Qlik Application Automation - a year of automations!

[PietMichielRappelet]

Qlik Application Automation launched just over a year ago, and we have seen tremendous adoption of this capability across the platform.  

 https://www.qlik.com/us/products/application-automation 

Qlik Application Automation uses a no-code, drag-and-drop approach that helps you assemble automated flows that optimize processes, integrate SaaS applications and drive actions.   In only a year we have seen over a 25% adoption of tenants actively using automations for driving automated workflows. 

 creenshot of the Qlik Application Automation Editor editor

Qlik Application Automation brings an entirely new capability to the Qlik platform and its users, and we encourage our users to understand, explore and embrace the power of this new feature and the value it adds to your organization.  

To support easy adoption, the team released together with the automation feature a series of templates that the user can easily configure

When we look back at the usage of Qlik Application Automation, we can categorize 3 groups of use cases customers solve with automations, in their journey to adopt and mature in this new technology:  

1. Automations support and extend their Qlik Sense devops and tenant management. 
2. Automations compel actions and connect the Qlik Cloud environment with external platforms 
3. Automations are automating their day-to-day business operations.   

In our transition to Qlik Sense SaaS, we would have worked more and earlier with Qlik Application Automation if we had known from the beginning how powerful this feature is.
We can back-up our applications, save time by focused alerting, orchestrate the distribution of our master measure and dimensions, spin-up apps with data with one click and so much more.

 - Michael Laverick - Data Manager Fenwick

Index

• 1.Qlik Sense App Automations
• 2. Compel actions from your Qlik Sense app
• Inform stakeholders
• Compel and automate
• Writeback
• Cloud Reporting Services
• 3. Automating your day-to-day business operations
• What's Next?
• How to get started

1. Qlik Sense App Automations

It is very natural for Qlik users to start with the first category because this is where the immediate value lays. Qlik Application Automations becomes Qlik (Sense) App automations.  

In this category, we see an outspoken number one use case: App Task Chaining. The power of the Qlik Application Automation is used to schedule or trigger reloads and chain them to each other sequential or in parallel.

Currently, more than 30% of all reloads are powered by automations.   

Sequential Task chaining Parallel Task Chain

 Other common use cases:  

1. App and master item distribution in your tenant, for example:  
   1. Share space provisioning and hydration
   2. Loop and reduce  
   3. Distribute measures between apps 
2. Overall tenant administration, for example: 
   1. Alert when there are unused, unreloaded or orphaned qlik cloud resources such as apps, automations and connections 
   2. Version and change control of your apps and load scripts  

By adding your internal communication applications (email, MS Teams, slack, ..) into these workflows, you will move toward the second maturity level where customer compel actions through Qlik Application Automation.  

extending your analytics devops with notifications to your internal communication tool

2. Compel actions from your Qlik Sense app 

Qlik Application Automation has a generic rest connector and 50+ out-of-the-box connections to leading SaaS applications, Cloud Storage applications and Data Platforms.  

Overview: https://community.qlik.com/t5/custom/page/page-id/Connectors  

 With these connections, Qlik Application Automation enables you to take action on the data.   

Inform stakeholders 

Customers typically start by informing the right stakeholders of the action that needs to be taken or information that needs to be reviewed. Communication tools such as MSTeams, Slack, or Email are the most popular ones. Such notifications are sent on specific timing (scheduled) or event driven (triggered, webhooks). 

 Some examples of real-time alerting: 

• Alert app owner when a reload fails 
• Notify team when a KPI reaches as specific value or threshold 
• Notify your team every morning with the key KPI’s  
• Notify your team with their personal selected data  

      Daily notification to your team with their personal KPI’s (left) or with their personal list of data (right)  

Compel and automate  

The next step of compelling your stakeholder into action is achieved by connecting your operational systems. Instead of communicating the desired action, users can now drive that action by simply creating a task in your Service now ticketing system and/or creating a support case in your Jira Service Desk.  

 Finally, manual involvement could be eliminated altogether with the power of automation.  For example, a replenishment order is automatically submitted in my ERP system based on my stock level monitoring alert.  

 Compel action by leveraging your internal ticketing system

Writeback

In the writeback use case, automations were powered by a data addition or updated by triggers from a Qlik Sense dashboard and seeded directly into the operational system or data platform   

 Example Qlik Sense sheet using automations for writeback use cases (source: Alberto Vaghi - Solution Architect Qlik)

 

Cloud Reporting Services 

Late last year, the Cloud Reporting Services connector was released allowing the users to generate multi-sheet PDF reports through Qlik Application Automation.  

 By using the power of automations, users can now generate and distribute reports based on specific events, using contact information from their CRM or HR system, and distribute the reports through email or any available cloud storage connector.  

multi-sheet PDF Report generation and distribution to SharePoint

3. Automating your day-to-day business operations

Customers who have explored and embraced the above-described 2 maturity levels of automations are likely to adopt Qlik Application Automation for their day-to-day business operations such as contact sync between 2 or more CRM systems, automatic invoice generation, new employee onboarding, …  

These use cases are unlimited but let us highlight the reverse ETL flows that can be powered by Automations. Reverse ETL tries to bring the enriched or consolidated data – typically from a Datawarehouse - back to the operational frontline applications such as CRM, ERP, ticketing systems, and marketing applications. The main goal is to provide the business user with the information he needs to do his job in the applications he is working on.  

 the below diagram shows how automation can push enriched data – customer churn risk from a Qlik AutoML model – consolidated in snowflake back to the operational systems and even start a marketing campaign when a specific threshold is met.  

flow on how Qlik Application Automation can power Reverse ETL flows

What's Next? 

 The Qlik Application Automation roadmap will focus in the next year on improved governance and monitoring, enabling automations in shared spaces to allow collaboration and consumption, extended connectivity, and deeper integration into the Qlik Cloud products.  

Please use our ideation board for your ideas and suggestions.   Access here 

How to get started

Explore the power of Qlik Application Automation and learn how it can make your life easier.  

 Onboarding suggestions: 

• Template picker with 50+ ready to configure blueprints of the most common workflows. Select ‘add new > New automation’ in your Qlik Cloud Hub.  Intro video
• Getting started video’s
• Qlik World session March 2022 “exploring the power of Qlik Application Automation” 

• Help
• Community and focused articles per connector
• Some starters tips & tricks 

Piet-Michiel Rappelet

Product Manager Qlik Application Automations