QlikView

QlikView
Name	QlikView
Developer	Qlik
Released	1993
Programming language	C++
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Genre	Business intelligence, data visualization, analytics
License	Proprietary

QlikView is a business intelligence and data discovery application for interactive data visualization and dashboarding used in enterprise analytics. It provides an in-memory associative data engine, an interactive presentation layer, and scripting capabilities for data transformation, enabling analysts and decision-makers to explore relationships across disparate datasets. The platform has been adopted across financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail organizations for ad hoc analysis, operational reporting, and self-service analytics.

Overview

QlikView combines an associative in-memory engine, a visual analytics interface, and a script-driven ETL (extract, transform, load) process to enable rapid exploration of complex datasets. The product is positioned alongside Tableau (software), Microsoft Power BI, SAP BusinessObjects, IBM Cognos Analytics, and SAS (software) in the business intelligence market. Enterprise customers such as Coca-Cola, Siemens, AT&T, HSBC, and Walmart have deployed the tool to build interactive dashboards, guided analytics, and operational scorecards. The vendor, Qlik, has a portfolio that includes other offerings and competes with vendors like Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Microsoft Corporation, IBM, and TIBCO Software.

History and Development

QlikView traces its origins to research in associative indexing and in-memory databases in the early 1990s, founded by Bjørn Berg and Lars Björk (co-founders of Qlik) and developed into a commercial product by QlikTech International AB. The product grew through the 2000s with venture funding, international expansion, and partnerships with firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. Milestones included adoption by major enterprises during the dot-com recovery and sustained competition with incumbents like MicroStrategy and BusinessObjects (company). Corporate strategy shifts followed industry consolidation events involving SAP SE and acquisitions in analytics by Microsoft and IBM; Qlik responded with product innovation and the launch of complementary products. Leadership and board changes, strategic partnerships with cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, and a move toward cloud delivery reflected broader trends seen with Salesforce and Workday.

Architecture and Components

The platform architecture centers on an associative in-memory analytics engine that loads compressed datasets into RAM for rapid response, conceptually related to technologies from Informatica, Teradata, and Vertica (company). Core components include a script-based ETL layer for data extraction from sources like Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SAP ERP, and Salesforce (company); a data model manager; an engine that supports associative indexing; and a front-end presentation layer used by analysts and executives. Server and deployment components integrate with Microsoft Windows Server, Linux, web servers such as Nginx and Microsoft Internet Information Services, and identity providers including Active Directory and Okta. Connectors and adapters enable integration with data warehouses, data lakes, and platforms such as Snowflake (software), Amazon Redshift, and Hadoop ecosystems including Cloudera and Hortonworks.

Features and Functionality

Key capabilities include ad hoc query, interactive charts, mashups, pivot tables, and associative filtering that reveals data relationships without pre-defined drill paths, comparable to features in Tableau Software and Microsoft Power BI. The scripting engine supports joins, concatenation, and incremental load patterns familiar to users of ETL tools from Talend and Informatica. Visual objects support KPIs, heat maps, treemaps, and map visualizations using geocoding services like Esri; export and reporting functions integrate with Microsoft Excel and PDF workflows. Governance features address multi-user collaboration, security rules, and versioning, aligning with enterprise practices advocated by Gartner and Forrester Research in their analytics reports.

Deployment and Integration

Deployments range from desktop installations to enterprise server farms and cloud-hosted offerings on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and private cloud infrastructures managed by system integrators such as Capgemini, IBM Global Services, and Cognizant. Integration patterns include live connections to transactional systems such as SAP S/4HANA, Oracle E-Business Suite, and Salesforce, as well as batch loads from data warehouses built on Teradata and Snowflake. Authentication and single sign-on integrate with Active Directory, SAML 2.0 providers, and identity platforms like Okta, while orchestration often uses tools from Airflow (software) and Azure Data Factory.

Licensing and Editions

The product historically offered a range of licensing models including developer, professional, and enterprise editions with server licensing, client CALs (client access licenses), and subscription options reflecting trends set by Adobe and Microsoft for software licensing. Cloud and SaaS offerings introduced subscription-based pricing, capacity-based tiers, and enterprise agreements similar to licensing frameworks used by Salesforce and ServiceNow. Channel partners and resellers include major value-added resellers and system integrators active in analytics distribution.

Reception and Use Cases

Analysts and industry observers from Gartner, Forrester Research, and IDC have evaluated the product for strengths in rapid prototyping, associative exploration, and embedded analytics, while noting challenges around governance and scaling in very large deployments—issues also discussed in case studies from McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group. Use cases span financial reporting at banks like Barclays and Deutsche Bank, supply chain optimization for Procter & Gamble and Unilever, clinical analytics in hospitals affiliated with Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic, and retail assortment planning at Target Corporation and Best Buy. Academic research and conference presentations at venues such as SIGMOD and VLDB have examined associative engines and in-memory analytic performance in contexts similar to this product.

Category:Business intelligence software