喬布斯昔日干將創業 發掘商業數據之美

????有多少企業軟件公司的高管夠格自夸自己曾是好萊塢的座上賓呢？至少有一位可謂當仁不讓，他就是帕特?漢拉罕。他是斯坦福大學（Stanford University）的教授，也是位于西雅圖的數據分析和可視化軟件制造商Tableau 軟件公司（Tableau Software）的聯合創始人。憑借視覺特效技術，他曾經榮獲奧斯卡科學與工程獎。當時他還在史蒂夫?喬布斯手下工作，是皮克斯公司（Pixar）的元老之一。

????事實證明，他在皮克斯的成果放到現在的公司也頗有用武之地。這種技術能幫各大公司將大量缺乏聯系的數據轉化成有用的信息。所謂的業務分析領域（Business Analytics）現在炙手可熱——去年，商業智能軟件的年銷售額達到73億美元，比2009年的65億美元增長了不少——類似IBM公司和微軟（Microsoft）這樣的巨頭正在為企業級客戶爭得不可開交。那么，Tableau公司有什么殺手锏？那就是漢拉罕在設計上的敏銳感覺。

????Tableau公司將數據運算與美觀的圖表完美地嫁接在一起。它的程序很容易上手，各公司可以用它將大量數據拖放到數字“畫布”上，轉眼間就能創建好各種圖表。這一軟件的理念是，界面上的數據越容易操控，公司對自己在所在業務領域里的所作所為到底是正確還是錯誤，就能了解得越透徹。約書亞?克拉荷是雅虎公司（Yahoo）的高級產品經理，他將這款軟件和眾所周知的數據分析利器——Excel的數據透視表（PivotTables）進行了比較。他說：“它就像是服用了興奮劑的數據透視表。”它還有一些大名鼎鼎的用戶，包括可口可樂公司（Coca-Cola）和《財富》雜志（Fortune）的出品方時代公司（Time Inc.）。

????Tableau公司起源于斯坦福大學的一個研究項目。2003年，漢拉罕聯手當時的博士生克里斯?斯托特，還有風險投資家克里斯蒂安?夏伯將這個項目從斯坦福大學剝離，組建了這家公司（現年56歲的漢拉罕是公司的首席科學家，夏伯是首席執行官）。

????去年，公司的營業收入達到3,400萬美元。它提供這款軟件的免費版，主要客戶是博客作者和媒體公司。這些客戶可以用它來創建各類互動圖表。但公司對更高級版本收費以1千美元起價。這款軟件最大的缺點是什么呢？它只適用于PC，這對漢拉罕這位曾經為蘋果公司聯合創始人喬布斯工作過的人來說，似乎是個莫大的諷刺。

????盡管漢拉罕1989年就離開皮克斯公司開始其學術生涯，但他還是在這家公司獲得了寶貴的經驗。漢拉罕回憶道：“史蒂夫給我的忠告是，‘創造性就是要有獨特的觀點，同時將自己的專長加以發揮’?！睗h拉罕正是在Tableau公司充分施展了自己在工程和動畫方面的淵博知識，才成功打造出了這款商業軟件。這款軟件不僅技術性能可靠，還兼具美感。我們不禁要猜想，喬布斯或許也會深表贊許。

????譯者：清遠

????How many enterprise software executives can brag that they have been feted by Hollywood? At least one: Pat Hanrahan, a Stanford University professor and co-founder of Seattle-based Tableau Software, earned a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award for visual-effects technology he designed while working at Steve Jobs' Pixar, where he was an early employee.

????Turns out those Pixar chops are coming in handy at his current venture, which helps corporations turn reams of disjointed data into useful information. The so-called business analytics category is hot right now -- annual sales of business intelligence software climbed to $7.3 billion last year, from $6.5 billion in 2009 -- with giants like IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT) competing for corporate customers. Tableau's edge? Hanrahan's design sensibilities.

????Tableau marries data computation with beautiful graphics. The user-friendly program allows businesses to drag and drop large amounts of data onto a digital "canvas," creating graphs instantaneously. The idea is that the easier it is to manipulate what goes into the interface, the more insight you can gain as to what you're doing right -- or wrong -- in your business. Joshua Klahr, a senior product executive at Yahoo (YHOO), compares the software to Excel PivotTables, a familiar data-analysis tool. "This is almost like PivotTables on steroids," he says. Other high-profile customers include Coca-Cola (KO) and Time Inc., (TWX) Fortune's publisher.

????Tableau began as a research project at Stanford; in 2003, Hanrahan, former Ph.D. student Chris Stolte, and venture capitalist Christian Chabot spun the project out of Stanford and formed Tableau. (Hanrahan, 56, is Tableau's chief scientist; Chabot is CEO.)

????The company last year had revenue of $34 million. It offers a free version of its software, aimed mainly at bloggers and media companies, which use it to create interactive graphics. But it charges $1,000 and up for more sophisticated versions. Its biggest drawback? The program is only compatible with PCsan irony not lost on a guy who used to work for Apple (AAPL) co-founder Jobs.

????Though Hanrahan left Pixar in 1989 for academic life, he learned valuable lessons there. "Steve said to me, 'Creativity is having a unique point of view and applying your background to it,'" Hanrahan recalls. By applying his engineering and animation know-how to Tableau, Hanrahan has tried to come up with business software that's both technologically sound and beautiful. We suspect Jobs would have approved.