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it_user984828 - PeerSpot reviewer
ACS/OPS at Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Real User
We are able to create reports that are more helpful to our front-line employees

What is our primary use case?

I use this program to visualize the data sets from front-line employees. Primarily, the tool is used for visualizing data. 

How has it helped my organization?

We are able to create reports that are more helpful to our front-line employees. They are able to implement decisions much faster.

What is most valuable?

The friendliness and easy way of using the platform. I think that as a new user it is easy to learn, and really easy and quick to try and learn from mistakes.

What needs improvement?

Their training. I've been looking for ways in which we can start training more people to it, and it has shown that other platforms have more access to training than Tableau. 

Buyer's Guide
Tableau
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

Less than one year.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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PeerSpot user
Process Data Engineer (Subsurface and Wells) at Shell
Real User
Platform to automate and make user-defined customized dashboards

What is our primary use case?

  • Creating dashboards to generate value out of data
  • Great features and functionalities with customized dashboards
  • Very intuitive and massive user support base.

How has it helped my organization?

It has helped to save millions by making informed decisions which are data driven. Visualization of data with great efficiency has helped to integrate dashboards across the organization.

What is most valuable?

  • Platform to automate and make user-defined customized dashboards. 
  • Very well integrated with other applications which helps to move data from one application to another with much ease.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes it crashes because of the huge database. This could be fixed so that it works smoothly with large databases.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Tableau
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Program Manager at a non-profit with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
It allows us to understand and evaluate our numbers in an expedient manner.
Pros and Cons
  • "It allows us to basically understand and evaluate our numbers in an expedient manner."
  • "It is a stable solution."
  • "I would like to be able to set the parameters in a more specific manner."

What is our primary use case?

We have used it for our program correspondence, basically, so how to program report to satisfaction of different programs. It helps us obtain information. We also use it for visualization.

How has it helped my organization?

It allows us to basically understand and evaluate our numbers in an expedient manner. It doesn't require us to need a huge number of data bases that we need to manage. This solution sets everything up for us. It has a good ease-of-use.

In the past, we were using several different solutions, and the packages were insufficient for our needs. We used a lot of different software solutions, and extreme Excel, but it wasn't enough for our needs. We were also looking for something that was a bit more user-friendly. 

What is most valuable?

One of the most valuable features are the different visualizations. It makes it much easier for us to represent what the data is showing. The dashboard is great, and the visualizations are really what we focus on. 

It's as powerful if you know how to use it, so it's made as much as we know how to use it. It's enough, but there's much more of a need to understand what you do to operate the solution. To be able to do more, we need to set it up to do different things. It is fine, but we have not really invested time or people into doing this much.

What needs improvement?

I would like to be able to set the parameters in a more specific manner. I feel as if it's not a questions of whether the solution is sufficient, it's whether we understand how to use it to the best of its productivity.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. I think we can use it for a while for a lot of different things. Again, we do not know the full scope of the capabilities. I think we are using it the best we can, but we could find better ways for it to best suit our needs. So, we just need to learn how to use it more efficiently.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is good. They give solutions to our questions. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Microsoft BI.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved in the initial setup of the solution.

What was our ROI?

Most people buy software because they know that it will help them do one thing, but they use it a tenth of the potential of what it could be used for. So, if you don't know what that is, you're stuck at ten percent. Be sure to explore the full capabilities of the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is competitive. We always consider pricing when considering a new solution. We are a non-profit, and pricing is a huge concern.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We always like to evaluate other products in tandem with what we are using.

What other advice do I have?

When reviewing a possible solution, we always consider:

  • Price
  • Functionality
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Director, BI & Analytics at a leisure / travel company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
If you're evaluating Tableau as a potential data visualization solution, consider these points.
Pros and Cons
  • "Visualization attributes: Marks – Color, Size, Label, etc.. Easily Accessible and Intuitive."
  • "Small multiples (a.k.a. Trellis charts) are possible only through very hacky means. Update: Still remains a challenge."

***We've upgraded to 2018.1 So I've updated the Pros and Cons accordingly!"

I've been working between Tableau and Qlikview (depending on use case) and have been jotting down Pros and Cons of each as I come across them.  Many of these, but not all, are centered around some fairly specific UI functionality and limitations that I've come across while trying to deliver on various dashboard solutions.  If you're evaluating Tableau as a potential data visualization solution, some of these points might help with your evaluation, or at least I'm hoping so!  One caveat I will apply to the "Cons" section is some of these may in fact be resolved in the latest version, or may be achieved through some means that I'm just not aware of (though I do generally research pretty extensively before throwing in the towel).  

Pros/Strengths

  • Multi-dimension Graphs, side by side bars
  • Formulas/Calculations are a familiar structure to many  (IF..THEN.. ELSE)
  • Visualization attributes:  Marks – Color, Size, Label, etc.. Easily Accessible and Intuitive
  • Very good Geo/Mapping capabilities
  • Built in Table Calculations (% of Total, Rank, etc..) Update:  Even more intuitive now.  
  • Publish to PDF.  Despite trying to encourage users to interact with the live tool, there seems to always be some need for this. 
  • Story Creation for presentations.  
  • Free Tableau Reader – You can create ‘Packaged Workbooks’ and those with Reader can open the file and manipulate the dashboard.  (No ability to refresh the data)
  • Easy Cube Connection.  Though it can still be quirky and limited relative to using other data sources.  You can't for example, use LOD calculations.  If you plan to use Cubes as a data source, be sure you thoroughly understand the limitations.  
  • Tool Tips (Hovers).  Easy to add all kinds of additional data to hovers.  Update:  The Viz in tooltip feature is fully baked and in certain circumstances, very useful!   
  • Adaptive sizing based on display resolution.  Also something Qlikview does not do - you must develop for particular display size/dimensions.  Update: I've since learned that it generally makes life easier if you still used fixed dimensions for your dashboard.
  • Drag and Drop Hierarchy creation
  • Device Layouts (Mobile, Tablet, etc.).  Update: Rumor has it Tableau is currently working on a better Mobile solution.
  • URL Actions - Allow you to enable workflow between Tableau and other Applications through click-throughs and parameter insertion in URLs.  

Cons

  • Small multiples (a.k.a. Trellis charts) are possible only through very hacky means.  Update:  Still remains a challeng
  • Sparkline Tables are not supported.  There are tutorials on how to accomplish this, but as with small multiples, it is hacky and limited. Update: Still remains a challenge.
  • Heavy data prep needed.  Blending within the tool is clunky and causes performance hits.  Some functions are limited or unavailable when using blended data (e.g. LODs) Update:  Blending has improved but it is still generally a better practice to do all your data prep prior to ingestion.  Tableau Prep now exists to help with this, but it is still very much in its infancy.
  • Sorting on joined data requires hacks.  Update:  Unchanged
  • No easy ‘Clear’ to remove applied filters and/or Exclusions/Keep Only, which makes it sometimes easy to lose sight of how exactly the data has been filtered. Update:  Unchanged
  • Combo charts unavailable without Date dimensions  Update:  Unchanged
  • Dynamic column headers/aliases difficult and hacky.  I find this limitation particularly frustrating.  Example use case:  I have two columns - Current Month, & Previous Month.  As these will always be dynamic, I want them instead to display the actual Month as it changes (e.g. Apr-2016, Mar-2016).  Update:  Very unfortunately Unchanged.  
  • Can’t format a single measure column in a table (e.g. make one bold or conditional format)  Update:  I've heard rumors that this is now easier, but have yet to identify how.
  • Image thumbnails in tables not supported.  In my last two roles this has been a fairly large impediment.  I'm likely not the only one.  Qlikview, SSRS, & Even MS Powerview/PowerBI are able to support this. Update:  Unchanged 
  • Large Table reports with many filters (our case was 14 columns, 300K rows, and about 8 quick filters)   to narrow the data set – Don’t bother!  It will be excruciatingly slow even on the server. Tableau will likely say this is not what it is intended for anyway (it's a Data Viz tool, not a Report tool), which is fair, but sometimes it's necessary as part of a larger solution. Update:  This seems to have improved some though you still run into the limitation of 16 columns.  Rumor has it, this will be done away with in future releases.

  • Any questions, or comments?  All feedback is welcome.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user952008 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user952008SEO Executive at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User

Starting from the fundamentals such as getting familiarized with Tableau Desktop, connecting to common data sources and building standard charts; you will walk through the nitty-gritty of Tableau such as creating dynamic analytics with parameters, blended data sources, and advanced calculations. onlineitguru.com

See all 19 comments
PeerSpot user
Principal Consultant at University of Utah Hospital
Real User
Its ease of developing visualizations is a valuable feature, but the tool needs improvements in its security schema
Pros and Cons
  • "It most valuable feature is its ease of developing visualizations, not just charts and graphs."
  • "Improvements in schema security and row/column security need to be made."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution for healthcare analytics.

How has it helped my organization?

Tableau has provided visibility into patterns which I had not previously observed.

What is most valuable?

The ease of developing visualizations, not just charts and graphs.

What needs improvement?

  • The enterprise features need improvements.
  • Improvements in schema security and row/column security need to be made.

For how long have I used the solution?

Less than one year.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Reviewer3292 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Technology at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
It is a stable product. It doesn't break.
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a very stable product. It doesn't break."
  • "We would like a report model, because currently there is no schema that we can create in the tool."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is more visualization for user interactivity.

What is most valuable?

  • Interactivity
  • Fast data access
  • The graphs
  • Understanding our data better based on the sublevel of data provided. 

What needs improvement?

We would like a report model, because currently there is no schema that we can create in the tool.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a very stable product. It doesn't break.

How is customer service and technical support?

I am not using the technical support. There is a great Tableau community.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved in the setup.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Tableau is an expensive solution, though it comes with its advantages.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are researching for a new solution.

What other advice do I have?

Most important criteria when selecting a product:

  • Price and licensing
  • Future landscape
  • Support.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Partner at Bambino & Partners
Real User
Tableau Prep is a useful integration feature because I can prepare data in simple ways without errors
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the drag and drop, then the simplicity to build dashboards which allows us to provide more usable data to our customers."
  • "I would like them to include the Italian language, as I can see there are other foreign language in the product."

What is our primary use case?

We use Tableau in my company because we are trying to add another revenue line because we use Quantrix modeler, which is a multi-internal spreadsheet to build our financial models. We had intended to deploy another step of our value chain for our customers, because it is simpler to view the data via Tableau instead of reading across tabs. It's an applet form that can improve the decision-making process.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the drag and drop, then the simplicity to build dashboards which allows us to provide more usable data to our customers. In this version of Tableau (the latest version), the most valuable feature is Tableau Prep, which is a useful integration because I can prepare data in simple ways without errors.

What needs improvement?

I would like them to include the Italian language, even if it's not a problem for me to use English, because the Quantrix modeler is only in English. I can also see there is Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese, so why not Italian?

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is super stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It has a very high scalability.

How is customer service and technical support?

I have not needed to use technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very simple.

What about the implementation team?

I did the implementation for my company.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is good. The price could be higher for the quality of software, so they revised the pricing in this version, and I agree with the price for top version. The top version costs about $70 per month, and the price is cheap for the quality.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did try another platform, MicroStrategy. I spent one year and several webinars on both companies, Tableau and MicroStrategy. I decided to invest in Tableau because of its simplicity; it's more simple to understand and less complicated than MicroStrategy. With Tableau's infrastructure to build a dashboard, I found the perfect instrument.

I also had interest in QlikView, but it did not fit my requirements.

What other advice do I have?

I am very satisfied with it. I would recommend it.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor:

  • Customer care quality
  • The learning instruments provided via webinars and YouTube videos to improve my skills as fast as possible. 
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user811167 - PeerSpot reviewer
SVP Technology at Tesco
Real User
The most valuable feature is the 3D charting, though they need to improve the bar chart position and width
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the 3D charting."
  • "They need to improve the bar chart position and width."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for dashboard designing.

How has it helped my organization?

It has improved our organizational departments, like sales, HR, etc.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the 3D charting.

What needs improvement?

They need to improve the bar chart position and width.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Tableau Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Tableau Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.