20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau | Aventis Blog

More than 50% of the world’s population uses the internet today. The rapid growth of technologies and the need to establish an online presence have resulted in an unimaginable amount of information floating around the world wide web. As companies try to leverage data and increase profits, there is unavoidable competition to convert all this information into useful data.

So why should you learn Tableau and why is there a need to visualise data? Why not use a simple, traditional excel spreadsheet to show the data in specified rows and columns? Well, according to research done in the field of psychology, people tend to gain 90% of the knowledge through their sense of sight. With this in mind, transforming those rows and columns into charts and graphs helps people digest the data accurately and understand data more deeply.

In some cases, particular variations and patterns that were not clear previously become clear and evident. It becomes vital when companies need to make business decisions. Simple pie charts and line graphs can uncover details and patterns that might save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Unsurprisingly, Tableau has found itself in the Leader’s quadrant in the Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms. It’s a chart by Gartner which aims to evaluate the performance of 21 providers who they have deemed most significant. It consists of four quadrants, Leaders, Challengers, Niche Players, and Visionaries. Companies are given spots depending on the levels of completeness of vision and the ability to execute.

Tableau has had a place in the Leaders quadrant for eight consecutive years now, and its only closest competitor is Microsoft. Microsoft offers an entire suite of services while Tableau sticks to one. The situation draws comparison to the saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none”. Microsoft seems to be the jack in this case, while Tableau focuses on doing one job to its best.

Tableau has become the go-to Business Intelligence (BI) tool for most companies around the world. The majority of the Fortune 500 companies use Tableau for their data visualisation. In the Business Intelligence niche alone, Tableau has a 16% market share. The software company raked in about $1.7 billion as of 2020 and forecasters expect this to cross $2 million in 2021.

With that said, here are 20 reasons you should learn Tableau.

1)  Increase Your Job Prospects 

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

Whether you are a “fresher” who is right out of college or a seasoned software engineer, learning Tableau as a skill will raise your job prospects. By learning this, you increase your chances of landing a job in a decent company. The recent renewal of the agreement between Tableau Software company with the Government Technology Agency of Singapore will increase job prospects concerning Tableau.

2)  Salary & Career Progression

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

Becoming proficient in Tableau also means earning a higher salary. Data analysts are becoming one of the most sought-after positions in this field. According to Payscale, the role has an average annual salary of S$55K, while Business Intelligence (BI) analysts make around S$44K. BI managers, on the other hand, make around S$95K. Since competition is only starting to increase in this field, analysts also find themselves most likely to get promotions.

3)  Large, Well-known Companies Understand The Importance of Learning Tableau

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

Most of the well-known companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Uber, Paypal, and Rakuten (to name a few) have openings for Tableau Developers regularly. To put it simply, most of these companies feel like there are never enough analysts available. By learning Tableau, you increase your chances of getting noticed by these global companies.

4)  Diverse Job Roles

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

Whether it’s Tableau Developer, BI Developer, Junior/Senior Tableau Data Analyst, or a Tableau Consultant, there will always be a job role that fits you perfectly. Unlike many other technologies that might stagnate in job roles, Tableau offers a wide array of job role possibilities that continue to increase. By following a career path in Tableau, you will expose yourself to various roles in the field of data analytics and visualisation.

5)  Prepare Yourself For The Future Economy

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

As the world dives deeper into a massive data influx, the economy is bound to change. By learning Tableau and preparing yourself for this shift, you are safeguarding your future while ensuring that you will be providing value even when situations change. As Singapore embraces Big Data, it would only make sense that you do too and work towards honing such a skill.

6)  Tableau Has Better Data Integration

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

With the help of data blending, a feature released in Tableau 6.0, users were able to now mix data from different sources to create eye-catching and insightful charts and graphs. This seamless data integration is one of the most talked-about features of Tableau. The data blending taking place here is possible with the help of one primary and many secondary data sources.

Check out this whitepaper that talks more in detail about this.

7) Tableau Has Better Alteration/Data Manipulation

Tableau offers many nuggets of features within the tool that make data alteration and manipulation. Whether it is groups, filters, joins, sets, or parameters (to name a few), Tableau has found solutions to all issues relating to data transformation. Although Tableau serves mainly as a visualisation tool, a service like Tableau Prep provides functionality for it to perform as an Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) tool.

8) Tableau Can Easily Visualise Large Amounts of Data 

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

If you consider everything, Tableau seems to be the holy grail when it comes to data visualisation. The effortless ease with which users can produce appealing dashboard speak volumes about how well thought out Tableau is as a tool. No matter the size of the data set in question, Tableau manages to impress developers and users time and again with its ability to deliver top-notch dashboards that produce high-level insights.

9) Tableau Can Manage High Amounts of Data

Tableau works on a framework that can withstand the analysis of high amounts of data. Given the transfer of data within each company at any given time, this becomes the need of the hour. With the ability to pause auto-updates, handling large datasets becomes a piece of cake.

10) Tableau Organises Your Data Well

Tableau offers users the ability to organise the entire data visualisation and analysis process in a compartmentalised fashion. This clear distinction helps even beginners with no technical or programming knowledge get past highly likely hurdles as they navigate their way through this tool. The data panel gives users the provision to organise times into folders. These items can be either parameters, sets, or fields.

11) Tableau Does Data Visualisation in An Interactive Way

If you had to describe Tableau in one word, “interactive” would be the perfect fit. Right from the interactive wizard to its well thought out layout, everything about the Tableau interface screams interactive. The learning curve for Tableau is much less steep compared to a lot of other tools available in the market.

12) Maps & Geo Now Supported in Tableau

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

Another feature of Tableau that is underrated is the ability to analyse geospatial data. With the help of geocodes, Tableau users can now plot and analyse data on a map. It breathes new life into your data and helps visualise data that would have otherwise been very complicated to represent. With 16 levels of zoom and a wide variety of maps to choose from, the possibilities are endless.

13) Tableau Can Connect To New Data Sources

With the help of Tableau Server, users can now share workbooks easily without having to worry about other issues. Tableau provides the functionality of connecting to a wide range of data sources. Gone are the days where you could only work with .csv files. Tableau supports connecting to multiple different file types. Tableau Public offers a limited set of file types, which is more than enough for beginners. Since 2019, the Tableau Catalog has been made available on Tableau Server and Tableau Online, which allows users to connect to both published data sources as well as databases from Tableau Server.

14) You Can Perform A Cluster Analysis in Tableau

Cluster analysis has always been a vital part of data analytics and this has never been easier since it was made available in Tableau. With the help of clustering, it has become easier to understand how similar groups are depending on the parameters we choose. Clustering has become a pivotal part of analytics and visualisation in Tableau.

15) Tableau Has Data Filtering

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

The ability of Tableau to filter data has various benefits. Right from cleaning the data and removing unnecessary dimensions, to analysing data based on certain conditions, this tool provides a ton of flexibility when it comes to what data undergoes analysis. Tableau offers not just to developers creating the visualisations, but also for the end-users. Data filtering has a positive effect on the overall efficiency of the data analysis process.

16) Merge Separate Data Points with Tableau

Tableau also allows for flexible plotting with the help of merging separate data points. By using the dual-axis functionality and the ability to have multi-dimensions, users get the provision to plot multiple fields on the same graph. It, in turn, translates to having different and separate data points in one go.

17) Tableau is Affordable

Tableau offers different packages to suit a wide array of purposes. From personal to commercial use, they have it all. Considering the features you get and the depth at which data analysis and visualisation are possible, the price is more of an investment. For individuals, a monthly subscription costs about $70, while for teams and organisations, Tableau offers more customisable options to fit their particular use-case.

18) Tableau is Easy to Learn

Tableau has a very intuitive design that prevents beginners from overwhelming themselves. The simplistic design feels natural and takes very little time to learn. You do not necessarily need to have a degree in math or statistics. If you have a decent idea about college-level math and statistics, working with Tableau becomes simple. And if you find a reliable Tableau course, the job becomes easy.

19) Tableau Has A Free Version

Though the tool in all its glory is not free, Tableau understands that not everyone might be ready to pay. Hence, they have a service called Tableau Public that allows you to enjoy all its features minus a few like local storage and particular file support. This version is perfect for data enthusiasts who are just beginning their journey with Tableau.

20) Tableau Courses Available

learn tableau, 20 Reasons Why You Should Learn Tableau

Tableau has a team of dedicated developers who work on the platform to enhance the overall experience. With regular updates and quick bug fixes, Tableau has become a crowd favourite. Tableau also has a large and active community, which makes the learning and use of the application more accessible and fun. To make this even better, it is growing exponentially by the day, as more people join the Tableau culture.

Tableau continues to strive towards eliminating potential flaws in the system. While some might argue that Tableau costs too much, it is more like an investment. They even offer free versions of the same (Tableau Public) with limited capabilities. The software, though intuitive in its own right, does have a slight learning curve. It can prove to be quite a time and resource-intensive training.

There is a wide variety of resources available online for learning Tableau. Considering that building your foundation is vital in mastering this tool, it makes sense to go for trusted and reputed resources for your Tableau course.

Conclusion

There are many reasons to justify Tableau being your best tool for data visualisation. Its extreme flexibility and versatility have made it a staple around the world, and specifically in Singapore. Given the government’s keenness to encourage Tableau, it only makes sense to upskill in this area, so that you have the edge over your competition. If you plan on increasing your employability, this is your best chance.

There is enough evidence to back the fact that Tableau is an emerging technology that still has untapped potential. By honing in on a skill such as this, you are setting yourself up for success. Enrol in a Tableau course as soon as possible.

Check out Aventis Learning Group’s Tableau CourseData Visualisation Using Tableau For Beginners and start mastering a tool that stands to transform the world. Get learning and kick-start your career today.

For more information, you can reach out to us at (65) 6720 3333 or training.aventis@gmail.com