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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft SQL Server

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database.

    $1,418

    Per License

    Tableau Cloud

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/ATableau Cloud (formerly Tableau Online) is a self-service analytics platform that is fully hosted in the cloud. Tableau Cloud enables users to publish dashboards and invite colleagues to explore hidden opportunities with interactive visualizations and accurate data, from any browser or mobile device.

    $15

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Microsoft SQL ServerTableau Cloud
    Editions & Modules
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Tableau Viewer
    $15
    per month billed annually per user
    Enterprise Viewer
    $35
    per month billed annually per user
    Tableau Explorer
    $42
    per month billed annually per user
    Enterprise Explorer
    $70
    per month billed annually per user
    Tableau Creator
    $75
    per month billed annually per user
    Enterprise Creator
    $115
    per month billed annually per user
    Tableau+
    Contact Sales
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft SQL ServerTableau Cloud
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft SQL ServerTableau Cloud
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Tableau
    Chose Tableau Cloud
    From an analyst point of view, Tableau is the most intuitive tool and it's really easy to use. It's simply the most convenient product and gives the biggest possibilities. Of course, it's more expensive and not all features are necessary for some users. I have chosen Tableau …
    Incentivized
    Chose Tableau Cloud

    My work environment uses both Tableau Online, MicroStrategy & SSRS in parallel. Tableau is much closer to the SSRS in terms of visualization tool where as MicroStrategy is an enterprise data modeling and reporting tool.

    WHY SELECT TABLEAU ONLINE

    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    53 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    27 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    45 Answers
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    22 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    53 Answers
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    25 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    39 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    14 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    45 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft SQL ServerTableau Cloud
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft SQL Server and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Cloud
    7.6
    74 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings7.556 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings8.774 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings6.763 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft SQL Server and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Cloud
    7.6
    74 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.474 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings7.371 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings6.147 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.672 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft SQL Server and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Cloud
    7.8
    72 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings8.668 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings7.567 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings7.655 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.559 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings6.738 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft SQL Server and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Cloud
    7.9
    70 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings8.267 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.366 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.857 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.26 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft SQL Server and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Cloud
    8.4
    69 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.263 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings7.756 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.659 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.87 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.754 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft SQL Server and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Cloud
    7.5
    59 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings7.357 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings7.744 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.851 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft SQL Server and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Tableau Cloud
    7.0
    41 Ratings
    10% below category average
    REST API00 Ratings8.136 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings7.534 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings6.833 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings5.829 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings6.735 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings7.232 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft SQL ServerTableau Cloud
    Small Businesses
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP IQ
    Score5.3 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft SQL ServerTableau Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    8.9
    (76 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    8.6
    (29 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.9
    (26 ratings)
    8.7
    (20 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    8.0
    (49 ratings)
    Data Sources
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    8.3
    (49 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft SQL ServerTableau Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    If you're using Tableau as the primary BI tool, then Tableau Cloud is well suited to publish and share the results with a wide(r) audience. It is well suited for various degrees of self-service proficiency, from pure consumers of analytical work to more advanced users who can use web editing for smaller or larger adjustments, and even for desktop power users who will publish their work to Tableau Cloud. It has many good ways to organize the content and make it easily accessible via search, favorites, folders, collections ("playlists for your data"), or history ("recents"). It might not be ideally suited if there are many on-prem sources to be used (even though there are options to connect them) or if you have very special requirements regarding custom server setup, which is limited in a shared cloud environment like Tableau Cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Easy to configure and use with Visual Studio and Dot Net
    • Easy integration with MSBI to perform data analysis
    • Data Security
    • Easy to understand and use
    • Very easy to export database and tables in the form of SQL query or a script
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • Tableau Online is completely cloud based and that's why the reports and dashboards are accessible even on the go. One doesn't always need to access the office laptop to access the reports.
    • The visualizations are interactive and one can quickly change the level at which they want to view the information. For example, one person might be more interested in looking at the country level performances rather than client level. This is intuitive and one doesn't need to create multiple reports for the same.
    • The feature to ask questions in plain vanilla English language is great and helpful. For quick adhoc fact checks one can simply type what they are looking for and the Natural Language Programming algorithms under the hood parse the query, interpret it and then fetch the results accordingly in a visual form.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition has a high cost but is the only edition which supports SQL Always On Availability Groups. It would be nice to include this feature in the Standard version.
    • Licensing of Microsoft SQL Server is a quite complex matter, it would be good to simplify licensing in the future. For example, per core vs per user CAL licensing, as well as complex licensing scenarios in the Cloud and on Edge locations.
    • It would be good to include native tools for converting Oracle, DB2, Postgresql and MySQL/MariaDB databases (schema and data) for import into Microsoft SQL Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • Can be a steep learning curve for new users
    • Modeling and building algorithms aren't always intuitive and take some testing/retesting to ensure it's working as it should
    • Inability to integrate easily with our HRIS platform. Reports are pulled from HRIS at various intervals and uploaded into Tableau
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    We understand that the Microsoft SQL Server will continue to advance, offering the same robust and reliable platform while adding new features that enable us, as a software center, to create a superior product. That provides excellent performance while reducing the hardware requirements and the total cost of ownership of our solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Microsoft
    SQL Server mostly 'just works' or generates error messages to help you sort out the trouble. You can usually count on the product to get the job done and keep an eye on your potential mistakes. Interaction with other Microsoft products makes operating as a Windows user pretty straight forward. Digging through the multitude of dialogs and wizards can be a pain, but the answer is usually there somewhere.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Based on comments from our clients, I awarded it this grade. Non-technical customers frequently compliment us on the ease with which they can utilize Tableau Online. Usability is rarely a source of contention amongst our customers. Few complaints have come from me as a user of our internal products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    We managed to handle most of our problems by looking into Microsoft's official documentation that has everything explained and almost every function has an example that illustrates in detail how a particular functionality works. Just like PowerShell has the ability to show you an example of how some cmdlet works, that is the case also here, and in my opinion, it is a very good practice and I like it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    I have not had any issues that require customer support from Tableau at this time, which speaks well to Tableau. I have taken an online course with Tableau and it was very professional and well done, so based on that I would assume a similar level of quality for their customer service.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    Other than SQL taking quite a bit of time to actually install there are no problems with installation. Even on hardware that has good performance SQL can still take close to an hour to install a typical server with management and reporting services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    [Microsoft] SQL Server has a much better community and professional support and is overall just a more reliable system with Microsoft behind it. I've used MySQL in the past and SQL Server has just become more comfortable for me and is my go to RDBMS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    In determining whether to go with Tableau Online versus Alteryx, two important factors stood out in determining our go-to solution. First, while Alteryx is an impressive tool for data cleansing, it did not stack up in terms of data visualization capabilities. Tableau, on the other hand, provided us everything we needed in terms of visualizing our data and analytics. The second factor is cost. Well neither solution would be considered cheap, Tableau was the more cost effective solution for our needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Increased accuracy - We went from multiple users having different versions of an Excel spreadsheet to a single source of truth for our reporting.
    • Increased Efficiency - We can now generate reports at any time from a single source rather than multiple users spending their time collating data and generating reports.
    • Improved Security - Enterprise level security on a dedicated server rather than financial files on multiple laptop hard drives.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • When we release new products, we are now able to quickly see data and toggle between current periods and previous to see performance
    • Generating new reports requires less IT time to build
    • Data can be shared across many different device types
    • We now have integration where our customers can extract data from our software more easily-this was a big ask from our customers
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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