Tableau 10.2 makes Advanced Analytics easy

Tableau Software has announced general availability of Tableau 10.2. The new release brings advanced mapping capabilities that make complex geospatial analysis easy, simplifies data prep with new ways to combine and clean data, and gives enterprises more tools to deliver self-service analytics at scale.

“The need to see and understand data has never been greater,” said Andrew Beers, Chief Development Officer, Tableau Software. “Enhancements in Tableau 10.2 make advanced analytics easier, faster and more scalable. We’ve added new ways to leverage spatial data, prep data and manage Tableau deployments in the enterprise. Visualizations are easier for people with disabilities to perceive and explore, making data accessible to everyone to increase business value and insights.”

Building on Tableau’s strong mapping capabilities, the new Spatial File Connector allows customers to leverage their spatial data directly in Tableau for easy geospatial analysis. Tableau now connects to ESRI Shapefiles, KML, GeoJSON and MapInfo file types.

Combining and cleaning data for analysis can be a complex and time-consuming task. Tableau 10.2 accelerates the process through powerful yet approachable features, so people across the enterprise can get to their analysis faster. Tableau 10.2 now lets people union tables from a database, leveraging database structure and schemas more efficiently. Handling complex dates has never been easier. Tableau 10.2 can automatically recognize dates (there are more than 250 ways to represent a date) and make dates uniform with just one click, no scripting or complex calculations required. Transforming data from a string to a date type is easy with Automatic DateParse – just change the data type and Tableau will do all the heavy lifting.

Tableau visualizations can now be made conformant to the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines drafted by the Web Accessibility Initiative, commonly referenced as WCAG 2.0 AA. People who work in an environment subject to US Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 can author and publish Tableau content with features that make it easier for people with disabilities to perceive and explore. Common visualization elements now have keyboard support and function with assistive technologies such as screen reading software. These new capabilities ensure that a customer’s visualizations reach the largest possible audience.

Tableau 10.2 provides fine-grained controls over guest access. Tableau 10.2 also improves the connectivity with SAP BW with Single Sign-on support. Tableau can now support the security rules defined in SAP BW and ensure that users can only see the data that they are authorized to see.

Tableau is continuously making it easier to access data with new direct connectors to the most important web applications being used to run businesses today. In late 2016, Tableau added connectors to Anaplan for business planning data and Eloquafor marketing automation and campaign data. In Tableau 10.2, new connectors include Apache Drill and Microsoft SharePoint lists.