When I first approached this edition, I mistakenly thought that writing an updated edition would be easier than writing the original book. I’ve discovered that writing a guidebook for Tableau is never going to be easy. Tableau’s product evolution has been consistently aggressive. During the last two years, Tableau added a slew of new features to Desktop and Server. Consequently, nearly every figure in this book has been updated, and there are over 200 pages of totally new content.

During the last two years, I received lots of feedback from readers of the first edition. That feedback was universally positive and helpful. One individual went out of his way to document improvement ideas by sending me multiple pages of detailed feedback. Dick Holm’s feedback was so good I asked him if he would be willing to provide technical editing on this edition. Dick agreed, and his feedback informed every chapter of Part I. I don’t want to fail to mention Molly Monsey of Tableau Software. Molly’s contribution to the first edition of the book was extensive and invaluable.

This challenging project would have been impossible without the help and support of the InterWorks team. James Wright provided an excellent first draft of Chapter 9, “Designing for Mobile.” Kate Treadwell drafted the new Chapter 10 on Story Points. Our resident server wizard, Brad Fair, updated the initial draft for Chapter 11, “Installing Tableau Server.” Mat Hughes updated the initial draft of Chapter 12, “Managing Tableau Server.” Eric Shairla, Javod Khalaj, and Greg Nelms provided the first draft of Chapter 13, “Automating Tableau Server,” which included new code samples for illustrating some of the new capabilities of Tableau’s expanding API toolsets.

InterWorks has many wonderful clients, but I would specifically like to thank Donna Costello of Cigna Healthcare for inviting me to speak at one of her Tableau User Group meetings and providing a case study from Cigna’s internal user group. As Tableau’s first successful partner, we’ve learned a lot about how to effectively deploy Tableau. InterWorks East Coast Team Leader James Wright recaps key success factors in his case study that shares lessons learned.

After writing the first edition of this book I had the honor of speaking at over 50 Tableau User Groups all over North America and Europe—meeting hundreds of Tableau users. Their enthusiasm reminds me of how I felt about Tableau Software when I first discovered it in 2007. One of the best things about Tableau Software is the community of people who use the product. Your Tableau Public posts and generosity inspire me. The Tableau Zen Masters are a great example of this sharing. I want to thank all of them for the insights they have shared with the community.

This book wouldn’t have been possible without the faith and support of InterWorks CEO Behfar Jahanshahi. Behfar believed in a big idea with a little following in 2007. His strategic and tactical leadership continues to shape our success. His wisdom, insight, and kindness continue to inspire me.