What is Tableau, its uses and applications

Tableau is the fastest growing data visualization tool that aims to help people see and understand data. In order to transform the way people use data to solve problems, tableau software ensures to meet strict requirements. In other words, it simply converts raw data into a very easily understandable format.

Data analysis is great, as it is a powerful visualization tool in the business intelligence industry.  Data that is created using this software becomes so easy that it allows even a non-technical user to create a customized dashboard.  It provides top class interactive data visualization with the purpose to help organizations solve their data problems.

How does Tableau work

Usually, the main function of the tableau is to gather and extract data that are stored in various places. It drags data from any platform imaginable. This dragged data can get extracted to the tableau data engine or desktop. Further, the data engineer works with this data and develops visualizations. This is where data is analyzed.

The created customized worksheets are shared with the users as the static file. These worksheets or dashboards are received by users who view this file using tableau reader. The tableau desktop data can be issued to the Tableau server. Tableau server allows its end users to have a better experience in acquiring the files from all locations, be it a desktop, mobile or tablet.

Uses and Applications

There are various consulting options and applications of the tableau. The compact placement completes the setup within no time as this software facilitates running start options. Tableau provides receptive business pricing with both clouds hosted editions and on-premise, paid annually. However, this module price depends on the number of users you involve.  Let us look at different products of this software and its uses.

Tableau Desktop: With the help of tableau desktop anybody can create the reports and dashboards on the Tableau Server and work with by blending it into the system browser. Creating reports, charts and more is all done through tableau desktop. It allows you to connect with various types of data and converts it into simple understandable tableau reporting. Tableau dashboard and tableau data visualization can be accessed even through the mobile devices. The product of desktop product helps to create a great visualization, data stories, data analysis formation of workbooks etc.

Further, based on the connectivity to the data sources, tableau desktop is divided into two parts:

• Tableau Desktop professional: Tableau desktop professional is best suitable for those who wish to publish their work in Tableau Server. It is quite similar to tableau desktop. The only difference is its online publication in the tableau desktop. In this version, there is full access to all data types.
• Tableau Desktop Personal: The access personal version of the tableau is limited. It keeps the workbook private that cannot be published online. Its progress features are similar to tableau desktop. Therefore, it is divided either in Tableau public or offline.

Tableau Public: This version of Tableau is particularly built for the cost-effective users. The workbooks created are not saved locally in this version. In fact, it is saved to the tableau’s public cloud which can be sighted and accessed easily by anyone. Anyone can download and access it effortlessly. Basically, there is nothing like privacy to these documents saved to the cloud.  People who want to learn tableau and wish to share their information with the public can use this version.

Tableau Online: The administrator tableau server handles the access to servers provides permissions to the different data sources and protects data.  The data is stored on servers hosted in the cloud which are maintained by the Tableau group. It also helps you manage security, team worker and execution of Tableau products. In other words, it allows you to publish Tableau Dashboards on the Tableau Online and share the data discoveries with anybody and can access and explore the various features like interactive visualizations, explore hidden opportunities and so on.

Tableau Server: The tableau server is use for sharing visualization created in desktop application across the organizations. In order to share dashboards on the server, it is required to publish work in the tableau desktop. It will only be accessible to the licensed users, once the work is uploaded to the server.

But, the licensed users are not necessarily required to have tableau server installed. All they need is to log in the permit that allows them to check reports through a web browser. The security system in this version is high; therefore, it makes it suitable for quick and effective sharing of data in an organization.

Tableau Reader: It is a free tool that allows editing and modifications of data created using Tableau Desktop or Tableau Public. You can easily view the workbooks and visualizations. But, the security level here is not the same as tableau online. The receiver should have tableau reader to view the document, in order to share the dashboards.

Features of Tableau

• Toggle view and drag-and-drop
• Tableau Reader for data viewing
• Dashboard commenting
• Translate queries to visualizations
• Import all ranges and sizes of data
• Create interactive dashboards
• Tableau Public for data sharing
• Highlight and filter data
• Share dashboards
• Data notifications
• Automatic updates
• Security permissions at any level

Benefits of using Tableau

• Fantastic visualization: Tableau relies on the first position over its competitors because of its ability to produce excellent visualizations and dashboards. It provides an instant connection facility with the support of more than thirty types of data. Also, it can create complex graphs that give a similar feel to the pivot table in excel.
• Large customer resources: The community of tableau is notoriously engaging and enthusiastic. It has comprehensive online resources including guides, online forums, and training.
• Excellent mobile support: Tableau has a higher percentage of users actively deploying mobile BI. It put a lot of efforts into developing a robust mobile customer.
• Reduction in development time: Tableau has elevated business customer’s expectations of BI solution. Tableau is very fast while working with the database which results in less development time. It is recognized as the cream of the crop for its visual-based data discovery. Moreover, the ability to adapt to a market quickly is an enormous competitive advantage of Tableau.
• Ease of use and low cost: Since tableau is simple user interface software, it becomes very easy to use it. Also, it is a simple to drag and drop interface which is very easy to learn. Tableau is a relatively low cost when compared to the other BI tools like QlikView or business objects. It is easy to upgrade too.

Today, Tableau has become the number one data visualization and business intelligence tool available in the market. It is used by maximum people to derive valuable insights from their data. The great advantage that tableau offers is that there is no need for the users to work with the powerful tool to have any sort of technical knowledge or programming skills. Last but not the least, Tableau is the best software tool as it allows users access to a reliable tech support team and automates data updates to help companies get fresh information without wasting their time.