Salesforce to acquire data analytics platform Tableau

Salesforce on Monday announced that it has entered into a deal to acquire the popular analytics and data visualization platform Tableau for $15.7 billion. The acquisition is yet another move by the CRM that brings in new technology and tools that should bring better data — and understanding of that data — to users.

“Joining forces with Salesforce will enhance our ability to help people everywhere see and understand data,” said Adam Selipsky, president and CEO of Tableau.

Why we should care

The analytics industry is hot right now — recent acquisitions like this and last’s weeks deal between Google and Looker are direct indicators that we’re asking for more data. As marketers, we’ve been asking for this for a long time. Digital marketers often struggle with data for many reasons, but industry news like this point to a shift from which we will benefit.

Extracting valuable insights and takeaways from data can be challenging, and people learn and absorb more information visually. While it’s a useful practice, it’s often a time-consuming task. Tableau’s capabilities should relieve the heavy-lift for digital marketers, and allow us to focus on the value of our insights instead of being “stuck” in data.

Enterprise tech companies are aggressively targeting analytics platforms, and marketers should look forward to having better means for understanding soon. It’s essential that users of these platforms start considering how they will incorporate these new capabilities in their analytics strategies. For digital marketers and other types of users, this could change how we share and interpret data and use it to drive business decisions.

More on the news

• Tableau will continue to be led by current CEO Adam Selipsky and the current leadership team. The company will remain focused on its mission helping people see and understand data.
• The deal is expected to close by October 31.
• During a Monday morning investor call, Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff also noted that Seattle, the home of Tableau, will become Salesforce’s “HQ2”.