Tableau
Tableau is a software tool used to visualize data through interactive dashboards, charts, and storyboards. Tableau creators use the Tableau software to tell a data story with visualizations which are then published to the Tableau Server where consumers may view and interact with them.
Tableau Roles:
- Creators are Tableau authors who create and publish visualizations.
- An Interactor can see the published views and can interact with them by selecting, filtering, and executing actions (no license needed).
- A Viewer can see the published views but is unable to interact with them (no license needed).
Tableau Creator Licenses
As part of the UT Austin Tableau enterprise contract there are a limited number of creator common good licenses available at no cost to departments when used for administrative, managerial, or operational purposes. Outside of the limited licenses allocated to campus by D2I – additional licenses must be purchased by the campus unit or project.
- Only faculty or staff who need to create visualizations need a creator license; No license is needed to view and interact with Tableau visualizations.
- To submit a request to D2I for a common good creator license please complete a Tableau Creator License request form.
The UT Austin Tableau Enterprise Server
D2I manages and provides enterprise-level Tableau visualization hosting services to all campus units. The Tableau enterprise server is available at no cost to campus units for hosting visualizations and making them viewable to a wide range of audiences. Common good creator license holders or those who have purchased a license directly from Tableau all have access to this server.
Users of the Tableau enterprise server must adhere to all UT ISO policies.
New! Data Management Collection
As part of the campus Tableau contract – campus common good creator license holders now have access to the Data Management collection of features and functionality that help users manage Tableau content and data assets and includes:
- Tableau Catalog
- Virtual Connections and Data Policies
- Tableau Prep Conductor (coming soon): This feature is currently being tested and D2I will notify users when it becomes available.
The Tableau Data Management features are only available to campus users who have a D2I-managed common good license. If your CSU is paying for your license (or if you are using a free version) you will not have access to the Data Management add-ons as listed above.
Tableau FAQs
Who needs a Tableau creator license?
Any faculty or staff member of a college, school, unit, department, or project that wants to use Tableau for data visualizations. Creator licenses must be used in support of administrative, managerial, or operational purposes and not for research projects or for HIPAA related data.
Who can access and view my visualizations?
When you place your visualization on the server – D2I will set-up security (with your input) to make it viewable to select person(s), department(s), university-wide, or publicly. Security can be very granular and utilizes the University’s Active Directory Infrastructure to secure items.
Production visualizations can be shared with University of Texas at Austin employees (EID login required). Security permissions can be set by subject area or at the role level for UT-Austin access. Visualizations intended to be shared with the public cannot contain sensitive, protected, or private information.
Is Tableau training available?
Yes. Visit the Tableau website or LinkedIn Learning via UTLearn for online training videos.
Where can a Tableau creator find documentation to help with developing visualizations?
You can find resources within the UT-Austin Tableau Server reference documents.