Recently, Tableau Software unveiled the latest version of its data visualization platform incorporating machine learning, which expands what businesses can undertake using their analytics dashboards.
The version provides new management tools to install, configure and manage Tableau server on both Linux and Windows.
Dubbed the Tableau 2018.2, the new version delivers a new Extensions API that enables users to drag and drop any functionality from third-party developers directly into a dashboard.
The Extensions API serve as the biggest upgrade of the platform.
In fact, it is a programming interface meant to help in integrating with external software systems.
With that, analytics teams can now improve a dashboard using machine learning models as well as other components drawn from the tools that they utilize alongside Tableau, especially in data projects.
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According to Tableau’s chief product officer Francois Ajenstat, the new Extensions API simplifies things for members of the Tableau community such as developers, partners and customers, particularly when it comes to adding functionality right into Tableau’s data visualization platform.
He emphasized his remarks by saying members can now do different things including custom visualizations as well as predictive and advanced analytics.
For Francois, the possibilities are only limited by the creativity of the developer.
According to the announcement by Tableau, it will provide a couple of readymade extensions upon launch.
The selection comprises of integrations with the DataRobot machine learning platform, which is the popular Solver analytics toolkit meant for Excel and several natural language processing (NLP) tools.
Nevertheless, companies have the liberty to develop their own custom experience if they require extra specialized features.
The Extensions API will launch alongside a feature refers to as Spatial Sync.
This feature has a similar key objective to make data visualizations extra useful even though it concentrates on a narrower selection of use cases.
Spatial Sync offers the ability to incorporate different data sources on the basis of location features.
In fact, geospatial analytics is proving to be a significant part of many companies’ business intelligence endeavours.
This is a trend that is well projected by many venture-backed startups, primarily those competing in this field.
According to DataRobot’s senior VP of business development Seann Gradiner, most of the company’s customers already utilize Tableau to meet their analytics and business requirements.
However, he said that they have been seeking to boost the power of Tableau in a bid to include the outcomes of machine learning models to improve visual analysis and acquire additional insights into their business activities.
Tableau’s latest upgrade seeks to address another vital trend, enterprise mobility.
For this case, Tableau has included a feature with the potential of automatically adjusting data visualizations in a bid to match a user’s tablet or phone, especially when monitoring a dashboard on-the-go.
Tableau 2018.2 comes after the provider acquired Empirical Systems, which is an AI startup situated in Cambridge, Mass.
The startup creates automated statistical analysis technology, which Tableau is presently incorporating into a future upgrade of its platform.
Source SiliconAngle
