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SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) vs. Tableau Desktop

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SSIS

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft's SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a data integration solution.N/A

    Tableau Desktop

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ATableau Desktop is a data visualization product from Tableau. It connects to a variety of data sources for combining disparate data sources without coding. It provides tools for discovering patterns and insights, data calculations, forecasts, and statistical summaries and visual storytelling.

    $1,380

    per year (purchased via a Creator license)

    Pricing
    SSISTableau Desktop
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau Creator License
    $115
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SSISTableau Desktop
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—All pricing plans are billed annually. A Creator license includes Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep Builder, and Tableau Pulse. Discounts sometimes available for volume.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SSISTableau Desktop
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    Chose SSIS
    Alteryx Designer is easier to use for machine learning models. The functionality of drag and drop is the most valuable. It is a very user-friendly tool that can be understood easily. My teams also work with other solutions, such as Integration Services, and these solutions are …
    Incentivized
    Chose SSIS
    I personally prefer SSIS. There are items that each do better than the others, but the ease of use of SSIS, along with its extensibility to 3rd party, ability to write any code required in the tool, and uses the same IDE for the MS BI suite (more of an issue if you're not a …
    Incentivized
    Chose SSIS
    As noted, INformatica has more mature features for ETL, especially with the built in debugger but the SQL Server BI stack allows an integrated solution from ETL, Cube and BI development as well as report development.
    Incentivized
    Tableau
    Chose Tableau Desktop
    In tableau you can achieve things really quickly and it has the power to show you insight data very easily. Tableau is also economical in comparison to what these tools cost. It's a full value tool.
    Incentivized
    Chose Tableau Desktop
    Tableau Desktop is powerful in terms of data sources and dashboarding creation. You can customize and fine-tune your graphics (color, size, text, tooltips and so on). You can make calculations on measures and dimensions. It's also has a cool geocoding function and maps layers.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    84%
    Would buy again
    21 Answers
    93%
    Would buy again
    52 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    24 Answers
    91%
    Delivers good value for the price
    50 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    22 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    55 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    10 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    19 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    44 Answers
    Features
    SSISTableau Desktop
    Data Source Connection
    Comparison of Data Source Connection features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    7.0
    56 Ratings
    18% below category average
    Tableau Desktop
    -
    Ratings
    Connect to traditional data sources9.056 Ratings00 Ratings
    Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL5.043 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Transformations
    Comparison of Data Transformations features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    6.8
    56 Ratings
    18% below category average
    Tableau Desktop
    -
    Ratings
    Simple transformations8.956 Ratings00 Ratings
    Complex transformations4.755 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Modeling
    Comparison of Data Modeling features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    7.5
    54 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Tableau Desktop
    -
    Ratings
    Data model creation9.028 Ratings00 Ratings
    Metadata management6.035 Ratings00 Ratings
    Business rules and workflow7.145 Ratings00 Ratings
    Collaboration9.140 Ratings00 Ratings
    Testing and debugging6.451 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Governance
    Comparison of Data Governance features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    5.4
    43 Ratings
    40% below category average
    Tableau Desktop
    -
    Ratings
    Integration with data quality tools6.238 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with MDM tools4.638 Ratings00 Ratings
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Desktop
    8.5
    175 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.0145 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings9.2174 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings8.1151 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Desktop
    8.5
    172 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.6167 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings8.6170 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings8.1126 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.6165 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Desktop
    8.5
    166 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings8.1155 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.2154 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings8.6120 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.6128 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings8.978 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Desktop
    8.4
    164 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings8.7162 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.6156 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings8.7131 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.87 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Desktop
    9.1
    149 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings9.1145 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings9.1125 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.9136 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings9.110 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.383 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Desktop
    7.9
    141 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.6130 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings7.5101 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.5122 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Tableau Desktop
    Feature
    SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Desktop
    7.7
    67 Ratings
    1% below category average
    REST API00 Ratings8.459 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings7.653 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings6.751 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings8.048 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings7.154 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.448 Ratings
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    User Ratings
    SSISTableau Desktop
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (56 ratings)
    9.1
    (204 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    7.5
    (41 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (11 ratings)
    8.4
    (73 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (11 ratings)
    Performance
    8.8
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    1.0
    (57 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (34 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (115 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.9
    (115 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SSISTableau Desktop
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    As I mentioned earlier SQL Server Integration Services is suitable if you want to manage data from different applications. It really helps in fetching the data and generating reports. Its automation make it very easy and time efficient. It works well with large database as well. But it doesn't work well with real time data, it will take some time to gather the real time data. I would not recommend using it in a real time/fast-paced environment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    The best scenario is definitely to collect data from several sources and create dedicated dashboards for specific recipients. However, I miss the possibility of explaining these reports in more detail. Sometimes, we order a report, and after half a year, we don't remember the meaning of some data (I know it's our fault as an organization, but the tool could force better practices).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Standard ETL use cases for daily loads
    • Loading incoming data from Vendors which is placed on FTP and adding them to the SQL Warehouse
    • Creating outgoing data files and writing them to Vendor FTPs
    • Easy Active Directory integration for seamless connections to SQL Server
    • CI/CD by hosting the code on visualstudio.com
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • An excellent tool for data visualization, it presents information in an appealing visual format—an exceptional platform for storing and analyzing data in any size organization.
    • Through interactive parameters, it enables real-time interaction with the user and is easy to learn and get support from the community.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Connection managers for online data sources can be tricky to configure.
    • Performance tuning is an art form and trialing different data flow task options can be cumbersome. SSIS can do a better job of providing performance data including historical for monitoring.
    • Mapping destination using OLE DB command is difficult as destination columns are unnamed.
    • Excel or flat file connections are limited by version and type.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • Pricing should be more user-friendly and usage-driven
    • Making edits to the production reports is fairly tough and has a vast scope of additional capabilities
    • Tableau Desktop should be able to differentiate itself from the Tableau server else there is no major meaning of two different products being offered
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    Some features should be revised or improved, some tools (using it with Visual Studio) of the toolbox should be less schematic and somewhat more flexible. Using for example, the CSV data import is still very old-fashioned and if the data format changes it requires a bit of manual labor to accept the new data structure
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Our use of Tableau Desktop is still fairly low, and will continue over time. The only real concern is around cost of the licenses, and I have mentioned this to Tableau and fully expect the development of more sensible models for our industry. This will remove any impediment to expansion of our use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    SSIS is a great tool for most ETL needs. It has the 90% (or more) use cases covered and even in many of the use cases where it is not ideal SSIS can be extended via a .NET language to do the job well in a supportable way for almost any performance workload.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Tableau Desktop has proven to be a lifesaver in many situations. Once we've completed the initial setup, it's simple to use. It has all of the features we need to quickly and efficiently synthesize our data. Tableau Desktop has advanced capabilities to improve our company's data structure and enable self-service for our employees.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau
    When used as a stand-alone tool, Tableau Desktop has unlimited uptime, which is always nice. When used in conjunction with Tableau Server, this tool has as much uptime as your server admins are willing to give it. All in all, I've never had an issue with Tableau's availability.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    SQL Server Integration Services performance is dependent directly upon the resources provided to the system. In our environment, we allocated 6 nodes of 4 CPUs, 64GB each, running in parallel. Unfortunately, we had to ramp-up to such a robust environment to get the performance to where we needed it. Most of the reports are completed in a reasonable timeframe. However, in the case of slow running reports, it is often difficult if not impossible to cancel the report without killing the report instance or stopping the service.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Tableau Desktop's performance is solid. You can really dig into a large dataset in the form of a spreadsheet, and it exhibits similarly good performance when accessing a moderately sized Oracle database. I noticed that with Tableau Desktop 9.3, the performance using a spreadsheet started to slow around 75K rows by about 60 columns. This was easily remedied by creating an extract and pushing it to Tableau Server, where performance went to lightning fast
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    The support, when necessary, is excellent. But beyond that, it is very rarely necessary because the user community is so large, vibrant and knowledgable, a simple Google query or forum question can answer almost everything you want to know. You can also get prewritten script tasks with a variety of functionality that saves a lot of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Tableau support has been extremely responsive and willing to help with all of our requests. They have assisted with creating advanced analysis and many different types of custom icons, data formatting, formulas, and actions embedded into graphs. Tableau offers a weekly presentation of features and assists with internal company projects.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau
    It is admittedly hard to train a group of people with disparate levels of ability coming in, but the software is so easy to use that this is not a huge problem; anyone who can follow simple instructions can catch up pretty quickly.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau
    I think the training was good overall, but it was maybe stating the obvious things that a tech savvy young engineer would be able to pick up themselves too. However, the example work books were good and Tableau web community has helped me with many problems
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    The implementation may be different in each case, it is important to properly analyze all the existing infrastructure to understand the kind of work needed, the type of software used and the compatibility between these, the features that you want to exploit, to understand what is possible and which ones require integration with third-party tools
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Again, training is the key and the company provides a lot of example videos that will help users discover use cases that will greatly assist their creation of original visualizations. As with any new software tool, productivity will decline for a period. In the case of Tableau, the decline period is short and the later gains are well worth it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    I think SQL Server Integration Services is better suited for on-premises data movement and ADF is more suited for the cloud. Though ADF has more connectors, SQL Server Integration Services is more robust and has better functionality just because it has been around much longer
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    I have used Power BI as well, the pricing is better, and also training costs or certifications are not that high. Since there is python integration in Power BI where I can use data cleaning and visualizing libraries and also some machine learning models. I can import my python scripts and create a visualization on processed data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau
    Tableau Desktop's scaleability is really limited to the scale of your back-end data systems. If you want to pull down an extract and work quickly in-memory, in my application it scaled to a few tens of millions of rows using the in-memory engine. But it's really only limited by your back-end data store if you have or are willing to invest in an optimized SQL store or purpose-built query engine like Veritca or Netezza or something similar.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Without this, we would have to manually update a spreadsheet of our SQL Server inventory
    • We would also have poor alerting; if an instance was down we wouldn't know until it was reported by a user
    • We only have one other person who uses SQL Server Integration Services , he's the expert. It would fall to me without him and I would not enjoy being responsible for it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • Tableau was acquired years ago, and has provided good value with the content created.
    • Ongoing maintenance costs for the platform, both to maintain desktop and server licensing has made the continuing value questionable when compared to other offerings in the marketplace.
    • Users have largely been satisfied with the content, but not with the overall performance. This is due to a combination of factors including the performance of the Tableau engines as well as development deficiencies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots