Tableau’s Background
Tableau was developed in 2003 as the product of computer science research at Stanford with the goal of improving the flow of analysis and making data more accessible to people through visualisation. VizQL, created and patented by co-founders Chris Stolte, Pat Hanrahan, and Christian Chabot, graphically conveys data by transforming drag-and-drop operations into data queries via a simple interface.
Since then, Tableau has devoted unrivalled resources to research and development, creating solutions to assist anybody working with data get answers quicker and discover unexpected insights.
This involves enhancing the utility of machine learning, statistics, natural language processing, and smart data prep to supplement human ingenuity in analysis. They also provide customers with proven enablement resources to help them adopt and expand a data-driven culture that promotes resilience and value via compelling outcomes, in addition to a comprehensive, integrated analytics platform.
Tableau was bought by Salesforce in 2019, and today, organisations of all sizes, from non-profits to multinational corporations, and across all sectors and departments, are using Tableau to empower their people to create change using data.
So, what is Tableau?
It is now one of the most popular and fastest-growing data visualisation tools in the business intelligence market. It was intended to assist individuals in seeing, understanding, and making decisions with data. In other words, it just turns raw data into a format that everyone can comprehend.
How Does It Work?
Tableau links and pulls data from many sources. It can retrieve information from every platform conceivable. Tableau can extract data from a simple database like Excel or PDF to a complex database like Oracle, a cloud database like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure SQL database, Google Cloud SQL, and several other data sources.
When it is launched, it has ready data connectors that allow you to connect to any database. Tableau supports a different amount of data connections depending on the version you purchased. The data may be connected live or exported to Tableau Desktop, the data engine. This is where data analysts and data engineers interact with the retrieved data to create visualisations. The created dashboards are shared with the users as a static file. Tableau Reader is used by the people who get the dashboards to view the file.
Tableau Desktop data may be published to the Tableau Server. This is an enterprise platform that supports collaboration, distribution, governance, security models, and automation functions. End users get a better experience with Tableau Server when accessing files from any place, whether it is a desktop, mobile device, or email.
For a clearer understanding, data analytics in Tableau can be classified into two sections:
- Developer Tools: This category includes Tableau development tools such as dashboard building, charts, report generating, and visualisation. Tableau products in this category include Tableau Desktop and Tableau Public.
- Sharing Tools: The tool’s objective, as the name implies, is to share the visualisations, reports, and dashboards made using the developer tools. Tableau Online, Server, and Reader are examples of products in this category.
Available Products
1) Tableau Desktop
Tableau Desktop features a robust feature set that includes the ability to code and customise reports. Tableau Desktop is used to produce anything from charts and reports to blending them all together to form a dashboard.
Tableau Desktop connects to Data Warehouse as well as other file formats for real-time data processing. Workbooks and dashboards generated here can be shared either locally or publicly. Tableau Desktop includes two variations, based on data source connection and publication options.
Tableau Desktop Personal: This has the same development features as Tableau Desktop. The personal version keeps the workbook private and restricts access. The workbooks cannot be made available online. As a result, it should be provided either offline or through Tableau Public.
Tableau Desktop Professional: This is nearly identical to Tableau Desktop. The distinction is that Tableau Desktop content may be published online or on Tableau Server. In addition, the professional edition provides complete access to all data types.
2) Tableau Public
Tableau Public was created for anybody who wants to share and tell stories or data with interactive visuals on the web. It operates in the background and allows anyone to produce and publish data without the assistance of any IT programmers. This version was created specifically for low-cost consumers. The term “Public” implies that the workbooks generated cannot be kept locally and must instead be saved to the Public cloud, where they may be read and accessed by anyone. The files stored to the cloud, on the other hand, have no privacy because anybody may view them. This edition is ideal for people who want to study Tableau and who wish to share their data with a wider audience.
3) Tableau Server
Tableau Server is a web-based analytical tool that anybody may use. Because of its faster pace than traditional company software, it is an option that most prefer. It is specially used within the organisation to share workbooks and visualisations generated in the Tableau Desktop application. You must first publish your work in Tableau Desktop before you can share dashboards on Tableau Server. Only licenced users will be able to view the work after it has been submitted to the server. However, licenced users are not required to have Tableau Server installed. To check the reports, they only need the login credentials. Tableau Server also has a high level of security and is well suited for rapid and effective data sharing inside an organisation.
4) Tableau Online
Tableau Online is, as the name implies, an online sharing tool. Its functions are comparable to Tableau Server, except the data is kept on cloud servers managed by the Tableau group.
The amount of data that may be published on Tableau Online has no storage restriction. Tableau Online establishes a direct connection to over 40 cloud-hosted data sources, including MySQL, Hive, Amazon Aurora, Spark SQL, and many others.
Tableau Online and Server both require the workbooks prepared by Tableau Desktop in order to publish. It also works with web programmes such as Google Analytics, Salesforce, and others.
5) Tableau Reader
Tableau Reader is a free application for viewing workbooks and visualisations prepared using Tableau Desktop or Tableau Public. Although the data may be filtered, editing and adjustments are limited. Tableau Reader has a security level of zero, which means that anybody who obtains the worksheet may view it using Tableau Reader.
Why Tableau?
1) Simple to Use
This is Tableau’s strongest suit. It is designed from the bottom up for users with no technical or coding background. As a result, anyone with no prior experience may use this tool to do any task. Each visualisation is so intuitive and self-depicting since the majority of the features are in a drag-and-drop style.
2) Reasonably Low Cost
Tableau is less expensive than competing business intelligence products such as QlikView or Business Objects.
3) Expanding Market
Tableau is still relatively new to the market, so it is expanding on a daily basis. It may be found in practically every business, from healthcare to transportation. It also has a large client base, which includes organisations such as Nokia, Deloitte, Microsoft, and many more.
4) Outstanding Visualisations
Thanks to Tableau’s built-in capabilities, you can build visualisations that stand out from the crowd. You can also move between different visualisations to gain a broader perspective, as well as dig down into data and explore it at a finer level.
Tableau dashboards produce dynamic, interactive results. Images and websites will readily integrate into the dashboard for smart and stunning visuals and charts. The stylish and dynamic dashboard facilitates simple storytelling and provides a comprehensive understanding of the facts.
5) Comprehensive Insights
Tableau can assist businesses in analysing data in the future without any set aims in mind. You may experiment with visualisations and examine the same data from many perspectives. You may frame ‘what if’ queries and deal with data by visualising it theoretically and dynamically adding components for comparison and analysis. When working with real-time data, these capabilities are amplified significantly.
6) Works with a Variety of Data Sources
In today’s data-driven environment, where data may originate from any point and from any disparate source, Tableau has a compelling reason to be incorporated by numerous organisations. It has an advantage over other business intelligence and analytics tools in that it allows you to work by connecting to numerous data sources, data warehouses, and files on the cloud, as well as large data in spreadsheets and non-relational data. It also seamlessly mixes various sorts of data to assist organisations in creating engaging visualisations.
7) Easily handles large amounts of data
Tableau’s greatest asset is its speed. It can handle and analyse any quantity of data in seconds (without affecting dashboard speed). When making a rapid business choice, this tool comes in handy.
8) Simple Publishing and Sharing
After you’ve analysed the data, you can effortlessly publish and share your dashboards and statistics. This is possible on both web and mobile devices.
9) Direct Connection
It enables databases, data warehouses, and cubes to communicate directly with users. This greatly simplifies data access. For example, a user may easily choose tables from spreadsheets, then data from Hadoop, and create a flawless mash-up, resulting in faster results.
10) Compatibility with Other Languages
You can use R or Python to conduct complex table computations while avoiding performance difficulties. Data cleansing operations may be accomplished by importing packages when using a Python script.
What Distinguishes Tableau From Other Data Visualisation Tools?
What distinguishes Tableau from other data visualisation tools?
Tableau is a sophisticated tool that can connect to any sort of database and produces its own queries to handle with large data sets, allowing us to make patterns in seconds rather than minutes or hours with Excel.
It also offers an intelligent dashboard that delivers rapid answers to the most frequently asked queries by users. It also gives a better user experience since it is easier to understand and use, and it has superior integration capabilities with the majority of third-party solutions.
Overall, Tableau is a versatile and beautiful application that should be considered first when adopting a business intelligence tool.
Why Should I Learn Tableau?
Tableau’s capabilities are expanding. It is employed in many fields, including engineering, education, finance, cinema, healthcare, and insurance. You name it, it’s covered.
And like Microsoft Excel, it is becoming an essential part of daily life. It’s also really simple to learn, and the fundamentals are very natural. If you were able to master it, you could create amazing visualisations that would be appreciated.
Read more in our post – 20 Reasons You Should Learn Tableau
Beginner-Level Tableau Training
Add value to your organisation by mastering one of the hottest business analytics tools out there right now, Tableau. This one-day beginner-level training is perfect for professionals and individuals who wish to learn the ins and outs of Tableau and create stunning visualisations and dashboards for presentations and business decision-making.
Data Visualisation Using Tableau For Beginners
