For seven years in a row, Tableau has been recognized as the leader of Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms. In the crowded world of BI tools, it is certainly a noteworthy feat to be recognized as an industry leader for seven consecutive years. In fact, leading training institutes like PST Analytics report a sharp uptrend in the enrolment of students wanting to learn Tableau. So, let’s discuss what Tableau is and why it is considered one of the best BI tools at present.
What is Tableau?
Currently, data analytics is pivotal in deciding the future course for any business. Though there are a number of tools to gather data on customer behaviour and existing trends, to actually make a decision based on this datayou need tools that can convert the data into a format that is easy to understand and base decisions on. This is where data visualisation tools are a great help. One of the most popular data visualization tools, Tableau is used to process the raw data from various databases and convert it into a format that is easy to understand even for the most non-technical person.
Why tableau over other BI tools?
Given the importance of data visualization in today’s world, there are a lot of popular players who provide the required tools and services, and yet Tableauhas managed to be the frontrunner for seven years now. So, what are the reasons for its long-running success? Let us look at a few: –
- Ease of use
One of the major factors that cater to the popularity of Tableau as a BI tool is its user-friendly interface. This tool is easy to learn, use and interact with. It is built in such a way that even users with zero technical skills can use it comfortably. The design is simple and intuitive with drag and drop features and placement of relevant tools in a way that is easy to analyse data and generate reports.Additionally, there are multiple avenues to share the generated reports too; Tableau Server, Tableau Reader or Tableau Workbook provide easy access and seamless sharing options.
- Versatile
Tableau is extremely versatile. It is possible to use this BI tool, whether one is analysing the given data with a specific purpose or even if one is looking at the data without any particular goals. Either way, Tableau provides users with different perspectives and viewpoints so that it is possible to make an in-depth analysis of the given data without putting in much effort.
- Fast, attractive and interactive
The best advantage with Tableau as compared to other BI tools is its speed. Users can convert data into attractive and interactive graphs, charts, smart maps and multiple visualaids to help users analyse data and predict trends or forecast results. The results are instant, which makes this tool especially useful in the current situation, where it is important to take business decisions in a matter of minutes.
- Data integration
In this age of the internet, data runs the entire show. With multiple tools available to collect data, businesses, more often than not, utilize most of the available ones. So, there should be a way to integrate and analyse all the available data atonce,and this is where Tableau has the edge. It has the ability to connect to various data sources such as data in file formats, cloud-based databases, metadata, and any other form and size of the database, extract information and analyse it. It has data blending abilities, and unlike its competitors, it doesn’t limit data points.Hence, every small detail is taken into consideration,so that nothing is missed during analysis.
- Security
Security is a major concern when working with databases. But with Tableau, the aspect of security is taken care of by its main server. The databases, sources and user authentication are all properly monitored, and it only allows users to connect with credible sources.
- Support
Finally, for the developers, Tableau is always a project in development. They take time to listen to their users and have over the years made a number of changes and upgrades that have made this tool fast, convenient and user-friendly. Additionally, there are a number of blogs, forums and social sites where people can discuss and get advice on any and every aspect of working with Tableau. This makes it more convenient and less time-consuming to find the right solutions!
Looking at all the above features, it is no surprise that Tableau is a leader in the world of BI and obviously the great success of this tool is the reason why there is such demand for professionals with Tableau knowledge and skills. Acquiring the required skills and certifications to work in this field is very easy from institutions like PST Analyticsthat provide the necessary training which is affordable and up to date.
