Tableau deployment
This content is part of Tableau Blueprint – a maturity framework allowing you to zoom in and improve how your organisation uses data to drive impact. To begin your journey, take our assessment(Link opens in a new window).
Prioritising data and analytics couldn’t come at a better time. Your company, no matter what size, is already collecting data and most likely analysing just a portion of it to solve business problems, gain competitive advantages and drive enterprise transformation. With the explosive growth of enterprise data, database technologies and the high demand for analytical skills, today’s most effective IT organisations have shifted their focus to enabling self-service by deploying and operating Tableau at scale, as well as organising, orchestrating and unifying disparate sources of data for business users and experts alike to author and consume content.
Tableau prioritises choice and flexibility to fit, rather than dictate, your enterprise architecture. Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud leverage your existing technology investments and integrate into your IT infrastructure to provide a self-service, modern analytics platform for your users. With on-premises, cloud and hosted options, there is a version of Tableau to match your requirements. Below is a comparison of the three types:
| Type | Pros | Cons |
| Tableau Server – On Premises | Full control of hardware and software Infrastructure and data remain behind your firewall | Need dedicated administrators to manage hardware and software Additional infrastructure needed to access off-network (mobile, external) |
| Tableau Server – Public Cloud (IaaS) | Full control of software on managed hardware Puts infrastructure in same place as data (for migration to cloud) Flexibility to spin up/down hardware as needed | Need dedicated administrators to manage software Additional infrastructure needed to access off-network (mobile, external) |
| Tableau Cloud (SaaS) | Fully hosted solution (hardware, software upgrades) Fast to deploy Easy for external audience to access | Single site in multi-tenant environment Cubes are not supported No guest account access |
During the discovery stage, IT completed the Tableau enterprise architecture survey for the corresponding deployment type and collected the Tableau data and analytics survey from departments and teams within your organisation. The Enterprise Architecture Survey helps you identify your enterprise standards and processes for technology and platforms that you will integrate with Tableau.
Depending on your organisational roles and responsibilities, Tableau Server should be installed by a systems administrator and the designated Tableau Server administrator in coordination with the appropriate IT roles. For Tableau Cloud, you will integrate with your existing technology and configure the site settings. The data & analytics survey, completed by business teams, identifies and prioritises data use cases, audience size and users. You will use the information collected in both surveys to plan your deployment strategy, including sizing, installation and configuration of your Tableau Server, or integration and configuration of Tableau Cloud. In addition to installing Tableau Server or configuring Tableau Cloud, administrators will also need to plan for the client software installation of Tableau Prep Builder, Tableau Desktop, Tableau Mobile and Tableau Bridge for Tableau Cloud where applicable.
This document covers system integration and deployment best practices. It will help you plan your deployment strategy. Prior to Tableau Server installation, review Planning (Windows | Linux) and Baseline configurations (Windows | Linux). For full documentation, visit Get started with Tableau Server (Windows | Linux). Enterprise IT administrators should also visit the Tableau Server enterprise deployment guide, which provides prescriptive deployment guidance for enterprise scenarios in the context of a reference architecture. The reference architecture reflects industry-standard enterprise deployments. We have tested the reference architecture to verify compliance with security, scale and performance benchmarks, which confirm to industry-standard best practices.
For Tableau Cloud site configuration and administration, visit Administer a site.