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Tableau - the better BI tool
Updated May 26, 2016

Tableau - the better BI tool

Paul Morgan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

8

Modules Used

  • All

Overall Satisfaction with Tableau Desktop

  • Clean visualizations that are not cumbersome or dated.
  • Exceptional presence on (windows) desktop, web and mobile (capability).
  • Connects to a variety of disparate data sources.
  • Faster enablement of reporting and analytics than other BI contenders.
  • No OSX support (due 2014).
  • Browser Authoring needs more maturity.
  • Missing some visualizations (coming in 2014).
  • Some of the sorting capabilities on calculated fields are limited.
  • Not great if you're looking for Crystal Reports style static reporting production.
  • Integration with portal systems.
Meets 80% of needs and continues to develop the platform in a way which is conducive to both the business and the industry
  • Rapid Prototyping.
  • Great story-telling tool.
  • Industry Leading visualizations > Customer satisfaction.
If you are looking for a BI Visualization and Analytics tool and have looked at Tibco and MicroStrategy (to name but two), then this is worth putting on the top of your list.

This application is great for displaying BI content on screens but not really best used for the dumb reporting that tools like Crystal do better - however it can do it but it's a hammer to crack a nut.

This application may also redefine how you think of your BI solution. Get the public version and try it out.

Using Tableau Desktop

30 - IT, QA, Product Management, Data Analysts, Modelers
  • Visualizing data from a variety of sources.
  • Creating Reporting.
  • Analyzing and Auditing.

Evaluating Tableau Desktop and Competitors

Prior was Microstrategy.

Tableau Desktop Implementation

Make sure you focus on the data organization. The BI tool will run at the speed of the data....therefore if you have to have joins across multiple data sources of a fair size, these should be connected outside of Tableau in production environments. Alteryx is a great tool for merging data sources and having workflows to support it.
  • Implemented in-house

Tableau Desktop Training

  • In-person training
  • Self-taught
Extensive and beneficial - users have shown great benefit of training and put it to practical use.
Very easy to just paste or insert data and go - intuitive way of creating analytics.

Tableau Desktop Support

Tableau treat us very well and are always ready to listen and engage.
Yes - Enterprise software = premium support.

Using Tableau Desktop

Simple, quick and easy to create simple outputs for the novice; very capable to scale up and get really complex for the expert (Desktop version).
Some quirks around how calculations work need research/training.

Tableau Desktop Reliability

Have seen issues with the vertica DB driver which manifest as errors for the end user.
It performs as well as could be expected; the challenge is making sure the data is organized correctly to optimize performance.

Integrating Tableau Desktop

  • Google products.
  • Updated Census data.
Supported to a degree; there is an API and a means to manually override census data to be more current (requires purchase of data).

Relationship with Tableau