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Tableau Prep

Tableau Prep

Overview

What is Tableau Prep?

Tableau Prep enables users to get to the analysis phase faster by helping them quickly combine, shape, and clean their data.According to the vendor, a direct and visual experience helps provide users with a deeper understanding of their data,…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Tableau Prep has been widely used by users to solve various data-related challenges. One common use case is syncing data between reservoir …
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Pricing

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Viewer

$15

Cloud
per month billed annually per user

Explorer

$42

Cloud
per month billed annually per user

Creator

$70

Cloud
per month billed annually per user

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.tableau.com/pricing/teams…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $15 per month billed annually per user
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Product Details

What is Tableau Prep?

Tableau Prep enables users to get to the analysis phase faster by helping them quickly combine, shape, and clean their data.

According to the vendor, a direct and visual experience helps provide users with a deeper understanding of their data, smart features make data preparation simple, and integration with the Tableau analytical workflow allows for faster speed to insight. Tableau Prep allows users to connect to data on-premises or in the cloud, whether it’s a database or a spreadsheet, and access, combine and clean disparate data without writing code. Easy sharing reduces friction and helps users bridge the gap between data preparation and analytics, for better business results.

Tableau helps people and organizations become more data-driven. With an integrated platform that is easy to start and scale, Tableau supports the entire analytics journey, from data preparation, to deep analysis, to the shared insights that drive the business forward.

Tableau Prep Competitors

Tableau Prep Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Tableau Prep starts at $15.

Alteryx and Alteryx Designer Cloud are common alternatives for Tableau Prep.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 5.3.

The most common users of Tableau Prep are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(29)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Tableau Prep has been widely used by users to solve various data-related challenges. One common use case is syncing data between reservoir engineering software/database and SAP, allowing for seamless data visualization. Users have found this feature particularly valuable as it enables them to analyze and visualize their engineering data more effectively.

Another key use case of Tableau Prep is its utilization by the commercial side of organizations. Users rely on the software to clean up datasets before creating dashboards or running analytics/data science projects. The tool helps identify missing or erroneous values in datasets, empowering users to address these issues before visualizing the data. By ensuring data cleanliness, Tableau Prep plays a vital role in generating accurate insights and visually appealing reports.

Tableau Prep is also employed for preparing data from multiple sources for report generation purposes. This involves connecting various data sources, cleaning up the data, performing appropriate joins, and generating final outputs. With its intuitive interface, users can conveniently explore the data to recognize any quality inconsistencies and create calculated fields for further analysis.

Additionally, users have found Tableau Prep useful for simple data set preparation tasks for analysis in Tableau itself. However, when dealing with more complex data cleaning and preparation requirements, some users prefer using Alteryx, another popular data preparation tool.

Furthermore, Tableau Prep finds extensive usage in finance departments where it connects to live data and consolidates it with budget files to produce clean and categorized outputs for Tableau workbooks. Additionally, the software proves handy in reformatting invoices and organizing them for easy accounts payable entry into the system.

Overall, Tableau Prep serves as a versatile solution for a wide range of use cases, from syncing data between different systems to cleaning up datasets and preparing them for analysis and reporting purposes. Its functionalities are valued by users across various industries and departments within organizations.

Effective Data Synchronization: Several users have praised the product's data synchronization feature, which has been described as effective in keeping data up to date and accurate across different platforms or systems.

Reliable Matching Capability: Reviewers have consistently mentioned the product's reliable matching capability, allowing them to easily identify and link similar data points or records. This feature has proven to be valuable for users in their data processing tasks.

Clear Display of Raw Data: The clear and informative display of raw data coming in from the data warehouse has impressed many users. This feature enables them to gain insights into the initial state of the data, facilitating better decision-making and analysis.

Not as Robust: Some users have mentioned that the product is not as robust as other software on the market, which may limit its capabilities and functionality compared to competitors. They feel that certain features or functionalities are missing or not up to par.

Sluggish Performance: Several reviewers have found the product to be sluggish when making a lot of changes, leading to delays and impacting their workflow efficiency. This slowdown in performance can be frustrating for users who require quick and seamless data manipulation.

Lack of Clear Initial Visualizations: Users have expressed the need for clearer initial visualizations in the product. They suggest that the current visuals provided by the software might be confusing or insufficient for effectively analyzing and interpreting data at first glance.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
[Tableau Prep] is used by the commercial side of our organization to clean up data sets before we create dashboards or run analytics/data science projects. Some of the data sets can have missing or erroneous values and Tableau Prep helps to point out such situations so that we can address them before creating visualizations.
  • Display the raw data coming in from the data warehouse
  • Point out situations that might be erroneous
  • Show the distribution of raw data figures
  • Should allow you to connect to more databases and platforms
  • Allow clearer initial visualizations
  • Run through data quicker
If your data sets are coming in without much stewardship then Tableau Prep can help to clean the data before you start trying to create visualizations for your end users. You will save a lot of time this way - rather than seeing problems once you are creating dashboards. If you don't have large data sets or your data is relatively simple, then Tableau Prep may not be needed.
  • Ability to clean data sets
  • Ability to help us determine if a dashboard can be created
  • Ability to monitor the data feeds we [receive]
  • More efficient dashboard production
  • More streamlined workflow
  • More autonomy with data sets
Tableau Prep is covered in our license whereas Alteryx required additional fees and a separate license. Tableau Prep is similar to Tableau Desktop which a lot of our team is comfortable with so it wasn't difficult to get a feel for Tableau Prep. However, Alteryx would have been a totally new platform.
October 07, 2020

Good basic ETL option

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use it to prepare data from multiple sources for report generation.
  • Clean data
  • Join data files
  • Create calculated values
  • Output to CSV
  • More output options
  • Allow SQL code to input data files for prep
  • Allow row level edits/deletes
Great for pulling in multiple files to combine and clean for an output file for further analysis. Not good if you need to query your database for a data set to review and prep for analysis.
  • Quicker data sets for online reports
  • More efficient data cleaning Ad Hoc reports
  • Costly if using data management to schedule data pull and cleaning (priced per viewer accounts not creator accounts)
Selected Tableau Prep because it came with out Tableau license.
Do not talk to actual person. Just received email support only.
It works well and is user friendly for the basics but needs more options for bring in data (using SQL queries for example) and export format options.
1
Publishing key analytics/KPI for decision makers. Generating data files for various reports and fulfilling data requests by internal and external stakeholders.
1
Data analysis and statistics knowledge would be highly desirable. Understanding of database connections, storage and retrieval, as well as basic SQL.
  • Preparing data files for further analysis/reporting
  • Fulfilling data requests by internal and external stakeholders
  • Visually troubleshooting data file issues
  • As our go to ETL for multiple projects
  • Generating OneRoster aligned files for export to vendor systems
  • Generating CSV files for external stakeholders to match required layouts and field names
  • Unsure
It is a valuable tool for generating and cleaning files for multiple purposes.
No
  • Product Features
  • Product Reputation
Recommended by another local school district.
Broader search to included more vendors. Was up against a tight timeline for purchase decision.
  • Implemented in-house
No
Change management was minimal
Change management was not a part of implementation
  • Setting up connections for scheduling data flows and outputs
Live connections to cloud services (Google Sheets for example) and cloud hosted databases (cloud hosted SIS for example) for scheduled flows are not supported
No
Not sure it's available
No
Not really. Support is via email and their website. I prefer immediate phone support. I typically do not have time to wait for a response.
  • Calculating new fields
  • Changing data layout and field names
  • Joins
  • Remove duplicate records
  • Query database tables
  • Edit single records
No
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have been using Tableau Prep to prepare simple data sets for analysis in Tableau. We do not use it for more complex data but it definitely helps with smaller, simpler data sets. we have most of our Tableau Desktop users utilizing Tableau Prep when needed, but when we do more complex data cleaning and prep we use Alteryx.
  • Easy to use
  • Integrates perfectly with Tableau
  • Can be sluggish when making a lot of changes
  • Not as robust as other software on the market
Tableau Prep is a great software if all you need to do is prep some files and do some simple joins and other simple data prep steps in order to get your data in Tableau shape. However, if working with large sets of data and doing more complex calculations and other more complex data prep, there are better products on the market.
  • Included with Tableau Desktop licenses so, cost effective in that sense
  • Easy to learn
We use both Tableau Prep and Alteryx and, although Tableau Prep integrates better with Tableau Desktop, I find that more often then not I open up Alteryx to do most of my data prep prior to bringing my data into analysis as it is just so much more robust. Not that this makes Tableau Prep bad, it just highlights the missing features. However, if I did not have Alteryx, Tableau Prep would still be able to handle most of the work I need it to do.
I have not really had to reach out for any kind of customer support for Tableau Prep, so I can't really say. However, the support that Tableau has given for their other products has been great, so I would assume it would be the same here. They are also constantly adding new features and providing software updates, and that is always a plus.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Prep in our finance department to connect to our live data (Microsoft GP) to consolidate with our budget files to produce an output that is clean and thoroughly categorized and ready to be used consistently across Tableau workbooks, allowing us to more easily produce reports to be published on our server. We also use Prep to pull in several invoices (for example, cellular, shipping, etc) to reformat the output such that it is organized and clean for accounts payable to enter into our system.
  • Data cleaning.
  • Data exploration/validation.
  • Automated flows.
  • Bug fixes with updates.
Tableau Prep is a great tool for consolidating budget with actual data. When joining sources, it gives you all the insight and transparency you need when joining data sources and any cleaning/aggregation needs to be done. If financial data comes from multiple sources (ex. a budget platform and an accounting software), Prep allows your organization to build a flow to consolidate the two sources so that everyone can open a workbook and begin from the same point. Once flows are built (especially when connected live), refreshing reports can be done with a click of a button. The capabilities Prep has to manipulate, clean and join data goes far beyond what was possible in Workbook. The extracts that are created as a single output allow working with multiple data sources in a single workbook to be a lot smoother and quicker.
  • Quicker invoicing.
  • Quicker updates of financials.
Before Prep, we had to do all the data joining and connecting in a Tableau Workbook. Not only did this cause workbooks connected with live data to run frustratingly slowly, a new connection and set-up had to be established every time a new workbook as created, even if you were working with the same data. The extracts produced by Prep allow several workbooks to be working from the same data set-up without any additional work, saving time and stress.
Because Tableau has such a great and active user-base, most real issues that we face with Prep can easily be solved by searching for your issue on Tableau's support site. There is likely someone else out there who has experienced your issue, and so many willing users out there willing to help share their workarounds. I have never had an issue arise to the point that I need urgent support with a live helper, so I cannot speak on that.
Todd Coble | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We did a pilot to use prep to sync data between our reservoir engineering software/database for forecasts -PHDWIN and actuals in SAP. The prep tool was used to sync the datasets and prepare them for visualization. This was used instead of using Tableau straight to sync the datasets. The outcome of the pilot was that the tool was more robust, but we chose not to do it in order to add more software/tools to the data chain.
  • Sync data
  • Match
  • Repeatable results
  • A stand alone product vs integrated
  • More training of a specialized tool
I think that if the data sets are constantly changing then the value added would be more significant than in our case. If data and schema were constantly changing then the toolset would be much more suited for the case.
  • We found that the ROI did not over come our costs
Tabluea prep was much better than Spotfire for syncing data.
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