Tableau Software and Splunk, two of the first pure-play Big Data vendors to have gone public, today announced an alliance, a “joint technology investment” to help customers glean insights from the vast volumes of machine data generated by the Internet of Things. The move comes as the analytics ecosystem enters into a new phase of maturity defined by a growing focus on strategic partnerships and vertical solutions.

As a result of the collaboration, data in the Splunk Enterprise is now accessible directly from within Tableau through an ODBC driver. This means users of the visualization software can now tap into new sources of information without having to leave their comfort zone and learn another application—a process that takes time and slows down adoption. It also makes it that much harder for CIOs to justify and realize returns on their Big Data investments, a tough task to begin with as Wikibon’s Principal Research Contributor Jeff Kelly has found.

Guido Schroeder, Senior Vice President of Products at Splunk, said that many business users are turning to Tableau for visual analytics of their data. “Our alliance with Tableau extends the value that Splunk software unlocks in machine data,” he explained in a statement, “to Tableau’s enthusiastic and growing customer base, many of whom are also Splunk customers.”

The integration enables users to combine the data visualization functionality in Tableau with the historical and real-time analytics capabilities of Splunk Enterprise to make the most out of their machine data, both firms said.

It also makes it easier to correlate different types of information, which is especially important in multidimensional use cases such as network security and risk management. “Our Splunk integration adds tremendous value for our users who want direct access to their machine data in Splunk software, whether it is to find quick insights, explore machine data or blend it with other structured data,” said Chris Stolte, cofounder and Chief Development Officer of Tableau, in a statement. “It accelerates new insights for anyone using Tableau and Splunk.”

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Maria Deutscher contributed to this story.