QlikView - The Power of Simplicity

In-Memory Analysis is poised to revolutionize the Business Intelligence (BI) industry as it becomes the predominate approach. The BI industry is a major focus for organizations making investments, and according to Gartner, “demand for fast queries against big datasets, coupled with lower-priced 64-bit computing will increase the use of in-memory technology.” The analyst firm expects that “by 2012, 70% of Global 1000 organizations will load detailed data into memory as the primary method to optimize BI application performance.” When the BI space began to emerge 20 years ago, memory was expensive and processing speeds were slow. As such, entrants into the space were constrained in how they might technically approach so-called multi-dimensional analysis. Specifically, they were forced to employ a “pre-calculation” approach that involved the use of “cubes” to organize and store the results of these pre-calculations. While the results appeared to the user to be instantaneous, the main challenge with this so-called “on-line analytical processing” (OLAP) approach was around the time and cost associated with defining and redefining cubes.

With Moore's Law having beat its relentless drum over the last two decades, today’s BI space is ripe for an innovation revolution. Specifically, processing speeds are much greater, and memory is much more affordable. In particular, the mainstream availability of 64-bit computing has significantly increased the amount of memory a computer can use. The combination of these advances now allow for new approaches, in terms of technical architecture, that alleviate some of the short-comings of the traditional OLAP solutions.

Today, because of this technological evolution, the so-called traditional and standalone OLAP players – such as Cognos, Business Objects, MicroStrategy, SAS and others – are facing a squeeze and, therefore, a threat to their services-heavy business models. Pressuring from one side are the large “stack” players who are including BI offerings in their integrated offerings. Key “stack” players include IBM, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle. Pressuring from the other side are innovators, such as QlikTech, who are taking full advantage of the latest in technology to offer solutions that are more powerful, flexible and easy to use and that help users achieve value in a fraction of the time.

What makes QlikView different?

QlikView was built with a simple architectural premise – that all data should be held in memory and that all calculations should be performed when requested and not in advance. Twenty years ago this would have been impossible. Today, QlikView is the only fully-integrated in-memory solution comprised of the following three components:

Fast Query Engine Loading the data into memory allows QlikView to query, or sub-set, the data instantly to only reveal the data which is relevant to a given user. In addition, QlikView shows users the data which is excluded by a selection. On-Demand Calculation Engine Charts, graphs, and tables of all types in QlikView are multidimensional analysis. That is, they show one or more measures (metrics, KPIs, expressions, etc.) across one or more dimensions (example: total sales by region). The major difference is that these calculations are performed as the user clicks and never prior. Visually Interactive User Interface (UI) QlikView offers hundreds of possible chart and table types and varieties; there are list boxes for navigating dimensions; statistic boxes; and many other UI elements. Every UI element can be clicked on to query.

The Market Responds to Simplicity

QlikTech’s growth has been tremendous, as of January 1st, 2007:

QlikView had over 245,000 users at more than 5,500 customers in 68 countries. QlikTech added 3,197 new customers in 2006, a rate of 12.3 new customers per day.

Organizations in almost every industry – from Financial Services, to Retail, to Manufacturing and beyond – leverage QlikView to gain competitive advantage.

Business users in almost every function – from finance, to sales, to operations and beyond – are benefiting from QlikView’s power, flexibility and ease-of-use.

The market for Business Intelligence software is ripe for change. The challenges implementing and using traditional OLAP technology have troubled organizations for too long. People want, and deserve, analysis that everyone in an organization – not just the chosen few – can use. The emergence of 64-bit computing platforms provides a basis for a step change – a revolution – in the status quo. In-Memory analysis is the future platform for business intelligence, and QlikTech is emerging as the leader of new in-memory BI providers.

To learn more about how ABPII and QlikView are revolutionizing Business Intelligence, contact us at businessintelligence@abpii.com or call us at 1-866-214-3024, extension 227.