Compare and Contrast: Focusing on Data, not Tools

Under the leadership of Cindy Cedlacek, Director of Data Administration and Reporting at Cornell University, her team is on track to deliver Key Performance Indicators for the university using both Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server. In her words, discovering Tableau was "the best thing that ever happened for the project."

The contrasting examples below succinctly describe her success with Tableau versus the prior systems and tools used at Cornell.

Before: 90% time was spent developing custom tools and subsequently working around their limitations.
After: Using Tableau, Cindy's team can focus 90% of their time where it is best spent - with the data.

Before: The original implementation of Key Project Initiatives used in-house tools over an 8 month period with limited success. The team was exhausted by the effort, and some no longer wanted to participate in the project. Developing reports left analysts with the attitude of: "here, take this report - I never want to see it again!"
After: A successful Tableau implementation took only four months of effort. Cindy described how she revisited a pet project abandoned under the grind of the old process: "I wanted to get back to this project with Tableau!"

Before: The team spent significant time on workarounds for limitations in the original tools that were never addressed.
After: Tableau has "INCREDIBLE technical support! I have never seen technical support like this in my life.

I spent some time with Cindy afterward to discuss her experience. She's grateful to have Tableau products -- and we're grateful to have customers like her!