Tableau

Tableau is a data visualization and business intelligence software suite developed by Tableau Software. It originated in 2003 when researchers at Stanford University—Pat Hanrahan, Chris Stolte, and Christian Chabot—began working on VizQL, a query language that translates data queries into interactive visual representations. Tableau Software was acquired by Salesforce in 2019 for about $15.7 billion, expanding Salesforce’s analytics capabilities.

Tableau enables users to connect to a wide range of data sources, including spreadsheets, databases, and cloud services, and to explore data through a drag-and-drop interface. Visualizations are generated using VizQL, which converts user actions into data queries and results. The platform supports dashboards and stories that combine multiple visualizations, along with interactivity such as filters, actions, and parameters. Advanced users can build calculations, sets, and level-of-detail expressions to refine analysis. Tableau Prep provides data preparation capabilities to clean and shape data before analysis. Data governance is supported through extracts and live connections, with options for centralized hosting via Tableau Server or Tableau Online, and sharing through Tableau Public or mobile access.

The product family includes Tableau Desktop for authoring, Tableau Server for on-premises deployment, Tableau Online for cloud hosting, and Tableau Public for free public sharing. Additional components include Tableau Prep for data preparation and Tableau Mobile for on-the-go access. Licensing is typically organized into roles such as Creator, Explorer, and Viewer, reflecting different levels of data access and authoring capabilities.

Tableau is widely used to enable self-service analytics and collaborative data exploration across industries. It competes with other BI tools like Microsoft Power BI and Qlik, and remains valued for its rich visual capabilities and broad data connectivity, though cost and implementation complexity are considerations for some organizations.