Tableau Reviews

We primarily use Tableau for reporting and visualization. Visualizations are important to us.

My role is primarily concerned with financial planning and financial reporting. 

It is very easy to create dashboards, charts, and graphs.

The Hyper Extract functionality is not as strong as that provided by Microsoft SQL.

Tableau is not as strong as Oracle OBIEE in some regards.

We have been using Tableau for six years, since 2014.

Tableau is quite stable.

The scalability of Tableau is very good and I don't have an issue with it.

I have not dealt with technical support personally. We have a specific person that communicates with them.

We also use Microsoft BI and Oracle OBIEE for reporting. I think that Tableau's features are much better than those of OBIEE and although Microsoft BI has better performance, Tableau is still the one that I like the best.

Tableau is much more expensive than Microsoft BI.

The initial setup is not complex. This is one that I can set up on my own, unlike a solution such as EnterprsieOne, which I cannot.

The professional version of Tableau is quite expensive. This is in comparison to some other products, such as Microsoft BI, which is only $110 per year.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

It’s good for quick visualization and being able to quickly consume unstructured data to play around with. This is good way to show a demonstration/prototypes of dashboards and scenarios for design discussions on reporting requirements or to show what the data is telling us when it comes to features of data integration, OLAP services, data mining and extract, transform, and load (ETL) capabilities.

Good for adhoc visualization of an unstructured dataset which comes from other sources outside of source systems that you can overlay on top of the structured data and you have to get a quick visualization dashboard prototype going. It helps with the Agile design build and can be used in our current operations analytics work to overlay multitude of data sources that we know of. Can always work offline, which is nice. It’s good for organizations with very limited staff to do quick report builds and dashboards that can be put on our SharePoint site for sharing or on reports when responding to data caps. I use it a lot for design discussions so I can communicate the gaps in data sources for data exchanges or to generate a storyboard prototype of how the data is to be used in visualization but where we need to have data exchange/ETLs on.

It is good for its use if ad hoc, offline, or needed for quick turnaround on reports/dashboards. It is not so great when it comes to data exchange/integration, data mining, etc. I rely on what’s available in current versions to see what APIs and plugins that I can use and they have Open Source on GitHub is a plus to share things to re-use.

Room for improvement is more on data integration features that are agnostic to any solution platform but can be plug and play to be able to reuse what was built out Tableau in any other platform of work.

Over five years, and the past three more for integrating the use of a similar family of tools where Tableau is one of a few options in our environment, where these services are considered for quick-hit items as needed, given time, dollars, and analyst skills.

No.

Yes, see other answers. Scalability per user defined elements are okay but not so much for enterprise wide reuse. Per license cost can have some work done to it to make it more affordable on the recurring maintenance end of things. I would like to see more subscription based models.

I don’t have to use it much since I can get much of this through current site materials and social media blogs/videos.

I didn’t switch. It was just a matter of seeing where Tableau makes sense as a service to use in our environment, which is for the simpler, not so complex, but quick turnaround. Worked with other technology stacks that are similar, like Information Builders, SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, SAS, MicroStrategy, IBM, Salesforce, Qlik, etc. I find Tableau the easiest on visualization and its license model straightforward. But when it comes to scaling to other interoperation work, not so great on the wizard template, to do data mining/exchange. It doesn’t have that robust analytics and intelligence self-learning feature that comes with other tools.

It’s straightforward, like any typical software. You have just got to understand what the various versions of API and plugins and what they can do. Though I have noticed that there were situations where it was said it was able to do things, but not until a later version. It needs better communication on that front.

License small scale and run with it to get a business case going on its use. Give the licenses only to those analysts you want to do quick turnaround visualizations and those that know the data sources/data (those that don’t will just have access to tool and that compounds a problem with giving you something nice to look at but no meaning behind it, which I wouldn’t recommend). Look to existing platforms of one’s current BI environment and see if you can have a server license which can reduce the per user licenses.

I wish there was more of a subscription model with the pricing when it comes to Tableau, so you can get all the latest version upgrades/features if you pay monthly/annually, rather than buy straight up licenses that you lock to a baseline version and have to pay for upgrades later on. It limits how many users you can get on the thing, and it's not like you will use it all the time.

Yes, we did an alternatives analysis of all the product line options against our criteria of need in our environment, where recurring cost, time to implement, and other interoperation, security, platform scalability, architecture, etc. factors play a role. The majority were mentioned above.

We always have the latest versions of Tableau (part of the package deal), so we can have the latest in APIs and integration hooks and plugins needed across our platforms of OBIEE, SQL, etc.

Tableau is good for quick visualization once you have the data, but not such a great interoperable tool or getting to multiple sources without a lot of work and know-how. Good for pulling in unstructured data and doing quick reports/prototypes. Does require some stronger business analytical skills rather than your novice user (and technical with regards to use of API and plugins).

If new to the analytics/BI market, use it, as it's good for getting you jumpstarted to understanding your data/data sources and to envision what you can use the data for. It's a good starting tool for that. If more advanced or need it for interoperation, I suggest looking to see how it fits with your current environment and determine where best to use it as it shouldn’t be your only option as the features are not robust enough to scale for everything.

Three years ago, Viber didn't have any visualization tool to present its massive data inside the company. One month after implementing Tableau, inside Viber we were able to understand much better the business, opportunities and technical problems.

• Drag and drop: It's easy for beginners to use Tableau as it's very intuitive and simple to create insights.
• Quick table calculations: There are some best-practice shortcuts for tables, which means Tableau can be implemented very quickly.
• Data Connectors: Tableau has many different connectors for different databases. It's very easy to connect to MySQL, SQL Server, Amazon EMR, Presto, Redshift, BigQuery, and so on. Just name it and they have the connector; the work they do is very impressive.

Data science: Tableau lacks machine learning algorithms that you can implement using R, SPSS Modeler, and Python. It has clustering and time-series forecasting abilities which are helpful, but adding machine learning capabilities like decision trees, CHAID analysis and K-means would make this product perfect! Tableau has a connector to R; you can use the ML algorithms there and visualize it back in the Tableau.

Previous versions suffered from instability but that has been fixed in later versions. The current version has no issues with stability as far as I can see.

Tableau is not scalable on the desktop version. On the server version, you can scale it by adding more machines and configuring Tableau to use all of them.

One of Tableau’s secrets is that they have one of the best tech support in the world of BI. The community of developers is great, with a lot of contributors; very nice and helpful – for beginners and professionals.

In the past, I used QlikView as the BI solution. It's also a great tool with many features and great support. The problem with QlikView is that it's expensive and it takes longer to implement inside organizations.

It's very simple and quick to implement Tableau in an organization; you can have helpful dashboards in a matter of hours.

Tableau pricing is low compared to other solutions that are in the market; for small-medium businesses, that would provide good cost-effectiveness. For big business, Tableau could be expensive as having a lot of Tableau server users (entering with a browser to reports) could be a bit expensive.

We compared Tableau to QlikView, Panorama Necto and TIBCO Spotfire. We evaluated them by:

• Price
• Ease of use
• Speed of implementation
• Use-case visualizations

Don't visualize more than 2M data points in a report. Use extracted data and not a direct connection to the database; it will run faster. Don't use too many sections in a report; 3-4 at most. Make most calculations during the ETL process and not in Tableau; every calculation that Tableau does will make the report go slower.

Our clients from different industries use Tableau for data visualization purposes. 

Tableau's most valuable feature is its ability to connect with various data sources and display real-time data on three different dashboards. It stands out in handling and utilizing data compared to other products like Oracle BI.

There should be stronger data modules for the platform.

We have been using Tableau for the past one and a half years.

The platform is relatively stable. I rate its stability a nine out of ten.

The platform is highly scalable. I have five clients, and the total number of users across all clients is around 300 to 400. I rate its scalability an eight out of ten.

The platform's technical support services require improvement. There should be enough support during the deployment.

Neutral

The platform is deployed on the cloud and on-premises. Its initial setup is straightforward. It took about an hour or two to deploy. I rate the setup process as a nine out of ten.

The pricing of Tableau should be better to remain competitive in the market, especially when compared to alternatives like Power BI. By adjusting the pricing, it can appeal to a broader range of markets and attract more customers.

I rate the platform an eight out of ten.

I use Tableau to understand how day-to-day business is going, where the gaps exist, and the KPIs. We use it for target analysis, identification, performance tracking, and financial metrics. 

The features I like most are data manipulation, Tableau Prep, the ability to do manipulation on the desktop, its connectivity to different and vast data sources, the capacity to handle such huge sets of data, and its flexibility to play around and create calculated fields and customized charts. LOD expression is also fantastic. Another useful feature is drag and drop, which means that if you're not into creating data manipulation, data comes very clean and clear to you, and you just have to drag and drop to create a job. This gives an upper hand to the end-user to work on the analytical tool and create their own dashboards. And even on the Tableau server, they can create their own metrics and publish them as a simple dashboard. You can create a view as per your user.

When you're working on a dashboard, you can't select multiple components at a time and align them, so you have to go one by one. This is very cumbersome if you're floating, and it loses in comparison to Power BI, which does allow multiple selections. In the next release, I would like to see an enhancement of the prescriptive analytics features.

I've been working with Tableau for a year and a half.

Technical support is more-or-less fine, though we have had a couple of cases where we weren't satisfied. We have had to ask our senior management to intervene sometimes because the support period has gone beyond fifteen or twenty-one days.

Neutral

I consider Tableau to be the best analytical tool available. It's really handy to use and can be used by non-technical people. For those thinking of implementing it, you can go with Tableau Online if you don't do too much data manipulation on the Tableau desktop itself. Try to keep it in a different layer of Tableau Prep and also make sure that your desktop is not heavy and leverage the features properly because Tableau offers a lot. I would give Tableau a rating of eight out of ten.

Overall, I am satisfied with Tableau.

When compared with Power BI, Tableau is much easier.

The charts need to be improved. The drawings and the visualization need to be more accurate.

I would like to see the visualization improved.

I have been working with Tableau for four months.

I am working with the most recent version.

So far, Tableau has been stable.

I can't say that it is scalable, as I am still learning.

Because I'm taking a data analytics course. I should begin with a product. At the moment, I am our company's only user.

I have not reached out to technical support. I haven't required any assistance. The guide was sufficient. I typed in Google and found the answer to every question I had, whether it was in a form or a guide itself.

Previously, I worked with Power BI.

The initial setup was easy. They have a guide available.

The deployment can take anywhere from an hour and a half to half a day.

I was able to complete the deployment, download, and installation with the help of the guide.

For me, for right now, the price is reasonable. Tableau is free.

You won't have to do anything if you read through the guide.

I would rate Tableau an eight 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.

Tableau is used for reporting time in the dashboard and also for skills in maintenance and metrics. That's pretty much it.

The dashboards are great.

The solution offers very good reporting.

It's a stable solution. We've never had any issues with it.

We have found the scalability to be good.

There are no significant improvements needed. 

It would be nice to include more features on each dashboard. 

I've been using the solution for a couple of years. I've used it for a while at this point.

The stability and reliability are good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution is scalable. It's not difficult to expand it to your needs.

We are a really big company. I'm not sure exactly how many people actually use the solution. In our department alone there are at least 50 users. That's a small team, really. I'm sure it's used extensively globally.

I have not heard of plans to increase usage in the future. 

I don't have experience with technical support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are as I've never been in contact with them.

This product was already in place when I was hired. I'm not sure if something different was used previously.

The installation was handled before I came on board. I was not a part of a process. I can't speak to if it was difficult or not.

It's a hosted solution. We don't need a team of engineers on it from our end.

I can't speak to the pricing. We're a global company. Another team deals directly with contracts. 

I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten based on my experience and what I know.