QlikView Reviews

QlikView’s associative model is a fantastic design that enabled the Green/White/Grey feature. This feature greatly helped us highlight the relationship between different kinds of data.

To further explain the Green/White/Grey feature, let’s take a sales report of an electronics shop as an example. In this report, it may have dimensions (Product Category, Salesman) and expressions (Sales Qty, Sales Amount).

Green means the values of dimension that you have selected. Under the Product Category dimension, it will have different values e.g. Smartphone, Laptop, Desktop. If we want to see the sales performance of Smartphone, we can click on Smartphone, then it will become green. We can also select multiple values e.g. Smartphone and Laptop in the dimension.

White – shows the values of dimension which are related to the another dimension values that you have selected.

Grey - shows the values of dimension which are NOT related to the another dimension values that you have selected. By following the previous example, we have selected Smartphone in Product Category dimension. In the Salesman dimension, Salesman e.g. Jeremy or Janice who have have sold Smartphone will be shown in white color. Another Salesman, e.g. Roy, who didn’t sell Smartphone will be shown as Grey. This is very useful for us to identify relationship between dimensions

Its “Search Object” function is also very useful for us to search for the information we needed.

“Section Access” is another great feature as we can identify user authority on accessing data in an easy way.

Another feature "Set Analysis" which enabled us to configure different behavior for each dashboard. So that some dashboards (e.g. YTD) can be freezed and not affected by some of the filter selections.

My experience using QlikView was in a F&B chain store with outlets around the world. In such a F&B chain store, there are a lot of dishes and they are changing frequently with a high transaction volume.

In such an environment, a search function is very helpful for us when we want to find out the sales performance and trend of a specific dish.

Qlik’s associative model greatly helped us identify customer purchase behavior and we can define combos according to this information.

By comparing with the latest data discovery tools like Tableau, Qlik Sense and Sisense, the layout and colors are not eye catching enough. It looks like a very powerful excel with a lot of powerful features for analysis. But it may not be good for presentation.

I used it for two years.

Qlik is able to import data directly from a transactional database and create joins between the tables in there. However, I encountered a performance issue with high volumes of data.

Therefore, I suggest designing a data warehouse and use it instead as Qlik’s data source. The performance will be much better.

Actually, I can’t remember any issue that I was required to check with customer service or technical support. For nearly all of my questions, I can get answers in the Qlik community.

I have previous experience with IBM Cognos. It was a very comprehensive solution that can be used for pixel-perfect reports, email schedules and also data analysis. However, there are many more development and implementation steps than with Qlik.

Also, Cognos requires a steep learning curve even for a user with a technical background.

As we wanted an easy and user-friendly self-service BI solution, QlikView is more suitable from this perspective.

On the server side, it is quite straightforward and we didn’t encounter any problem.

On the client side, the user can access it by browser or a desktop application. For the desktop installation, it can be downloaded from internet. And the configuration to connect the server is very easy; even end-users are able to do it. We prepared just one slide and end-users are able to follow it.

We implement it through a collaboration with the vendor. The vendor team is responsible for installation and configuration. And the in-house team is responsible for development.

My advice is to use a data warehouse as the data source, which can greatly reduce Qlik implementation time, as creating too many joins in Qlik is not a best practice.

My advice is to start small with the named license scheme as the price is much cheaper and it will be much easier to gain management approval.

People who have interest on QlikView should also take a look on Qlik’s another product Qlik Sense. They have similar features (e.g. Section Access, Search function, Associative model).

QlikView relies more on the IT side. IT builds the base and a majority of end-users make use of it. Some power users can build dashboards, share with others and create formulas in there.

Qlik Sense is a self-service BI tool. It is easier to use and stronger in visualization. But some advance formulas might not be available.

My company uses this application mainly for reporting and analytics through customized dashboards that meet corporate identity needs. The reports were created using existing SQL scripts that powered legacy dashboard and reports (i.e. SAP Crystal Reports).

This is a very cool application with endless options for creativity and visuals. 

While this application was loved by the end-users, the development required to build these dashboards proved to be more difficult vs. other solutions such as Tableau. 

My company is big on dashboards and this application excels in this space. Endless customization is key to meet everyone's needs. I also like how the application can use existing SQL statements to use as your root data/tables/information. Compared to other competitors, this solution can do more.

I really wish the application was easier to use in the development phase.

Our business model relies on the business to build their own reports and many departments did not have the associates they need with this type of skill set (i.e. SQL experience). In a business model where a centralized department (i.e. IT) is in control of the reports for the entire company, this would not be a problem.

The development was the ultimate reason this application did not take off in my organization vs. a competitor's application (Tableau). This is a shame as the finished dashboard appeared to be more polished.

My experience is limited but from what I experienced, stability is very good.

The scalability of this solution is very good.

Very reactive, quick and supportive.

I have been 110% satisfied every time I have reached out with a question.

We started form SAP Crystal Reports and originally moved to Qlik as a replacement, but this application proved to be more difficult for development as the business owns their own report vs. IT.

Application install was simple and straightforward.

We implemented this solution with our in-house IT staff.

No ROI as we have moved on.

The biggest comparison was made with Tableau, which ultimately won.

Their training and services have been top-notch and very reactive.

Usability, usability, usability: It is easy for developers and for end users.

We have cut Fire Department 911 response time 8-30 seconds.

We have improved the timeliness, accuracy, and consistency of reporting.

Unmetered water reports (e.g. fire hydrants, FDCs in commercial buildings)

Wage verification requests

Performance metrics

We have improved processes and increased compliance of firefighter training and certification, ensuring that firefighters are properly trained (“a trained firefighter is an effective firefighter”), expensive training courses no longer have empty seats, and we have improved our performance on training/certification audits from our regulatory agency.

We have engaged line managers on tracking and monitoring of program and operational budgets, leading to better oversight of the taxpayer dollar.

The QlikView management console could have better interfaces for managing security. Right now, it is hard to tell “who has access to exactly what apps?”

Better out-of-the box governance features, to allow analysis of application architecture, optimization of scripts, identification of unused fields/data.

Current GIS interfaces (e.g. with ESRI) are through partners, and are acceptable, but could be easier to implement, more streamlined interface between the two.

I have used this solution since 2008.

No issues at all. This application requires very little care and feeding. Cannot speak to big data scaling, our largest data sets are in the 1TB range — but no problems noted at that level.

Customer and technical support are fine. Account manager deals well with the added layers of demand that come from being a government client — purchasing is always more complicated.

Like everyone, we used Excel and Access. We tried using the enterprise MicroStrategy and both developers and users rejected it as too much effort, not intuitive compared to QlikView.

Technically, initial setup was very simple. The hardest part was getting visualization requirements form unsophisticated users who were not used to any sort of reporting on their processes.

We did it in-house, with one week of one vendor person assisting. (The four apps he helped us put together, we ended up redesigning altogether once we had a chance to use them and redefined requirements.)

Advice: Keep it simple. We know of similar organizations that used third-party implements, who created apps that were complicated to support and use, and consequently those implementations were not entirely successful. In at least once case, they abandoned the product (and haven’t done anything else that I’m aware of).

Qlik has a reputation for being expensive, but our TCO - compared to two other BI products in our organization (MicroStrategy and Cognos) is way, way cheaper. We didn’t have to pay for consultants or any professional services. The more we let our business managers design and develop their apps, the happier they are.

Keep it simple, involve the team (prototype with them - don’t throw a fancy app over the wall at the end users and expect them to actually engage), do POCs before you decide which BI system you will adopt.

• In-memory performance – It allows slicing and dicing of a huge volume of data in the dashboard very fast if designed optimally.
• Scripting – It provides a flexible data-preparation layer, along with the ability for data integration from multiple data sources. This enables creating a reporting data model inside QlikView from a transactional system without impacting the performance of the transactional system, if designed correctly.

Overall, it enabled connecting the entire spectrum of data into a single dashboard in:

• Finance – connecting sub-ledger txn details all the way to GL
• Supply Chain

• Self-service capability is very limited, though it has been improved in QlikSense. However, it will require an additional license & server to set it up.
• Dashboard capabilities and features are not on par with Tableau, though the same has been attempted in QlikSense. However, Tableau still has better dashboard features.
• Real-time analysis with live connection (direct discovery) is very limited.
• The current version is missing a variety of connectors and they need to be procured separately.
• Not adaptive to display across various screen resolutions

I have used this solution for two years.

Initially, there was an issue with LDAP and SSO integration (a compatibility issue with an earlier version of SiteMinder).

Initial setup was non-clustered and we encountered performance issues. It resolved once we moved to better infrastructure in a clustered environment of QlikView.

Technical support is very geographically oriented, but isn’t truly 24X7.

Initial setup was not intuitive, but straightforward for a Qlik admin expert.

A vendor team implemented the solution.

I evaluated Tableau. However, we selected Qlikview because:

• Tableau’s current recommendation is to build dashboards directly on top of the reporting DB (for example – data mart or consumption layer) to avoid doing complex logic or transformation inside the tool and using a hybrid approach of live connection and extract. Tableau is currently not an extract-heavy tool. However, with the recent HyPer acquisition, we are expecting some changes.
• Incremental loading (updates and deletes) inside Tableau is a challenge, which can be achieved very easily in QlikView.
• Limitation in Tableau on # of columns and rows in table view

Evaluate visualization tools based on your organization need and appetite to spend on BI technologies overall (DB, etc.)

Our primary use case is an application that our users use to get the profitability on a monthly basis.

It's pretty easy to deploy.

I would want them to have more options as a user. It would be nice for them to create their own dashboards and add fields.

I did not encounter any issues with stability of the product. 

I did not encounter any issues with scalability of the product. 

We usually use a partner for technical support, so I cannot really rate the service. 

We had the partner help us set up the product for us. So, I do not remember any difficulty with the setup process. 

It is not very expensive. I think it it is on par with other similar products on the market.

Qlik's data modelling is very powerful and allows for easy integration of data from multiple sources. The in-memory associative engine is very powerful and provides quick answers to questions that arise when a user is exploring their data.

QlikView provides rapid insight that takes significantly longer to reach when using some other traditional BI tools.

I would like to see the desktop user interface updated. Some of the dialogs in the product look quite dated. I would also like to see the responsive UI design features from Qlik Sense make their way into QlikView.

On the analysis side, I would like to see tighter integration with R, or perhaps some built-in machine learning algorithms.

I would also like to see Qlik products made available on other platforms such as Linux and OS X.

I have used this solution for 8+ years.

QlikView is an in-memory product, so large dashboards place a significant load on a server's memory. This needs to be carefully considered when sizing your environment.

I have used a number of competing products such as Cognos, Tableau, Power BI and SAP BusinessObjects.

QlikView development projects are rapid and the product itself is very flexible and reliable.

Initial setup of QlikView tends to be fairly straightforward, though when setting up additional features such as clustering and publisher features, this can get a little complex.

I have implemented the solution both with vendor teams and in-house. In a previous job, I worked with a vendor team, and have worked for a partner and provided implementation support for clients.

I would advise new Qlik customers to seek out a reliable Qlik partner to help with implementation.

I would advise you to seek out a local Qlik partner. They will be able to support your training and consulting needs and provide guidance regarding best practice for your implementation.

QlikView has some superb, unique features but the desktop edition suffers from having a rather tired user interface. Default chart settings can often result in unattractive dashboards, which require significant adjustment in order to conform to best practice. These UI shortcomings have however been addressed in Qlik Sense.

We are active in the Hospitality Industry in Africa and we use QlikView primarily, for the time being, in our sales and marketing environment. We are situated in multiple countries and in multiple locations within those countries running on multiple sales systems. Each sales system has got its own features and capabilities. 

QlikView permits us to consolidate all the sales systems together onto one platform and enables ease of access throughout the whole company anywhere in the world. Moreover, QlikView makes our complex data infrastructure understandable for everyone.

QlikView allowed us to determine the sales date which was missing in the biggest sales system. QlikView helps us with detecting shortcomings in data capturing and safeguard our margin. It also enables us to forecast our sales, our revenue, and our cash-flow. 

Our Qlikview applications help us to get a good idea of our Client Base Performance and assist us in the decision making for Seasonal Specials. On the other hand, QlikView helps us to get a grasp on our Suppliers and helps us to negotiate pricing with them.

It enables quick and easy access anywhere in the world in real-time. We have satellite offices on different continents with a different time zone which makes it quite a challenge to show real-time values.

QlikView is for the end-user easy to use; a few clicks suffice to answer the question at hand. 

QlikView has got a very intuitive approach of visualizations, both from a developer's point of view as well as the end-users. It makes complex data easy to understand with little prior knowledge of how reading graphs is required. 

QlikView lacks the development aspects that its sister product QlikSense has got. It would be nice to also get the new graphs that are available in QlikSense in QlikView. 

It would be nice if QlikView could be plugged in into the company's website or an online portal such as QlikSense is capable of. There are ways around but it takes enormous time to develop.

Certain features such as a cumulative result, as is possible in QlikSense, would be nice to have since it takes quite some time to get this right from a developer's point of view.

I have been using QlikView for five years.

It is very robust.

The scalability is quite good, QlikView is fairly versatile yet robust at the same time and can be applied on multiple levels

Did not need any of this yet.

Setup itself was fairly complex since our company battled with a legacy of dirty data and a lack of data literacy.

Implementation happened through a vendor, and their expertise was/is top-notch.

No idea, I haven't made the calculations yet since there have been multiple system changes simultaneously and therefore difficult to determine what is the result of which improvement.

The setup costs for QlikView are fair as are the yearly maintenance fees. The licensing becomes a bit more expensive and requires some planning for onboarding.

I don't know, I was not part of that process and not active within the company.

Since Qlik is focussing more on QlikSense, it is recommendable to look into that direction than into QlikView.