QlikView: the innovation BI for business users

TAdviser: What tasks in the field of BI do you consider the most relevant now? What do you understand as the "associative analysis" imitating processes of a human thought? What problems does it allow to solve which are unavailable to the traditional BI systems?

Roger Verkheille: Systems for the business analysis (BI) were used many years in the companies for accumulation and data analysis, for the help in acceptance of management decisions. But now the market of BI is already ready to changes. Already not only several top managers, but all employees including privates, want to have access to tools for the business analysis. And they deserve it. They really need powerful modern BI tools which will allow to glance deep into data domain, it is better to understand causes and effects, to simplify decision making processes. Effective BI solutions are capable to help the companies with their aspiration to open new spheres and edges of business, to remain competitive, to implement innovations, at the same time without losing sight and supporting the existing clients.

Our motto – to make the business analysis simple for everyone, to facilitate decision making process. The standard traditional BI systems drive analysts into a framework of linear thinking, the predetermined questions. The QlikView system, on the contrary, is based on the principles of the flexible associative analysis. QlikView works as the human brain functions. It allows to investigate freely any information, to look for and select interrelations, and as a result – to receive deep and exact answers.

QlikView is based on use of technology of resident (in-memory) data analysis that does a system productive and scalable. QlikView gets data at the fountain-head and "squeezes" them in order that all further processing was conducted in RAM. All calculations and algorithms are executed "on the fly" as users investigate data, selecting and comparing different indicators. It does QlikView intuitive, not requiring serious training. A system is simple in mastering and can be implemented less than in a week.

QlikView supports associative, but not hierarchical communications – also the person thinks. It allows to try to obtain simplicity, but to avoid excessive simplification. Powerful and complex data analysis is behind such approach. And what is especially important, processes of the business analysis in a system users, but not IT specialists direct. In it one of key differences of QlikView from the traditional BI systems is. QlikView allows to ask questions and to receive answers in business language, and it makes the business analysis available to all employees. At the same time the necessary results can be received already in the nearest future, without postponing this process until then when the staff of IT service has free time and they will be able to start accomplishment of a new task.

With QlikView users are not attached and not limited to opportunities of an OLAP cubes or other preaggregated data structures. An opportunity without restriction to users allows to formulate and execute requests "on the fly" freedom in a research of data, on all information volume which is stored in different corporate systems.

Business keeps in public, capable to make decisions. QlikView helps such people to receive prompt and definite answers, to analyze data from different sources, and as a result – quickly to draw the necessary conclusions.

TAdviser: Speaking about feature and key advantage of QlikView, you mention capability of a system to work with unstructured information. So can become information source for QlikView? Not only transaction systems (relational DBMS), tables Excel, OLAP storage, but also text files, websites, file storages?

Roger Verkheille: Yes, QlikView can work with various sources. The patented technology of the associative analysis allows to build BI-applications, loading data from many sources directly into the addressed RAM. Failure from use of relational DBMS, with their fixed tough interrelations, allows to refuse in most cases and preliminary aggregation of data, creation of difficult multidimensional hierarchies and cubes. QlikView executes all these transactions "on the fly", and integration is performed thanks to the Open Database Connectivity/Object Linking and Embedding Database interfaces (ODBC/OLEDB). Spreadsheets, databases, data warehouses, XML and HTML files, text files and tables can become data sources. In QlikView the API interface for communication with SAP and Salesforce.com is also implemented.

TAdviser: The majority of the tasks solved by means of BI systems, quite standard and standard – demand analysis (on regions, commodity groups, etc.), the analysis of trade inventories, a financial analysis. Long-term experience allowed to develop standard approaches in which so-called "best practices" are put for their solution. The normal BI systems from them preconfigured (but repeatedly verified) models, algorithms, KPI quite are suitable for the solution of such standard tasks. Why you consider that it is not enough, and new methods of work with analytical information are necessary? Than the associativity and nonlinearity for the solution of such standard tasks will help?

Roger Verkheille: BI systems are intended for the solution of two main objectives – an information access and information analysis by means of independent, user (ad hoc) requests and modeling. In spite of the fact that the term "business analysis" for the first time was mentioned in the 1950th years, and the first specialized systems for creation of reports and accomplishment of requests appeared in the 1980th, traditional BI solutions are still used not in all companies. It is explained by three basic reasons: the same ready-made solution cannot suit all; systems are not capable to cover various needs of all users; and at last, the existing systems are too difficult for implementation and use.

Today formation of printing regulated reports or representation of key business indicators in an evident type by means of on-line dashboards are the tasks which already became usual and obvious to IT service. However creation of uniform flexible, evident and simple Wednesday in use for carrying out the business analysis – this task for the present remains quite difficult for implementation.

The most part of difficulties with traditional with BI solutions is caused by need to provide the sufficient flexibility of work with data necessary for users for decision making. IT specialists should foresee user requirements and to develop such reports, requests and models which, most likely, will be demanded. At the same time they need to think over the corresponding OLAP cubes and data warehouses, to be engaged in visualization tools, interactive interaction, administration. It is obvious that to become it is more difficult to IT service to cope with the increasing volume of tasks and resources, and these powers need to be shifted to users partially. Especially as it will make them more independent.

The uniqueness of QlikView just also is that business users are given free rain in carrying out the comprehensive analysis and display of its results, and access to operational data is provided by means of a user-friendly and flexible interface (online or offline). Thus, QlikView allows to solve both key problems of BI of data access and their comprehensive analysis.

TAdviser: They say that the good question comprises a half of the answer. But it is necessary still to be able to ask such questions. When using QlikView users are offered to formulate independently questions, and a system will help to look for on them answers. It means that users should be more competent, "grounded" in the field of the business analysis. Not all customers, especially from SMB, have in the state of qualified employees. Whether often you face at implementation of QlikView a problem of shortage of competent users, need of their training?

Roger Verkheille: On the contrary, QlikView does not demand from end users of deep understanding of analytical algorithms. Work with QlikView is intuitive, it is easy to master a system. Users just investigate the data offered them, select parameters "mouse" and receive the evident answer. As a rule, training of the user lasts about two hours: it is enough to it to understand that by green color the selected data, white – the connected (associated) with them data, and gray – all others are displayed. Graphic data mapping helps to estimate visually a current status of business, and the interactive interface allows to study in more detail the interesting indicator by means of the drill-down mechanism.

Profound studying of a system for advanced users takes two days, a training course for the developer - three. Simplicity of QlikView allows to perform the fast implementations at once bringing return. It concerns all cycle of communication with the client, from sale of a system before its start in operation. QlikView differs from the traditional BI systems in the fact that it is developed especially for not technical specialists. Because of the complexity and a large number of settings, the traditional BI systems are implemented and supported by the developed escort service. Implementation of QlikView requires the minimum participation from professional integrators. Of course, the role of IT service in implementation and support of a system cannot be denied, but nevertheless we consider our clients not IT departments, and business users.

TAdviser: At implementation of QlikView to whom the problem of ensuring quality of data is assigned? A system in real time uses data from the most different business applications. These data can be incomparable, contradictory. Whether is in the system of means for elimination of these problems, or these tasks should be solved the separate independent project, but not within QlikView implementation?

Roger Verkheille: QlikView conducts all data processing in RAM. When data are loaded into QlikView, in a system interrelations between separate sources on the basis of key fields automatically are under construction (such for example as the internal unique code of the client). It is supposed that this number will be used in all data sources. QlikView is not engaged in "cleaning" of data, however helps to reveal discrepancies in data in systems sources. Having detected such discrepancies, employees within the organization will be able to be engaged in formation of "the uniform version of the truth", and arrangement of the data which are contained in other systems. Sometimes QlikView is used as a part of the strategic program for ordering of NSI and helps to build up the evident relationship between different data sources.

TAdviser: In the QlikView system the corporate patent technology of data analysis in RAM (in-memory processing) which is considerably increasing performance is used. Whether it increases requirements to the hardware?

Roger Verkheille: QlikView is developed with that calculation as much as possible to use the available hardware server resources and in particular RAM resources whose high-speed performance is one thousand times higher, than at the hard drive. The combination of high-performance processors and large volumes of RAM is an important condition for ensuring high-speed performance of QlikView. QlikView can work on any PC compatible to Windows OS. But the "faster" there will be processors, the system will be more productive, and the size of available OP determines the maximum extent of a data model.

TAdviser: QlikView is, allegedly, so intuitive that clients can be engaged in implementation and development of a system independently. Meanwhile, many developers gain a considerable part of income from a support and maintenance of clients. At the expense of what does QlikTech intend "stay afloat" in more long-term future? Only due to building of the customer base? But the number of the companies – potential clients, in principle, is exhaustible especially as in the market of BI perspective now the competition escalates.

Roger Verkheille:  By estimates of IDC, QlikTech within the last three years remains the most fast-growing BI developer. In 2008 income of the company grew by 50% and reached 120 million dollars. The customer base grew by 45% and now contains 10,585 companies in 92 countries. Our success was affected by different factors. First, we have very short sales cycle. For last year we purchased 3,500 new clients, it approximately on 15 clients a day. These are the companies both from a segment of SMB, and from large business, such as 3M, Novartis and Campbell Soup where we gradually covered our system division behind division. Secondly, our flagship product QlikView already proved the efficiency. In the last report Gartner called it the most high-growth BI platform in the market, having noted the highest degree of satisfaction of its users. And Aberdeen Group called our company only  in category of "champions" in the ranking of BI systems.

We offer the customers unique approach when choosing a BI system. They do not need to make more the decision on purchase on the basis of the presentations of Power Point or verbal promises. We offer practical approach "Sees-means to believe" when the customer himself can try to work with a system on own data and only then to buy licenses. Besides, we the only developer company of BI systems which offers the customers 30 day guarantee for return of means in case of dissatisfaction with a product.

Yes, in difference of our main competitors which about 70% of income gain from implementation services and to maintenance of the BI systems we receive only 10% of services in training and to implementation.

Nevertheless, we have several directions for growth and development. We expand our geographical presence, including in Russia, China and Japan. We continue to develop innovations, we aim to strengthen the positions in a segment of medium and large business. Our system does not require high costs for implementation, it begins to bring return less than in a month after the beginning of the project that is especially important in the period of economic instability.

TAdviser: QlikView was for the first time announced in Russia a year ago. What progress managed to achieve during this time? How many Russian companies use QlikView now? How many partners provide services in its implementation? What plans at QlikTech company in Russia what results you want to achieve (the size of the customer base, a partner network – for example, in a year)?

Roger Verkheille: Our start in Russia seemed to us promising. It is obvious that the business analysis is an integral part of work of many companies now. It is fair in other regions of our presence, and also it is fair in Russia. People look for answers to questions concerning the business, they want to receive them quickly, easily and accurately. Now we in Russia have three partners and two more partners in Ukraine. We are aimed at further development of partnership with leaders of the Russian IT industry. We will continue to develop our business in Russia. However according to our domestic policy, we cannot open the specific financial performance.

TAdviser: Whether she intends QlikTech to open the representation in Russia over time, or so far the company will work only through a partner network? In the world are engaged in sales and system implementation, generally partners?

Roger Verkheille: One of our checked recipes of rapid growth is development of a strong partner network. Now we have more than 700 partners worldwide. We are going and to develop indirect sales channels further.

TAdviser: In 2009 there was a new, ninth version of QlikView. But for certain there are already works on preparation of the next version. What opportunities appeared in a system recently what should be implemented in the nearest future?

Roger Verkheille: By preparation of the ninth version of QlikView we concentrated the efforts on simplicity of its use. We added a lot of new demanded functionality. In particular, I can note QlikView Mobile (support of BI on Blackberry and for the first time – on iPhone); release of QlikView Personal Edition, the free version for developers; development of scalability of a sisema; work with "live" information, in real time; increase in simplicity and ergonomics of the user interface (new visualization tools, a possibility of the publication of reports in the PDF format).