

It can be deployed both on the cloud and on-premises.

Tableau is very stable, but it takes too long to load.

Scalability has been fine. So far, I believe it has served our purpose.

We have more than a hundred users in our organization.

It is being extensively used, but it is getting to be lesser now.

We have also used Power BI.

We found Power BI to be more useful than Tableau.

Tableau was already set up when I arrived.

It is purely a visualization tool, as opposed to Power BI, which has connectivity to the entire Microsoft product suite, including your Excels and other tools, which Tableau does not.

I would rate Tableau, a five out of ten.

We use the solution to allow management the ability to create dashboards for our data center.

The solution is easy to use, flexible, our clients enjoy seeing the data on maps, and you do not need to be an expert in SQL to use it.

There could be improvements on the mobile application, it is lacking features. 

I have been using the solution for approximately one year.

I have found the solution to be stable.

The scalability is good, we have 100 users using the solution in my organization.

I am not satisfied at all with the support response, it takes a lot of time. Some tickets will take more than 10 days to have an answer, this is not helpful. There is some documentation that is very useful on their site. This is the worst support I have experienced, the support could definitely be faster.

We were using Qlik Sense before this solution.

The installation is straightforward. The time it took for the installation was approximately four hours. However, the configuration takes a lot longer but it is not a problem with this solution it is common for configurations to take a while.

We did the deployment ourselves. We have a team of two administrators doing the maintenance for the solution and a team of four for the development of the dashboard. 

There is a license required, we pay an annual license which is priced fair.

I recommend this solution to others. We are satisfied with the solution and are going to keep using it in the future.

I rate Tableau an eight out of ten.