Google-Acquired Business Intelligence Platform Looker Partners With Tableau

Google Cloud recently unveiled its new integration between Looker and Tableau that will enable users of both analytics platforms to benefit from the unique strengths of each. Tableau users will soon be able to access Looker's semantic layer, while Google's Looker users will soon be able to use Tableau's visualization layer on top of the Looker platform.

Looker was acquired by Google Cloud in June 2019 for $2.6 billion.

"I think that everyone who is solving for simplicity and working with data is a partner of Google. We also work with Databricks. Ultimately, everyone is benefiting if we're solving the right problems overall. And if companies like Tableau — a great partner of Google — are also interested in making working with data more simple, it's a really good basis for collaboration." said Gerrit Kazmaier, VP & GM for Databases, Google.

Since its inception, Looker has built a platform aimed at application developers, enabling organizations to go beyond traditional reports and deliver data through APIs, data models and embedded applications.

Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said, "Today, we're thrilled and excited to announce that we're integrating Tableau, a leader in data visualization, with Looker. Tableau customers will soon be able to use Looker's semantic model, enabling new levels of data governance and access to data".

During the Google Cloud Next keynote address, Aleksandra Aleksic, a product manager at Looker, gave a real-world example of how organizations can use Looker and Tableau together. In the example, a business analyst at a retail organization notices that activewear sales are falling month-over-month. The analyst, who uses Looker to model and analyze data, wants to share their findings with the organization's marketing team, which uses Tableau.

Looker's semantic model brings a lot of flexibility to the table, while Tableau offers its users many tools to democratize data and around data visualization and storytelling. It may be no surprise then that the two companies already share a large number of customers.