As a leading data visualization and business intelligence software, Qlik, and its bespoke associative engine, help organizations analyze, explore and gain insight into their data by providing a highly flexible approach that can be tailored to any organizations requirements.
What is Qlik?
Qlik is a leading data visualization and business intelligence (BI) platform known for its unique associative engine for organizations to explore data freely without being confined to a predefined path, setting Qlik apart from many other BI tools. The platform comprises several products, with QlikView and Qlik Sense being the most prominent. While QlikView offers guided analytics, Qlik Sense focuses on self-service BI, enabling users to create their own dashboards and reports.
Qlik offers both on-premise and SaaS deployment options, catering to a variety of organizational needs. The Qlik Cloud provides a cloud-based solution, while organizations looking for a mix can opt for a hybrid deployment. Qlik’s security and governance measures make sure data remains protected and compliant, regardless of the deployment method chosen.
Developers and data professionals can leverage Qlik’s API, extensions, and mashups to customize and extend the platform’s capabilities. Qlik additionally offers a range of connectors, allowing integration with various data sources. The Qlik community and Qlik training programs offer valuable learning and support resources.
How does Qlik work?
In order to run efficiently, Qlik uses its proprietary associative engine. This engine processes data by recognizing the relationships between different data points, allowing organizations to explore connections without predefined queries. When an end-user makes a selection in Qlik, the platform instantly updates all related visualizations, highlighting associated data and dimming unrelated data.
Qlik integrates with various data sources through its connectors. These connectors fetch data, which then undergo a data modeling process. During this phase, Qlik structures the data in a way that optimizes it for the associative engine. Qlik scripting, a feature of the platform, aids in refining and transforming this data, ensuring it’s ready for analysis.
Visualization is a significant aspect of Qlik’s operation. Whether using QlikView or Qlik Sense, organizations can create dashboards that represent data in various formats, from simple charts to advanced Qlik GeoAnalytics maps. The platform’s augmented intelligence capabilities further improve these visualizations by suggesting insights and patterns that might not be immediately obvious to the user.
Underpinning all these functionalities is Qlik’s security framework. Regardless of whether an organization opts for on-premise, Qlik Cloud, or hybrid deployment, the platform gives organizations impressive data integrity and protection.
Unique features of Qlik
Qlik Associative Engine | This engine uniquely identifies and maintains relationships between datasets, allowing dynamic data exploration without relying on pre-aggregated data or predefined queries. |
Qlik Data Integration and Qlik Data Catalyst | These components streamline the data preparation process, transforming raw data into a format optimized for the associative engine’s requirements. |
Qlik NPrinting | A dedicated tool for report generation and distribution, Qlik NPrinting facilitates the creation of reports from QlikView and Qlik Sense applications, distributing them in various formats. |
Qlik GeoAnalytics | GeoAnalytics integrate spatial data, offering map visualizations and tools for effective interpretation of location-based information. |
Qlik Extensions Marketplace | A marketplace filled with add-ons and plugins, means users can make best use of Qlik’s capabilities, tailoring the platform to specific needs or industry requirements. |
Qlik Set Analysis | Organizations can define a specific set of data values, providing a way to dynamically change the dataset under analysis without altering the overall data model. |
Qlik Augmented Intelligence | Leveraging AI offers automated insights, thereby suggesting data patterns and visualizations based on the data loaded into the platform. |
Qlik Mashups | The integration of Qlik visualizations and capabilities into external web applications provides a blend of BI insights with other platforms. |
Who uses Qlik?
Qlik offers tailored solutions across industries. A small selection of these industries include: aerospace, giants like Airbus, the NHS, BP and Vanguard.

Airbus uses Qlik for supply chain optimization and production monitoring. With thousands of components required for aircraft manufacturing, Airbus makes use of Qlik’s data visualization capabilities to monitor the status of parts, ensuring timely deliveries and minimizing production delays. Alongside this, Qlik assists Airbus in analyzing performance metrics across different manufacturing units, helping identify bottlenecks and optimize workflows.

The NHS, the public health service of the UK, uses Qlik for patient care analytics and resource allocation. When integrating patient records, treatment outcomes, and resource utilization data, Qlik provides insights that help the NHS optimize patient care pathways. Furthermore, during times of increased demand, such as flu seasons or pandemics, Qlik aids in forecasting resource needs, making sure that hospitals and clinics are adequately equipped to handle patient influx.

BP, a multinational oil and gas company, uses Qlik for operational analytics and risk management. Given the complexities of oil exploration and production, BP leverages Qlik to visualize data from drilling sites, helping monitor equipment health and optimize extraction processes. Additionally, Qlik assists BP in environmental and safety compliance by analyzing data related to emissions, waste disposal, and workplace incidents, ensuring operations align with global standards.

Vanguard, one of the world’s largest investment management companies, employs Qlik for portfolio analytics and customer insights. With billions in assets under management, Vanguard uses Qlik to analyze market trends, assess portfolio performance, and identify investment opportunities. On the customer side, Qlik helps Vanguard understand investor behaviors, preferences, and feedback, enabling the firm to tailor its financial products and improve client relations.
– Cédric Brignol, Project Manager, Airbus
Advantages of Qlik for modern organizations
For organizations aiming to bolster their data management capabilities, Qlik offers several distinct advantages:
Data-driven decision making
Qlik helps organizations with real-time insights, letting them make informed decisions. Understanding user behavior and web traffic patterns means organizations can refine their online strategies effectively.
Smooth integrations
The ability to integrate with a myriad of data sources ensures organizations can pull data from various online platforms, be it social media, eCommerce sites, or web analytics tools. This holistic view of online data can be invaluable for a comprehensive web strategy.
Scalability
As an organization’s web presence grows, so does the volume of data. Qlik’s scalable architecture means businesses can handle increasing data loads without compromising on performance.
Collaborative insights
Qlik promotes collaborative decision-making. Teams can share insights, collaborate on dashboards, and make sure everyone is aligned with the organization’s web goals.
Customization and flexibility
While Qlik offers out-of-the-box solutions, the flexibility lets organizations tailor analytics to their specific web presence needs. This means organizations aren’t confined to a one-size-fits-all approach but can adapt Qlik to their unique web strategies.
User engagement
When better understanding user preferences and behaviors through Qlik’s analytics, organizations can optimize their web content, leading to increased user engagement and retention.
Training and community support
For organizations new to BI tools, Qlik’s extensive training programs and active community ensure that they can leverage the platform to its fullest for their web presence endeavors.
“Qlik Replicate enables us to build agile applications and analytics in the AWS Cloud, dealing efficiently with the volume and velocity of our mainframe data.”
– Donovan Stockton,
Platform Owner, Vanguard
Challenges of using Qlik
While Qlik offers a comprehensive suite of data visualization and business intelligence tools, there are certain aspects that might pose challenges for organizations focusing on web presence:
Licensing costs | Qlik’s licensing model can be complex and might not be cost-effective for smaller organizations or startups. The costs associated with scaling up, especially for web-based businesses with growing data needs, can be a concern. |
Integration with web platforms | While Qlik offers a range of connectors, integration with certain web platforms or CMS systems might require custom solutions, adding to the development time and costs. |
Performance with large datasets | For organizations with extensive web traffic data, Qlik might face performance issues when processing very large datasets in real-time, affecting the speed of insights. |
Customization limitations | While Qlik provides customization options, creating highly tailored visualizations or reports for web metrics might demand advanced expertise or external plugins, which could complicate the setup process. |
Mobile responsiveness | Although Qlik has made strides in mobile analytics, some organizations have noted challenges in accessing full features or visualizations on mobile devices, which is crucial for web-focused organizations. |
Dependency on extensions | To achieve certain functionalities or integrations relevant to web presence analytics, organizations might find themselves reliant on extensions from the Qlik marketplace, which can vary in quality and support. |