Tableau Software Explained

Tableau Software, LLC
Type:Subsidiary
Traded As: (2013–2019)
Industry:Software
Foundation:, in Mountain View, California, U.S.
Location City:Seattle, Washington
Location Country:U.S.
Revenue: (2018)
Operating Income: − (2018)
Net Income: − (2018)
Assets: (2018)
Equity: (2018)
Num Employees:4,181 (2018)
Parent:Salesforce
Footnotes:[1]

Tableau Software, LLC is an American interactive data visualization software company focused on business intelligence.[2] [3] It was founded in 2003 in Mountain View, California, and is currently headquartered in Seattle, Washington.[4] In 2019, the company was acquired by Salesforce for $15.7 billion.[5] At the time, this was the largest acquisition by Salesforce (a leader in the CRM field) since its foundation.[6] It was later surpassed by Salesforce's acquisition of Slack.[7]

The company's founders, Christian Chabot, Pat Hanrahan and Chris Stolte, were researchers at the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University.[8] They specialized in visualization techniques for exploring and analyzing relational databases and data cubes,[9] 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:[10] [11]

Functionalities

Tableau offers drag and drop and other features such as multiple chart formats and mapping capabilities.[22] [23]

Map functionalities

The software is able to plot latitude and longitude coordinates and connect to spatial files[24] like Esri Shapefiles, KML, and GeoJSON to display custom geography.[25] 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[26] or custom geocoding used to extend existing geographic roles in the product.[27]

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 [28]

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[29]

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).[30] [31] ASCI was formed to facilitate the simulation and modeling of nuclear weapons.[32]

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.[33] [34] The company has since expanded its Fremont headquarters and announced plans in 2016 for an auxiliary campus in suburban Kirkland, Washington.[35] 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.[36]

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.[37]

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.[38] [39]

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.[40]

In March 2021, Tableau announced the appointment of Mark Nelson as president and CEO, replacing Adam Selipsky.[41] Current CEO of Tableau is a longtime Salesforce exec Ryan Aytay. [42]

Notable Tableau employees include Jock Mackinlay and computer scientist and author Leland Wilkinson.[43] [44]

Finances

On May 17, 2013, Tableau launched an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange,[45] raising more than $250 million.[46] Prior to its IPO, Tableau raised over $45 million in venture capital investment from investors such as the NEA and Meritech.[46]

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.[47] Profit from 2010 to 2012 was $2.7 million, $3.4 million, and $1.6 million, respectively.[48]

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.[49] [50]

On February 21, 2011, Tableau posted an updated data policy.[51] 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.[52] 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.[52] 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".[53]

Awards

In 2008, Tableau was named a CODiE award winner for "Best Business Intelligence Solution" by the Software and Information Industry Association.[54]

The company was recognized as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for ten consecutive years between 2013 and 2022.[55]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2018 Annual Report (Form 10-K) . February 22, 2019 . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. Web site: Patrizio . Andy . 2021-10-08 . Top Data Visualization Tools . 2021-11-03 . eWEEK . en-US.
  3. Rhodes . Margaret . A Dead-Simple Tool That Lets Anyone Create Interactive Maps . en-US . Wired . 2023-01-23 . 1059-1028.
  4. Web site: Tableau Software Helping Data Become More Visual. Quentin. Hardy. 13 June 2014. Bits Blog. 9 May 2023.
  5. Web site: Levy . Nat . 2019-08-01 . Salesforce completes $15.7B acquisition of Tableau Software, creating new enterprise tech force . 2021-11-03 . GeekWire . en-US.
  6. Web site: 2019-06-11. 세일즈포스, 빅데이터 분석업체 태블로 18조원에 인수. 2021-04-17. 매일경제. ko.
  7. Web site: 2020-12-01 . Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Slack . 2 December 2020 . Salesforce.com . en.
  8. Web site: 5 March 2010 . How To Get a 20 Million Dollar Pre-Money Valuation for Series A: Tableau Software CEO Christian Chabot (Part 3) . 2014-04-23 . sramanamitra.com . One MIllion by One Million by Sramana Mitra.
  9. Web site: Christopher R. Stolte: Ph.D. Candidate @ Stanford . 2011-11-16 . stanford.edu . Graphics.stanford.edu.
  10. Web site: Difference between products . 2018-12-03 . passingbi.com.
  11. Web site: Tableau Desktop Pricing . tableau.com.
  12. Book: Murray, Daniel . Tableau Your Data . Wiley . 2013 . 978-1-118-61204-0 . Indianapolis, IN . 3–33.
  13. Book: Locker, Brandi . Maximizing Tableau Server . Packt . 2021 . 978-1-80107-113-0 . Birmingham UK.
  14. News: Project Maestro. Tableau Software. 2017-12-12. en.
  15. Web site: Tableau: Business Intelligence and Analytics Software. Tableau. 9 May 2023.
  16. Web site: Tableau Mobile . 2022-08-29 . App Store . en-US.
  17. Web site: Tableau Mobile – Apps on Google Play . 2022-08-29 . play.google.com . en-CA.
  18. Web site: Tableau Cloud . 2022-11-08 . Tableau . en-US.
  19. Book: Allchin, Carl . Tableau Prep: Up & Running . 2020-08-03 . "O'Reilly Media, Inc." . 978-1-4920-7959-0 . en.
  20. Web site: Dignan . Larry . 2020-10-06 . Tableau integrates Einstein Analytics, becomes the analytics bridge in Salesforce ecosystem . 2020-10-07 . ZDNet . en.
  21. Web site: Tableau Bridge. 2023-11-18 . Tableau . en-US.
  22. Web site: Maps . 2022-11-08 . Tableau . en-US.
  23. Web site: 2022-08-15 . Best Dashboard Visualization Tools According to 30 Experts Databox Blog . 2022-11-08 . Databox . en.
  24. Web site: Create Tableau Maps from Spatial Files . 2017-12-12 . onlinehelp.tableau.com . en-us.
  25. Web site: Plotting Geographic Data Using Custom Longitude and Latitude Values | Tableau Software. kb.tableau.com. 9 May 2023.
  26. Web site: Create Territories on a Map . 2017-12-12 . onlinehelp.tableau.com . en-us.
  27. Web site: Custom Geocode Your Data. 9 May 2023.
  28. Web site: Supported Connectors . 2023-11-03 . help.tableau.com . en-us.
  29. Book: Murray, Daniel G. . Tableau Your Data . Wiley . 2016 . 978-1-119-00119-5 . 2nd . Indianapolis, Indiana . 30.
  30. Web site: Polaris: Database and Data Cube Visualization . 2023-04-30 . graphics.stanford.edu.
  31. Stolte . C. . Tang . D. . Hanrahan . P. . January 2002 . Polaris: a system for query, analysis, and visualization of multidimensional relational databases . IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics . 8 . 1 . 52–65 . 10.1109/2945.981851 . 1941-0506.
  32. 2000-01-01 . Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) Program Plan [FY2000] . 10.2172/768266 . 768266 . English. free .
  33. News: Levy . Ari . May 16, 2013 . Seattle's Tableau raises $254M in year's biggest tech IPO . The Seattle Times . April 22, 2019.
  34. Web site: Huang . Gregory T. . 8 September 2008 . Tableau Raises $10M in Second Venture Round, Wants To Be the "Adobe of Data" . xconomy.com . Xconomy.
  35. News: Lerman . Rachel . January 13, 2016 . Tableau confirms big Kirkland expansion, plans to hire 1,000 . The Seattle Times . April 22, 2019.
  36. News: Coombs . Casey . March 23, 2018 . Tableau Software opens 110,000-square-foot Fremont building . . April 22, 2019.
  37. News: Seattle Times. Lerman. Rachel. 22 August 2016. 23 August 2016.
  38. Web site: Tableau gets AI shot in the arm with Empirical Systems acquisition – TechCrunch. techcrunch.com. 13 June 2018 . en-US. 2018-06-13.
  39. News: Tableau acquires MIT AI spinoff Empirical Systems, opens new R&D center in Boston area. 2018-06-13. GeekWire. 2018-06-13. en-US.
  40. Web site: Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Tableau. investor.salesforce.com. en-US. 2019-06-10.
  41. News: Tech Target. Avidon. Erik. 24 March 2021. 19 May 2021.
  42. Web site: Ryan Aytay named new CEO of Tableau, filling vacant slot TechTarget . 2023-11-03 . Business Analytics . en.
  43. 2022 . News . Significance . en . 19 . 1 . 2–3 . 10.1111/1740-9713.01602 . 1740-9705. free .
  44. Web site: Phillip E. Carter . 2022-11-08 . en-US.
  45. Web site: Big Data's IPO: Tableau Software Is a Big One. Bob. Pisani. 17 May 2013. www.cnbc.com. 9 May 2023.
  46. Web site: Big Data Analytics Specialist Tableau Software Raises $254M In IPO . Lunden, Ingrid . May 17, 2013 . April 29, 2014 . TechCrunch.
  47. Web site: Financial Statements for Tableau Software Inc - Google Finance . . google.com/finance . . 29 April 2015.
  48. Web site: Forms S-1 . SEC . 2013-04-11.
  49. News: WikiLeaks cables visualisation pulled after pressure from Joe Lieberman . London . The Guardian. Charles. Arthur. Josh. Halliday. December 3, 2010.
  50. Web site: Why we removed the WikiLeaks visualizations. Fink, Elissa . December 2, 2010 . Tableau Software.
  51. Web site: The Data is In: New Policy & Advisory Board for Tableau Public . Tableau Software. 2011-02-21. 2015-04-07.
  52. Web site: The Data is In: New Policy & Advisory Board for Tableau Public. Fink, Elissa. February 21, 2011 . Tableau Software.
  53. Web site: Tableau Public's New Data Policy. Kosara, Robert . February 22, 2011. EagerEyes blog. March 13, 2013.
  54. http://www.siia.net/archive/codies/2015/pw_2008.asp "2008 Codie award Winners"
  55. Web site: Tableau, a decade as a Leader. Tableau Software. en. 2022-08-12.

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