What is Tableau?

Tableau is a versatile software product that can be used to track data from many sources in a strategic manner and deserves a good look from a broad range of companies.

The search for the most optimal business intelligence suite should be based on multiple factors, including the size and complexity level of the company and its operations, as well as the existing in-house technical expertise.

Tableau software can be used for all phases of the business intelligence process, from data gathering and filtering to presentation of reports focused on a particular subject. Tableau has been in the data visualisation market for more than a decade.

What are the chief strengths of Tableau?

This software embodies a healthy mix of simplicity and analytic power, since even the most ambitious projects can be managed without any coding experience. The interface is very intuitive and allows quick access to and analysis of your data. Essentially, Tableau allows access to a range of more advanced data visualisation capabilities rapidly.

Tableau has an excellent compatibility with a wide range of online and offline databases is considered as one of its main strengths as well, which can be especially useful for larger companies that deal with a lot of different data sources. Another commonly cited quality of Tableau is speed – the software is capable of creating instant reports in just a few seconds.

Is Tableau easy to learn?

Tableau is intended to be used by analysts, marketers, finance professionals and business people of various profiles, so its commands are formulated in a user-friendly way that doesn’t take too long to master.

Tableau functions based on a simple drag-and-drop principle, so an average person will quickly learn how to import data and conduct analysis while taking specific factors into account. Data processing is much simplified by Tableau’s ability to organically merge inputs from different sources, so even inexperienced data analysts can create insightful, data-rich and visually impressive business presentations with ease.

For more advanced statistical modelling and data visualisation techniques, it is recommended to use a Tableau Expert or experience analyst with a background in presenting and visualising data.

Why choose Tableau as the primary BI tool

Tableau is very well regarded among the business intelligence professionals due to its power and elegance. It won several industry awards in recent years and is drawing a lot of interest as data analytics comes to be seen as a necessity rather than a luxury.

Since it requires minimal background knowledge, it is a common choice for managers in non-technical professions and smaller companies that lack the sufficient IT expertise to use more demanding products. Finally, its broad choice of charts helps to present data in a format that can be readily understood by employees or business partners. The visuals are slick and can be branded to your company colour scheme, you can quickly add in logos and imagery to give the impression of a custom piece of software or website.

Alternatives to Tableau