Tableau 8.0 Review - Be a Data Rockstar
August 27, 2013
Tableau 8.0 Review - Be a Data Rockstar

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Tableau 8.0
Modules Used
- Desktop
Overall Satisfaction
Pros
- Tableau is a very well rounded tool for creating action based analysis and visualizations of data against multiple datasets / data types. It is a much more user friendly interface for people with varying levels of software and analysis experience. Much more so than many other tools on the market. Tableau is click and drag whereas others require knowledge of SQL, ETL and Database administration. Not to say that you can't take Tableau to the next level by employing SQL scripts and ETL tools but it's not necessary. Tableau can analyze data in Excel or Access as well as be pointed to enterprise database solutions like Oracle or SQL Server. It can even be pointed to the cloud and analyze things like Google Data. It can crunch through giant data sets with no issues whatsoever. The visualization graphics and maps are excellent. We've had "bake off" sessions with other tools like QlikView and you can churn out things in Tableau in a third of the time as someone else using QlikView.
Cons
- Nothing that I have seen. I've used it in many capacities for both reporting internal to an organization as well as publishing interactive reports and analysis out to customers for their own analysis.
- Much of this is confidential to our business, but there is a definitive savings in man hours in regards to the amount of time it takes to create advanced action based visualizations of logistics, inventory and forecast data. It is easy to use the tool to pick out visual patterns where there may be issues with shipping lanes, carriers, item inventory or sales spikes etc.... Those all have monetary impacts to them.
Product Usage
2 - Logistics, Demand Planning, Inventory Management.
- Analysis in the areas of: Logistics, Forecasting, Demand, Sales. There's no data Tableau can't visualize in a meaningful fashion
Evaluation and Selection
Used to use MS Excel for charts and graphs. MS Access for joining datasets and conducting analysis. Had the option of using QlikView but based on my past experience with Tableau and QlikView, Tableau was a more well rounded tool for analysis and visualization against multiple datasets / data types and it is a much more user friendly interface for people with varying levels of software and analysis experience. Tableau is click and drag whereas QlikView requires more knowledge of SQL.
QlikView, Cognos, Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE)
Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Training
- Online training
- In-person training
- Self-taught
It's not difficult to learn if you have some experience with reporting and analysis tools however it helps to sit through a few basic on-line tutorials or go to a live class. The learning curve is not very steep.
Configuration
Does what you need out of the box.
Support
No - Not needed.
Usability
Reliability
Integration
- Oracle and SQL Server.
Comments
Please log in to join the conversation