Tableau is one of the most popular reporting tools available out there for interested people to use. In fact, it can be considered as a data visualization software, which comes along with a large number of interactive functionalities. An American based company offers it. The Tableau software was initially discovered back in the year 2003. It was Christian Chatbot who created it. He got the help of Chris Stolte and Pat Hanrahan to complete this application’s developments. The company was founded in Mountain View, which is located in California.
History of Tableau
As mentioned earlier, Tableau was discovered back in the year 2003. Therefore, it is possible to call Tableau one of the oldest data visualization software applications available. Due to the same reason, a large number of enterprises across the world are using this tool.
Features of Tableau
Among the data visualization tools available for you to get, Tableau holds a prominent place. This is mainly due to the high number of impressive features. Following are the most prominent features that Tableau users will be able to get.
- Dashboard
When analyzing the features of Tableau, the Tableau dashboard holds a prominent place. You will be able to picture your data better and efficiently manage the data through the Tableau dashboard. It provides a large number of visualization features, along with text content and visual objects. The dashboards in Tableau are extremely informative. Hence, it is possible to use a Tableau dashboard to present data in the form of a story. It is also possible to get multiple views of data conveniently with Tableau dashboards’ support. People who are using Tableau will be able to deploy multiple filters to get a better overview of data that is available and analyze them.
- Sharing and collaboration
Tableau is providing a large number of sharing and collaboration features. It provides convenient options for the users to collaborate along with the other users. The ability offered by Tableau to share data instantly is something impressive. The instant data sharing features are backed up with a high level of security as well. Hence, there is no need to worry about getting data into the wrong hands while using the tool.
- In-memory data and live data
Tableau is an intelligent data visualization tool that is in a position to work along with in-memory data and live data simultaneously. On the other hand, it is possible to use Tableau to proceed with data extraction from many other sources. This provides the utmost flexibility to all the people who are using Tableau. That’s because they can use more than one data source type. People who use Tableau will never be restricted while accessing data. They just need to specify the data source and start accessing data stored within the data source directly.
- Data sources
A large number of data source options are also available within Tableau for the users to consider. You will be able to browse through these different data source options and get yourself connected to the best ones out of them. Then you will be able to fetch data that you need from the data source with ease.
Some of the data source options compatible with Tableau include non-relational databases, relational databases, spreadsheets, on-premise files, and even data warehouses. It is also possible for the users to connect to data stored within the cloud and access them for visualization purposes without going through any struggle. No matter what the data source is, Tableau will be able to help the users to set up a connection in a secure manner.
- Advanced data visualizations
The data visualization capabilities offered by Tableau are outstanding. This is one of the key features that can be found in Tableau as well. It provides a range of data visualizations for any user. You will be able to go ahead with the basic data visualization options such as pie charts and bar charts from Tableau. Apart from that, you can also get your hands on the advanced data visualization options, such as Gantt chart, histogram, motion chart, bullet chart, and box plot with Tableau’s help. These are not the only data visualization options. You can find many more. It is up to you to explore them and start using them to get your requirements catered.
- Maps
The map is an important feature available with Tableau. This is a feature that doesn’t come along with the traditional data visualization tools. Hence, you can call Tableau a feature that makes Tableau unique and one of a kind. It is possible to find much pre-loaded information in Tableau, which is available in the form of a map. Some of the information that you can access include administrative boundaries, postal codes, and cities. Therefore, you will be able to create maps in a detailed and informative manner with Tableau’s help. It is also possible to introduce many different layers of geology into the map as well. It is one of the few tools that anyone can use to develop highly informative maps with ease.
- Mobile view
People who are tight with busy schedules will come across the need to take a quick look at the dashboard on the go. A tableau is a software that can offer assistance with it. That’s because you can find a comprehensive mobile view offered by Tableau. A dedicated mobile app is available with Tableau as well. This can also provide great overall assistance for the Tableau users to get their work done through mobile phones on the go. The mobile view feature is introducing lots of convenience and flexibility into the lives of Tableau users.