Why Tableau Server ?

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Why Tableau Server ?


Contents• What is Tableau Server?• Benefits • Features• Security• Administration


What is Tableau Server

Tableau Server is a business intelligence application that provides browser-based analytics anyone can learn and use. It’s a rapid-fire alternative to the slow pace and rigidity of traditional business intelligence software.


Benefits• Tableau Server is the delivery platform for secure, interactive,

web-based dashboards and data sources that anyone can build quickly with minimal training using Tableau Desktop

• Reports can be deployed internally or externally and accessible via standard Web-browsers and touch-enabled on Mobile devices - no client software installation required

• End User Empowerment– Administration, care & feeding from IT is minimal (less than 0.25

FTE)– Business users create reports, publish and manage content– Data Server gives business users a shared starting point for their

analysis and reporting while providing the flexibility to add their own calculations and combine with their own data

• Tableau Server is fully secure and respects your security protocols– Integrates with Active Directory user authentication and security– Supports SSL and forms based (local) authentication– Leverages database row-level security – Site, user, and workbook level security


Benefits (continued)• Tableau’s Data Server

– Centrally manage metadata, including data types, names and definitions

– Abstract, simplify and secure the data layer from end-users– Host shared Tableau Data Engine Extracts (in-memory) for desktop

users– Automates the refresh of extracts from their native data source

• Data Scalability – Unlike pure in-memory solutions, no limit on the size of data– Supports over 25 different data structures including “Big Data”

• SAP BW, Teradata, Vertica, Hadoop, Aster, Greenplum,...

• Multi-tenant - Separate user groups (think departments or customers) will have their own workspace and content, including users, data sources and workbooks

• Localized Server – Translated into French and German with additional languages coming soon


Features

• Share• Interact• Discover• Embed• Access


Features - ShareGive colleagues, customers, and partners the tools they need to answer their own questions simply by logging into a secure website – Deliver current data with every view– Embed Tableau Interactive views in virtually any web apps or portal

including SharePoint– For any view on Server, users can print to PDF, export data to Excel

and also view underlying transactional data (permission controlled)


Features - InteractWith Tableau you can filter, sort, and discuss data on the fly. Ask and answer questions in the moment, face to face with your colleagues. – Filter to limit the data in the view– Page through slices of the data– Sort capability to keep or exclude individual data values– Export data and images after viewing the details– Users can save personalized versions of a published dashboard– Zoom and drill into maps online– Views can be linked to create guided analysis


Features - DiscoverTableau lets you drill down into data, highlight and filter across data sources, publish interactive maps, and create interactive applications right in a web browser – Drill-through to underlying data– Combining mark types can help you relate to data and find patterns

that would otherwise be much harder to see– Quick summary of your data can help you get to findings more

easily and communicate basic facts about your data


Features - EmbedCombine all the data you need into a powerful dashboard and embed it in your teams workspace, wiki, Sharepoint site, or send a link via email– Embed Tableau in intranets, portals, and applications like

SharePoint and PowerPoint– Embed Tableau views in nearly any web app with just a URL


Features - AccessYou make decisions in meetings, at client sites, and on the go. To get value from your business intelligence, it should be there too– Connect directly to live data where and when you need it – Access to data, reports, and dashboard can be secured down to the

individual level based on your corporate requirements


Features for ITMulti Threading for Performance


Features for ITLocal Extracts – Better capacity utilization on transaction systems


Features for ITExternal Scheduling of Extracts – To enable applications with refreshed live data


Features for ITPre-packaged server usage monitoring and logging


Features for IT Distributed clustered environment for unlimited scalability


Features for ITHigh Availability

• Active/Active clustered environment provides redundancy and additional scalability

• Replication for Data Engine and Repository

• Gateway and Load Balancer can be small – 1 core, 4BG of RAM

• Email alerts sent on failure


Features for ITMulti-tenant• Single server, many sites• Each site is its own world - List of site users - List of Workbooks - List of Data Sources - List of Content Admins• But the server has a single list of users

- Users may be members of multiple sites- Same Name/Password


Features for ITTableau Data Server

• Centrally manage metadata, including data types, names, definitions, and calculated fields

• Users work with the same semantic understanding of the data• Data server acts a Proxy for database connections minimizing

the need to install database drivers and issue credentials to each desktop user

• Data server hosts the in-memory Tableau Data Engine and lighter weight Desktop machines connect as a Client


Security• Users only see reports and data they are authorized

to see• Provides its own authentication as well as integration

to Microsoft Active Directory for user authentication and group membership

• Administrator can monitor logs• SSO – Active Directory

– Database access– By group or user– Row level security


How much support and skill is required?

• Few IT resources are required to implement and support Tableau– Less than 0.25 FTE for 1,000 users on Tableau Server

• Download and installation takes about 30 minutes• Setup user security and begin using Tableau Server in less

than an hour• Tableau Server integrates with Active Directory, so setup is

simple and familiar.• No need to install and maintain any client-side browser

plug-ins for your end-users• Gartner validation of the least support resources for

Enterprise deployments• What skills?

– Business administration skills not IT skills– Knowledge of Tableau Server 4-5 hours of self-paced training


Questions?

http://www.tableausoftware.com/

Why Tableau Server ?

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