Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

THE

BI SURVEY

The Customer Verdict

The worlds largest survey of
business intelligence software users

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Tableau in THE BI SURVEY

12ashboards

This document is a specially produced summary

by BARC of the headline results for Tableau

12
11
11

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Table of Contents

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12 ............................................................................................... 3

Tableau overview ................................................................................................................ 3
Tableau customer responses .............................................................................................. 3
Product usage ................................................................................................................... 4
Customer demographics ................................................................................................... 4
Product penetration .......................................................................................................... 4
Number of users ............................................................................................................... 4
Peer Groups ............................................................................................................................. 5
KPI Results for Tableau in Peer Group Visual Analysis and Data Discovery
vendor ................................................................................................................................ 6
KPI Results for Tableau in Peer Group Small and Medium Projects vendor .................. 11
Summary ................................................................................................................................ 15
Marketing Statements ............................................................................................................ 15

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Tableau overview
Tableau is a business analytics company with data visualization at its core. The
company was founded in 2003. Tableau is growing extremely quickly with revenues
increasing by over one hundred percent in 2010 and 2011. It now has over 300
employees.
The core products use an underlying technology called VizQL that was invented by
Tableaus co-founders in the late nineties at Stanford University. VizQL is a patented
query language that translates visual, drag-and-drop actions into a database query
and then expresses the response graphically. Tableau is one of the most popular
visual exploration products in the world.
Tableau is geared to business users with simple data management tools and
installation.
The company also offers a server product that can be used to distribute interactive
analytics, dashboards and reports but does not provide any additional authoring tools.

Tableau customer responses

This is the second year that Tableau features in The BI Survey. It appeared this year
with a healthy sample of 76 users. Two thirds of respondents reported that they were
using Tableau 7, with the rest stating they were running Tableau 6.

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Product usage

76%

Standard/Enterprise
Reporting
Dashboards
Ad hoc query

20%
89%
11%
87%
11%
32%

OLAP Analysis
Visual Analysis/
Data Discovery

23%
86%
9%
43%
36%

Predictive Analysis/
Data Mining

36%
34%

Budgeting/Planning

21%
26%

Financial consolidation

in use %

planned %

Customer demographics

Product penetration
Percentage
of
employees

43%

using Tableau at customer

50%
45%

43%

sites

40%

Average

35%

12 %

30%
25%

Number of users
Number
of
users
using

20%
15%

13%

Tableau

10%
5%
0%
<100

100-2500

>2500

Number of employees in different size

classes for Tableau customers

Median

30

Average

222

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Peer Groups
Peer groups are used to ensure similar products are compared against each other
both in fairness to the vendor and for the benefit of the customer. The groups are
essential to allow fair and useful comparisons of products that are likely to compete.
The peer groups are primarily data-driven and are based on how customers say they
use the product.
Tableau features in the following peer groups:
-

Visual Analysis and Data Discovery vendor

Small and Medium Projects vendor

For more details on the KPIs see the KPIs and Dashboards document.

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

KPI Results for Tableau in Peer Group

Visual Analysis and Data Discovery vendor

Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in visual analysis

Tableau (1)

1.29

QlikTech (2)

1.04

Dimensional Insight (3)

1.00

Average

1.00

Phocas (4)

Cyberscience (5)

0.95

0.71
1.30
max

1.00

0.70
min

Tableau wins this key functional category for this peer group, beating all its
competition. A good win for Tableau.
Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in user recommendation

Tableau (1)

1.01

Phocas (2)

1.00

Average

1.00

QlikTech (3)

1.00

Cyberscience (4)

Dimensional Insight (5)

0.98
min

1.00

0.99
1.00

Feedback from this years survey participants reveals that Tableau is highly
recommended for supporting visual analysis and data discovery requirements.
BARCs field experiences corroborate this result.

1.02
max

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in collaboration

Tableau (1)

1.28

1.15

Cyberscience (2)

Dimensional Insight (3)

1.06

Phocas (4)

1.01

Average

QlikTech (5)

1.00

0.78
1.29
max

1.00

0.77
min

One of the major market trends of 2012 is the support of workflows and collaboration
between users. Tableau achieves great results here and is one of the best products
in this important category.
Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in self service

Tableau (1)

1.08

Cyberscience (2)

1.07

Phocas (3)

1.02

Average

1.00

Dimensional Insight (4)

QlikTech (5)
0.91
min

0.99

0.92
1.00

In 2012 self service has become one of the most important areas for BI Vendors.
Companies are striving for more agile environments and need technology that
supports the self service approach. Tableau shows itself to be a leader in this area.

1.09
max

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in variety of data types

Tableau (1)

1.20

1.05

QlikTech (2)

Dimensional Insight (3)

1.02

Average

Phocas (4)

Cyberscience (5)

1.00

0.81

0.76

0.75
min

1.21
max

1.00

Tableau supports a broad range of data types and allows end users to combine and
analyze all relevant information within a company. Tableau is used heavily to support
such scenarios. Again its important to note that Tableau tops this category ahead of
QlikTech.
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in innovation

Dimensional Insight (1)

1.16

Tableau (2)

1.10

Phocas (3)

1.04

Average

1.00

QlikTech (4)

Cyberscience (5)
0.70
min

0.99

0.71
1.00

Due to its outstanding visual analysis functions, Tableau is one of the most
innovative vendors in this category. As well as its wide range of visual analysis
functions, innovative features like collaboration underline this ranking.

1.17
max

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in agility

Phocas (1)

1.11

1.09

Cyberscience (2)

Tableau (3)

1.07

Average

Dimensional Insight (4)

1.00

0.88

QlikTech (5)

0.87
1.12
max

1.00

0.86
min

End users have responded well to Tableaus high usability and flexibility. This has
resulted in the product scoring well in this category.

Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in business achievement

1.04

Dimensional Insight (1)

Tableau (2)

1.04

Phocas (3)

1.02

Cyberscience (4)

1.02

Average

QlikTech (5)
0.93
min

1.00

0.94
1.00

Significantly, Tableau easily beats QlikTech in this category. This is a good result as
BARC would expect Tableau to compete with QlikTech in projects to support end
users in visual data exploration.

1.05
max

10

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in competitiveness

Cyberscience (1)

1.34

1.23

Dimensional Insight (2)

Tableau (3)

1.04

Phocas (4)

1.02

Average

1.00

QlikTech (5)

0.97

0.96
min

1.00

Tableau is one of the best visual navigation and analysis tools. In this category very
small vendors historically tend to perform well, so Tableaus result should not be
underestimated, especially as it represents another win against QlikTech.

1.35
max

11

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

KPI Results for Tableau in Peer Group

Small and Medium Projects vendor
Leading SME Project vendor in business achievement
Yellowfin (1)
Dimensional Insight (2)
BOARD (3)
Tableau (4)
Phocas (5)
Cyberscience (6)
IBM Cognos TM1 (7)
Average
Bissantz (8)
Jedox (9)
QlikTech (10)
Cubeware (11)
TARGIT (12)
Microsoft SSAS (13)
Infor (14)
Microsoft SSRS (15)
Pentaho (16)
Evidanza (17)
Decisyon (18)

1.18
1.08
1.08
1.08
1.06
1.06
1.06
1.00
1.00
0.99
0.98
0.98
0.97
0.96
0.92
0.89
0.88
0.84
0.81
1.19
max

1.00

0.80
min

Tableaus business satisfaction rating is very high and demonstrates it is a top five
vendor worldwide in SME projects. More importantly, Tableau leads this category
against all of its main competitors. A good result for Tableau.
Top ranked SME Project vendor in variety of data types
Tableau (1)

1.29

Yellowfin (2)

1.16

QlikTech (3)

1.13

Dimensional Insight (4)

1.10

Pentaho (5)

1.07
1.07

Evidanza (6)
Microsoft SSRS (7)

1.03

Microsoft SSAS (8)

1.03

Average

1.00

Jedox (9)

0.94

Infor (10)

0.91

Phocas (11)

0.87

TARGIT (12)

0.87

Cyberscience (13)

0.82

Cubeware (14)

0.79

Bissantz (15)

0.79

BOARD (16)

0.74

0.73
min

1.00

Tableau wins this category despite coming up against products that are better known
for handling a large variety of data types. Tableaus performance here is strong and
underlines its ability to access multiple data types.

1.30
max

12

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Top ranked SME Project vendor in user recommendation

1.02
1.02
1.02
1.02

Yellowfin (1)
Tableau (2)
Pentaho (3)
Decisyon (4)
Phocas (5)
Jedox (6)
Microsoft SSAS (7)
QlikTech (8)
Cyberscience (9)
Average
Bissantz (10)
Cubeware (11)
TARGIT (12)
Dimensional Insight
IBM Cognos TM1 (14)
BOARD (15)
Infor (16)
Microsoft SSRS (17)
Evidanza (18)

1.01
1.01
1.01
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.99
0.98
0.98
0.97
0.94

0.93
min

1.03
max

1.00

Top ranked SME Project vendor in collaboration

Tableau (1)
BOARD (2)
Cyberscience (3)
Infor (4)
Bissantz (5)
Yellowfin (6)
Dimensional Insight (7)
Jedox (8)
Phocas (9)
Evidanza (10)
IBM Cognos TM1 (11)
Average
Microsoft SSAS (12)
TARGIT (13)
QlikTech (14)
Decisyon (15)
Cubeware (16)
Pentaho (17)
Microsoft SSRS (18)

1.33
1.24
1.19
1.15
1.12
1.11
1.11
1.09
1.05
1.04
1.03
1.00
0.87
0.85
0.82
0.76
0.76
0.75
0.62

0.61
min

1.00

1.34
max

13

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Top ranked SME Project vendor in visual analysis

Tableau (1)
QlikTech (2)
Dimensional Insight (3)
Phocas (4)
Yellowfin (5)
TARGIT (6)
Cyberscience (7)
Average
Decisyon (8)
Bissantz (9)
BOARD (10)
Microsoft SSAS (11)
IBM Cognos TM1 (12)
Cubeware (13)
Jedox (14)
Pentaho (15)
Evidanza (16)
Infor (17)
Microsoft SSRS (18)

1.86
1.50
1.45
1.38
1.12
1.06
1.03
1.00
0.99
0.94
0.88
0.84
0.76
0.67
0.51
0.46
0.44
0.28
0.26
1.00

0.25
min

1.87
max

Leading SME Project vendor in innovation

Yellowfin (1)
Tableau (2)
Dimensional Insight (3)
Evidanza (4)
Phocas (5)
QlikTech (6)
Bissantz (7)
Average
Pentaho (8)
TARGIT (9)
Cyberscience (10)
Jedox (11)
Microsoft SSAS (12)
BOARD (13)
Cubeware (14)
Infor (15)
Decisyon (16)
IBM Cognos TM1 (17)
Microsoft SSRS (18)

3.32
1.35
1.35
1.33
1.26
1.23
1.13
1.00
0.95
0.88
0.84
0.73
0.71
0.67
0.64
0.61
0.61
0.54
0.34

0.33
min

1.00

3.33
max

14

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Top ranked SME Project vendor in self service

1.11

Tableau (1)
Cyberscience (2)

1.10
1.09

IBM Cognos TM1 (3)

1.05

Microsoft SSAS (4)

Phocas (5)

1.05
1.02

Dimensional Insight (6)

1.00

Average

1.00

TARGIT (7)

1.00

BOARD (8)
0.99

Infor (9)
Evidanza (10)

0.97

Jedox (11)

0.97
0.96

Bissantz (12)
QlikTech (13)

0.94
0.93

Yellowfin (14)
Cubeware (15)

0.92

Microsoft SSRS (16)

0.92

Pentaho (17)

0.91

0.90
min

1.12
max

1.00

Leading SME Project vendor in agility

Phocas (1)
Cyberscience (2)
Evidanza (3)
Tableau (4)
Yellowfin (5)
Jedox (6)
TARGIT (7)
Cubeware (8)
Average
BOARD (9)
IBM Cognos TM1 (10)
Dimensional Insight (11)
QlikTech (12)
Infor (13)
Bissantz (14)
Microsoft SSAS (15)
Pentaho (16)
Microsoft SSRS (17)
0.70
min

1.23
1.20
1.19
1.18
1.11
1.10
1.02
1.00
1.00
0.97
0.97
0.96
0.95
0.92
0.83
0.76
0.76
0.71
1.00

1.24
max

Agility in business units is one of the most important requirements for BI tools,
especially in SMEs. Tableau achieves a high ranking, beating all of its main
competitors.

15

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Summary
Tableau is one of the market leaders in data visualization and agile data exploration
and supports a broad range of user requirements. Both small and larger companies
find Tableau to offer one of the best solutions in these areas.
Customers have responded positively to Tableau in key areas including self service,
visualization, collaboration and business achievement.

Marketing Statements
Visual Analysis and Data Discovery
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in business benefits achieved
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in goal achievement
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in business achievement
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in lowest number of administrators
per seat
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in data volume
Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in variety of data types
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in big data (chart)
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in functional scope
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in competitive win rate
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in competitiveness
Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in user recommendation
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in cloud BI
Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in collaboration
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in mobile BI
Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in visual analysis
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in innovation
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in vendor support
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in project length
Top ranked Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in self service
Leading Visual Analysis & Data Discovery vendor in agility

16

Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

Small and Medium Projects vendor

Leading SME Project vendor in business benefits achieved
Leading SME Project vendor in goal achievement
Leading SME Project vendor in business achievement
Top ranked SME Project vendor in variety of data types
Leading SME Project vendor in functional scope
Top ranked SME Project vendor in user recommendation
Top ranked SME Project vendor in collaboration
Leading SME Project vendor in mobile BI
Top ranked SME Project vendor in visual analysis
Leading SME Project vendor in innovation
Leading SME Project vendor in vendor support
Leading SME Project vendor in project length
Top ranked SME Project vendor in self service
Leading SME Project vendor in agility

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Tableau in THE BI SURVEY 12

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