Tableau Exchange & Tableau Accelerators: New in Tableau 2021.4

0:00Hey, Tim here. In this video, I'm going to

0:01be covering Tableau Exchange and Tableau

0:03Accelerators.

0:04I'm going to do these in the same video

0:05because I think it makes the most sense.

0:08In case you missed it, at the Tableau

0:09conference, Tableau announced something new

0:11called the Tableau Exchange.

0:13And in relation to that, they talked about

0:15something called the Tableau Economy.

0:17Now, the Tableau Economy is essentially the

0:19ecosystem they're trying to build to bring

0:21partners, authors,

0:23and people who want to use Tableau together

0:26by creating a marketplace, essentially,

0:28where they can exchange assets, whether it

0:30's workbooks, connectors, extensions,

0:33all of these things that we've known in the

0:35past, but in the future, that's going to

0:36grow into a much bigger library of

0:38different types of assets.

0:39In the first iteration, they're calling

0:41this the Tableau Exchange.

0:43So you can see over here on the top left,

0:44this is the Tableau Exchange.

0:46And at its launch, we have three main

0:48things.

0:49We have extensions, connectors, and acceler

0:51ators.

0:52Now, these are not new things.

0:54Don't sort of be fooled by the branding

0:55here.

0:56These are things that have existed before

0:58today.

0:59This is just a much nicer way of accessing

1:01and browsing these things.

1:03Now, people might argue that accelerators

1:04haven't existed today, but I'll show you

1:07these have existed because of essentially

1:09what they are, templates.

1:10So first of all, let's go look at the

1:12extension gallery.

1:13This is what was used to be called the

1:15extension gallery.

1:16You can actually go check out my video on

1:18the in-product extension gallery and some

1:20of the other stuff I've done on extension.

1:22My colleague Andre has also built some

1:23extensions on here, and you can find

1:25extensions from various partners, including

1:27the Information Lab as well.

1:28But what is really interesting here is that

1:31this is now a sort of central place to come

1:33and find these.

1:34And this sort of marketplace is really

1:36starting to grow, and it's really becoming

1:39like a really lively place to sort of find

1:41these things.

1:42So this is nice that we've got a home page.

1:43You can filter it.

1:44You can kind of go around and browse it

1:46however you want.

1:47You can maybe look at specific extensions

1:50that do specific things.

1:52For example, if I go to the right and

1:54export data, there's the Export All

1:56extension by the Information Lab, which

1:58allows you to export multiple data sources

2:01as different sheets in Excel.

2:03It's a really sort of simple extension.

2:05Now, what is interesting is that at least

2:07at launch, there's no extensions on here

2:09that seem to require money, although in the

2:11past, extensions have required money, if

2:13that makes sense.

2:14So the TableXchange doesn't have any sort

2:16of transaction platform yet, doesn't have

2:19any of that.

2:19I'm sure it will in the future.

2:20This is just the obvious direction this is

2:22moving in.

2:23So that's the dashboard extensions.

2:25These have been talked about a lot in the

2:27community.

2:27So if you don't know what these are, go and

2:29check them out.

2:30If we go over to the connectors, this is

2:32something that was released in 21.1 and 21.

2:362.

2:37So, yeah, there were some extension

2:39connectors here in 21.1.

2:41Essentially, what these are are connectors

2:43built by third parties for Tableau.

2:45So essentially, they gave partners the

2:48connector SDK, which will essentially allow

2:50them to build their own connectors for

2:52Tableau without Tableau having to do the

2:54heavy lifting.

2:55I sort of hope these will make their way

2:56into virtual connections as well.

2:58So people can connect sort of really

3:00interesting third party data sets like, for

3:03example, Strava and social media platforms

3:05that have always been a pain in the neck to

3:07sort of connect.

3:08I'd love Google, for example, to build a

3:10Tableau connector for Google Analytics that

3:12's a little bit better than the Google

3:13Analytics one that's in Tableau today.

3:15So that would be really, really cool.

3:18But essentially, these are here.

3:19You can use them.

3:20There's not many.

3:21It's a very small group, but there you go.

3:23That's what's available.

3:25Now, if we go to accelerators, this...

3:29I find this really difficult to sort of

3:31really understand where I land with this

3:33feature.

3:33But let me first explain what it is.

3:35Then we can have a debate about whether it

3:37's a good thing or not.

3:39Accelerators are essentially templates.

3:41These templates that you can install come

3:43with a connection preconfigured and then

3:45you can just get going from the get go.

3:48Let's have a look at a few.

3:49If you've used Salesforce, you might be

3:51used to tracking opportunities in Sales

3:53force.

3:54If I click on that and I go down here, you

3:55'll see that this is the dashboard that is

3:57essentially there.

3:59If I scroll down, you've got different

4:01things that you can sort of connect to.

4:03And these are all dashboards, essentially.

4:04They've just been slotted in.

4:06And over on the right-hand side, you can

4:08see the type of connections in the metadata

4:11and which versions it works with.

4:13So this is sort of really good.

4:14If I go down and let's look at some sort of

4:16slightly more sort of off-piece.

4:18Let's go to this telco one here.

4:20You can see that it answers these key

4:22business questions, these KPIs, these

4:24required attributes.

4:25And then you go in and then there's your

4:28accelerator and this is your cockpit for a

4:30telco.

4:31And I mean, just put aside the way this

4:33looks for now.

4:35Let's just ignore, let's just assume this

4:36is a beautiful dashboard.

4:38Essentially, what this essentially offers

4:40you is the ability to grab this and drop it

4:42into your own telco and connect the right

4:44things up,

4:45connect the right variables, map all of

4:47that stuff.

4:47I'm sure that takes a bit of effort.

4:49I'm sure it's not straightforward.

4:50But you essentially map all your various

4:52data sets and you're pretty much good to go

4:54.

4:54And you have dashboards ready to go.

4:56And from this, you can customize them.

4:58You can make them do different things.

5:00You can kind of pull out what you want,

5:02dump what you don't need and sort of go

5:03from there.

5:04But it means you're not starting from zero.

5:06Some of these do have quite nice sort of

5:08design and they do pull in some nice

5:09information.

5:10But generally speaking, this is how they

5:12all work.

5:13Now, none of this is new.

5:15None of this is new at all.

5:17It's purely been rebranded.

5:19Why?

5:20In September, Tableau acquired this company

5:22.

5:22Actually, not Tableau.

5:23Salesforce acquired this company, Linato SA

5:26.

5:27And essentially, they actually already were

5:29building these templates and they were

5:30making

5:31them available on their website.

5:32It's sort of a weird thing that Tableau

5:34acquired this company and the templates are

5:36still publicly

5:37available over here.

5:38So it's no coincidence that they're

5:40actually also called accelerators over on

5:42this website.

5:43And if you go to the accelerators tab and

5:45go down, you can see that a lot of these

5:47icons

5:48look eerily similar to what we've seen in

5:50the Tableau exchange.

5:51So what makes me a little bit frustrated

5:54about this feature is that it just feels

5:56like Tableau

5:57of Wholesale just basically picked this up

6:00and dropped it into a rebranded place

6:03without

6:03really doing what I would expect as a sort

6:05of Tableau developer, some quality

6:08assurances

6:08to make sure this feels like Tableau.

6:11And the simple thing is, for example, Table

6:13au, the Tableau font, it's a font that we

6:15all

6:15know.

6:16If you go and download some of the sample

6:18Tableau workbooks, these don't look like

6:20sample

6:20Tableau workbooks.

6:22If I go to some of the tabs here, you'll

6:24find tables.

6:25You'll find things that just don't make

6:27visual best practice sense.

6:29You'll find things in here you're told not

6:32to do in Tableau training.

6:33So it's a whole load of sort of drag and

6:35drop.

6:36I mean, look at this.

6:37This is actually a seasonality analysis

6:40that's available as an accelerator.

6:44And it's by Tableau and it's free.

6:48But this just doesn't feel like Tableau at

6:51all.

6:52There's just no quality assurance in my

6:54mind that the final product has been vetted

6:57before

6:57it's appeared here in the accelerators

6:59course.

7:00Instead, what they've gone for is they've

7:02just gone and grabbed everything that they

7:03acquired from this company, all of these

7:05things, and they've just dumped it inside

7:07of this

7:07rebranded sort of place.

7:09And it's really sort of not nice experience

7:13, if I'm honest.

7:14It's not a nice way to sort of be brought

7:16into this new product.

7:18And it does sort of point to an important

7:20question about the exchange, which is who's

7:22going to play the role at Tableau of making

7:24sure they curate the content on here so it

7:26doesn't become a dumping ground of tons of

7:29stuff that isn't best practice or isn't

7:31well

7:31used.

7:32Now, as an author, there is another issue

7:34with this, which is I'm not essentially a

7:36template person.

7:37There used to be a time when people said

7:39that with Tableau, you didn't need

7:41templates because

7:42you could build it yourself.

7:44It seems like we've moved on from that.

7:45And I don't know when that philosophy

7:47really changed, but to me, that's a super

7:49important

7:49thing because we spend so much time in the

7:52community showing people how to do stuff

7:54because

7:54we truly believe that it's really that easy

7:57.

7:57And with these accelerators, you're sort of

7:59setting the de facto standard for what

8:02people

8:02who are new to Tableau are going to think

8:04is good practice because, of course, it's

8:06being endorsed and it's been built by Table

8:09au.

8:09Every single one of these says by Tableau.

8:11So if you get a dashboard, if you buy a lot

8:14of Tableau, if you spend a lot of money,

8:16some

8:16people spend six figures on Tableau, and

8:18then you end up with one of these, you're

8:19going

8:20to say, "Oh, yeah, Tableau built this

8:21starter.

8:22It must be good practice.

8:23That's what they're recommending."

8:25So it's also a bit of a kick in the teeth

8:27to everyone in the community who spends so

8:30much time putting a lot of love and blood,

8:32sweat, and tears into beautifully designed

8:35stuff that's just sort of far better than

8:38this, much more well thought through.

8:41And none of that seems to be sort of made

8:43its way here.

8:44Now, look, I don't want to dunk on someone

8:46who actually did work on these workbooks.

8:49These workbooks were built by people, and I

8:51'm always sort of reticent of sort of dunk

8:53ing

8:53on something and realizing there's someone

8:54out there who actually worked on these

8:56things.

8:56But the key thing here is not that Linato

8:59didn't do this quality assurance.

9:01They're a company building a bunch of dash

9:03boards as a starting tool pack.

9:05The key thing here is that Tableau's

9:07acquired this company, and there's been a

9:09lack of,

9:09I think, due diligence to make this look

9:12like a Tableau product, look and feel like

9:15a Tableau

9:15product.

9:16Instead, it's just been lift and drop

9:19straight into a place without what I would

9:21hope any

9:22person, anyone at Tableau who builds dash

9:25boards would not approve some of these dash

9:27boards

9:28as sort of final output.

9:30So I don't know what this really means.

9:32I don't know what this really sort of says

9:34about this whole setup.

9:35But I'm not angry.

9:36I'm not ranting.

9:37I'm just saying it's a shame.

9:38It's really unfortunate because there's a

9:40bunch of philosophies here that seem like

9:42they've just been picked up and left on the

9:44road when the whole time in the community

9:47we've always said that Tableau is a great

9:49product to use.

9:50It's easy to use, and here's how to do it.

9:52I make videos showing people how to use

9:54Tableau because I think it's easy to do

9:56that.

9:56I'm not going to be making videos showing

9:58people how to make templates because they

10:00're

10:00templates.

10:01They are cookie cutters, and I don't think

10:03they allow you to really express and learn

10:04from this stuff.

10:05I'm making these videos for everyone, not

10:07just authors as well.

10:09So I don't know.

10:10I'm really frustrated with these acceler

10:12ators.

10:13And if we just go to the accelerator list

10:15here, and they do have some companies that

10:18are already using this.

10:20Tableau is obviously a big customer because

10:22it's been acquired.

10:23But if we go to this little explorer here,

10:26there's this sort of dashboard here.

10:28And if we go to one specific area, I'll

10:31just show you how little work has been done

10:34to

10:34sort of adapt this.

10:35So this is the hospitality.

10:36Okay, so let's look at hospitality finance.

10:39You'll see this is the cockpit.

10:40Now this cockpit looked very similar to

10:42what I've shown you before.

10:44And again, it has the same sort of fields

10:46and so on and so forth.

10:47So we've got a bunch of properties.

10:49And the information here actually looks

10:50pretty good.

10:50You've got some snapshots of what this

10:52looks like.

10:53So you can have a little peek into some of

10:55these dashboards.

10:56But look at this.

10:57This is the exact same dashboard we were

10:59just looking at, but it's being used in a

11:00different

11:01context.

11:02So let's go back and let's go look for that

11:04exact same dashboard.

11:05In fact, if I go over here, select

11:07hospitality, we'll see the same two dash

11:10boards.

11:11Click on hospitality.

11:12And again, basically the same list of stuff

11:22.

11:22And as we scroll down, you'll see the

11:24accelerator loads.

11:25Now I mean, how is this an advert for an

11:28accelerator, right?

11:29Look at the spinner on this.

11:30It's taking ages to load.

11:32I mean, the least time I can do here is

11:34make sure that these load quickly.

11:37I mean, and when you get there, this is

11:39just not good for his best practice.

11:41And again, I don't want to dunk on someone

11:43who has spent time on this.

11:45The context of how they worked on it is not

11:47the same content.

11:48I would expect Tableau to be evaluating

11:50these.

11:51And so if we go through, you can see pretty

11:54much all the tabs in here are like for like

11:56identical.

11:57So we landed on the cockpit and all these

12:00tabs here are pretty much the exact same

12:03tabs

12:04that we're seeing over here.

12:05So no real change has really gone into any

12:07of these either.

12:08So I think that's the same.

12:10You know, you bought this company in

12:12September and in three months, all you've

12:14done is copy

12:15and paste into this feature.

12:16I mean, I know that's a feature in 21.4,

12:19but I didn't think it would happen here on

12:21these

12:21accelerators.

12:22So look, I'm frustrated with this feature

12:25because I don't think it's Tableau at its

12:27best.

12:28But here I am showing you where this

12:30feature works.

12:31And so I hope people find this video about

12:34accelerators and I hope they see how

12:36passionate

12:37I am that I don't think these are good

12:39examples of things you should be using.

12:41But what is good about this is that

12:43partners and other people are hopefully

12:45going to be

12:46able to put stuff in here that is of high

12:48quality that you're going to love.

12:50And as a very simple example, I'm just

12:51going to show you an example of what you

12:53can find

12:53for free in the Tableau community that is

12:56also a template that you can deploy in your

12:58organization.

12:59I'm going to go to someone I follow a lot

13:01on Tableau Public, a colleague of mine,

13:04Ellen

13:04Blackburn, I go to her profile all the time

13:08.

13:08So let's go to Tableau Public profile and

13:10she's built some templates.

13:11Now she's a colleague of mine, so of course

13:13I'm biased.

13:14But just look at some of these templates

13:16that she's built.

13:17These are manufacturing dashboard templates

13:20that she's built and just look how

13:21different

13:22the quality of this is.

13:24So you need to be excited about where this

13:26kind of stuff dropping in the accelerator

13:29gallery rather than the stuff that Tableau

13:31seems to have just sort of copy and pasted

13:33from a context that doesn't really really

13:35make any sense.

13:36So yeah, check out the cool stuff in Table

13:39au Public.

13:39If I'm brutally honest, I actually think

13:41Tableau Public search function is going to

13:43be a better

13:44example.

13:45So if I, for example, do hospitality here,

13:47let's fingers crossed, we hope we find

13:50something

13:50vastly better.

13:52Again, okay, yes, some of these are good.

13:54Some of these aren't so good.

13:55Tableau Public is about people learning.

13:57Oh, look, we've got the Tableau accelerator

13:59dashboard that's been published to Tableau

14:02Public as well.

14:04It gets worse.

14:05Not only have Tableau not sort of put these

14:07somewhere, but they've put them all in

14:08Tableau

14:09Public as well.

14:10So now they become sort of searchable and

14:12there's even someone who's favorite of this

14:14as well.

14:15Anyway, nonetheless, if you look at

14:16hospitality, look at this dashboard here.

14:19Who's built this by Dee?

14:20I don't know who Dee is.

14:21I'll have a look at their profile in a

14:23second.

14:24But this generally has more thought gone

14:26into it than some of the stuff we've seen.

14:28So this is just a demo template.

14:30It has a lot more thought.

14:31It has a style.

14:32It has some sort of formatting thought

14:34through.

14:35It has a concept of sort of design going

14:37through it.

14:38It's not like, you know, it's not an

14:39amazing dashboard, but it's a good

14:41dashboard.

14:41It's had a bit of thought applied to it.

14:44So look on Tableau Public.

14:46Look at good examples of this stuff.

14:47If you're not sure, use the Twitter, #DataF

14:49am, announce to DataFam, "Hey, are there any

14:52good examples of dashboards about X?"

14:54And normally, someone will find something

14:56or get you on a call where they can show

14:58you

14:58that.

14:59Okay, that's it.

15:00Rant over.

15:01I've stopped.

15:02That's pretty much me from this video and

15:04Tableau Extensions and Tableau Accelerator

15:06and the Tableau Exchange actually.

15:09So really take Accelerators with a pinch of

15:13salt, please.

15:14I'm not impressed with the sort of first

15:16instance that we've seen here.

15:18But nonetheless, let's see what happens in

15:20the future.

15:21Let's hope that these will get better in

15:23the future as well.

15:25Thanks for watching and I'll catch you in

15:26the next video.

15:27here.