Tableau Reviews

We use it for consulting and teaching purposes. We teach data science, and we use a data science tool. Most of the time, we use open-source tools, but we have also started to use some proprietary tools, such as Tableau. We will also explore other data science tools such as SPSS from IBM and SAS. 

We are using Tableau to teach students. We create a story on the data and teach them what kind of visualizations are more appealing to clients. The focus is on storytelling and what kind of visualizations are relevant for a specific business situation. 

We are using the latest version of Tableau, and it is deployed on my desktop.

From the data science point of view, we use it for model building purposes. For example, if we are using it for a bank and we want to understand how much loan the bank can provide, we can use visualization to show the educational qualification, salary, gender, and city of a customer, and by using this information, we can arrive at the loan amount that this person is eligible for. I can also use it to view all prospective customers, so essentially, this is going to help me in model building as well as in understanding and segmenting customers and doing forecasting and predictive analytics. 

We use model widgets, and we can create thousands of visualizations, such as motion charts and bubble charts. We can also create animated versions of the graphs and view the data from multiple dimensions. These are the features that we typically use and like.

I have used Power BI as well as Tableau. There are a couple of interesting features that I like in Power BI, but they are not present in Tableau. For example, in Power BI, if I am looking at country-wise population, I can type and ask for the country that has the maximum population, and it will automatically give an answer and address that query. This kind of feature is not there in Tableau.

Similarly, in Power BI, for integrating with the latest ML algorithms, we have decision trees and primarily multiple machine learning algorithms. The decision tree essentially visualizes the patterns in the data. We don't have such a feature in Tableau. If Tableau can integrate with the machine learning algorithms and help us to do visualizations, it would be a wonderful combination. Most of the people are going for Tableau primarily for visualization purposes. However, in the data science industry, users want to do model building as well as tell a story. As of now, Tableau is fulfilling the requirements for visualization purposes. If they can bring it up to a level where I can use it for machine learning purposes as well as for visualization, it would be very helpful. Many people who want to do data science don't want to write a code. Tableau is anyway a drag and drop tool, and if they can provide those options as well, it will be a powerful combination.

I have been using this solution for four to five years.

If I'm going to upload data of more than 10,000 records, then it might be unstable. With 10,000 rows and more than 100 columns, it really becomes shaky. However, this could also be because of the local infrastructure. For example, if I am using Tableau on my local machine with 4GB RAM, it might not be suitable.

There has been no need for scaling. We are actually connecting to an Oracle Database or SQL Server database, and we can take whatever data we require. We have 40 people who are using this solution in our organization.

We never took help from their technical support. We have experience in data science, and we know what kind of configurations are typically helpful. 

Its initial setup is very simple. We get the Tableau license code, and with a couple of clicks, we can set it up. It doesn't take more than two minutes to install it on our machine.

We implemented it ourselves. It doesn't require any maintenance for the purposes for which we use it. We use it for consulting and teaching purposes.

Its price is reasonable. Everything is included in the license.

Tableau is a wonderful tool, but you should know the proper methodology of using it and the specific situations for which it is helpful. This is very important. For example, we can use a knife to cut vegetables, but it can also cut my hand.

One should be able to understand the visualization that you are constructing in less than 30 seconds. Otherwise, the visualization doesn't meet the purpose. This is the benchmark that I have set myself.

I would rate Tableau a nine out of ten.

The dashboards give us metrics around the sales of our company. Most are sales reports to let us know how we're doing across different account managers, as well as how we're doing according to our forecast and plan.

The most valuable part of the solution is the general dashboard features. We schedule the dashboards to be refreshed and re-calculated, so they're not live connections but cached dashboards.

With Tableau, when you're dealing with very large datasets, it can be slow so the performance is an area that can be improved.

The security can be improved.

We have been using Tableau across the enterprise for approximately seven years.

We don't have any complaints about stability.

Scalability-wise, Tableau has met all of our needs. Across the organization as a whole, we probably have more than 1,000 users. There are probably 50 power users, who create their own dashboards and reports.

The consumers are sales executives, senior management, C-level, and HR. There are a lot of job categories that use the reports.

The technical support has been pretty good and we haven't had any major complaints about it.

We are currently using MicroStrategy along with Tableau. We began with MicroStrategy, and all of our reports were on it. We had been using it for about 15 years. Tableau is much easier to develop in, so with MicroStrategy, you needed more of an architect to manage the metadata. Because Tableau is a lot simpler to implement, we've been able to train people to do their own reports, so it's much better from a self-service perspective.

Security-wise, Tableau is not as robust as MicroStrategy.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward.

We initially had a third-party vendor come in and help us with the setup. They led that effort, but since then, we've managed the environments ourselves.

We have an in-house team that takes care of maintenance.

Tableau is not as cost-effective as Microsoft BI.

We are thinking about switching to Microsoft Power BI from MicroStrategy and Tableau. Cost is a factor that is driving us toward the Microsoft solution.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use this solution to process and create reports for management. 

Within our organization, 10 people in marketing use this solution.

With Tableau, we can create our own reports which in turn, saves us tons of time as we don't have to wait for IT to do it.

Tableau is easy to use and it has great predictive features. 

It would be nice if we could export more raw data. Currently, there is a limit as to how much data you can export.

I have been using Tableau for roughly three years.

Tableau is very stable.

The technical support is pretty good.

The initial setup is quite straightforward. It's not too complex.

We deployed this solution on our own.

The price of this solution could definitely be lower. It's quite expensive. We're on a monthly subscription — I am not sure exactly how much we pay.

Tableau allows us to go deep inside the data — other solutions, like Excel, don't allow you to do that.

As a BI tool, I would give Tableau a rating of eight out of ten — it's one of the easiest BI tools available; however, it's not that easy to manage orders. It's really user-friendly for individual users, but it may not be suitable for large organizations.

Tableau is very good in the front-end visualization compared to Power BI.

The look and feel of Tableau are the best when compared with Power BI.

Power BI meets with my expectations but the wow factor is in Tableau.

An issue that is common to both Tableau and Power BI is with large data sets. When it comes to large datasets, the data should be extracted faster.

Tableau should offer the end-user a desktop version that is free where they can go in and practice. There are other solutions that offer it for free such as Huawei, and the desktop version of Power BI is also free.

People tend to know if they want to learn visualization. They don't have a proper tool in place, they don't know how to or where to go to learn. If you give them the tool to learn and let them explore when they want to go into production, people are able to purchase the license. A 14-day trial version would not be enough time.

If they want to be competitive in the market, the price must be improved.

They should allow more than a 14-day trial version. It should be a longer duration otherwise no one will want to learn it.

Tableau is $35, whereas Power BI is only $9.90. Tableau is not competitive and should reduce its price.

SQL is the most important. Writing SQL queries is very important and that's the first foundation I would recommend for any juniors to start.

If they're not very strong in SQL then they will not be able to write the functions for both Power BI and Tableau. SQL is the foundation for anything.

I would rate Tableau a seven out of ten.

I am into a new healthcare domain. I publish my dashboards and my audience are the providers.

I am not well-versed with the latest 2020 version of the solution, but I have heard that it has made parameters dynamic. For example, when we are publishing the dashboards, if we want the dashboards to be set as a default as the previous month, we do not have to modify it again and again. It can republish month after month using an assigned default. This will save me time from not having to redo the dashboard all the time. The dynamic parameters are amazing in Tableau, it has been improved in the latest version.

I love the customization skills that Tableau has, it is not restricted to what is built-in already. We have many customizable options and they come out to be very fancy and beautiful charts. Also, I like the extract feature that makes my dashboard run faster. The low-level security that Tableau handles works well. This solution is user-friendly and suitable for any type of user. Lastly, the dashboard and reports are very user-friendly to navigate.

This solution has some features which really needs to be improved. For example, the sorting feature, If we compare it with ClixSense, ClixSense has a direct sorting feature available to users. Wherein Tableau, we have to go and create a parameter, make it dynamic, force users to click somewhere else on the filter, and then maybe you can sort it. Tableau is really new for sorting features.

With performance tuning, it generates a pretty complex query when it is not required. We do not actually write 100 lines of code for a single KPI indicator. What we do is run the performance tuning model which will give 100-200 lines of code for a single KPI. That is not exactly an optimized query. While running performance tuning on the query, it should be pretty optimized, but it does not seem to be doing this.

I have been using the solution for three years.

The solution is fairly stable. However, the issue is when it is time to upgrade. Upgrading a Tableau server is too tedious compared to other tools where normally you just have an update EXE file you run and it is done. This is not the case with Tableau, it requires the dashboard to go down for an hour and then we have to republish all the dashboards again. 

The solution is scalable without a doubt.

This solution has the best technical support compared to any tool. 

The solution is expensive but it depends on the customer's needs which will determine the cost of the licensing. How much they require and what package they want.

We have evaluated ClixSense in the past. With ClixSense, it is not as customizable as this solution, I would even say restricted. For each and every customization and format change, the basic stuff, it asks us to buy another extension. We will not be doing that.

This solution has broadened my VA exposure and it has allowed me to do things differently with respect to VA concepts and visualization. I have a great takeaway from my experience with the solution.

I would recommend Tableau because of the amazing dashboards that are appealing and that also gives us the ability to create with far better customizations.

I rate Tableau an eight out of ten.

Tableau is good for data analysis.

The most valuable feature is the geographic data analysis.

It provides functionality for sending email alerts.

The performance is good compared to some other products.

It should offer better features for customization. It would be nice to have features such as border design.

I have been working with Tableau for three years.

This is a stable product.

The technical support is good.

I have worked with Pentaho and Microsoft BI. I found that the performance of these products didn't compare with that of Tableau.

The price of Tableau is high, although there are different types of licenses available.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The primary use case is for household survey and population, and housing census analysis. I have also been using it for monitoring and evaluation of projects.

I provided Data Visualization skills to selected staff of The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) in 2018 using Tableau. Previously, SPSS was used to analyze the data but after I introduced them to Tableau, the team was so happy that together we decided to look at the Census 2013 dataset and analyze it using Tableau.

I have also used it to develop a key indicator list based on the Living Standards Measurement Survey.

GBoS, with the help of the European Union, bought Tableau and have since been using it to analyze household surveys instead of SPSS or Stata, as they were doing before.

Another project that I am about to complete using Tableau is the Data Lifecycle Assessment of the Planting for Food and Jobs project in Ghana. I am working on this project with the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation and it is being sponsored by the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa.

Already, the staff is so much in love with Tableau that they want me to provide Advanced Training for them so that they can adopt it as their Data Visualization Tool.

The most valuable features are the ability to classify variables into Dimensions and Measures, Ask Data, and Show Me.

The Dimensions and Measures feature solves one of the basic problems most would-be data analysts have, which is to determine which variables to analyze or focus on. Tableau makes this easy by splitting them into Dimensions and Measures and then use Dimensions to dissect or dice and slice the Measures.  

Ask Data enables non-technical personnel to quickly derive insights from data just by knowing which variables are available.

Show Me is a feature to help with knowing which chart is an appropriate one for the selected variables, and it makes helps in creating appropriate visuals.

I cannot end without mentioning the overall seamless flow of how to derive insights from data using Worksheets, Dashboards, and Stories.

I think predictive analytics is the main driver of business decisions and hence Tableau should strengthen the ability to make predictions.

The forecasting feature in Tableau in my view is too limited because it must have dates but I should be able to predict the outcome of an event without having a date as part of the input.

In situations where you are analyzing or using just one measure such as Sales, Tableau does not create the header for you. Furthermore, it is not straightforward as to how to create it.

I would like to have the ability to perform multiple pivots and creating different variables. For example, if I have the regional population for six regions and branch offices, together with the number of clients per branch, all as a record or observation, then I should be able to pivot them separately resulting in the Region, Population, Branch, and Clients.

I have been using Tableau for three years.

The scalability is simply awesome.

The technical support is awesome.

I have worked with Excel, SPSS, and Power BI.

Tableau is easy to use and the support from the community is awesome. Also, I see Tableau as a product for the future due to the commitment from the development team.

The Tableau Development Team listen to suggestions from the users and follow discussions on the community forum and factor that into product upgrades. 

End users want things to be done quickly and intuitively and the only way that any product will survive is by listening to end users 

The deployment was straightforward. I would say that it was a nice and easy, no-brainer setup.

The implementation was done in-house but there was an occasion that I had issues. I contacts support and it was super.

The ability to make insightful decisions quickly is a big benefit to all and therefore reduces cost in terms of manhours spent in cleaning and creating visuals.

It is a bit difficult for some people when they hear $70.00 per month, as some solutions are available for less than $10.00 or for free. What I always tell my trainees is that it is not so much about the cost, but rather, how you can quickly get the insights you have derived into the minds of your audience or stakeholders.

It is important to consider the ease of use. If a product is free but usability is a problem then it is not actually free because it cannot be even used.  

I had already used other tools and also wrote my own program in VBA to analyze data.

Customers need more insights and hence, they should look into Natural Language Processing (NLP). The ability to analyze text data or focus group discussions or radio phone-in programs would be helpful. 

When there is a major upgrade and you install it, it wipes off all of the recently used files and newbies get frustrated. If something can be done about it then that will be very helpful

We primarily use Tableau for reporting and visualization. Visualizations are important to us.

My role is primarily concerned with financial planning and financial reporting. 

It is very easy to create dashboards, charts, and graphs.

The Hyper Extract functionality is not as strong as that provided by Microsoft SQL.

Tableau is not as strong as Oracle OBIEE in some regards.

We have been using Tableau for six years, since 2014.

Tableau is quite stable.

The scalability of Tableau is very good and I don't have an issue with it.

I have not dealt with technical support personally. We have a specific person that communicates with them.

We also use Microsoft BI and Oracle OBIEE for reporting. I think that Tableau's features are much better than those of OBIEE and although Microsoft BI has better performance, Tableau is still the one that I like the best.

Tableau is much more expensive than Microsoft BI.

The initial setup is not complex. This is one that I can set up on my own, unlike a solution such as EnterprsieOne, which I cannot.

The professional version of Tableau is quite expensive. This is in comparison to some other products, such as Microsoft BI, which is only $110 per year.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.