Creating a write back solution with Qlik Cloud is now possible!

[RoccoP_Qlik]

The new Application Automation feature allows users to either update, change, or comment into source systems directly from a Qlik Sense app!

[RoccoP_Qlik]

Static, read-only dashboards are a thing of the past compared to what's possible now in Qlik Cloud.

‘Write back’ solutions offer the ability to input data or update dimensions in source systems, such as databases or CRMs, all while staying within a Qlik Sense app.

The solution incorporates both Qlik Cloud and Application Automation to enable users to input data from a dashboard or application and run the appropriate data refresh across the source system as well as the analytics.

Example Use Cases:

1. Ticket/ Incident Creation
   • Create Ticket or Incident in JIRA or ServiceNow.
2. Data Changes
   • Update Deals/Accounts in a CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce.
3. Data Annotations
   • Add a comment to or more records in a source system. 

This new feature is possible with all of the connectors located in Application Automation, including:

• CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce
• Databases like Snowflake, Databricks, Google Bigquery
• SharePoint
• and more!

Below you can see technical diagram based around using Application Automation for a write back solution.

The ability to write back in Qlik Cloud is a game changer for customers who want to operationalize their existing Qlik Sense applications to enhance decision making right inside an app where the analytics live. This not only streamlines business processes across an ever-growing data landscape, but it also enables users to to act in the moment. With Application Automation powering the write back executions, customers can unlock more value across their data and analytics environment.

To learn more for a more ‘hands-on tutorial’ please see video here.

[basuvijoy]

Wow, this is a much needed feature as users prefer to take action directly from the dashboard itself. 

[Jareds]

This seems like a great solution for single record write-backs! We are currently utilizing Vizlib's Writeback table for bulk updates - how would you envision utilizing the native Qlik functionality to send a JSON array of user inputs to an Application automation?

I particularly like the user notifications functionality which I think is something Vizlib's server-less writeback is lacking.

[Emile_Koslowski]

@Jareds , you can do bulk updates using this solution, for example updating a missing value for multiple records. If you select the ids for multiple records. Then use the Get Current Selections block in the automation to get those ids and use an update block in a loop to update the records in the source system. Here's a screenshot of an example of a bulk update of an assignee on deals in HubSpot: 

[Jareds]

Hey Emile,

Thanks for the follow-up!  That reads like you could update a singular attribute to singular variable value but for several ID's, right? If I am understanding that correctly, it does work as a bulk update but might be a bit limited for our use-case.

We are currently using Vizlib's writeback table which lets you provide input at the "cell" level whereas a bulk update could be any number of attributes for any ID - but maybe I am missing something with the variable input asset.

[Emile_Koslowski]

Hi Jareds,

Yes, you could also update multiple attributes on one or more records by using multiple variables.

Updating cells in a straight table directly is not possible with this solution. But as you can see in Mike's demo below, it's possible to automatically populate the Variable Input components with the values of a record selected in the straight table. 

[Jareds]

Hey Emile,

Thanks again for the follow-up! My apologies for my previous explanation - but I wanted to clarify, the update relationship is still one-to-many right? A cell level updated would be many-to-many.

But to be certain, are you saying that I could update two key values to two totally distinct attribute values using multiple variables? The get expression value seems limited in that it takes a pool of keys and assigns a singular value to that attribute for all of them.

[Emile_Koslowski]

Hi Jareds,

Indeed, this solution only supports one-to-one and one-to-many. For example:

• Updating multiple attributes for one record
• Updating multiple records with the same set of attributes (like setting the same region & owner for multiple deal records in a CRM)

There is no support for many-to-many.

[hornstrup]

Hi @Emile_Koslowski 

This is really great - but we're struggling to make this work properly - if the user is not the owner of the automation, it fails with "You are not authorized to run this automation" when pressing the button (if we enable "Show notifications" otherwise nothing happens).

1: We have the "run mode: Triggered" checked on the button action (as well as "Include selections")
2: The "Copy input block" button was used to insert the blocks in the automation.
3: The automation start block is set to triggered (we've tried with both sync / async modes)

With the exact same setup, it works perfectly when the user is the owner of the automation.

... are there any further dependencies to consider in order to make this work?  

All the best, 

[Edy_Tan]

I tried a few times but the updated text in the variable is not passed over to the automation.  I changed the text and hit enter:

when I click on Update, the original variable content was passed over instead

what did I missed out?

[Kayleigh_Milewski]

Is it possible to update inline tables within qvds using this method?