sigma-computing-vs-tableau-desktop

Sigma and Tableau Desktop are both software businesses can use to gain insight into large amounts of data and create informative, interactive data visualizations. Sigma is a data discovery and visualization platform designed to help businesses create visualizations without writing any code.  Tableau Desktop is a Business Intelligence tool built to help businesses gain useful insights from business data.  Sigma is more popular with mid-sized business, while Tableau Desktop is most popular with large enterprises, likely due to its support for big data analysis.

Features

Sigma and Tableau Desktop both include features for creating data visualizations, but they also have some unique features that set them apart from each other. 

Sigma is designed to handle cloud analytics and reporting quickly and efficiently.  Using Sigma, businesses can model data and create visualizations without waiting in reporting queues.  Additionally, Sigma utilizes a spreadsheet style interface so new users that aren’t familiar with data visualization tools can easily learn to create models and visualizations. 

Tableau Desktop helps experienced users quickly create complex and interactive visualizations, including a variety of visualization templates that can be used out of the box.  Tableau Desktop also makes it easy to connect multiple data sources with analysis.  Lastly, Tableau Desktop allows for the creation of detailed reporting dashboards.

Limitations

Sigma and Tableau Desktop help businesses analyze data, but they also have some limitations that are important to consider.

Sigma allows for efficient analysis and reporting, but visualizations and dashboards created using Sigma are aesthetically limited, which can result in less attractive visualizations. Additionally, while Sigma offers a mobile application, it is not as feature complete as the desktop application and is more difficult to use for new users.

Tableau Desktop creates aesthetically pleasing and complex visualizations, but it is slower when multiple users are trying to generate reports compared to Sigma.  Additionally, Tableau’s interface has a bigger learning curve compared to spreadsheet based business intelligence tools.  Tableau Desktop is ideal for businesses looking for high quality visualizations, but businesses looking for a simpler tool, or one with stronger analytics features may consider other options.

Pricing

Pricing details for Sigma aren’t available, but businesses can reach out to the vendor for a detailed quote.

Tableau Desktop pricing depends on the number of licenses purchased. The Viewer license costs $12.00 per month per user and allows for data viewing and interaction. The Explorer package costs $35.00 per month per user and allows for data querying and content sharing. Lastly, the Creator package costs $70.00 per month per user and allows for the creation of sophisticated visualization.