If Tableau didn't exist we'd definitely have a problem because I'd be busy producing reports, doing that manual work which is no longer necessary, we've cut down on that a great deal.
Tableau: What was it like before Tableau?
Christian Hoffmann, Head of CRM Systems: We didn't actually have any kind of reporting tool before.
We had to work manually. It was a lot of work and the 'pain' kept increasing, so we wanted to bring in a professional solution.
We did an evaluation of various providers and Tableau was the best-performing.
Tableau: What has your experience been with Tableau?
Christian Hoffmann: We're very happy with it, because the majority of users have direct online access to all the reporting they need.
Tableau: What’s one area in which you’ve used Tableau?
Christian: One very important criterion in development was that we were also able to visualise this geographical data somehow—and actually, on that score, it really just blew us away. It just blew the other candidates out of the water.
Tableau: Did you consider cost as part of your decision?
Christian: We felt that in the long term we would be able to achieve the lowest costs with Tableau.
Tableau: How did Tableau evolve or spread at your company?
Christian: We started off with Marketing. That was also where the sponsor for the project was. But since then other departments have also started using Tableau.
So we started by analysing the CRM data in particular using Tableau—and that's around 100,000 client details, stakeholders, and prospects—and we're also now looking into offering access to the finance data, etc.
And another thing we often do is data quality reporting. With that you can see relatively easily if any inconsistent data has been entered, and then correct it.
Tableau: Would you say that you are more efficient now?
Christian: I think with the possibility for rapid visualisation and implementation and prototyping that there are completely new possibilities in terms of reacting quickly to changes.
And If Tableau didn't exist, we'd definitely have a problem, because then I wouldn't be here - I'd be busy producing reports, doing that manual work which is no longer necessary, we've cut down on that a great deal.
Tableau: One last question! Do you ever blend data from multiple data sources into a single visualization?
Christian: We blend data, mainly because we tend to also have planning data that only exists in Excel and we then blend that together with the real actual numbers.
We now have a lot more ways to prepare automated reports as well—and I think the fact that we can do that now is definitely a difference we've seen compared with the past.