A packed schedule awaits me next semester. I had already postponed 5410 Deployment of Advanced Analytics, and now I’ll be taking another elective, which looks like it will be 5250 Large Data Visualization. Tableau appears to be the required and primary tool. For some reason, I’ve been avoiding truly diving in to this tool.

My interest in D3 and interactive data visualization is still strong, but I have to make some difficult decisions due to time constraints (graduate studies and a full time job!). I’ve enjoyed my venture into Tableau and, although D3 is by far a better tool when it comes to the bespoke interactive options and flexibility, Tableau is quite robust and it is very much an industry standard go-to when it comes to BI options. Up to this point in my data learning journey I’ve been avoiding diving into Tableau due to my plans to eventually really learn and work with D3. However, this upcoming class has now forced me to, at least for now, focus on giving Tableau a very serious exploration, delving into it more deeply than I every have before.

So, here we go. In order to prepare for that class, I started the Tableau Business Intelligence Analyst Professional path. I may not finish it prior to my class, but the initial courses will at least prepare me to start working with the tool as soon as the class begins. Up to now, I’ve completed four courses: Introduction to Tableau, Data Visualization with Tableau, Introduction to Business Analytics, and, Business Analysis Process. This jump start has given me a new appreciation for this tool, and I think I will really enjoy this upcoming class.