Tableau Data Integration

Tableau may be a great data visualization tool but it has very limited functionality for data blending and data integration. Worse, most customers misunderstand "self service business intelligence concept" and think that they will get Tableau and without any data integration they can connect to the databases and create visualization (customers are actually made to believe this with Tableau's sales pitch).

Unfortunately, most business data is stored in complex relational database management systems or ERP which is very difficult, if not impossible to connect directly. Thus, many companies buying self service business intelligence solution realize that they cannot use it effectively due to this limitation.

Solution for this Tableau data integration problem is developing a  data integration with a non-Tableau application which is purpose built for this function. This data integration layer will simplify, consolidate and usually enrich the complex transactional data and will make it available for business users to easily develop visualizations. It will also transfer the query load from transactional system to this intermediary stage so the dashboards will also work faster. Such intermediary Tableau data integration layer became more crucial in the big data age.

Since Tableau deploys ease of use of "Drag-and-Drop", ideally the data integration system should also have the same drag-and drop capability and free of scripting. Luckily there are drag-and-drop data integration software out there and some are open source such as Pentaho.

There are drag-and-drop data integration software out there and some are open source such as Pentaho.

You can download Tableau Data Integration Services brochure to find out more : Enterprise Tableau Data Integration and Management Paper.

If you are having problems in Tableau data integration and data management, an expert Tableau services help may be very useful. In this case you should choose a Tableau consultancy firm, which will guide you in the process and implement the actual Tableau data integration layer.