On October 22^nd, 17,000 data analysts, data scientists, and developers descended on New Orleans for good music, delicious food and Tableau’s 11^th annual conference. For the past 10 years Tableau has put together a data conference that brings together the Big Data community for four days of training, workshops, and networking.

It’s no surprise that big data is on the rise in businesses around the world. Companies routinely use big data to analyze common trends in their practice; enabling them to make sophisticated decisions to ensure their businesses prosper. According to Statista, an online statistics, market research and business intelligence portal; companies routinely use data to drive process and cost efficiency; drive strategy; and to monitor and improve financial performance. When used in these ways, data has the ability to save the company a significant amount of money because they are able to spend their money efficiently.