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IT Manager at Glovis Europe
Real User
Enables you to make a dashboard for internal users and generate KPI reports
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is that we can integrate with our own database, and it will displays the KPIs. This is highly required from the business side."
  • "It's already using 32 gigabytes of memory, but the performance is not so good. It's very heavy."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Tableau to make a dashboard used by our internal users, and then it is being used for a KPI report. This part is also shared with our customers. The customers access the web, and they check some limited version of the KPI report.

We are using the Tableau server for clients and desktop. The solution is deployed on-prem. We are kind of a 3PL provider, and we are using Tableau to meet the requirements of our customers. We are implementers.

How has it helped my organization?

We introduced Tableau because it provides many features that can be customized by users. We provide training to make the dashboard look how our business side wants, and they are manipulating the dashboard for their needs.

On the technical side, we are IT support and sometimes we provide some education and information on how to use the solution.

I think it would be much better if Tableau provided some API-based integration. I did try to integrate the Tableau web page and web dashboard into our own application. Some parts were successful, but other parts have some open points. If Tableau provided this kind of package with some integration, it would be much, much better.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is that we can integrate with our own database, and it will display the KPIs. This is highly required from the business side.

What needs improvement?

An improvement would be changing the design of the layout of the dashboard from the business side. Sometimes there are requests for the possibility to enhance the performance and the data depending on what they need more of. It depends on the situation.

Buyer's Guide
Tableau
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Tableau for about four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's already using 32 gigabytes of memory, but the performance is not so good. It's very heavy.

We have roughly 20 people using this solution. Most users have the role of logistics operator. Most users are doing their job regarding logistics, and they take more effort to make dashboards.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Currently, we have a strategy to open the reports to all customers, but I think we should develop more business-related skills, not only with the system or in some application terms. Our users do not have enough skills or insights for the dashboard.

How are customer service and support?

We are doing our own technical support by searching the technical Wiki or things like that.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup is straightforward because it's a simple concept.

I'm not sure how long deployment takes because this is usually managed by our data engineer. There's no strategy regarding deployment itself. We just make some temporal or test dashboard and then communicate with our users. After confirming, we just announce it with email, and then they start to use it as an official version of the dashboard.

What about the implementation team?

We didn't use an integrator, reseller, or consultant for the deployment. The number of staff required for deployment and maintenance just depends on the case. Sometimes it will be simple, so there are only two or three people to make suggestions. After they apply that, sometimes we officially open it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Basically, we prefer a permanent license. A one-time charge is much better.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't really evaluate other options. Every application provides some concept of a dashboard in using the data in that application. We have our own homemade dashboard and our business application, but users normally don't use it.

I think Tableau has many features for display, like graphs or pie charts. We can change dynamically, but our own dashboard doesn't provide that. It takes much more time if we change the layout there.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10. Tableau has many features, and it's very nice, but it is very heavy. Tableau has to consume a lot of server resources.

It has many options and features but it's complicated. The users are having problems or difficulties to adapt or to learn the Tableau software because there are so many features. The many possibilities means that users should run a lot of it. It takes time to get used to Tableau. From my point of view, it's harder to learn.

For those who want to implement this product, I recommend that they research it themselves.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1621350 - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst at a media company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
A lot of complex visualization features that can make the visualization powerful
Pros and Cons
  • "The geospatial maps representation and the visualizations are nice."
  • "If you wanted to create something without making it an extra column in the data set, you can't just rename it to a more user-friendly short name."

What is our primary use case?

Right now I use Tableau for learning purposes, such as open data sources, trying to learn the various visualizations that can be done on it.

What is most valuable?

I liked the representation of the geospatial map. It was really cool to have that visual and be able to create hierarchies using the geolocation cities, states, just wording those names into appropriate provisions on the map. So that's really something nice. I feel the visualizations come out very pretty.

What needs improvement?

The price is definitely a point that can be improved because smaller firms, like my bank firm, don't use Tableau because it's an expensive tool. If there were an option that catered toward smaller firms, that would be great because Tableau does in fact help with a lot of different kinds of data sources. For instance, it lets you upload CSV on Excel. However, other tools that we currently use, such as Looker, do not let you upload Excel files for ad hoc analysis. So, definitely, this is something price-wise that can be catered toward smaller firms.

Creating variables, creating new fields in Tableau during analysis, actually adds columns to the data. That's something that could potentially give us an option. Do you want it as a column added to the data set or do you want it ad hoc in the visualization sheet? So if you create a measurement or a dimension, that creates a new column, but if you try to create a new filter directly on the visualization, it doesn't let you rename it. Basically what you see is just the calculation that you put in there. If you wanted to create something without making it an extra column in the data set, you can't just rename it to a more user-friendly short name. An improvement would be adding the ability to rename ad hoc creations if you do create a mark or a filter on the visualization. That doesn't really get added to the actual data fields.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Tableau for a few months now as a learning, research activity rather than a day-to-day activity at work. So I primarily was going to a Tableau Public Learning.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

As of now, I haven't had any issues with the stability of the solution. Not any glitches.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Given that it's Tableau Public, I don't feel I could give the right answer to that. However, given that you could share your visualizations on a server without sending a file to people, scalability seems like a good option here.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used their tech support, but I did refer to a textbook to learn how to use Tableau.

Tableau has resources for learning using videos as well.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

My company currently uses Looker, not Tableau. I've been working on Tableau on my own time outside of work, trying to learn their free application, Tableau Public.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was pretty straightforward. It doesn't take much to get it all set up.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Tableau is an expensive tool for smaller firms.

What other advice do I have?

Do take time to learn the solution, because Tableau has a lot of features, a lot of complex visualization features that can make the visualization pretty powerful. I would advise people to learn it completely so they can use Tableau to its full extent rather than just ad hoc simple visualizations.

I would rate Tableau right at 8.5, leaning toward 9.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Tableau
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1160580 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 10
A BI solution with a useful calculation feature, but it would be better if there was more automation
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the calculation feature. I would not say it's such a good feature in Tableau, but if you have the knowledge, you can make that feature visible to everyone. It's not a feature that we can drag and drop and get the information. But whatever the data, whatever the calculation, I'm able to do. It's basically the knowledge base. Whatever knowledge I have, I can make that information public and publish it for management."
  • "Many things have to be improved in Tableau. Right now, we make the calculation, and then we get that information. It would be better if business users could do that. I would ask the people at Tableau to provide that option to business users to get that information in one click. It would be better if they automated some calculations. There should be more automation in Tableau. However, there are many things in automation mode, but it is very limited at the moment. We need automation for people who do not know much about Tableau. It would also be better if there were good community support like in Alteryx."

What is our primary use case?

We use Tableau to make dashboards and valuable information and insights available for management. We are creating some solutions and a dashboard, and people are using it to see the information. We use it globally across 118 countries.

It is basically the manufacturing clients we have all across the globe. They want to measure the production level, how we are getting the product delivered to the customer, and where they are lacking. They want answers to questions like "why are we not getting it up? Where do we need to improve?" They are preparing and analyzing which steps are taking too much time to get that delivered.

How has it helped my organization?

Tableau has helped improve our organization by enabling layman people to use it.

What is most valuable?

I like the calculation feature. I would not say it's such a good feature in Tableau, but if you have the knowledge, you can make that feature visible to everyone. It's not a feature that we can drag and drop and get the information. But whatever the data, whatever the calculation, I'm able to do. It's basically the knowledge base. Whatever knowledge I have, I can make that information public and publish it for management.

What needs improvement?

Many things have to be improved in Tableau. Right now, we make the calculation, and then we get that information. It would be better if business users could do that. I would ask the people at Tableau to provide that option to business users to get that information in one click.

It would be better if they automated some calculations. There should be more automation in Tableau. However, there are many things in automation mode, but it is very limited at the moment. We need automation for people who do not know much about Tableau. It would also be better if there were good community support like in Alteryx.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Tableau for the last three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Tableau has been stable for us.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability depends on your data and how you make calculations. That becomes your scalability. About 20% of all our organizational users are currently using Tableau.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support for Tableau is just online, and they don't have an option where I can call support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used OBIEE Oracle before, but it was very limited. We were moved on to a different solution because we saw it as a better option. Tableau is a better option when compared to OBIEE, and we have been using it for six or seven years. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward for people who are using it at a basic level. The advanced level is highly complex. The implementation strategy depends on the requirements we are getting from the people and the stakeholder. I would say that management is talking to us, and they are asking us to build the solution they want to have in place. They do not know whether it is technically feasible or not, but they know that this is the requirement. 

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution on our own.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In Indian Rupees, Tableau costs about 30,000 to 40,000 per year. 

What other advice do I have?

I would tell potential users that many things are not available in Tableau. Even Power BI is better than Tableau because there are many things that are good for the business. Effective visualization is not there in a Tableau. If I know of a better solution than Tableau, I would surely go for that other solution.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Tableau a four.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Daria Maslovets - PeerSpot reviewer
Analytics Lead/Tableau Integrator at SOFTICO
Real User
Top 5
Real time analysis, reliable, and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support has been responsive."
  • "There are not enough language options. It needs to be offered in more than just English."

What is our primary use case?

Our company uses dashboards to understand how much we can improve the situation, track performance in real-time and help managers react faster to non-obvious things.

For our clients, we carry out system integration, and pilot projects, develop first dashboard layouts, provide system support during integration and post-sales service, and provide training to our clients. The main goal of customers is to understand whether they will get profits in the future or not and be able to influence the situation right now.

How has it helped my organization?

Tableau helps the company to see insights. It will allow profit or loss to be predicted, but very flexible to react to changes.

Tableau's dashboard allows teams to see what's going on at a high level. Our company sells software licenses and it's very important for us to be able to track license expiration dates that may expire in the near future and to be able to contact customers and ask them to renegotiate contracts or to warn customers in time about possible license renewals or additional purchases of new licenses.

Instead of going deep into the CRM in detail, we can do it directly from the dashboards generated by Tableau, saving ourselves time and increasing our productivity.

Other customers can use the solution to check the duration of certain transactions. They can see how quickly they are completing transactions in a call center, for example. They can look at targets and get alerts to help them improve results.

What is most valuable?

Users don't have to wait for monthly reports, Tableau allows users to view numbers to make real-time decisions. It is easy and intuitive to use and has quick access to analytics, high performance even for very big data, and a built-in ETL tool to clean and prepare data.

Both web and mobile versions are supported. Updates take place at least once every three months. We always get the latest version with the latest features.

There is a huge community of Tableau users - 99.9% of questions are answered.

The solution integrates well with Python and R. The solution scales well and it is very stable.

The setup is quite easy and the technical support has been responsive.

What needs improvement?

Despite the number of available interface languages, I would like to see as many languages as possible represented in Tableau. So many companies really want to use this program and it suits them better than any other similar programs, but due to the lack of understanding of English, it is difficult for them to decide to integrate this particular product.

In addition to the existing set of common data types, Tableau Desktop has such a wonderful thing as a union of data on the principle of relationships for Multi-table. This type of union is very easy to work with the data source itself and does not overload the system.

At the moment, this type of union only exists for connections from databases. It would be nice if Tableau added this type of merging for data sources that are on the Tableau Server/Tableau Cloud.

Every three months, Tableau adds new features. There are always new features coming up.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable. It's reliable and has a good security program. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is very easy to scale. The Blueprint methodology shows how large companies can successfully implement and develop it.

We are a small company. Right now we have about eight users of the solution. Part of them prepare analytics and manage the solution on the server side as the analysts, architects, and solution engineers, and the rest are people who use the solution as users, viewers, and explorers.

How are customer service and support?

We have full technical support for our clients. When we get a new client, we provide full support and handle pilot projects. We can also provide dashboards. We have a community for clients that are new to the solution.

Our company would like to improve the culture of data in our country. We're working to provide learning resources and free YouTube lessons to help new users understand the product. 

As a company, we provide Tableau support for our clients. If our company cannot find any solution ourselves, we contact the brand's technical support, and they respond very quickly. Depending on the complexity of the problem, a solution can be delivered within two to three days up to a week.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In the past, I have also used Excel and some Power BI.

In our company we like to say that there is no perfect BI, only the tool that suits you and your goals. Therefore, most companies choose to work with a different set of tools, sometimes combining several different ones. The main thing is that they all work towards your main goal and the achievement of your results.

Despite the fact that the company sells both Tableau and Power BI, we mainly use Tableau.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy. That said, it's best to prepare your system. You need to understand how your system will be able to integrate with it. You also have to understand your data.

It can be set up by one person if it is a small company and he is well versed in the product and in his system. However, if the company is large and the process is complex, then of course a team of several people may be needed to share the integration process between working with server setup, analytics department, and working with clients.

The service can be set up completely automatically. This will depend on the server the company uses and whether additional add-ons for working with Tableau are enabled. Automation makes it easy to check data flows and dashboards, simplifies server operations and monitors errors that occur, and sends alerts or warnings if they occur.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is still quite high for many Tableau customers. That said, the company understands the value the solution provides. That, and the integration process is so much easier with Tableau. Even with the licensing being so high, it is worth it due to the simplicity and finally, they see the financial return of using the product.

What other advice do I have?

I'm an analytics lead. I'm an integrator of the product.

We work with Tableau Cloud and with the Tableau Server.

Make sure you are really ready to integrate with Tableau. That will make the deployment go much more smoothly. Users that are fully prepared will be able to get the most out of it. If they are not prepared, they will not use it to the fullest extent possible. Sometimes you have to change not just the tool; you have to change the entire company's process. The product implementation needs to be considered at all steps, both within the company and for all stakeholders.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
Founder and CEO at Information Age Consulting
Real User
User-friendly and flexible with a good interface
Pros and Cons
  • "The ability of filtering and segmentation of the data makes it very flexible compared to other tools."
  • "I would like to have the product be more flexible in terms of creating online shared dashboards."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for data visualization and data analytics. I normally use it for analyzing data from social media, for social media analytics, mainly Twitter and data from the Twitter API. I use it to analyze what is being said on social media and also to look at the interaction on social media on specific topics. 

I also use it for educational purposes. I analyze the data from student information systems to check about their student progress and provide visualizations about this data.

I create a lot of dashboards, mainly using these tools. 

How has it helped my organization?

Tableau helped our organization to provide our ckients organizations with cloud-based  Data Analytics service. Through using the Tableau's anilities in the field of Data Analytics, and Data Preperation & Transformation, and Data Visualization
we collect, cleanse, transform client’s data and discover insights and patterns in this data. Using Tableau, we help our ckients to improve the way data is utilized to support the decision-making process, enhance strategy implementation, and apply KPI monitoring within the business process. Tableau helped us to provide our clients with data driven decision making power through utilizing high quality  data analytics and vizualization so that they can continue to comply with the standards and best practices in teir field of business.

What is most valuable?

The solution is very flexible. The ability of filtering and segmentation of the data makes it very flexible compared to other tools.

The ease of use is great. It's a good platform from an ease of use point of view. It's easy to use and easy to learn. The learning curve is not difficult to grasp. 

The user interface is very friendly. The onscreen help, and also the resources that Tableau provides, including training videos, a support website, and knowledge base, are very helpful. 

I use the Tableau training portal and I found it very enlightening. It provided me with online training and certifications. I use it mostly for strengthening my abilities in Tableau.  

I like the way it integrates with multiple data sources. The data blending aspect of Tableau, in which I can blend and merge data from multiple sources, is great. I found that the things that I was doing previously, such as using SQL or other tools over the course of hours I can do in Tableau within minutes. Instead of doing my job using SQL with multiple queries and instructions, now I can do it in Tableau in minutes.

Its ability to handle large amounts of data is very important. 

The initial setup is easy.

What needs improvement?

I would like to have the product be more flexible in terms of creating online shared dashboards. When I need to publish a public dashboard, I use Tableau Public. However, I don't find it flexible compared to Tableau Online, which is the paid version. Tableau Public is a free Tableau portal in which I can publish my data, however, Tableau Public doesn't provide the flexibility that I find in Tableau Online. If we compare this with other tools, such as Zoho Analytics, for example, publishing web-based shared dashboards is more flexible, in terms of publishing web-based shared dashboards.

If they can add the feature of machine learning and the predictive analysis to Tableau, it would be very helpful. After Salesforce acquired Tableau, they have been merging Salesforce with Tableau, in terms of machine learning. That said, in this case, I need to use two products - Salesforce and Tableau. I want to have the Einstein tool, which is available now in Salesforce, be integrated into Tableau, so I don't have to use Salesforce for machine learning, to use the Einstein tool, and I can use Tableau for the product. If the Einstein tool for machine learning is integrated into Tableau, that would be very good for us.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for around four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability has been good. In general usage cases, it's reliable andhere are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. But we face some stability (crash or freezsing) and performance (slowness) issue with large datasets especially when we export our Tableau visualization to Tableau Public.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Basically, I'm the one using it. However, others consume what I make. I create the dashboard, I create the analytics, and I give my analytics as a shared dashboard or as reports to the decision-makers and other employees. Normally they consume what I do, however, for the creation of dashboards, creation of analytics, I do the job. I'm the main user in that sense. 

It's very scalable, especially if you choose the online option.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support has been great.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation process is not difficult. It's very easy. When I use Tableau Online, it is given as software as a service, which means I don't need to deploy anything. I just give the username and password, and I use it directly without any issue. For the Tableau Desktop, I need to install the software. It's a very normal installation and happens without any issue.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the implementation process ourselves. It's pretty easy. therefore, we didn't need outside assistance. 

What was our ROI?

The return on investment from Tableau is very high.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing of the solution is very good. We find it much cheaper than other options.

What other advice do I have?

I'm just a customer and an end-user. I have tried several times to have a partnership with Tableau, however, it seems a little bit difficult getting the partnership. This is maybe a negative aspect in terms of having a partnership program. It's not easy to have a partnership or a fellowship relationship with Tableau.

I'm using Tableau Online, as software as a service, and I'm also using Tableau Desktop. I use it on my machine.

I really recommend it for any organization that wants to have data visualization with a tight budget.

I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Director , Business Intelligence at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 10
Good community support, easy to manage, and useful for getting things done quickly
Pros and Cons
  • "Self-service is most valuable. Users can pick up quickly and do the resolution. There are a lot of out-of-the-box features, and it satisfies most of the needs. If users are properly trained, they can deal with any situation."
  • "We need big servers to perform the operations that we are doing. They should probably relook at its architecture."

What is our primary use case?

We have a lot of use cases. We use it for real-time finance dashboard, real-time operations dashboard, and marketing insights.

What is most valuable?

Self-service is most valuable. Users can pick up quickly and do the resolution. There are a lot of out-of-the-box features, and it satisfies most of the needs. If users are properly trained, they can deal with any situation.

The Tableau community is really good. If we have an issue, it is already answered in the community.

What needs improvement?

We need big servers to perform the operations that we are doing. They should probably relook at its architecture. 

There are limitations to the data source that we are building. We can put only 32 tables in a data source, which means we have to transfer some of the workload to a database.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for eight years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability depends on us. It depends on how we are configuring it based on the users' needs and experience. It has nothing to do with Tableau.

We have about 70 active users at any time of the day. Even Tableau was surprised to see that level of active users.

How are customer service and support?

They're good. We have got enterprise support or premium support, so they respond quickly.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to set up. It is also easy to manage. Ours is a huge implementation, and we have five people for maintaining this solution. They take care of user provisioning, dashboard creation, and other admin work.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is more expensive than other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend it depending on the use case. If you have money to spend and want something done quickly, then definitely go for Tableau.

I would rate it a nine out of 10.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Partner at Bambino & Partners
Real User
Tableau Prep is a useful integration feature because I can prepare data in simple ways without errors
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the drag and drop, then the simplicity to build dashboards which allows us to provide more usable data to our customers."
  • "I would like them to include the Italian language, as I can see there are other foreign language in the product."

What is our primary use case?

We use Tableau in my company because we are trying to add another revenue line because we use Quantrix modeler, which is a multi-internal spreadsheet to build our financial models. We had intended to deploy another step of our value chain for our customers, because it is simpler to view the data via Tableau instead of reading across tabs. It's an applet form that can improve the decision-making process.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the drag and drop, then the simplicity to build dashboards which allows us to provide more usable data to our customers. In this version of Tableau (the latest version), the most valuable feature is Tableau Prep, which is a useful integration because I can prepare data in simple ways without errors.

What needs improvement?

I would like them to include the Italian language, even if it's not a problem for me to use English, because the Quantrix modeler is only in English. I can also see there is Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese, so why not Italian?

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is super stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It has a very high scalability.

How is customer service and technical support?

I have not needed to use technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very simple.

What about the implementation team?

I did the implementation for my company.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is good. The price could be higher for the quality of software, so they revised the pricing in this version, and I agree with the price for top version. The top version costs about $70 per month, and the price is cheap for the quality.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did try another platform, MicroStrategy. I spent one year and several webinars on both companies, Tableau and MicroStrategy. I decided to invest in Tableau because of its simplicity; it's more simple to understand and less complicated than MicroStrategy. With Tableau's infrastructure to build a dashboard, I found the perfect instrument.

I also had interest in QlikView, but it did not fit my requirements.

What other advice do I have?

I am very satisfied with it. I would recommend it.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor:

  • Customer care quality
  • The learning instruments provided via webinars and YouTube videos to improve my skills as fast as possible. 
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
(2IC) Senior System Analyst at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Provides the story behind the data giving stakeholders the necessary insights and metrics
Pros and Cons
  • "The ability to deploy is the added ability to centralise the Tableau repository for all Tableau Developers."
  • "We did have issues with Tableau 10.1 server with the brokers failing on heavy load but since moving to 10.2, then to 10.3, this issue seems to have been resolved and the environment is now quite stable."

What is most valuable?

Operations Perspective:

The most valuable aspect of this product is the ease of deployment from the Tableau Desktop to the server, providing the ability to either connect live to a data source or create a cached dataset that can be published and updated separately. The deployment of a Tableau Workbook can even be packaged up and sent to someone with a Tableau Reader installed. This makes the solution very agile and scalable.

The ability to deploy is the added ability to centralise the Tableau repository for all Tableau Developers. We have initiated a central shared directory for each Tableau platform, Dev, UAT, and PROD with each containing subdirectories for each Tableau Site and Project. Being a financial institution we must provide data segregation to comply with legislation and Data Governance policies enforced by brand segregation.

Development Perspective:

Ease of use is the most common call out from the developers. There is a thriving user group online that provides any number of ways to build reports quickly and easily, but the most important ability is to allow the Developer to storyboard the information in a dashboard. Tableau provides the developer a means to provide captions and business information on the dashboard to tell the story of each Workbook. This ability to break down a complex Workbook into an easy to digest narrative provides the business stakeholder a way to really understand and discover the story behind the data giving them the necessary insights and metrics.

How has it helped my organization?

Tableau has provided the organisation a means to allow business people to explore their data at their pace. They can either review the reports online, or on their Tableau Reader or they can download it into other formats for use in data analysis. The key insights and graphic representations through the dashboards has also provided them a quick and painless overview of their current status, whatever that may be.

What needs improvement?

At this stage, we haven’t had any suggestions since moving to Tableau 10.3, so there may be improvements requested further down the line.

For how long have I used the solution?

Six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We did have issues with Tableau 10.1 server with the brokers failing on heavy load but since moving to 10.2, then to 10.3, this issue seems to have been resolved and the environment is now quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is no longer an issue in Tableau 10.3.

How are customer service and technical support?

A nine out of 10. With all first line support, sometimes these support people need to read the question a couple of times before responding, but this is typical of any first line support for any vendor.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are still using another solution. However, this will be shutdown next year due to the decline in development on this platform. The development cycle on this legacy platform has been too slow for any type of turnkey solution and the end result did not provide a proficient self-service capability that satisfied the customer. Performance has been another factor in this platforms decline.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Tableau had been developed with a DevOps lens. I wanted to build a platform that had rigor and a platform with a level of governance of aspects which could guarantee report certification and certainty for the business stakeholder. These processes were carefully thought out even before the product was installed.

Once the process was developed and tested, we rolled out the solution to the business with a migration form for developers to fill out as we needed to meet audit policy guidelines and brand segment legal requirements. We allocated several business people to be software advocates whom were familiar with the migration requirements and liaised with the business to guide them in their approach to using the Tableau solution.

After six years, we can confidently say that any report in production is guaranteed to be correct (within limits) and the data source has been certified for provisioning.

At the time, this did have pushback from the vendor, but we’ve seen the chaos caused in other organisations that we mitigated right at the start.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Buy 50 at a time. Project your use base every three months, and project your requirements forward, so you can meet demand for licenses by having them available.

We have also added the vendor into our internal order system for ad hoc requests that we meet the needs of those that want a license on their own terms.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Actually no. This was a spontaneous purchase by an executive and we basically ran with it.

What other advice do I have?

I’d strongly advise going to the forums, attending the Tableau conferences, and ask questions about governance, report certification, and capacity. These questions and the corresponding answers should guide you on how you would best implement your own solution. We did not want to be dictated to by Tableau to install it as a free for all. We wanted to future proof the product and provide certainty around the reports being developed and deployed to the business.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user651837 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user651837Business Intelligence Applications Team Leader at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User

Good insight into the usefulness of Tableau. Interested in the stability improvements for server at 10.3 as we are looking to upgrade, thanks.

Buyer's Guide
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Updated: October 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Tableau Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.