Tableau Server basically extends the core data discovery and analysis capabilities of the Tableau Desktop product using a Web-based publishing and collaboration model.
Tableau Desktop allows single users to graphically present and interact with blended relational and multidimensional views of data using drag-and-drop tools for explanatory analysis. Under the covers, the software is built around a proprietary query language engine called VizQL, which unlike declarative SQL queries that return results as text or numeric data marries a database query directly to a visual response.
Tableau Server adds to that a publishing tool that lets users share the data views as analytic objects via the Web. Licensed end-users can then retrieve those views and manipulate them in their own way; for example, filtering data objects, paging across dimensional data variables in a pivot table or follow guided analysis paths.
Tableau Server end users can also tag and comment on the analyses and publish what they’ve entered back to the server. The software also comes with a Smart Search browsing tool for navigating through visualizations as thumbnails.
Tableau has also added a blog-style discussion feature to encourage collaboration over the visualizations.
Now everyone in the organization can share, discover and participate in the exploration of their data, making it a company-wide skill rather than a ‘black art’ practiced by a few specialists, said CEO Christian Chabot.
Seattle, Washington-based Tableau claims around 10,000 users of its software, which the company claims can be installed in the blink of an eye – around 10 minutes – and uses Microsoft Active Directory applications for user access management.
