Qlik Sense

What differentiates Qlik Sense from other similar products?

I think Qlik's biggest differentiator is still its associative engine. It allows users to explore relationships in data without being restricted to predefined drill paths, which is particularly useful like when different business teams are asking different questions from the same dataset. Also we also found the platform strong when integrating data from multiple ERP, manufacturing, supply chain, and operational systems while maintaining governance. At the same time, it supports both self service analytics and centralized control reasonably well, which isn't always easy to balance in large environments.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

What I appreciate most is its flexibility to work with complex enterprise data without forcing everything into rigid reporting structures. Business users can actually investigate issues on their own while IT can still maintains governance over the underlying data models. Once the data foundation is established, dashboard development and analysis become much more efficient across different functions.

What do you dislike most about this product?

Well, I think the biggest challenge is its learning curve, especially for teams building data models and more advanced applications. Some administrative and development tasks require experienced resources, and new users may need training before they can fully utilize the platform. The visualization experience has improved, but there are still areas where competing products feel a little more polished..

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

I would recommend spending time on data governance, architecture, and data modeling before actually focusing on dashboard design. I mean the platform delivers much better results when there is a well defined data strategy rather than simply connecting multiple sources quickly. I also suggest running a proof of concept using your own enterprise data and involving both business users and IT early in the evaluation process. That gives a much better picture of long term fit.

What differentiates Qlik Sense from other similar products?

It is the only one of its kind because it is built around an associative data engine which means that the users can explore and analyze data from different directions on-the-fly without pre-aggregated query. Its extensive APIs and open framework make it a breeze for developers because they quickly allows them to build custom extensions, embed analytics into other portals or create highly-customized data applications that rigid traditional BI tools could never support.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

My most favourite thing as an associate developer is the rich data load script editor. This gives huge flexibility to convert, refactor and model complex datasets even before these land onto UI dashboard. I have total control over the underlying data architecture and performance optimization by writing SQL-like scripts along with native Qlik functions.

What do you dislike most about this product?

Anyway, it is quite powerful mind-blowing for complex calculations but the syntax itself is very unintuitive and difficult to master especially as a newbie developer. Also, if skipping default themes, then achieving very specific front-end styling usually involves tedious workarounds.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

Time to dive into qlik by mastering best practices of data modeling and set analysis syntax upfront. Treat it as not just a visualization tool but take advantage of the backend scripting engine. Also, be sure to take advantage of the Qlik community forums, which are a huge resource for solving complex developer issues and creating custom extensions.

What differentiates Qlik Sense from other similar products?

The one that really sets Qlik Sense apart is that it has the ability to explore data relationships that aren't found in SQL-based tools because of its associative engine. Qlik promotes that sense of curiosity, it's showing data in grey that has not been selected by the user, which is the only scenario where data exists that is different from other solutions that have fixed linear paths.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

For sure: Insight Advisor and all the new AI capabilities. These tools are able to offer advanced analytics available to non-technical personnel in our global offices. The natural language processing enables executives to formulate complex questions using plain language and get instant and visual responses.

What do you dislike most about this product?

For new users, the learning curve with advanced script based data modeling may be quite steep. It is user friendly for simple visualizations, but takes a lot of training to learn the back end "Qlik Scripting. This can be time-consuming to deploy in a rapidly changing business world, particularly to deploy complex dashboards.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

Make sure members of your team make time to delve into their understanding of the associative model; not just as a visualization tool. For global organisations I highly recommend that they take advantage of the hybridised capabilities provided by the Qlik Cloud to keep the data closer to the use, whilst at the same time keeping a central control of the data.