Tableau Software

{{Short description|American data visualization software company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Tableau Software, LLC

| logo = Tableau_logo.svg

| logo_size = 250px

| type = Subsidiary

| traded_as = {{NYSE was|DATA}} (2013–2019)

| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Christian Chabot |Chris Stolte |Andrew Beers |Pat Hanrahan}}

| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Ryan Aytay (CEO) |Christian Chabot (Chairman) }}

| industry = Software

| products = {{Unbulleted list|Business intelligence|Data visualization|Analytics}}

| homepage = {{url|tableau.com}}

| foundation = {{start date and age|2003}}, in Mountain View, California, U.S.

| location_city = Seattle, Washington

| location_country = U.S.

| revenue = {{increase}} {{US$|1.16 billion}} (2018)

| operating_income = {{increasenegative}} −{{US$|90 million}} (2018)

| net_income = {{increasenegative}} −{{US$|77 million}} (2018)

| assets = {{increase}} {{US$|1.63 billion}} (2018)

| equity = {{increase}} {{US$|1.01 billion}} (2018)

| num_employees = 4,181 (2018)

| parent = Salesforce

| footnotes = {{Cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1303652/000130365219000007/a10k2018.htm |title=2018 Annual Report (Form 10-K) |date=February 22, 2019 |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission}}

}}

Tableau Software, LLC is an American interactive data visualization software company focused on business intelligence.{{Cite web |last=Patrizio |first=Andy |date=2021-10-08 |title=Top Data Visualization Tools |url=https://www.eweek.com/big-data-and-analytics/data-visualization-tools/ |access-date=2021-11-03 |website=eWEEK |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |last=Rhodes |first=Margaret |title=A Dead-Simple Tool That Lets Anyone Create Interactive Maps |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/07/a-drag-and-drop-toolkit-that-lets-anyone-create-interactive-maps/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |issn=1059-1028}} It was founded in 2003 in Mountain View, California, and is currently headquartered in Seattle, Washington.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/tableau-software-helps-data-become-more-visual/|title=Tableau Software Helping Data Become More Visual|first=Quentin|last=Hardy|date=13 June 2014|website=Bits Blog|accessdate=9 May 2023}} In 2019, the company was acquired by Salesforce for $15.7 billion.{{Cite web |last=Levy |first=Nat |date=2019-08-01 |title=Salesforce completes $15.7B acquisition of Tableau Software, creating new enterprise tech force |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2019/salesforce-completes-15-7b-acquisition-tableau-software-creating-new-enterprise-tech-force/ |access-date=2021-11-03 |website=GeekWire |language=en-US}} At the time, this was the largest acquisition by Salesforce (a leader in the CRM field) since its foundation.{{Cite web|date=2019-06-11|title=세일즈포스, 빅데이터 분석업체 태블로 18조원에 인수|url=https://www.mk.co.kr/news/world/view/2019/06/402916/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=매일경제|language=ko}} It was later surpassed by Salesforce's acquisition of Slack.{{cite web |date=2020-12-01 |title=Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Slack |url=https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2020/12/01/salesforce-definitive-agreement-update/ |access-date=2 December 2020 |website=Salesforce.com |language=en}}

The company's founders, Christian Chabot, Pat Hanrahan and Chris Stolte, were researchers at the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University.{{cite web |date=5 March 2010 |title=How To Get a 20 Million Dollar Pre-Money Valuation for Series A: Tableau Software CEO Christian Chabot (Part 3) |url=http://www.sramanamitra.com/2010/03/05/how-to-get-a-20-million-pre-money-valuation-for-series-a-tableau-software-ceo-christian-chabot-part-3/ |access-date=2014-04-23 |website=sramanamitra.com |publisher=One MIllion by One Million by Sramana Mitra}} They specialized in visualization techniques for exploring and analyzing relational databases and data cubes,{{cite web |title=Christopher R. Stolte: Ph.D. Candidate @ Stanford |url=http://www.graphics.stanford.edu/~cstolte/ |access-date=2011-11-16 |website=stanford.edu |publisher=Graphics.stanford.edu}} and started the company as a commercial outlet for research at Stanford from 1999 to 2002.

Tableau products query relational databases, online analytical processing cubes, cloud databases, and spreadsheets to generate graph-type data visualizations. The software can also extract, store, and retrieve data from an in-memory data engine.

Software products

Tableau products include:{{Cite web |title=Difference between products |url=https://passingbi.com/intq-what-are-the-differences-between-tableau-desktop-and-tableau-server/ |access-date=2018-12-03 |website=passingbi.com}}{{Cite web |title=Tableau Desktop Pricing |url=http://www.tableau.com/products/desktop |website=tableau.com}}

Tableau Desktop{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Daniel |title=Tableau Your Data |publisher=Wiley |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-118-61204-0 |location=Indianapolis, IN |pages=3–33}}
Tableau Server{{Cite book |last=Locker |first=Brandi |title=Maximizing Tableau Server |publisher=Packt |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-80107-113-0 |location=Birmingham UK}}
Tableau Prep Builder{{Cite news|url=https://www.tableau.com/project-maestro|title=Project Maestro|work=Tableau Software|access-date=2017-12-12|language=en}} (released in 2018)
Tableau Vizable{{Cite web|url=https://www.tableau.com/node/62770|title=Tableau: Business Intelligence and Analytics Software|website=Tableau|accessdate=9 May 2023}} (consumer data visualization mobile app released in 2015)
Tableau Public (free to use)
Tableau Reader (free to use)
Tableau Mobile{{Cite web |title=Tableau Mobile |url=https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tableau-mobile/id434633927 |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=App Store |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Tableau Mobile – Apps on Google Play |url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Tableau.TableauApp&hl=en_CA&gl=US |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=play.google.com |language=en-CA}}
Tableau Cloud{{Cite web |title=Tableau Cloud |url=https://www.tableau.com/products/new-features/online |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=Tableau |language=en-US}}
Tableau Prep{{Cite book |last=Allchin |first=Carl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dwb1DwAAQBAJ&q=tableau+prep+book |title=Tableau Prep: Up & Running |date=2020-08-03 |publisher="O'Reilly Media, Inc." |isbn=978-1-4920-7959-0 |language=en}}
Tableau CRM{{Cite web |last=Dignan |first=Larry |date=2020-10-06 |title=Tableau integrates Einstein Analytics, becomes the analytics bridge in Salesforce ecosystem |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/tableau-integrates-einstein-analytics-becomes-the-analytics-bridge-in-salesforce-ecosystem/ |access-date=2020-10-07 |website=ZDNet |language=en}}
Tableau Bridge{{Cite web |title=Tableau Bridge|url=https://www.tableau.com/products/tableau-bridge |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=Tableau |language=en-US}}

Functionalities

{{multiple image

| width = 200

| image1 = Global Temperatures Server.png

| alt1 = 2

| image2 = Sales Dashboard Full screen v2.png

| alt2 = 3

| image3 = Executive Salesforce Sales Summary.png

| alt3 = 4

| footer = Some visualizations created by Tableau Software

}}

Tableau offers drag and drop and other features such as multiple chart formats and mapping capabilities.{{Cite web |title=Maps |url=https://www.tableau.com/solutions/maps |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=Tableau |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-08-15 |title=Best Dashboard Visualization Tools According to 30 Experts {{!}} Databox Blog |url=https://databox.com/best-dashboard-visualization-tools |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=Databox |language=en}}

= Map functionalities =

The software is able to plot latitude and longitude coordinates and connect to spatial files{{Cite web |title=Create Tableau Maps from Spatial Files |url=https://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/maps_shapefiles.html |access-date=2017-12-12 |website=onlinehelp.tableau.com |language=en-us}} like Esri Shapefiles, KML, and GeoJSON to display custom geography.{{Cite web|url=https://kb.tableau.com/articles/howto/plotting-geographic-data-using-custom-longitude-and-latitude|title=Plotting Geographic Data Using Custom Longitude and Latitude Values | Tableau Software|website=kb.tableau.com|accessdate=9 May 2023}} The built-in geo-coding allows for administrative places (country, state/province, county/district), postal codes, US Congressional Districts, US CBSA/MSA, Area Codes, Airports, and European Union statistical areas (NUTS codes) to be mapped automatically. Geographies can be grouped to create custom territories{{Cite web |title=Create Territories on a Map |url=https://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/maps_custom_territories.html |access-date=2017-12-12 |website=onlinehelp.tableau.com |language=en-us}} or custom geocoding used to extend existing geographic roles in the product.{{Cite web|url=https://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/custom_geocoding.html|title=Custom Geocode Your Data|accessdate=9 May 2023}}

= Data sources =

Tableau Software can connect to data sources such as regular text files (.txt, .csv), Microsoft Excel (.xlsx), Microsoft Access (.accdb), import from Tableau workbook (.tbm), Tableau Table data Extract (.tds) and many other types. It also allows to connect to data using multiple pre-built connectors {{Cite web |title=Supported Connectors |url=https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/exampleconnections_overview.htm |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=help.tableau.com |language=en-us}}

Data Type

Tableau express automatically data types and fields. Tableau will make use of the data type that the data source has defined if it exists, or it will choose a data type if the data source does not specify one. In Tableau, the following data types are supported{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Daniel G. |title=Tableau Your Data |publisher=Wiley |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-119-00119-5 |edition=2nd |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |pages=30}}

Text (string) Value
Date Value
Date and Time Value
Numerical Value
Geographic Values (Latitude and longitude used for maps)
Boolean Values (True / False Conditions)
Image role (used with image link URLs)
Cluster Group (used with Find Clusters in Data)

History

While at Stanford, founders Hanrahan and Stolte, as well as Diane Tang, created the predecessor to Tableau, named Polaris; Polaris was a data visualization software tool, built with the support of a United States Department of Energy defense program, the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI).{{Cite web |title=Polaris: Database and Data Cube Visualization |url=https://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/polaris/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=graphics.stanford.edu}}{{Cite journal |last1=Stolte |first1=C. |last2=Tang |first2=D. |last3=Hanrahan |first3=P. |date=January 2002 |title=Polaris: a system for query, analysis, and visualization of multidimensional relational databases |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/981851 |journal=IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=52–65 |doi=10.1109/2945.981851 |issn=1941-0506}} ASCI was formed to facilitate the simulation and modeling of nuclear weapons.{{Cite journal |date=2000-01-01 |title=Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) Program Plan [FY2000] |doi=10.2172/768266 |osti=768266 |language=English|doi-access=free }}

Tableau was formally founded in January 2003 by Pat Hanrahan, Christian Chabot, and Chris Stolte, and moved its headquarters to the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, the following year.{{cite news |last=Levy |first=Ari |date=May 16, 2013 |title=Seattle's Tableau raises $254M in year's biggest tech IPO |url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2021001333_tableauipoxml.html |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=April 22, 2019}}{{cite web |last=Huang |first=Gregory T. |date=8 September 2008 |title=Tableau Raises $10M in Second Venture Round, Wants To Be the "Adobe of Data" |url=https://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2008/09/08/tableau-raises-10m-in-second-venture-round-wants-to-be-the-adobe-of-data/ |website=xconomy.com |publisher=Xconomy}} The company has since expanded its Fremont headquarters and announced plans in 2016 for an auxiliary campus in suburban Kirkland, Washington.{{cite news |last=Lerman |first=Rachel |date=January 13, 2016 |title=Tableau confirms big Kirkland expansion, plans to hire 1,000 |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/tableau-confirms-big-kirkland-expansion-plans-to-hire-1000/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=April 22, 2019}} A new headquarters building opened near Gas Works Park in Wallingford in March 2017 and was followed by a new building in Fremont that opened in 2018.{{cite news |last=Coombs |first=Casey |date=March 23, 2018 |title=Tableau Software opens 110,000-square-foot Fremont building |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2018/03/23/tableau-software-fremont-office-building-photos.html |work=Puget Sound Business Journal |access-date=April 22, 2019}}

In August 2016, Tableau announced the appointment of Adam Selipsky as president and CEO, effective September 16, 2016, replacing co-founder Christian Chabot as CEO.{{Cite news|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/tableau-names-ex-amazon-exec-as-its-new-ceo/|title=Seattle Times|last=Lerman|first=Rachel|date=22 August 2016|access-date=23 August 2016}}

In June 2018, Tableau acquired Empirical Systems, a Cambridge, Massachusetts based artificial intelligence startup, with plans to integrate the company's technology into the Tableau platform. Tableau also announced plans to establish an office in Cambridge as a result of the deal.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/13/tableau-gets-ai-shot-in-the-arm-with-empirical-systems-acquisition/|title=Tableau gets AI shot in the arm with Empirical Systems acquisition – TechCrunch|website=techcrunch.com|date=13 June 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-13}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2018/tableau-acquires-mit-ai-spinoff-empirical-systems-opens-new-rd-center-boston-area/|title=Tableau acquires MIT AI spinoff Empirical Systems, opens new R&D center in Boston area|date=2018-06-13|work=GeekWire|access-date=2018-06-13|language=en-US}}

On June 10, 2019, Tableau was acquired by Salesforce in an all-stock deal worth $15.7 billion, being the largest acquisition in Salesforce's history at the time.{{Cite web|url=https://investor.salesforce.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Salesforce-Signs-Definitive-Agreement-to-Acquire-Tableau/default.aspx|title=Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Tableau|website=investor.salesforce.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-10}}

In March 2021, Tableau announced the appointment of Mark Nelson as president and CEO, replacing Adam Selipsky.{{cite news|url=https://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/news/252498374/Mark-Nelson-named-new-CEO-of-Tableau/|title=Tech Target|last=Avidon|first=Erik|date=24 March 2021|access-date=19 May 2021}} Current CEO of Tableau is a longtime Salesforce exec Ryan Aytay. {{Cite web |title=Ryan Aytay named new CEO of Tableau, filling vacant slot {{!}} TechTarget |url=https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/366536579/Ryan-Aytay-named-new-CEO-of-Tableau-filling-vacant-slot |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Business Analytics |language=en}}

Notable Tableau employees include Jock Mackinlay and computer scientist and author Leland Wilkinson.{{Cite journal |date=2022 |title=News |journal=Significance |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=2–3 |doi=10.1111/1740-9713.01602 |issn=1740-9705|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |title=Phillip E. Carter |url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/phillip-e-carter/ |access-date=2022-11-08 |language=en-US}}

Finances

On May 17, 2013, Tableau launched an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2013/05/17/big-datas-ipo-tableau-software-is-a-big-one.html|title=Big Data's IPO: Tableau Software Is a Big One|first=Bob|last=Pisani|date=17 May 2013|website=CNBC|access-date=9 May 2023}} raising more than $250 million.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/05/17/big-data-visualization-goes-public-tableau-software-raises-254m-as-shares-pop-58-while-marketo-raises-85m/ |title=Big Data Analytics Specialist Tableau Software Raises $254M In IPO |author=Lunden, Ingrid |date=May 17, 2013 |access-date=April 29, 2014 |publisher=TechCrunch}} Prior to its IPO, Tableau raised over $45 million in venture capital investment from investors such as the NEA and Meritech.

Tableau's revenue grew significantly from 2010 through 2013, reporting $34.2 million in 2010, $62.4 million in 2011, $127.7 million in 2012, and $232.44 million in 2013.{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/finance/?fstype=ii&ei=Mj9XU8jtJ8iOiAKGwQE |title=Financial Statements for Tableau Software Inc - Google Finance |author= |website=google.com/finance |publisher=Google Finance |access-date=29 April 2015}} Profit from 2010 to 2012 was $2.7 million, $3.4 million, and $1.6 million, respectively.{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1303652/000119312513138700/d469057ds1.htm |title=Forms S-1 |publisher=SEC |access-date=2013-04-11}}

Wikileaks and policy changes

On December 2, 2010, Tableau deleted WikiLeaks' visualizations about the United States diplomatic cables leak, stating it was due to direct political pressure from US Senator Joe Lieberman.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-tableau-visualisation-joe-lieberman|title=WikiLeaks cables visualisation pulled after pressure from Joe Lieberman | location=London | work=The Guardian|first1=Charles|last1=Arthur|first2=Josh|last2=Halliday|date=December 3, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tableau.com/blog/why-we-removed-wikileaks-visualizations|title=Why we removed the WikiLeaks visualizations|author=Fink, Elissa |date=December 2, 2010 |publisher=Tableau Software}}

On February 21, 2011, Tableau posted an updated data policy.{{cite web|url=https://public.tableau.com/s/blog/2011/02/data-new-policy-advisory-board-tableau-public |title=The Data is In: New Policy & Advisory Board for Tableau Public |publisher=Tableau Software|date=2011-02-21|access-date=2015-04-07}} The accompanying blog post cited the two main changes as (1) creating a formal complaint process and (2) using freedom of speech as a guiding principle.{{cite web|url=http://www.tableau.com/public/blog/2011/02/new-data-policy|title=The Data is In: New Policy & Advisory Board for Tableau Public|author=Fink, Elissa|date=February 21, 2011 |publisher=Tableau Software}} In addition, the post announced the creation of an advisory board to help the company navigate future situations that "push the boundaries" of the policy. Tableau likened the new policy to the model set forth in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and opined that under the new policy, Wikileaks' visuals would not have been removed, as "the underlying data were statistics about the cables, not the cables themselves".{{cite web|url=http://eagereyes.org/blog/2011/tableau-public-s-new-data-policy |title=Tableau Public's New Data Policy| author=Kosara, Robert |date=February 22, 2011|publisher=EagerEyes blog|access-date=March 13, 2013}}

References

External links

[https://www.tableau.com Official website]
[https://www.tableau.com/support/case Support Case]

Category:Salesforce

Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange

Category:Data and information visualization software

Category:Business software companies

Category:Data analysis software

Category:Business intelligence companies

Category:Software companies based in Seattle

Category:Data companies

Category:2013 initial public offerings

Category:American companies established in 2003

Category:Software companies established in 2003

Category:2003 establishments in California

Category:2019 mergers and acquisitions

Category:Software companies of the United States

Category:Wallingford, Seattle