Tableau made a big splash on Thursday with the announcement of Hyper, the next generation of data access for large and complex data sets.  Hyper replaces Tableau Data Extract files as the default filetype for all Tableau extracts, and the promise of lightening fast data access was demonstrated using a complex geospatial example at the Hyperfest event hosted by AthenaHealth in Watertown.

This was a big announcement.  Tableau even upgraded the hors d’ouvers for this event.  A room full of Analytsts with curry chicken skewers is an attentive audience.

Tableau 10.5 is a big release.  In addition to the new Hyper engine, highlights include the ability to embed visualizations directly in tooltips (when you rollover a data point, a nice mini-graph can appear in an informative bubble), and a connector to Box to name a few.  Well…to name the few that have me most excited.  We live on Box at work, and the inability to connect directly to our primary file store has been a sore point for a while.

I went back to the office to experience HYPER for myself by crunching several million rows of regional sales data with some modestly complex calculations built-in.  Hyper did not disappoint.  The resulting extract took seconds to produce…and now I can access it directly from Box.

My next question?  Can Alteryx write to the Hyper format yet?  And is there an Alteryx connector to Box?