Tableau Desktop vs Tableau Server vs Tableau Cloud: What's in Store for You

I’ve always been a huge Tableau fan as they never fail to impress me by bringing out new exciting features in every release. Tableau has yet again released a new version after a thorough research based on people’s experience, thoughts, and comments. As a result, Tableau 2020.3 has an exciting feature with respect to Predictive modelling functions, especially useful to advanced analytics geeks. There are so many other new features which everyone will appreciate – such as IN operator for calculations, Search improvements in data pane, Data quality warnings on Tableau Server and many more! Here are my top picks from the list. The IN Operator The much-awaited feature for the SQL lovers. The IN operator is a shorthand replacement for multiple OR functions. By using IN operator, we will be able to create concise calculation fields instead of never-ending lines of ‘OR’. Let’s look into a simple use case by assuming that I am interested to know the sales value of ‘Apple Products’ compared to all other products, then I can use IN operator to with IF statement to group the products to “Apple Product” and “Other Products” IF [Product Name] IN (‘Apple iPhone 5′,’Apple iPhone 5C’,’Apple iPhone 5S’) THEN “Apple Products” ELSE “Other Products” END Predictive Modelling Function Now the predictive genes would be happy to see more features on the prediction module of Tableau. With the added advantages of the functions MODEL_QUANTILE and MODEL_PERCENTILE, now the prediction function goes beyond the existing trendline analysis. Both the functions will help to build a model that understands how your data is distributed around a best-fit line. MODEL_QUANTILE is a table calculation that returns a target value at a specified percentile, based on other predictors MODEL_PERCENTILE is a table calculation that returns the probability of the expected value being less than or equal to the observed mark, based on other predictors Search improvements in Data pane While developing business specific dashboards, we need to create several calculations and its needs to be adjusted or new calculations needs to be created from existing calculations as per the business unit’s requirements. With the newly added Search improvement feature, our lives are made easy by searching or filtering specific filed based on field name, type, or comments. Search improvements in Data pane Write to external databases in Tableau Prep Write to external databases in Tableau Prep The wow moment for prep is here with the introduction of the ability to output to a database. In all previous versions of Prep, we have been able to write to an extract file or csv, and now from the latest 2020.3 introduces the ability to output to a database. Currently supported databases are SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, Oracle, and Teradata. As shown in the below example, result from the flow can be saved to a data base table from the output step by choosing “Database table” option, specify your server connection (with login credentials) , choose the data base and then the table. And now, Write to database will power the analytics journey by helping to solve the issues related to, data sources, data security and data governance Open or Upload Workbooks On The Web within Tableau Server Sharing your work and exploring insights from others just got easier. You can now open a Tableau workbook or upload it straight to the web without having to use Tableau Desktop. Simply select the workbook (.twb or .twbx) you want to upload and publish directly to your site on Tableau Server or Online. Only users with the appropriate publishing permissions will have the ability to upload content. Open or Upload Workbooks On The Web within Tableau Server Three refresh options are available, they are Earlier prep was used mainly for Set Data Quality Warnings on Tableau Server Data quality warnings make it possible to let users know when a data asset is flagged, whether because the data is under maintenance, it’s stale, or some other reason. With high visibility data quality warnings, not only let users know about the issue but make sure they do not miss it. Are you interested in learning more about Tableau’s new features or the features? Are you a Tableau user and would like to become a Tableau Champion? If the answer to the above questions is a big “YES”, Please contact us at training@beinex.com/ info@beinex.com and we would be happy to schedule a Tableau demo or training for you and your company.

Enterprises worldwide have perceived the potential benefits of AI for their operations. AI gives humans the freedom to make insightful decisions while allowing a computer to perform other preset tasks that necessitates the development of such technologies in the first place. These tools assist you in developing, but they also aid in optimising networks and workflows.

A list of Artificial Intelligence tools is given below:

1. Scikit Learn
2. Tensorflow
3. Theano
4. Caffe
5. MxNet
6. Keras
7. PyTorch
8. CNTK

SCIKIT Learn

Known to be the most wanted tool in the library of Machine Learning for the python programming language, Scikit learn offers a wide range of tools for statistical modelling, Predictive analytics and very many other machine learning tasks. It underpins many administered and unsupervised learning calculations. It is a perfect tool for fledgling, and it incorporates direct and calculated relapses, choice trees, bunching, k-implies, etc.

Tensorflow

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open-source platform with a flexible ecosystem of tools for creating Machine Learning applications. It allows Google's voice-recognition tool to spot queries in photos and understand audibly stated phrases.

Theano

Theano was created to simplify and speed up the creation of sophisticated learning models so that they might be used in creative projects. It's written in Python and can run on both GPUs and CPUs. It generates elevated information counts that are often higher than when it runs solely on the CPU. Theano's speed makes it highly cost-effective to perform any complex calculations.

Caffe

The Berkeley Vision and Learning Center (BVLC) and network donors collaborated to construct Caffe, a deep learning structure that prioritises articulation, speed, and assessed quality. Google's Deep Dream uses Caffe Framework. CAFFE is a Python-interfaced BSD-authorized C++ library.

MxNET

MxNET uses a 'forgetful back prop' to barter computation time for memory, which is highly useful for recurrent nets on very long sequences. As it is an easy-to-use support for multi-GPU and multi-machine training, scalability is a priority during the design process. There are a lot of intriguing features, such as the ability to write custom layers in high-level languages. Unlike almost all other significant frameworks, it is not explicitly regulated by a vast corporation, which is suitable for an open-source, community-developed framework.

Keras

Keras is what you need if you like Python and how it works. It is a high-end library that tackles neural networks highly effectively for recurrent nets on very long sequences, which it achieves by utilising Theano and TensorFlow in the backend. It recognises the architecture that relates to specific issues. It aids in the detection of problems by using photos with weights. It optimises the results of a network by configuring it. Keras provides an abstract structure that can be transformed into any other framework for compatibility or performance.

Pytorch

The code for Pytorch, a Facebook-created artificial system, is easily accessible on Github. There are over 22000 stars on it. The framework has been in high demand in recent years, and it is still being developed. PyTorch uses reverse-mode auto-differentiation to modify network behaviour arbitrarily with zero lag or overhead, speeding up research iterations. Its deep learning framework is optimised for achieving state-of-the-art results in research.

CNTK

The Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit (CNTK) is an open-source, unified toolkit that describes neural networks as computational steps via a directed graph. Users utilise CNTK to release and merge popular types of models, such as DNNs, CNNs, RNNs, and LSTMs. It employs stochastic gradient descent (SGD), which learns through parallelisation and automatic differentiation across multiple servers and GPUs. Because of its open-source licenses, anyone can try out CNTK

Machine Learning Tools

Machine learning tools are algorithmic applications of artificial intelligence that allow systems to learn and develop without human input; data mining and predictive modelling are similar concepts. They will enable the software to improve its accuracy in anticipating outcomes without programming it directly. Some top Machine Learning Tools are enlisted below:

1. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning
2. IBM Watson
3. Google TensorFlow
4. Amazon Machine Learning
5. OpenNMS
6. Google Colab
7. Apache Mahout
8. Shogun

Microsoft Azure Machine Learning

Microsoft Azure Machine Learning is a cloud platform for building, training, and deploying AI models. Microsoft is constantly updating and improving its machine learning tools, and it just announced changes to Azure Machine Learning, including the retirement of the Azure Machine Learning Workbench.

IBM Watson

Watson Machine Learning is a cloud service from IBM that leverages data to deploy machine learning and deep learning models. Users can use this machine learning application to execute two basic machine learning operations: training and scoring. Remember that IBM Watson is best suited for developing machine learning applications via API connections.

Google TensorFlow

TensorFlow is an open-source software library for dataflow programming that Google uses for research and production. TensorFlow is, at its core, a machine learning framework. This machine learning tool is new to the market and is rapidly evolving. The ease with which TensorFlow allows developers to visualise neural networks is perhaps the most appealing feature.

Amazon Machine Learning

Amazon Machine Learning is used for creating and predicting Machine Learning models. Amazon Machine Learning comes with an automatic data transformation tool, which makes the machine learning tool even more user-friendly. Amazon also offers other machine learning tools, such as Amazon SageMaker, a fully-managed platform that makes using machine learning models simple for developers and data scientists.

OpenNMS

Open Neural Networks Package is a neural network implementation software library. OpenNMS, written in the C++ programming language, allows you to download its whole library from GitHub or SourceForge.

Google Colab

Google Colab is a cloud service supported by Python. It will assist in developing machine learning applications using PyTorch, Keras, TensorFlow, and OpenCV libraries. It facilitates machine learning and is accessible through Google Drive.

Apache Mahout

Apache Mahout is an Apache Software Foundation project that employs the MapReduce paradigm and is built on top of Apache Hadoop. It's also utilised to construct scalable, distributed machine learning algorithms for clustering, collaborative filtering, and classification. Mahout includes Java libraries for popular math algorithms and operations and foundational Java collections, concentrating on statistics and linear algebra.

Shogun

Shogun is an open-source ML platform, an open-source machine learning software library built in C++. It employs a diverse set of unified and efficient machine learning techniques. Shogun provides a well-organised implementation of all standard machine learning methods and is a critical player in ML education and development.

Robotic Process Automation Tools

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools are commonly used for task automation configuration. These tools are essential for automating repetitive back-office activities. With RPA Tools, we acquire a virtual employee who can execute repetitive tasks efficiently and, at less cost, than humans.

The following is a curated list of the top RPA tools:

1. Keysight's Eggplant
2. Inflectra Rapise
3. Blue Prism
4. UiPath
5. Automation Anywhere
6. Pega
7. Contextor
8. Nice Systems

Keysight's Eggplant

Eggplant RPA is a solution designed for process experts to automate the execution of repetitive tasks. It is compatible with apps such as SAP, Oracle, etc. and provides increased productivity and reduces errors.

Inflectra Rapise

Rapise by Inflectraina, a test automation solution, is in its seventh iteration and specialises in complicated applications like MS Dynamics, Salesforce, and SAP. Rapise now can automate Web, Desktop, and Mobile apps and supports hybrid business settings.

Blue Prism

Blue Prism RPA supports all core capabilities and is used with any application on any platform. You will need programming abilities to utilise this application, but it is user-friendly for developers. Blue Prism is ideal for medium and large businesses.

UiPath

UiPath is a user-friendly system that delivers security by handling credentials, encrypting data, and controlling access based on role. It is an open platform, adaptable for any business size and capable of handling complex procedures.

Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere provides core functions and security through authentication, encryption, and credentials. It is an easy-to-use solution ideal for medium and big businesses that offers both on-premise and cloud-based services.

Pega

Pega is a business process management platform that is hosted in the cloud. This is ideal for medium and large organisations and solely delivers cloud-based solutions or services. Pega is compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac and can be installed on desktop servers.

Contextor

Contextor is an excellent fit for any size front office and works with all workstation applications. It supports Citrix and RDP hybrid virtualisation environments and provides on-premise and cloud services. Contextor can interface with both active and minimised programmes.

Nice Systems

The friendly RPA tool named NEVA-Nice Employee Virtual Attendant is an intelligent tool that assists in automating mundane tasks, compliance adherence, and Upsell. It provides cloud-based and on-premise solutions and attended and unattended server automation.

The trio, AI, ML and RPA, are separate entities, closely interconnected. As it can solve most real-world issues in a blink, they have become an inseparable helping hand in all the major businesses.

Beinex Consulting has been awarded as the Alteryx 2020 Partner of the Year, Middle East at the Alteryx Partner Summit and Awards virtual event along with 15 other winners from North America, LATAM, and EMEA. During the Alteryx Summit, ‘Your Road to Revenue’, Alteryx celebrated the achievements and commitment of their partners to the Alteryx business and its customers. Beinex Consulting was awarded on the level of engagement in the Alteryx partner program and its efforts around driving innovation, growing revenue, and empowering Alteryx customers to solve our world’s most pressing business and societal issues in the Middle East Region. Selected among top Middle East Alteryx partners, Beinex demonstrated excellence in delivering end-to-end analytics transformation services that revolutionised multiple industries in the Middle East. Beinex Consulting Founder and Managing Director, Indumon Das indicates further growth for the digital transformation organisation soon: “Beinex continues to make strategic investments to enhance our association with Alteryx and clients in major Middle East markets. This award is a recognition to our continuous growth strategy and focus to be the best Middle East partner” “Through their ongoing pledge to the Alteryx Partner Program, our partners have demonstrated their commitment to helping Alteryx customers break down barriers and deliver game-changing insights.” – Josh Lewis, VP, Global Channels, Alteryx About Beinex Consulting Beinex is a digital transformation organization with a broad range of analytics modernization and training services. As a pioneer in analytics and cloud transformation, Beinex’s mission is to transform the way individuals and the organizations work with the data through innovation and experience. Beinex offers a broad range of robust and scalable business intelligence and analytics services to drive effective decision-making and create business value.

We are thrilled to recognize Beinex Consulting for being named Alteryx Middle East Partner of the Year!https://t.co/xwmp7HbsMp#TogetherWeSolve pic.twitter.com/4zic9mdlgD

— Alteryx (@alteryx) October 1, 2020

What is Tableau Server Health Check?

Tableau Server Health Check comprehensively evaluates the server's performance, configuration, and overall health. It aims to ensure that the server operates optimally, providing a seamless and efficient user experience. Regular health checks can prevent performance degradation, identify potential issues before they become critical, and ensure that the server environment is configured according to best practices.

Critical Components of a Tableau Server Health Check • Server Performance • Server Configuration • Resource Utilization • Content and Workbook

When Should You Perform a Tableau Server Health Check?

1. Regular Maintenance
• Quarterly or Bi-Annually: Conducting a health check every three to six months helps identify potential issues early and maintain optimal performance over time.
2. Performance Issues
• Slow Load Times: If users experience slow load times for dashboards and reports, it clearly indicates that a health check is needed to diagnose and resolve performance bottlenecks. • Frequent Server Crashes: Regular crashes or downtime are signs of underlying issues that need immediate attention.
3. Major Updates or Upgrades
• Before and After Upgrades: Perform a health check before upgrading to a new version of Tableau Server to ensure the current environment is stable. Conduct another check after the upgrade to verify everything is working correctly and optimize new features.
4. Changes in Usage Patterns
• Increase in User Base: A health check ensures the server can handle the new load effectively if the number of users or the volume of data being processed significantly increases significantly.
5. User Feedback
• Negative User Feedback: If users report consistent issues with dashboard performance, accessibility, or other aspects of Tableau Server, it’s crucial to perform a health check to address these concerns.
6. System Configuration Changes
• Infrastructure Changes: Changes to the underlying infrastructure, such as hardware upgrades or network configuration changes, should be followed by a health check to ensure everything is configured optimally.

What are the Benefits of Tableau Server Health?

• Improved Performance • Better User Experience • Improving allocation of server resources and license management. • Increasing server stability, reliability, and uptime. • Scalability and Future Planning

How Does Beinex Conduct Tableau Health Check?

Our certified Tableau experts will evaluate your server environment and deliver a comprehensive report to help you identify and mitigate risks. Our process is structured into three main phases: Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Recommendation. Each phase focuses on different aspects of the server's operation to ensure that it meets your organization's needs and performs optimally. • Evaluation - We assess the size and configuration of your server, the performance of all data extracts and dashboards, server security, and more • Diagnose - We parse through server logs and review usage metrics to diagnose the root cause of any issues • Recommend - We present findings, best practices, and recommendations that you can act on immediately

Why Choose Beinex?

• Certified Team of Server Experts At Beinex, we pride ourselves on having a team of certified Tableau experts who bring extensive knowledge and experience to every project. Our specialists have the latest certifications and are continually updated with the newest Tableau features and best practices. • 300+ Tableau Deployments & Upgrades With over 300 successful Tableau deployments and upgrades under our belt, Beinex has a proven track record of delivering exceptional results. Our extensive experience spans various industries and business sizes, allowing us to understand and address the unique challenges different organizations face. • Tableau Premier Partner As a Tableau Premier Partner, Beinex stands among a select group of top-tier Tableau partners worldwide. This prestigious partnership recognizes our commitment to excellence and ability to deliver high-quality Tableau solutions.

How Beinex Can Assist You

Beinex, a premier Tableau partner, provides sustainable analytics solutions to organizations and helps to build superior data visual analytics capabilities internally through our bespoke training programs. Our team of Tableau-certified consultants are real-life Tableau business users passionate about Tableau and delivering a world-class experience. Connect with us: https://www.beinex.com/tableau-beinex/

What is the Tableau Blueprint Assessment?

The Tableau Blueprint Assessment is a powerful tool that evaluates your organisation's data practices, culture, and technology. It provides a clear picture of where you stand and offers actionable, personalised recommendations to help you advance your data journey. This assessment is vital for driving results through analytics by scaling the use of data and initiating cultural changes.

Key Components of the Blueprint Assessment

1. Blueprint Tracks: Adopt and evolve processes and best practices across four key areas:
• Agility • Proficiency • Community • Governance
2. Data Culture: Foster behaviors and beliefs that empower everyone in your organisation to create business value.
3. Personalised Recommendations: Tailored to your organisation's level and responsibilities spanning business and technical domains.

How Tableau Blueprint Helps You

1. Establishes Your Baseline: Measure where you are in your data journey compared to other data-leading organisations.
2. Tracks Your Progress: Revisit and update your results to see how you advance.
3. Accelerates Your Transformation: Receive actionable recommendations and examples of best practices based on your role and responsibilities.

The Assessment Process

1. Assessment: You answer questions about your organisation's data practices, culture, and technology.
2. Evaluation: The assessment analyses your responses and generates a maturity score across different dimensions of data management.
3. Recommendations: You receive tailored recommendations for improving your data strategy and implementation based on your assessment results.

Benefits of Using the Tableau Blueprint Assessment

1. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses: Understand your organisation's current data capabilities.
2. Prioritise Initiatives: Focus on areas with the highest potential impact.
3. Align Stakeholders: Create a shared vision for data-driven transformation.
4. Access Best Practices: Make the most of Tableau's expertise and industry insights.

Key Areas Covered in the Assessment

• Data Culture • Data Literacy • Data Governance • Data Management • Analytics and Business Intelligence

Blueprint Tracks and Participants

Each Blueprint track includes questions related to capabilities, commitment, and behaviors & beliefs: • Capabilities: 3-5 questions on processes and best practices. • Commitment: 5 questions on executive sponsorship, organizational structure, business value, and investment. • Behaviors & Beliefs: 15 questions on characteristics fostering a successful Data Culture.

Who Should Participate?

• Agility:

1. Capabilities: Tableau Server/Cloud Administrator
2. Commitment: Platform Manager

• Proficiency:

1. Capabilities: Data Visualization & Analytics Trainer, Tableau Champions
2. Commitment: Analytics Lead, Head of Learning & Development

• Community:

1. Capabilities: Tableau User Group Leader
2. Commitment: Tableau User Group Leader, Analytics Lead

• Governance:

1. Capabilities: Data Steward, Tableau Site/Project Administrator
2. Commitment: Chief Data Officer, Governance Council Member

Participants typically include mid-level leaders, front-line managers, individual contributors, executive leaders, and C-suite executives.

Next Steps: Completing the Tableau Blueprint Assessment

1. Identify Stakeholders: Gather a broad set of participants to gain a comprehensive view of your organisation.
2. Host a Kick-off Call: Discuss the assessment and outline expectations with all participants.
3. Complete the Assessment: Set a due date; each assessment will take no more than 20 minutes to complete.
4. Debrief: Host a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss results, recommendations, and next steps.

By following the Tableau Blueprint and leveraging the assessment, your organization can build a robust data culture, enhance data literacy, and implement effective data governance and management practices. Get ready to transform your organization into a data-driven powerhouse.