QlikView - IT pro and Business user

QlikView’s approach to BI allows for a self-service model for business users on the front end while maintaining strict data security and governance on the back end. Because of this approach, IT professionals—from enterprise architects to data analysts — can remain focused on their core competencies: data security, data and application provisioning, data governance and system maintenance. They no longer have to spend time writing and re-writing reports for business users. 

 

In a typical QlikView deployment, IT professionals focus on:  

• Managing data extracts and data and system security
• Creating and maintaining source QlikView files (QVWs and QVDs)
• Controlling data refresh and application distribution through QlikView Publisher
• Administering QlikView deployments via the QlikView Management Console(part of QVS)

QlikView and the business analyst / BI developer

The role of a business analyst or BI developer in a typical QlikView deployment primarily involves the use of QlikView Desktop. QlikView developers use this Windows desktop application to extract data from source systems, create data models, and transform the data. It is where they describe all metadata, create data storage layers (QVD layers), and lay out the user interface.

 

The BA or BI developer can also reuse existing extracted and pre-modeled data from the QVD layer by pulling “off-the-shelf” data from the QVD, when relevant for their application.

 

The BA or BI developer also wants to ensure that their QlikView business applications are using the most recent data and that QlikView apps are being distributed to the correct business user community. For this reason, BAs and BI developers typically work closely with IT pros who use QlikView Publisher on the back end to ensure data refresh rates and QlikView Server on the front end to ensure the applications are correctly distributed and meet the business’ needs.

QlikView and the business user

Business users interact with QlikView applications exclusively via the front end of a deployment, most typically using a browser on their desktop, laptop, or mobile device (such as an iPad). Users simply open their Access-Point portal (or, in the case of integrated solutions, their organization’s own enterprise portal) and select the QlikView application they wish to use.

 

QlikView Server provides all client-server communication and is the engine that drives the in-memory associative experience. Once the user’s security credentials are verified, they then open and can begin working with the application, exploring and interacting with the data and asking and answering their own stream of questions in a self-service mode. Users can also collaborate with other users in the organization, sharing insights and exploring data together, in real time or asynchronously.