In the same winning formula, Dave Vellante and Jeff Kelly, theCUBE co-hosts, broadcasted live from the 2013 Tableau Customer Conference in Washington DC, talking to Tom Walker, CFO of Tableau Software.

A bold move in Vellante’s eyes was the recent IPO Tableau initiated. Tom Walker explained: “It’s just another chapter in Tableau’s story. It was a beautiful event where we were able to bring over 70 people to the New York Stock Exchange and we were webcasting around the globe. Most of our investors are customers and they understand what we’re trying to do.”

“Product is at the heart of everything we do.”

“At our core, we’re a software company. Product is at the heart of everything we do. We invest in our products and in innovation – it’s our secret sauce,” joked Walker. “Our investment strategy, at least on the short and medium term, is investing. Not only in R&D, in innovation and in keeping the lead in our product, but also in Sales and Marketing. We are expanding internationally, although historically international sales have been less than 20 percent. But it’s a huge opportunity for Tableau to expand,” stated Walker.

• International growth strategy

International growth is a bumpy ride, mentioned Vellante, and Walker agreed. However, he clarified that the company is not flat starting now. They are present in Europe ever since 2010, so today they are merely expanding their efforts over there, instead of starting out fresh. They also have offices in Singapore and Tokyo, and are in the process of establishing a new office in Australia.

“Our products are delivered electronically. You can download them anywhere in the world in 90 seconds. It’s a very efficient business model and a good way to reach our customers,” explained Walker.

• M&A strategy

Vellante asked Walker whether or not there is any thought of M&A in the future of the company. “Historically, we’ve never been very acquisitive. We’ve never acquired any company or any technology, so we built our technology from the inside out. That’s kind of our primary focus. That’s not to say that we won’t be opportunistic, if we see opportunities for technology that would be complementary to ours, but it’s not our main goal. What we’re trying to do is help people see and understand data,” said Walker.

“The industry is a bit young,” Walker noted. “The traditional BI industry is about $13 billion, not including the Excel users, just the stack players. It’s a huge population of information workers that we’re trying to tap.”

Jeff Kelly asked Tom Walker for his stance on the impact of the global economy on IT business and IT spending. Walker clarified: “In times of downturn, companies need to answer questions more than they needed to in the upturn. And they need to answer questions with their data. Our product and our pricing is perfect for that.”