#DataDump 1: Alteryx and Tableau Prep
Welcome to #DataDump my weekly overview of all things data.
I thought I’d start the series with a few thoughts on Alteryx and Tableau Prep, a subject I’m often asked on in my position as both a Tableau Zen Master and Alteryx ACE. I hadn’t intended to use this post for long articles on single subjects but we very rarely see discussions or comparisons of the two tools from users, though I discuss it almost weekly, and so I thought I’d dive in and offer some thoughts on the similarities, differences and where each tool is heading.
Alteryx is a tool with a long pedigree that goes well beyond “simple” data preparation, Alteryx is an Advanced Analytics tool offering geospatial and predictive/prescriptive machine learning algorithms. Boasting well over 200 tools it gives users the choice of running their analysis “in-database” (taking advantage of database performance) or locally (pulling data to the local machine) — the latter offering a much broader range of functionality.
While Alteryx offers tools for the citizen “data scientist” it is its self-service data preparation tools where customers see more immediate value and the vast majority of them use Alteryx solely for its data preparation, saving their longer-term aspirations for its data science capabilities. Data Preparation use cases are often relatively simple, replacing crude, lengthy Excel processes with robust and automated workflows which can be error checked and tweaked, often with impressive savings of many hours or days of effort. Other customers use Alteryx as a lightweight ETL tool for running line of business ETL into Tableau and SQL Databases.
Alteryx’s price tag of $5,195 (£4,195), at the time of writing, for an annual licence doesn’t stop customers adopting en-mass, with deployments of hundreds of licences in large enterprise organisations not unusual, although the median deployment size is likely to be in single digits given their appeal across a wide base right down to small single-user tactical implementations.
Automation and scheduling in Alteryx are performed via the Alteryx Server product $58,500 (£46,750) a year, at the time of writing; providing both scheduling of workflows and Analytical Apps — dynamic processes run by Server users who can input variables such as values, strings, and locations to run analytics on.
The Alteryx roadmap features very much on improvements to its Server product and more advanced analytics capabilities meaning development on data preparation in the product appears to be all but complete.
Tableau Prep, on the other hand, is a relatively new Data Preparation tool from Tableau. A seat for Tableau Prep is provided with seats for Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server/Online with Tableau’s Creator licence ($840).
The tool offers classic data preparation functions (filtering, joins, cleansing) in a similar flow like interface as Alteryx but with more emphasis on the visual exploration (unsurprising given Tableau’s pedigree here). These features allow users to spot missing data and opportunities to cleanse datasets before importing them into Tableau.
Tableau Prep is clearly a product in its early stages of development but rich features are provided in monthly releases, and the long term roadmap, including output to databases (currently Prep only supports writing to a csv or Tableau Server).
Automation in Tableau Prep is achieved through Tableau Prep Conductor, part of their data-management add-on, which also provides data-catalog functionality. Pricing for this add-on is calculated as a function of the total users on the Tableau Server and costs $5.50 per month per user.
Tableau users have historically turned to Alteryx for their data preparation needs and so the introduction of Tableau Prep offers users a new choice in data prep tools. How do the two stack up for those wishing to prepare their data for analysis?
Foundations At their hearts Tableau and Alteryx offer fundamentally different approaches to processing data under the hood. Tableau opts for a set-based engine, meaning data-sets are processed in bulk while Alteryx processes data row-by-row. This means functions like adding Record IDs, “Cursor” type functions (looking at the previous/next row in a formula) and other functions that need an intrinsic record order are simple in Alteryx. Tableau Prep, on the other hand, needs slightly more complex tricks to perform these functions, which could include using Python or R scripts in the flow.
For Alteryx users, used to these functions, this makes taking the step “backward” into Tableau Prep difficult, though new users are perhaps less inclined to miss such functionality if they step directly into Prep.
Functionality Clearly Alteryx offers a much richer set of analytical functions, right up to data science tools, but for Data Preparation users both tools offer similar experiences. Alteryx’s is much more functional, putting the tool at the heart of the analysis, while Tableau puts the data at the heart of the flow with in-line charts and data-steps built directly from interactions with the data. For example, while Alteryx users need to build a formula to alter and cleanse a data point Tableau users can simply click and rename the data in the data step and Tableau Prep will do the rest.
This makes Tableau Prep a more intuitive and natural tool for a visual analytics user who simply needs a richer tool to prepare their data. Alteryx, on the other hand, gives a much richer toolset for those looking to perform analysis in their data flow, as opposed to in Tableau Desktop.
Other Considerations
Deciding which tool is correct for your needs will rest on many factors, the price being a big standpoint. Alteryx requires users to find that $5k problem which can help justify their investment, and many do, often the for Alteryx licence cost is justified on time savings vs Excel or other more labour-intensive methods.
Tableau Prep, on the other hand, is often seen as a “free” add on to Tableau Desktop, broadening its appeal. Clearly, the use cases you can tackle in Tableau Prep are much more limited (anyone tackling Tableau Prep solvable problems in Alteryx doesn’t have a $5k problem) but these can provide a gateway into more “valuable” analytics later — therefore Alteryx will only welcome a further toolset to get more users into the field.
True Self-Service?
One differentiator in the way I have thus far seen users split between Alteryx and Tableau Prep is in types of users each attracts, likely due to their respective maturity as products. Alteryx is very much the “power users” tool of choice, allowing analysts who previously worked with Excel Macros and other more advanced toolsets to dive into a code-free environment and continue their learning. Tableau Prep, on the other hand, is generally being rolled out wider to those who never previously needed to do data preparation.
Alteryx have their eye beyond the data preparation market. Features like automated modeling will see them fall more squarely into the Data Science world. As tools like Tableau Prep develop it will be interesting to see whether they will follow Alteryx into this space, or whether users will be happy with data preparation tools and using visual analysis for more their analytics — as Alteryx and Tableau are clearly on different paths from that perspective.
Discussion Points
With each of these articles I’m keen to move the discussion to Twitter, and so following each #datadump I will host a discussion starting at 7.30 pm UK Time (1.30 pm CST). Todat (2nd Dec 2019) I’m keen to explore how your organisations have looked at and use Tableau Prep and Alteryx. Discussion points:
- How does data preparation fit into your organisation? Is it self-serve?
- Which tools help facilitate that? Are there types of users who you feel fit better with Alteryx or Tableau Prep?
- Do any line of business users do data preparation?
- What about data science / advanced analytics capabilities? Are these moving into the business? Which types of users are adopting these?
- Where does code, R / Python stop and Alteryx / Tableau Prep start? Have your organisation made any firm rules?
Looking forward to discussing it later.
