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BI Analyst
Updated December 28, 2016

BI Analyst

Alexei Akimov | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Qlik Sense Desktop

Overall Satisfaction with Qlik Sense

First impression of the Qlik SENSE (both desktop and cloud); first month of work (after 3 yrs with QlikView).
Summary of my understanding of Qlik Sense:
This is a graphical tool for managers. It is based on the same platform as QlikView (serious Data Discovery, analytical tool, see my review of QlikView). Everything is stripped out of Qlik Sense (that the end user does not see). It is easier for a developer to do actual data modeling, ETL in Qlikview, and final visualization in Qliksense. Each and every functional capability (in scripting, processing, number of options in basic charts, rendering for desktops with large screens) - is weaker (vs Qlikview 11). The graphs are more powerful (vs. QlikView). The "story telling" features (canned presentations) are powerful (although not interactive). Reports could be shown on multiple client platforms.
  • Graphic controls are nice, more interactive (than in Qlikview).
  • Story telling is good (although it is not a "drag and drop" functionality). It took me 2 hours of "drag and drop with teeth screeching" to create a first story.
  • Qlik Sense uses the same scripting as QlikView, can consume the same QVD files as QlikView (compatibility is one way, certainly).
  • Rendering for multiple Mobile platforms is provided.
  • NO horizontal and/or vertical scrollbars. Period. Not implemented. This means very little data could be shown on a single sheet.
  • NO adjustment of the SIZE of the fonts and controls. Functionality never implemented in Qliksense (out of the box as of v. 3.1). This means very little data could be shown on a single sheet.
  • You can not rename a bookmark, you can not change the order of bookmarks. This is a functionality that the end user works directly..
  • Each and every control is "dumbed down" (vs the corresponding Qlikview implementation). This means that each anything is kept out of the product (to make product more maintainable and to provide rendering on mobile platforms). Example: List Box. You can not change the search mode (in qlikview you could make it a wild card search or expression driven search out of the box).
  • "Current Selections" control removed. This is the main control in qlikview, that shows the context of the filtering for the user.
  • The script is not 100% compatible vs. Qlikview. References to files, supported in Qlikview are different (have to be modified).
  • Qliksense App V.3.1 freezes, then crashes on me 2-3 times a day (Win.7, 64 bit, SSD drive). It does not instill confidence in the product. Qliksense cloud based (accessed via browser) never crashed on me.
  • n/a
Qlik Sense uses the same ETL platform as Qlikview, allows to publish data to cloud. The process of publishing is easy. Cloud (file storage on the cloud, file upload etc) interface is simple for developer.
Qlik Sense is a "graphical tool for managers". It is quite different from a QlikView, which is a serious data discovery and analytic tool (with some reporting/GUI capabilities). In Qliksense: very little info could be shown on one screen. Navigation between sheets is problematic. The Bookmark "memorizes" the sheet that was used when bookmark was created. Probably that was an intended feature. As a result though, on a BM click, we lose the sheet, i.e. loosing the business context - that was just open (user has to select the sheet again from a combobox).

Qlik Sense Feature Ratings

BI Platform ()
Not Rated
Supported Data Sources ()
Not Rated
5.5
Pixel Perfect reports
5
Customizable dashboards
6
2.0
Formatting capabilities
2
7.3
Publish to Web
8
Publish to PDF
7
Report Versioning
7
8.0
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)
8
Access Control and Security ()
Not Rated
5.0
Responsive Design for Web Access
5
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding ()
Not Rated

Using Qlik Sense

All controls are simplified and dumbed down. A lot of functionality is lost (vs. QlikView).
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Familiar
None
  • Upload of QVF file to Cloud is simple.
  • Story telling is simple (although implementation is not too friendly for a developer).
  • Graphs are more interactive (vs. QlikView).
  • Missing scrollbars on a sheet. Very little info could be shown on a single screen.
  • Missing font control. Very little number of graphs and controls could be shown on a single screen.
  • Bookmarking is rudimentary, has missing features.
  • Sheet navigation does not provide several concurrent sheets out of the box (only selection of the sheet from the combobox).
  • Programmatic set of filters/combobox population on entering the sheet is not implemented out of the box (there are no events on document/sheet level). This makes auto pre-filtering of data for different users/roles problematic.
Yes, but I don't use it