Tableau Reviews

Ease of use (including frequently used calculations), drag and drop and interactive data visualization are the most valuable features of the product to me.

• Helped organization to identify the best time to roll out the campaign for summer cruise booking.
• Measured health plan product performance to identify health plan product(s) where organization is losing or making money.
• Source-to-destination mapping for health plan members to determine how far members travel to their primary care physician’s office from their residence to identify opportunities for service quality improvements.

We need a Tableau connector to connect to other BI tools like SAP BusinessObjects.

I have been using this product for over three years.

So far, I have never encountered any issues with deployment or stability. I do feel slowness rarely when I try to get data directly by connecting to Teradata database using SQL Query.

Technical support is excellent.

I did a POC with Tableau for my current organization and compared this tool with other BI tools.

I recommended Tableau for the following reasons: truly mature product, price-performance balance, ease of use, lot of flexibilities in regrouping the data on the fly, most of the frequently used calculations are built-in and very easy to use - unlike some other BI tools, which are quite clumsy - and for best interactive data visualization capabilities. Most importantly, a non-IT person can develop a simple dashboard without any IT help.

Initial setup was very straightforward.

I installed the Tableau desktop on my computer. Tableau servers are installed by our internal admins. It’s an easy installation and doesn’t need the vendor’s help.

Sometimes admin gets overwhelmed after Tableau is rolled out in the organization as users get up to the speed in a very short period of time, because of how easy it is to use the tool. Therefore, system access and resource planning should be done and properly planned ahead of time.

People should be aware of the fact that Tableau doesn’t have a semantic layer. It takes a good amount of time to prepare the dataset / data structure. Once the dataset is ready, the data visualization part doesn’t take much time, even for a fairly complex dashboard, because the tool is very intuitive and easy to use.

The ability to analyze data patterns in more visual dimensions (size, shape, color) than are realistically possible in Excel is the functionality most valuable to me.

Calculated fields are relatively simple and may leave a user wanting. Joining between multiple datasets also needs to be improved. (I heard this is an improvement that will be made with the version 10 release this summer.) Source data formatting requirements are a little particular, and reloading for new users can get repetitive.

I am a management consultant, and I have used this solution for multiple clients over the last two years.

I never had to use customer service.

Initial setup was extremely easy; when downloading the trial version or purchasing, just accept the defaults. There aren’t many ways you can screw this up.

I’d suggest taking the following steps:

1. Define what you want to get out of the tool. (People don’t always need these types of solutions, and this becomes evident once they actually get in there with the data they have.)
2. Make sure you have the existing data needed.
3. Download a trial version and play with the software and develop prototype dashboards and analysis
4. If you actually have a recurring need, then I’d look at purchasing Tableau desktop. If the need for use and analysis extends to many across the organization, Tableau Server could be your best option.

I also evaluated Qlik and Spotfire, but found Tableau to be more intuitive and visually appealing.

This product is the best visualization solution on the market. My rating is based on ease of use, visual appeal and additional functionality over Excel.

The best features of Tableau include:

• Freedom of connection: Its ability to connect to practically any database. There is no need to go through cryptic ODBC or other driver setup procedures.
• Freedom of exploration: The ease one can explore a data table. With simple drag and drop, you can produce easily readable cross tabs and paretos on-the-fly to learn everything you need to know about an unfamiliar table.
• Freedom of expression: You can pretty much build any type of analytic structure you need to analyze your data.
• Built-in visual best practices: Interfaces are clean and simple. You have to work hard to produce an ugly chart in Tableau.

With the ease of using Tableau, I am able to set up basic analytic structures in the meta data (dims and measures) with some starter chart types, then turn over to analysts who can then ask all the detailed questions of the data on their own without having to come back to me for every minor change.

• They still need to improve advanced query functions. Level of detail and table calcs have improved but still are difficult to use, especially when working with large data sets.
• The custom query editor has lots of room for improvement. If Tableau can add features and functionality here, it would be easier to work with the database in one environment, instead of having to open another query editor to develop custom queries for advanced analytics.
• The formatting interface is the one area that has lots of room for improvement, as well as the ability to be more precise in formatting. At the moment, it is much more of an all-or-none proposition.
• More integrated statistical functions.

I have used it since 2009, Tableau 5.

I have not encountered any deployment, stability or scalability issues. Although I do run into performance issues with Tableau server from time to time, it is not always easy to identify the root cause.

I have had so little need to use customer support, I can’t really rate them. Nonetheless, the few times when I have called, the level of understanding of complex data issues at the first few levels of support seems to be on the light side.

For the desktop edition, initial setup couldn’t be simpler. For the server edition, it is a bit more involved but that is to be expected.

It was implemented in house. For the server edition, an experienced server admin would definitely make the final install better.

My clients find the price tag for the desktop edition high, so they typically try to use the server/interactor edition, which for an analyst just doesn’t provide enough functionality to get the job done. Hopefully, as Tableau builds scale, they will be able to bring the price of the desktop edition down and get on more desktops, like Excel.

I have evaluated other competitive tools but in the end, my clients have always gone with Tableau.

The Tableau on-demand learning resources are fantastic to help a new user get going. There is a robust user community that is very generous with their time and knowledge to help you get through the learning curve.

Our customer uses Tableau for visual dashboard features.

The product offers an intuitive user interface, detailed screens and widgets, and the absence of data limitations. Its primary strength lies in visual analytics, allowing users to analyze data with visual compliance.

Tableau's data modeling, mining, and AI library features need improvement.

We have been using Tableau for five or six years.

The platform's cloud version is stable and has no CPU or RAM limitations. The dashboards work fast. In the case of an on-premise site, the stability is based on the hardware capacity.

The product is scalable. We have 50 users for it in our environment.

The initial setup is straightforward. It can be deployed in the cloud and on-premises as well. For successful implementation, one must ensure well-designed data regarding KPIs, data strategy, etc., if one has an in-depth understanding of easy deployment. One needs to log in and select the model for cloud implementation. Preparing a Tableau server environment for the project site takes around two days. It is a self-oriented structure and doesn't require any manual adjustment. It is easy to maintain and involves giving a few commands. However, one must update the product to avoid compatibility issues with Windows and Linux.

The product generates a value for investment.

Tableau has reasonable pricing similar to Power BI. It doesn't have any hidden costs.

Tableau has a good interface, is easy to deploy, and can be integrated with different AI systems. Compared to other vendors like SAP, the product's data layers need enhancement. Additionally, it could directly connect to cloud services similar to Power BI.

I rate Tableau a nine out of ten. I advise others to help from experienced consultant teams and trusted vendors for implementation. Another piece of advice is to begin small by downloading Tableau Desktop, testing it with your data, and familiarizing yourself with its logic. They can increase their knowledge with online training sources published on the product's website. It is free to access.

I have used Tableau to generate visualizations to calculate system trend analysis for business. 

Tableau has been very helpful to give a high level of insight into our business.

Tableau's most valuable features are user-friendliness and have a connection between multiple source systems. You can publish a report by using Tableau Public and there you can make your data online, not only batches of data, you can use it as an online analytical tool.

There are more than a powerful tool in the market, such as Microsoft BI.

I have used Tableau within the last 12 months.

Tableau is a stable solution.

I have found Tableau to be scalable.

I would recommend this solution for large enterprises.

I have not contacted technical support. However, after reading many reviews others have found the support to be good.

The setup and deployment of Tableau are very easy. I did not have a problem.

The price of Tableau could improve. The license is too expensive. 

There is a 14-day trial version available to those who want to try it.

I would recommend Tableau, but if any organization wants to use it, they can see if the solution fits their business requirement. There is a very competitors market and with a low price. Those wanting to use this solution need to study the requirements to know which repository to use.

I rate Tableau a nine out of ten.

Creates data visualization for final users, then shares these visualizations throughout the entire company.

We offer Tableau as a product. As a partner, we recommend it to our customers. We use it internally to manage all our KPIs and services, so we also use it as a customer.

• Data is easily understood at all levels of the company.
• Business insights are shared across various departments.
• They allow you to quickly mount decision scenarios, and point you in the right direction of issues.

• Its ease of use and ability to convert drag and drop gestures into queries.
• The ability to create complex calculations.
• The completeness of things you can do.
• It has a very nice dashboards.
• You do not need a technical background to fulfill your business needs.

• Conditional formatting could be an interesting feature to provide to final users. It is a long-term request of our users.
• The data preparation/blending options are very basic. They could be improved.
• More willing to hear customer/user suggestions.

Five to ten years.

No stability issues. I never had it crash my computers. The stability is awesome.

It can be achieved, but it is not what most companies focus on. You can have a huge server with core licenses. You can have a lot of users using and consuming information and dashboard use it continuously, but the thing is to still have a PC or text components, which is the weakest link in the chain. 

Scalability may be good. Not awesome, but good.

Tableau's support could improve.

Partner support is very good.

In five years, I have been working with Tableau. I have used technical support only one time. They did not complete what I needed. I figured out the solution myself, but I understand this may be due to my own expertise. However, in general, our customers are very satisfied with the support.

I would rate technical support as an eight out of 10.

Positive

I used Cognos, BusinessObjects, and QlikView. I switched because of the paradigm change to self-service capabilities and ease of use.

We also have a lot projects to change previous tools. For example, we replaced six Enterprise QlikViews in six different companies which had been working there for six or seven years.

The initial setup is very simple and the deployment is easy. Both tools (Desktop & Server) have a very simple wizard.

The typical installation from Mexico to Argentina, which is the market that I serve, is very easy to perform.

Both. Expertise on this tool is very high throughout all of the Tableau ecosystem.

It is very high, but it requires a data preparation/blending tool.

Tableau's licensing is pretty straightforward and simple. 

However, Tableau is a company that does not respect partners. Tableau is a company that overlaps and steps onto the partners' total deal. We had a very good example in Panama with one of the biggest companies in the country. They stepped in without notice, without having a partner laid out. The company turned down the deal and took it another year and a half to resurface. Finally, when it was close to closing, Tableau stepped in and messed it up. That is a common behavior of the boss company in Latin America.

Power BI, which was in its early stages at the time, but now sprawling across Latin America. Yellowfin, who we are a partner with now. We are now looking at Birst.

We chose Tableau because they were the whole package at the time.

Do not hesitate to implement Tableau. You will not regret it if you are looking for a visualization and discovery tool.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: 

• Customers' experiences
• Transparency
• The financial stability of the company.

Hybrid Cloud

Other

I had a case in the dairy industry, and they had about 200 sales agents on the field. They needed some daily reports as well as some dashboards with the standard presentation of their goals and targets. So we prepared some dashboards and Kafka presentations of data collected daily and presented them to the field sales team. We drafted up some information for them about how to proceed with their daily targets. Tableau could visualize the salespeople's progress toward the targets. For example, it can use different colors to signify if the sales team is over or under its target. They can use this graphic to find what they need in their final reports. So if they are under a monthly benchmark, they can break down the graphic presentation, do final reports on a daily level, and find information on each day in the month.

Tableau's visualization features let you present information insights quickly and practically. So it's something which I prefer with Tableau. In terms of reporting, I have to point out the sheer quality and function of the Tableau server, but the first impression is that it's a great visualization tool.

If you mainly need a tool for BI reporting, it's not the best option. Tableau needs better abilities to generate simple reports, integrate, create databases, and work with data lakes. 

I can't recall ever having an issue with Tableau's stability. And also, I'm not sure how often our clients have had to update software or install patches, but I think it's pretty stable. I would consider it moderately to highly stable.

We've used local technical consultants and support in Serbia, so it was pretty good. I can't remember having any problem solving issues during the implementation. And later, during the exportation of this tool, support solved all our issues and incidents in a reasonable time.

Tableau also has a broad user community that's helpful and powerful. When you're using Tableau, you get a knowledge base with a lot of interesting and valuable information. So it's not hard to find some solution that's already prepared for simple presentations, like templates for visualizing reports in a novel way. 

I've used two editions of Tableau. The free edition was very easy to use and set up. The enterprise requires a desktop and the Tableau server, and it's not too complicated. However, it's necessary to have experience and some documentation. So setting up the enterprise version isn't easy for someone who has no experience, but it isn't too complicated overall, either. We had the support of a local company here in Serbia who rebuilt it. They are consultants who specialize in Tableau databases and everything necessary to implement this tool. So I can't remember any problems with the setup. It was relatively easy. They also had to set up the desktops, the Tableau server, and a couple of professional licenses to prepare basic reporting and visualization segments. Lastly, they just have to set up the end-user with everything they need to read the reports and see presentation and visualization.

Tableau's prices are relatively high for our market. I am from Serbia, so many companies in this market don't have the ability to pay for expensive software. My clients are quite satisfied with a lot of Tableau's qualities except for the prices.

I rate Tableau eight out of 10. I would recommend it for companies that have a specific need for a solution with strong visualization capabilities. 

On-premises

Tableau is an analytics tool so we use it to feed the data. I get the raw data. We use it for business problems. If I want to see what is happening in the market I have Tableau's raw data. I'll make sure that I take all that data and feed it into Tableau.

It's very user-friendly. It's not like Power BI, Tableau is very user-friendly. Anybody can use Tableau. It's very easy to adopt things. I can visualize the stats.

It's one of the fastest-growing data visualization and data analytics tools. It aims to help people see the data. You can simplify and convert raw data into a very understandable format. That's the good thing about Tableau. 

I've been using Tableau for two years. 

The stability is good. It's easy to use. It's user-friendly. 

Scalability is quite flexible. It designed to give a more flexible scaling experience. It's quite easy to add users. The Tableau server can support 200 users.

I get good support from the Tableau team. If I have any issues, they're able to solve my issue within 24 to 48 hours. If I create an issue, they resolve it between 24 to 48 hours. If I have an issue, I'll just send in a form in the Tableau portal. 

The initial setup was easy. My IT team took care of setting up the licensing part. 

The pricing is expensive. 

We also evaluated Power BI and Qlikview. I'm more comfortable with Tableau, it's user-friendly.

I would rate Tableau a nine out of ten. 

It's a good thing that I'm able to visualize my raw data. In the next release, I would like to be able to have the option to see more raw data that I'm converting on the dashboard.

Public Cloud