Qlik Sense and QlikView
From the load script to the published app. We work both platforms end to end including the old installations nobody wants to touch any more.
Talk to a specialistCompanies with Qlik rarely want to leave it.
Qlik usually reaches us by one of two routes. Either the company invested in it years ago, the consultant who built everything left, and now nobody understands the load script that holds the operation together. Or the associative model is exactly what the business needs, and the question is how to get more out of it.
In both cases the work is the same: understand what exists before proposing anything. Undocumented Qlik is an expensive asset nobody can evolve and rewriting from scratch is rarely the cheaper answer.
From extraction to a published app
The path is the same as any serious BI project. What changes is the tool at each step.
- Load script. Qlik’s ETL layer, written to be read by someone else later: named sections, variables at the top, parameterised connections instead of hard-coded paths scattered through the script.
- QVD layer. Extraction and transformation split into stages, with intermediate data persisted. It is what takes reload from hours to minutes and stops hammering the source system every time.
- Data model. Star schema, synthetic keys removed and circular references resolved. The associative engine is fast, but it does not forgive a badly built model.
- Expressions and set analysis. Each indicator defined once, with the business rule recorded alongside. Period comparisons and breakdowns that do not break when the user filters something else.
- Building the app. One view per role and a navigation that plays to Qlik’s strength: following the train of thought of whoever is investigating, instead of forcing them back to the start at every question.
- Governed publishing. Organised streams, Section Access by access profile, scheduled reload and an audit trail that meets data protection requirements.
QlikView and Qlik Sense are not the same thing
QlikView delivers guided analytics: the document is designed by whoever builds it, and the user navigates within what was anticipated. Qlik Sense is self-service: the user builds their own visualisations on the published model.
They are different philosophies, and the choice is not about which is newer. Operations with a closed process and users who need a fast answer usually work better in the guided format. Analytical teams that explore data on their own get more out of self-service. We serve both, and when migrating makes sense we say so and when it does not, we say that too.
What you are left with
Delivery ends when your team can evolve what we built without depending on us.
- The documented script. Commented section by section, with the origin of every table and the reason for every transformation.
- The metrics dictionary. The business rule of each indicator written in plain language, not only in set analysis.
- Team training. To build new visualisations on the existing model without breaking what already runs.
- A maintenance plan. What to do when a source changes format or the reload starts taking too long.
How we run it
We begin with an assessment of what is already live: script, model, reload time and which apps people actually open. In an old Qlik environment that survey usually reveals half the work straight away and it is better to find out before signing. Then we design the architecture and present the scope for approval. Implementation runs in short cycles, with the first app live quickly.
How we measure results
Success indicators are agreed up front, and they are business indicators, not tool indicators. In our projects the most frequent are manual working hours given back to the team, lower operational loss and margin gained by portfolio segment.
We now have a far more robust, fast and visual view of each management area’s results.
Sales director national fuel distributor
About this service
Our QlikView is old and nobody documented it. Will you take it on?
It is the most common scenario that reaches us. We start with a survey of what is live script, model and which documents people actually use and hand back a map of the environment before proposing any change. A lot of what looks like it needs rewriting only needs documentation and a model fix.
Should we migrate from QlikView to Qlik Sense?
It depends on how your team uses the tool, not on the release date. If people consume finished analysis and need a fast answer, QlikView’s guided format may still serve well. If the team wants to build its own visualisations, Sense delivers more. We assess both scenarios and recommend what fits including staying where you are.
Our reload takes hours. Is there a fix?
Almost always. The most common bottleneck is the script going straight to the source on every run, with no intermediate layer. Splitting extraction from transformation and persisting the data in QVD usually cuts the time significantly and stops overloading the source system in the middle of the working day.
Do you also work with Power BI?
Yes, and it is the most frequent platform in our projects. The choice follows the ecosystem you already have, not the other way round. When switching makes sense, we also handle the migration between the two, in both directions.
Who maintains the apps afterwards?
Your team, with the documentation and training that are part of the delivery. If you would rather not build that structure in-house, we maintain it under an outsourcing contract.
Let’s look at your numbers together
A 30-minute conversation is usually enough to find where money is sitting idle in your operation.
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