Qlik’s most underrated capabilities?

[joe_warbington]

What are your favorite underrated capabilities in Qlik?

Qlik is a vital and powerful analytics tool that’s used by companies across every sector, including gaming giant SEGA. And the company continues to improve its offerings, from SaaS to cloud solutions.

With an ever-growing collection of capabilities, there are bound to be a few features that even the most expert Qlik users may not utilise. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the most underrated Qlik capabilities that every data master (and junior!) should know.

Qlik’s powerful associative analytics engine

The first capability we’re exploring is Qlik’s powerful associative engine – technology that was truly a leap forward for in-memory business intelligence (BI). The system associates data instead of joining tables. This capability is fundamental for modern analytics as it enables users to explore data quickly and in a way that suits their analytics style. “Users can create visual connections between different datasets spread across their network, creating deep insights that enable users to gain a full understanding of their data,” explained a reviewer on Peerspot.

We also came across another review on Qlik’s associate engine that we just had to share! A review from one of our current Vizlib Legends, Dave Elliot (Global Data and Analytics Manager, Mayborn Group @daveelliott ). “My best feature within Qlik Sense is the Associative Engine. It provides us with so much power to bring many data sources together, large volumes of data and give access to the end-users in an easy, intuitive manner.”

An easy-to-use interface

Qlik’s easy-to-use interface is a capability – or rather design – that you may not pay attention to in your everyday Qlik usage. But if the general navigation or usage does not divert your attention from uncovering insights, that’s a good thing. They’ve got the User Interface (UI) design sorted!

The majority of product reviewers we came across agree that Qlik Sense is user-friendly, not only for super-skilled devs but also for end-users. It’s easy to navigate around the software and doesn’t take much training to get a person to create their own data visualisations.

The easier software is to use, the more confident people are to use it, and the more likely they are to take ownership of work. And Dave Elliot shared more wise words on this point in his Qlik review: “Bring the users on the journey with you. And get them involved in the process early on as it helps drive adoption and understanding. It’s all about the end-users feeling ownership, as that’s when you start to boost adoption.”

Qlik Sense filters

Big data is called such for a reason. In 2020, the IDC reported that 64.2ZB (or zettabytes) of data were created or replicated across the world. That’s a lot of data! To work with all the data your business generates – for every decision you make – could risk slowing down the insight process. That’s why filters are key in data analysis.

With Qlik Sense’s intuitive filters, you can select the specific data you need to resolve or improve your use case, making your results more efficient.

Adding to this, the Qlik Community reports that filters are great for reducing the amount of data that needs to be loaded. You can filter out information that’s irrelevant to a particular user. A business user in one region, for instance, could be overwhelmed by KPI data pertaining to their global operations. Allowing users to filter down to their region enables them to analyse their team’s regional KPIs at a glance, and make smarter decisions faster. 

Associations in the data are also readily visible with the filtering experience, give you insights into what DIDN'T happen or things that WEREN'T used/bought/sold/etc. There are as many important insights in the things greyed out as there may be in things related to your selections.

Automated reports

Qlik Sense also integrates well with other business processes, making it easy to create automated reports and improve performance. You can automate all of your everyday reports, such as simple KPI reporting, sales forecasting, or management reports to ensure everyone gets the data they need when they need it.

Qlik also offers its powerful NPrinting feature that “empowers organisations to create, manage, and share great-looking reports, fast, using data and analytics from Qlik Sense.” This capability helps everyone create professional reports, easily manage enterprise reporting, and share reports easily within their team or departments. You can use their simple drag-and-drop functionality to get started quickly. Plus, the feature also integrates with most document formats such as MS PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. A great time saver!

Cloud integration

Data is moving to the cloud, forcing many businesses to speed up their digital transformation process. And since modern data analysis requires quick turnaround times, businesses need to leverage the speed and agility that cloud infrastructure offers. Whether companies consider hybrid cloud solutions or need direct access to data in the cloud, Qlik has got you covered – from QlikView to Qlik Sense, Qlik Cloud (or SaaS) to their very latest Direct Query functionality!

Qlik Cloud closes the gaps between data, insights, and the right action. It shifts the business away from passive, stale BI to active intelligence. And this new approach to BI gives everyone in-the-moment awareness of all aspects of the business.

What’s also great is that Vizlib’s intuitive products can help you shift seamlessly to Qlik Cloud – our features and functionality are the same whether you’re using Qlik on-premise or in the cloud!

Qlik + Vizlib: Making data talk

With Qlik + Vizlib, you get all the capabilities you need to create powerful visual data stories that empower everyone to understand data.

Vizlib’s intuitive value-added products require no coding skills to get started. Simple drag-and-drop and right-click functionality and a familiar look and feel ensure your whole team can independently analyse data.

“What attracted us to Vizlib was the idea that there are a lot more bespoke objects and configuration options. Vizlib has been fundamental in augmenting our Qlik Sense app creation, making it slicker and a better user experience.” Ben Thomas, Head of Engineering, AdviseInc.

If you’d like to find out how to create powerful Qlik + Vizlib dashboards, head over to the Viz Lab – our eLearning platform and try one of our free short courses. You can even earn cool digital badges!