Introduction

Are you new to Tableau and want to see how many products Tableau offer? Then you’re in the right place. I’m going to walk you through all Tableau products and their uses.

After reading this article you’ll know why Tableau is called the one-stop solution for data visualization. It’s each software is targeted to a specific data audience and solves a problem related to it. There’s something for everyone but to choose the right software for yourself and use their software to its full capacity, you should know what they’re offering and what’s the use of it. So without wasting any more time let’s see all the products of Tableau.

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Features of Tableau

The tool got people’s interest from all sectors, including businesses, researchers, and various industries. It is most appropriate for the rapid and easy visualization of massive data, which helps in resolving considerable data difficulties.

This tool has fantastic features that do not require programming or technical knowledge. These features serve as the foundation for Tableau Products. This software’s outstanding features include the following:

• Blending of data.
• Analysis in real-time.
• Data collaboration

Keep on Reading: Tableau Data Analyst Certification Questions »

Tableau products and their uses

Tableau has many products based on its features. All products are classified according to the nature of their functionality into 4 categories. They are as follows:

1. The developer component
2. The server component
3. The data preparation component
4. The viewer component

Let’s look at what Tableau offers in each of these 4 categories.

The developer component

1.    Tableau Desktop

Tableau Desktop is a desktop program that costs money (but they do offer a free trial). Tableau Desktop Professional edition is another, but an uncommon name for it. You’ll have to install it and set it up on your computer. This is where the developers design charts, formulas, dashboards, actions, and so on.

Tableau Desktop enables the creation of interactive dashboards for guided analytics and narrative. It may also publish on a server so the rest of the company can benefit from your efforts. Tableau Desktop features a robust feature set that can code and create reports. It quickly creates sophisticated computations based on existing data. Ask new questions, detect patterns, and make data-driven choices with confidence through the Tableau desktop.

The server component

2.    Tableau Cloud / Tableau Online

Tableau online or the new name Tableau cloud is also a paid server program, but it is hosted by Tableau software. Therefore, there is no need to install it on any Windows server. It is preferable when the Tableau dashboards must be accessible from any location.

It provides nearly all the tools needed to share and collaborate with your business using Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud by hosting workbooks, data sources, prep processes, and data extracts published using Tableau Prep or Desktop. Additionally, these solutions boost productivity and efficiency by allowing you to subscribe to a workbook or dashboard.

3.    Tableau Public Server

Tableau Public is the world’s largest archive of data visualizations.

It is an accessible internet server. It is an entirely free internet server where individuals publish their thoughts and visualizations. It does not provide user or folder administration. It can’t have a live data source, simply an extract.

The files stored in the cloud are not private since anybody may download and access them. This edition is ideal for people who want to study Tableau and wish to share their data with a broader audience. You can see how the world’s most outstanding analysts and leading corporations use Tableau to visualize data, and then use what you’ve learned in your next work assignment.

Curate, publish, and distribute data sources to the public as live connections or encrypted extracts. Tableau Data Management, built into the platform, scales reliable data in a simple, repeatable manner using Tableau Catalog, Tableau Preparation, and Virtual Connections.

4.    Tableau Server

Tableau Server is a program that must be installed on a Windows or Linux server. It would be best if you first published your work in Tableau Desktop before you can share dashboards on Tableau Server. This is commonly utilized in the business sector.

Typically, a specialized administrator would be in charge of memory, user management, data source management, folder administration, and other server-related duties. Tableau server has excellent security and is well suited for rapid and effective data sharing inside a company. Tableau is famous among IT departments because of its ease of use, solid integration, simplicity of scaling, and high dependability.

Scale and construction with Tableau Advanced Management, you can do mission-critical analytics while preserving control, resulting in higher scalability, efficiency, and security. Monitor consumption in one environment to stay in compliance more effectively.

The data preparation component

5.    Tableau Prep Builder

Tableau Prep Builder is a new Tableau product. It assists developers in cleansing, blending, and wrangling raw data. It is a small extraction, transformation, and loading program that can connect to several databases, combine the data, convert the data, and save the file as output.

It is automatable and can assist developers in avoiding duplicate human data processing. Before Tableau Prep, individuals would spend hours and hours cleaning and organizing their data sources to ensure that their analysis was correct and successful. They may now save hours of effort thanks to Tableau Prep.

To democratize predictive modelling, the platform includes transparent AI. With what-if scenario planning, guided model creation, AI-powered forecasts, and other data science tools, people with business context may make wiser choices more quickly.

The viewer component

6.    Tableau Reader

Tableau Reader is a free desktop application that allows extracting connection files and data visualization. It can assist new users in trying Tableau by providing a single license for Tableau Desktop and installing this free program on their end user’s PC. Tableau Reader, unlike the other products, does not offer automated data refreshes.

Packaged workbooks also lack security measures. End-user functionality is restricted to what is configured for them, such as filters and dashboard activities. As a result, Tableau Reader does not provide self-service analytics for further investigation of unsolved queries.

As a result, application in a business context is doubtful. Its use cases, however, include sharing material with a limited group of individuals.

7.    Tableau Mobile

Tableau Mobile is also free but mobile software that allows you to connect to Tableau Server and Tableau Online from your mobile device. While it is free, using Mobile requires a Tableau license. Tableau Mobile caches your favourite views and dashboards for offline viewing.

It might help interact with and view dashboards published on the Tableau server or online. Tableau Mobile provides unparalleled versatility, enabling various authentication techniques such as SAML, OpenID Connect, VPN or reverse proxy use, MDM with AppConfig, and MAM.

Keep reading: Tableau Desktop Specialist Certification Questions »

Frequently Asked Questions

1.    Can I get Tableau desktop for free?

Tableau offers its software Tableau desktop free for academic use to students. If you’re a student you can get Tableau desktop for free. For others, Tableau desktop is paid but they offer a 14-day free trial.

2.    What’s the difference between Tableau desktop and Tableau public?

Tableau Desktop is paid application which is used by data engineers and analysts. While Tableau public is free and is for anyone who wants to share and see data visualizations. In short, Tableau Desktop is for professionals and Tableau public is for the general public.

3.    Is Tableau better than Excel?

Yes, Tableau outperforms Excel in several aspects, including interactive dashboards, visualizations, and the ability to work with massive amounts of data. Tableau connects and gathers information from a multitude of sources. It can retrieve data from every source possible.

4.    Do I need to optimize the Tableau database or query?

No. Tableau offers moderate speed with choices to optimize and improve an operation’s pace. You don’t need to optimize the query using coding because the tool may be used without coding skills.

5.    Do I need to learn where my data leads me to understand the insights?

No, Tableaus allows you to examine data without knowing your desired answer. You can detect variations and data patterns using built-in tools such as data blending and drill-down.

6.    Does Tableau automatically make the visualizations of data?

Yes, data is visualized from the start with Tableau. Tableau is an efficient and rapidly expanding data visualization application in the business intelligence industry. This is why you don’t have to build charts and graphs manually.

In a nutshell

These were the 7 Tableau products that are divided into 4 categories (developer component, server component, data preparation component, and viewer component) based on their use and function.

Tableau products have made every aspect of data visualization easy to handle whether it’s building a dashboard, accessing it on the go or getting a free library of data visualizations. All the software combines to give the perfect data visualization experience to the users. Here is a short overview of Tableau products and their uses

1. Tableau Desktop
2. Tableau Cloud/ Tableau Online
3. Tableau Public Server
4. Tableau Server
5. Tableau Prep Builder
6. Tableau Reader
7. Tableau Mobile

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