Tableau Desktop

Score8.4 out of 10

2,320 Reviews and Ratings

What is Tableau Desktop?

Tableau 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.

Categories & Use Cases

Single Sign-On (SSO)
Allows users to use one set of login credentials to access multiple applications
Category average: 8.6
Customizable dashboards
Customizable dashboards are dashboards providing the builder some degree of control over the look and feel and display options.
Category average: 8.3
Multi-User Support (named login)
Named model access means that users have access based on name and password.
Category average: 8.3

Mobile Application
A dedicated app for iOS and/or Android.
Category average: 7.2
Themeable User Interface (UI)
A themeable user interface means that a specific visual them can be applied to it
Category average: 7.4
iFrames
An iFrame is an HTML document embedded inside another HTML document on a website
Category average: 7.7

Verified User

Project Manager in Professional Services (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our company does consulting work for various clients where we customize Tableau Desktop dashboards for them to provide data visualization and analytics (BI/AI) capability

Pros

Connect to multitude of data sources
Provide a wealth of visualization options
Very easy to use interface that’s easy to adapt to and learn
Data analytics provide real business knowledge and translate to value

Cons

Filters could be added at the data source level
Allowing extracts to be used instead of live connections in case live connections are unstable
Eliminate unused fields from showing in an easier manner

Return on Investment

The value we have been able to create for customers using Tableau Desktop has helped us establish our reputation, providing tons of value to our customers via the leverage of visualization and data analytics made possible by the tool
We use Tableau Desktop internally to measure all kinds of business areas, and are making business decisions based on what can easily be seen (and used to be hidden) on our Tableau Desktop dashboards

Usability

Alternatives Considered

QlikView and Alteryx Intelligence Suite

Other Software Used

Smartsheet, BigTime Software, Email to PDF for Outlook

Verified User

Manager in Marketing (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I work in market intelligence and Tableau has solved our problem of data visualization. We use it to create diverse understanding of available data and generate clear view of our sales numbers. It helps us create dashboards to avoid rework on slides and allows us to connect different databases to prepare actionable view of data.

Pros

Data visualization
Dashboards
Forecasting
Combine mutiple data

Cons

User friendly interface
Leas loading time
Less license fee

Return on Investment

Very expensive license fee
Training requirements
Not so good after sales support

Usability

Manidipa Kundu View profile

Data Analyst in Quality Assurance at Gfactors (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I Mainly use Tableau Desktop for my data analysis work. It can connect with various data sources like excel, text files, relational data bases, cloud based data sources like salesforce, google analytics etc. Tableau Desktop helps to create dashboards, predictive modelling, functional data analysis in my profession. I think it has high scope in near future since its continuously building and updating the software with modern days requirements.

Pros

It helps with data visualization with interactive dashboards really well.
It features help with time series analysis which is very fast to explore pattern.
Tableau Desktop can be adapt to various industry application like sales, finance, healthcare domain etc.

Cons

It has less features for advance statistical analysis.
Tableau Desktop is clunky when it connects with python or R via scripts.
Its not user friendly when comes to large data file loading, it can be slow with large data set.

Return on Investment

It has made our analytics work faster. our productivity has increased.
Tableau Desktop is not cheap.
non technical users has high learning curve

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Power BI

Other Software Used

MySQL, Microsoft Teams, Class for Zoom

Karol Kozłowski View profile

Project manager in Product Management at WOLTERS KLUWER POLSKA S A (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Tableau Desktop as an application that presents statistics. The first advantage is that you can group different sources of statistics in one place. The second is that there is a lot of customization. We increased our use of Tableau Desktop after migrating to GA4. GA4 stopped meeting our needs. All departments are stakeholders, but only the BI department actually creates and edits reports. I am one of the stakegolders.

Pros

Grouping data from different sources.
Possibility of personalization.
Service availability.

Cons

Explanations of data (often, after some time, we do not understand our own reports; there is a lack of legend and description functions).
Sometimes the fluidity is not perfect, which makes it not as enjoyable to use.

Return on Investment

It is definitely a positive that we are constantly monitoring data and can share it with a selected group of recipients.
The biggest impact is that we meet and discuss the shape of the requirements for statistics. It allows us to stop and think about the company's overall business goals.

Usability

Other Software Used

Userlane, Miro, Google Analytics, Atlassian Jira

Amanda McCombs View profile

Director Client Operations & Analysis at Usherpa (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Tableau Desktop to analyze engagement and ROI for clients, create interactive and aesthetically pleasing custom reports as requested by clients, and to examine various internal queries relating to sales, retention, churn, and lifecycles. Tableau Desktop saves a lot of time and is easier to use than Power BI.

Pros

Visualization
Interactive dashboards
Joining data tables
Clear analysis
Helpful community knowledge base

Cons

Training on calculations could be more 'laymen' friendly
Date data is very difficult to scaffold when there are days with no data
Included iconography (Shapes) could be much more modern and robust
Should be able to truly update all colors/fonts/backgrounds globally in workbook dashboards

Return on Investment

Retention and lifespan has increased because we're better able to present hard data easily and create recurring engagement reports
A lot of time is saved by being able to easily join tables and create ad hoc reports outside of Excel with much more visually appealing output
We were able to do some in-depth A/B analysis to prove ROI to clients much more effectively
We've saved a lot of money from having to use 3rd party analytics firms due to the accessible nature of Tableau Desktop and abundance of training resources