Tableau Desktop and Prep Builder

Tableau Desktop helps you analyze data and create visualizations, interactive dashboards, and data tables. Connect directly to the Data Warehouse, Excel spreadsheets, and other data sources.

Tableau Prep Builder is a data preparation tool that can be used to combine, shape, and clean your data for analysis in Tableau. (Prep Conductor is not included in MIT’s license.)

Note: Tableau Reader is a free download available for users that need only to view and interact with Tableau Desktop visualizations.

How to Obtain

Licensing: Academic Use

Free academic licenses for both Desktop and Prep Builder are available from Tableau for current MIT students, faculty, and staff.

• Students: Request your license through the Tableau for Students program.
• Faculty and staff: Request licenses for instructional use or non-commercial academic research only through the Tableau for Teaching program. Review program terms here.

Licensing: Administrative Use

A limited number of Tableau Creator licenses have been purchased by MIT for administrative use of Tableau Desktop and Prep Builder by current MIT faculty and staff on MIT-owned equipment.

• Faculty and staff: Request a Tableau Creator license from IS&T for administrative (non-academic) use of Tableau Desktop and/or Prep Builder.
  • The administrative license does not cover use by either Lincoln Laboratory or the Whitehead Institute.
  • Affiliates cannot download MIT-licensed Tableau installers but may access tableau.mit.edu to view workbooks (Touchstone authentication required).

Download (Touchstone authentication required)

Tableau Desktop 2023.3.15 (to match IS&T's server)

• Mac
• Windows 64-bit

• Mac
• Windows 64-bit

Using

Note that Prep Conductor, the component that schedules prep flows, is not included with MIT's license. Prep flows will need to be run manually.

Content developed using either Tableau Desktop or Tableau Prep Builder can be published to Tableau Server. Publishing allows content to be shared within the MIT Community. Users do not need a Tableau license to view content on Tableau Server. To access Tableau Server, visit tableau.mit.edu (Touchstone authentication required).

Faculty and staff: Request space on the Tableau server for a department, lab, or center.

Resources

• Tableau in the IS&T Knowledge Base
• Technical support from Tableau:
  • Tableau Desktop Support
  • Tableau Prep Builder support
• Technical specifications and requirements:
  • Tableau Desktop
  • Tableau Prep Builder
• Tableau for Teaching FAQs

For licensing questions, contact IS&T Software Distribution.