The In Memory Business Intelligence Revolution

Description
The business world is moving faster and growing more complex.

The In Memory Business
Intelligence Revolution
A Technical Overview

A White Paper from
QlikTech International AB

Contents

Executive Overview........................................................................................................................ 3
The Business Failure of Traditional Business Intelligence ............................................................. 5
A Revolution in Business Intelligence ............................................................................................ 7
The OLAP Tradition ................................................................................................................... 7
The Enabling Technology or Change Agent ............................................................................... 7
QlikView’s Premise: In Memory BI ........................................................................................... 7
A Revolution in Benefits............................................................................................................. 8
An Overview of QlikView............................................................................................................ 10
The QlikView Platform............................................................................................................. 10
Solution Components: ........................................................................................................... 10
QlikView Architecture .................................................................................................................. 13
QlikView Technical Features.................................................................................................... 14
System Requirements ................................................................................................................ 16
QlikView Application and User Interface..................................................................................... 18
Key Elements of the User Interface........................................................................................... 18
User Navigation and Analysis................................................................................................... 19
Rapid Application Design and Deployment.................................................................................. 21
QlikView Deployment .............................................................................................................. 22
QlikView in Action ....................................................................................................................... 24
Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 26
For More Information.................................................................................................................... 28
Disclaimer and Copyrights.................................................................................................... 28
About QlikTech............................................................................................................................. 29
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 3

Executive Overview
The business world is moving faster and growing more complex. Competition grows more
fierce; customers more fickle. Product lines have multiplied, with shorter life cycles. Operations
are geographically dispersed or outsourced altogether. M&A activity has accelerated. Regulations
are more stringent, and compliance reporting – with corresponding audit trails – more
cumbersome.
The supporting technology landscape is consequently more complicated. ERP systems have
become the operational backbone of most organizations, with a myriad of custom, customized
and internally developed add-on applications for specific functions. Suppliers’ systems often
feed directly into internal systems, and customers want open access as well.
Information is expected on-demand to match the speed of business. But that information is often
disintegrated and hidden – locked within different data sources, conflicting reporting structures,
departmental spreadsheets – clouding the true picture of operational and financial situations.
These gaps create operational inefficiencies and increased overhead. As important, they have
their own opportunity cost – obscuring the insights that can spark a new product to meet a market
gap, retain customers’ loyalty or create a more efficient supply chain.
Business Intelligence (BI) applications were created specifically to break through the clutter of
data and give business managers actionable information, which ushered in a host of both
internally-developed and packaged solutions more than a decade ago. As in most other
application categories, the make vs. buy debate tipped in favor of packaged solutions for a
majority of companies.
BI has now moved up to being the number one solution priority in supporting and delivering on
nine of the top 10 business opportunities, according to Gartner:
1

1
Gartner Executive Programs Survey of 1,400 CIO’s, January 2006
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 4

Frustrations have grown, however, with the “traditional” BI options: Implementations take
months and millions of dollars. And after the applications are deployed, the complicated burden
of changing reports to meet the dynamic needs of business managers falls to already
overstretched IT resources. In practice, “on-demand” business reporting is anything but,
impacting all areas of the business.
In large part, the failings of traditional BI applications lie in their inherent design. Many of
today’s popular OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) applications are based on an architecture
that was developed to spare expensive memory and accommodate slow computer processing.
Fundamental changes in technology, from faster and cheaper processor speeds and memory chips
to zero-footprint web deployment, have made that design paradigm obsolete.
QlikTech has been a leader in harnessing and exploiting next generation architectures. As a
result, QlikTech’s revolutionary approach is completely aligned with – and ahead of – the
industry with fast, powerful and affordable analysis for everyone in the organization.
QlikView offers a complete analysis solution – dashboards and alerts, multi-dimensional
analyses, slice-and-dice of data – without the limitations, cost or complexity of traditional OLAP
cubes. Solutions can be deployed in days, users can be trained in minutes, and end users get
answers in seconds – not hours – to refine their decisions.
QlikView is able to analyze massive amounts of data at unprecedented speed because of its in-
memory data model design. As a result of this design, users get sub-second response times on
queries and calculations and the ability to process massive datasets; companies can deploy to
large user populations quickly and affordably.
By taking full advantage of 64-bit technology’s memory capacity QlikView can provide summary
level metrics and record level detail on the same architecture. Companies gain scalable business
analysis solutions that provide summary KPIs as well as highly granular, detailed analyses.
In a recent Research Note, Gartner predicted, “Organizations will incorporate in-memory
technology into their business intelligence (BI) applications to optimize performance and
flexibility. In particular, in-memory technology will be applied to BI applications that require
analyzing large amounts of detailed data, such as Web analytics, point of sale and radio frequency
identification. As more BI and database vendors embrace this approach, organizations will find it
easier to convert BI applications based on traditional disk aggregation techniques.”
2

This paper provides an overview of QlikView, addressing:
• The Business Failure of Traditional BI – and how its design actually hinders business
performance
• The In-Memory Revolution – what makes “next-generation” BI more effective
• An Overview of QlikView – including its user interface and architecture
• QlikView in Action – how companies are using and reaping benefits from QlikView

2
Kurt Schlegel, Mark A. Beyer, Andreas Bitterer and Bill Hostmann (October 2, 2006). “BI Applications
Benefit from In-Memory Technology Improvements,” Gartner
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 5

The Business Failure of Traditional Business Intelligence
A recent article in Intelligent Enterprise magazine captured the three major issues of today’s
traditional BI solutions: 1) Data reporting has been an afterthought to using core business
applications on a day-to-day basis, breaking the “link between insight and action.” 2)
Consolidating disparate tools into a suite isn’t enough to give business users the information they
need. Search and semantics need to be integrated. 3) “Build it and they will come” doesn’t
provide insight, just more technology. BI needs to answer the needs of decision makers, and
needs to deliver incremental successes along the way.
3

These factors, among others, have undoubtedly led to the dismal performance in BI initiatives.
According to a study published in DM Review, a leading business intelligence publication, the
average total implementation time for BI initiatives is 17 months, with five months to deploy the
first usable analytic application. The average total cost of implementation is a staggering $12.8
million. And at best, according to the survey, is a 35% success rate for internally built BI/DW
systems; purchased operational analytic applications are considered successful a mere 13% of
the time.
4

How long did it take to implement your business intelligence initiative?
Source: DM Review

These failed initiatives cost more than money and resources – they hamper business performance
in nearly every way. A summer 2005 survey of 385 finance and IT executives, by CFO Research
Services asked respondents to identify the drivers of poor information quality (IQ). Nearly half
the survey respondents – 45 percent – cite disparate, non-integrated IT systems and the variability
of business processes as an acute problem that constrains management’s ability to work
effectively and focus on high-value activities. Approximately the same number agrees that finance
and business units alike spend too much time developing supplemental reports and analysis.

3
Neil Raden (September 1, 2006). “BI Megatrends,” Intelligent Enterprise Magazine. Website:http://www.intelligententerprise.com/channels/bi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=192200066
4
DM Review 2004, Readership Survey and Web Audience Survey, October 2004
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 6

Other disappointing and productivity-sapping by-products of poor information quality include
“multiple versions of the truth,” misguided incentive programs, and unrealistic plans and budgets
In fact, 61 percent of respondents say they could still do a better job of just making sure the
financial information they generate accurately reflects the performance of their businesses. The
business impact of this poor IQ, say respondents, includes widespread decision-making problems
that are often tied to inaccurate, untimely, and irrelevant information.
5

.

5
Randy Myers (Summer 2005). “IT Executives Seek to Boost Information Quality”, CFO Research
Services. Websitehttp://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5545859/c_2984335/?f=archives

Source: CFO Research Services

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 7

A Revolution in Business Intelligence
The OLAP Tradition
Twenty years ago memory was expensive and processors were slow. Faced with these
constraints, developers at the time devised architecture for delivering results of multi-dimensional
analysis which relied on pre-calculating fixed analyses. Simply put, they pre-calculated all
measures across every possible combination of dimensions. For example, for total sales by sales
person and region, the system would calculate total sales for each sales person for each region,
and for every union of sales person and region. The results of these calculations were stored and
retrieved when an end user requested a particular “analysis.” This is what is traditionally referred
to as “calculating the cube” and the “cube” is the mechanism which organizes and stores the
results. Because the results were pre-calculated, regardless of how long in took to calculate the
results, the response time from the perspective of the end user was instantaneous.
The Enabling Technology or Change Agent
Today, we have a fundamentally different technology platform available to us on which to build
business intelligence. Specifically three things have happened:
First, Moore’s Law has relentlessly beat its drum – resulting in processors which are significantly
faster today than they were twenty years ago and memory which is significantly less expensive.
The difference in price/performance for both factors is well over a factor of 1,000 higher today
than it was then.
Second, the mainstream availability of 64-bit processors raises the amount of memory a computer
can utilize. A 32-bit processor can use four gigabytes of memory at a maximum, and a portion of
that must be devoted to the operating system. A 64-bit processor can use 17,179,869,184
gigabytes or 16 Exabyte of RAM – a factor of four billion more. Of course, the practical
limitation of computers available today is much lower, but machines with 40, 80, or even 120
gigabytes of memory are readily available for less than $30,000.
Third, hardware manufacturers have shifted from computers with few fast processors to
computers with multiple lower-power, lower-speed processors. The challenge today is keeping
computers operating at a reasonable temperature. Intel’ and AMD’s stated strategy for achieving
this goal is to equip computers with many lower power processors working in parallel. Today it
is common to find computers with 2, 4, 16, 32 or even 128 processors. In addition, newer
processors have multiple “cores” bundled on a single chip.

QlikView’s Premise: In Memory BI
QlikView was built with a simple architectural premise –
all data should be held in memory, and all calculations
should be performed when requested and not prior.
Twenty years ago this would have been impossible. In
1993, when QlikTech was founded, it was still a pretty
crazy idea. But now, the trends in the underlying
platform (referenced in the previous section) have lifted
the constraints so that organizations of all sizes can now
benefit.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 8

QlikView’s patented technology is based on an extremely efficient, in memory data model.
High-speed associations occur as the user clicks in the applications and the display is updated
immediately, allowing users to work with millions of cells of data and still respond to queries in
less than a second.
As a result of this design, QlikView removes the need to pre-aggregate data, define complex
dimensional hierarchies and generate cubes. QlikView performs calculations on the fly, giving
the power of multidimensional analysis to every user, not just the highly trained few.
By taking full advantage of 64-bit technology’s memory capacity QlikView can provide summary
level metrics and record level detail on the same architecture. Companies gain infinitely scalable
business analysis solutions that provide summary KPIs as well as highly granular, detailed
analyses.
In its recent Research Note, leading analysts at Gartner reported on the value of this approach:
“Our research indicates that query performance using this in-memory method is often just as fast
as or faster than traditional aggregate-based architectures. In-memory technology not only
retrieves the data faster, but it also performs calculations on the query results much faster than
disk-based approaches…Therefore, with in-memory technology, users can freely explore detailed
data in an unfettered manner without the limitations of a cube or aggregate table to receive good
performance.”
6

A Revolution in Benefits
The QlikView solution, because of its unique integrated components and because it operates
entirely in memory, offers some unique advantages over traditional OLAP:
• Fast Time-to-Value: With traditional OLAP, constructing cubes is time consuming and
requires expert skills. This process can take months, and sometimes over a year. In addition,
the cube must be constructed before it can be calculated, a process which itself can take
hours. And, all this must occur before analysis or reporting can be performed – before the
user even sees answers to his questions. Because the data is loaded in memory, creating
analysis in QlikView takes seconds. There is no pre-definition of what is a dimension – any
data is available as a dimension and any data is available as a measure. The time
implementing QlikView is spent locating data, and deciding what analysis is interesting or
relevant to solving the business question. Typically, this process takes only a week or two.

• Easy to Use: The entire end user experience in QlikView is driven by the “click.” End users
enjoy using QlikView because it works the way their mind does. Each time they want to
review the data sliced a new way, they simply click on the data they want to evaluate.
Because QlikView operates in memory, with each click all data and measures are
recalculated to reflect the selection. Users can go from high level aggregates (e.g., roll up of
margin on all products in a specific line) to individual records (e.g., which order was that?) in
a click – without pre-defining the path to the individual record. The QlikView UI uses color
coding which provides instant feedback to queries.

• Powerful: Because queries and calculations are performed in memory, they are extremely
quick. In addition, QlikView is not constrained by the speed of the underlying source. Even
if the underlying data is stored in a system which has poor query performance (for instance, a
text file), the performance is always optimal because the data is loaded in memory.

6
Kurt Schlegel, Mark A. Beyer, Andreas Bitterer, Bill Hostmann, Gartner, Ibid.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 9

QlikView also compresses data as it is stored in memory, allowing large amounts of data to
be stored. Typically, there is a 10X reduction in size of the data once it’s in memory.

• Flexible: One of the major issues with traditional OLAP is that modifying an analysis
requires changing the cube, a process which can take a very long time. In addition, this
process is typically controlled by IT. With QlikView, viewing analysis by a new dimension
or changing a measure can be performed by business professionals in seconds. Standard
interfaces, including ODBC and Web Services, mean that any data source can be analyzed in
QlikView. What’s more, users can do “local” or “desktop” analysis, using the full data and
interactivity of the application on laptops.

• Scalable: QlikView is designed to scale easily in both the amount of data it can handle, and
the number of users working with it. It’s simple to deploy to thousands of users – utilizing all
available hardware power across all available processors and cores, requiring only a web
browser.

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 10

An Overview of QlikView
QlikView is revolutionizing business intelligence with fast,
powerful and visual analysis that’s simple to use. QlikView’s
patented technology offers all of the features of “traditional”
analytics solutions – dashboards and alerts, multi-dimensional
analyses, slice-and-dice of data – without the limitations, cost or
complexity of traditional BI applications. QlikView solutions can
be deployed in days, users can be trained in minutes, and end users
get results instantly.

The QlikView Platform
QlikView offers all of the capabilities that traditionally required a
complex and costly suite of products, on a single unified platform. QlikView provides flexible
ad-hoc analysis capabilities, powerful analytic applications, and simple printable reports. This
allows organizations to deploy QlikView to everyone – highly skilled analysts doing ad-hoc
detailed reporting, executives requiring a dashboard of critical business information and plant
supervisors analyzing output performance. Further, QlikView allows organizations to eliminate
unused paper reports, and replace them with demand-driven reporting.

Solution Components:

:
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 11

QlikView Enterprise – For the developer
QlikView Enterprise is the complete developer’s tool for building QlikView applications.
QlikView Enterprise lets developers load disparate data sources for access in a single application.
The data load script supports over 150 functions for data cleansing, manipulation and
aggregation. An intuitive, wizard-driven interface allows powerful, visually interactive
applications to be developed quickly.

QlikView Publisher – For distribution
QlikView Publisher ensures that the right information reaches the right user at the right time. As
the use of business analysis spreads throughout the organization, controlling the distribution of
analysis becomes increasingly important. QlikView Publisher allows for complete control of the
distribution of a company’s QlikView applications, automating the data refresh process for
QlikView application data. In addition, it ensures that applications are distributed to the correct
users when they need them.

QlikView Server – For security
QlikView Server is the central source for truth in an organization. With today’s distributed
workforce, QlikView Server provides a simple way for organizations to ensure that everyone has
access to the latest data and analysis regardless of their location. Regardless of the client chosen –
zero-footprint DHTML, Windows, ActiveX plug-in, or Java – QlikView Server provides access
to the latest version of each QlikView application.

QlikView Professional – For the power user
QlikView Professional lets power-users build, change or modify the layout of existing QlikView
applications. QlikView Professional users can refresh existing data sources, and can choose to
work with either local applications or applications distributed via QlikView Server. Power users
can work with local data, including offline enterprise applications, with no limitations.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 12

QlikView Analyzer – For the general user
QlikView Analyzer lets end-users connect to server-based QlikView applications. QlikView
Analyzer has a number of deployment options, including Java clients (supporting Sun and MSFT
Java), plug-in for MSFT IE and AJAX zero footprint clients. The installed Analyzer EXE client
also provides offline analysis and reporting capabilities.

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 13

QlikView Architecture
Most traditional databases are built upon a relational model. Records are broken apart to reduce
redundancy and key fields are used to put the records back together at the time they are used.
Database programmers are required to make tradeoffs between increased speed at the cost of
more space and more time to add or edit records, and the database user often suffers based on
these decisions.
QlikView was built with a simple architectural premise – all data should be held in memory, and
all calculations should be performed when requested and not prior. QlikTech’s goal is to deliver
powerful analytic and reporting solutions in a quarter of the time, at half the cost, and with twice
the value of competing OLAP cube (Online Analytical Processing)-based products.
QlikView is designed so that the entire application (data model included) is held in RAM – this is
what makes it uniquely efficient compared to traditional OLAP cube-based applications. It
creates an in-memory data model as it loads data from a data source, enabling it to access millions
of cells of data and still respond to queries in less than a second. High-speed associations occur as
the user clicks in the various sheet objects and the display is updated immediately.
QlikView operates much faster and requires significantly less space than an equivalent relational
database because it optimizes the data as it loads – removing redundant field data and
automatically linking tables together. Indexes are not required, making every field available as a
search field without any performance penalty. Because of this design, QlikView typically requires
a 1/10
th
of the space required for the same data represented in a relational model, i.e. 100GB data
fits into 10GB of memory. There is no limit to the number of tables allowed in an application, or
to the number of fields, rows or cells in a single table. RAM is the only factor that limits the size
of an application.

QlikView offers three components in an integrated solution:
• 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 (e.g., 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.

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 14

QlikView Architecture 1

QlikView Technical Features
Data and Data Loading
QlikView loads data directly from most data sources (i.e., ODBC and OLEDB sources, using
vendor specific drivers), any text or table data file (i.e., delimited text files, Excel files, XML
files, etc.), and any formats, as well as data warehouses and data marts (although these are not
required). QlikView also offers a plug-in model for loading custom data sources (web
services).
QlikView is designed to handle a remarkable amount of data. There is no limit to the number
of tables allowed in an application. In addition, there is no limit to the number of fields, rows
or cells in a single table – QlikView can handle billions of unique values in a given field.
RAM is the only other factor that limits the size of an application.
The maximum size of a QlikView application is closely tied to the available RAM on the
system where the application will run. However, it is not as easy as looking at the size of a
relational database and comparing that to the RAM on the system to determine if the
application is appropriate for QlikView. As QlikView loads data from a source database, the
data is highly compressed and optimized, typically resulting in a QlikView application of
only 10% of the size of the original source.
Traditional OLAP cubes can take half a day to load even a few tens of millions of records.
Benchmarks with QlikView have demonstrated data loads as high as 4 million records per
second. This innovation allows unprecedented speed in incremental data loads, reducing the
load on underlying data sources and allowing more frequent data refreshes.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 15

Load Script
QlikView can load data that is stored in a variety of formats, as mentioned above. Data can
be loaded from generic tables, cross tables, mapping tables (data cleansing), and interval-
matching tables. Tables can be joined, concatenated, sampled and linked to external
information such as other programs, bitmaps, URLs, etc.
In order to pull data from a data source, QlikView executes a load script. The load script
defines the source databases and tables and fields that should be loaded into QlikView. In
addition, you can calculate new variables and records using hundreds of functions available
in the script. In order to help you create a load script, QlikView includes a wizard that will
generate the script.
For simple applications, you simply need to point at the file you want to load; QlikView will
automatically determine the type of file and generate the script required to load all of the data
from the source. For more complex applications, it may be necessary to manually edit the
script to load or combine sources in a non-standard way. QlikView’s robust script language
also includes syntax for flow control, e.g., loops, conditional processing, data cleansing and
subroutines.
Wizards are available for advanced data transformation and inline table creation. Once the
load script is generated, pushing the run button causes the script to execute. Within a few
seconds QlikView will extract the data from the source according to the instructions in the
script and make the data available for use. The data can be reloaded at any time by simply
pushing the reload button on the toolbar. QlikView Publisher then provides for automatic
updates of applications. Incremental or partial reloads are also supported to add, update or
replace only specified tables or append new data to an existing table.
Visual Basic Script and JavaScript Support
The QlikView automation interface offers application designers the ability to build complete,
seamless applications based on the QlikView user interface. QlikView includes a complete
Automation facility with support for Visual Basic Script (VBScript) and JavaScript. With
this powerful, object-oriented programming language it is possible for QlikView application
designers to gain access to all of the objects and properties within an application.
Programmers can develop VBScript or JavaScript macros to add specific functionality to an
application. Macros can be attached to button objects that a user must click to activate, or the
macros can be attached to various QlikView events. For example, a macro can be
automatically invoked whenever an application is opened, when the load script is executed, or
when a selection is made in a list box.
Macros can also be used to add functionality to the load script execution. Macro functions
can be invoked within the load script to perform specific processing, allowing access to each
record as it is read from the source database.
In addition to macros within QlikView, the Automation interface also exposes the QlikView
application objects to external programs. Programmers can write programs in any language
that supports Automation, like Visual Basic or C++, which manipulate the QlikView
application.
Analysis Engine
As described earlier, QlikView’s In Memory Data Model forms the basis for every
QlikView application. It holds all data loaded down on a transaction level, and is part of the
QVW file (QlikView file format), which is loaded into RAM.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 16

The Platform is optimized to run on every available Windows platform (32 & 64-bit), and
makes use of all available processing power and RAM for each specific platform.
The Selection Engine processes the user “point-and-click” and returns the associated values
to that query. It provides sub-second response times on queries made to the In Memory Data
Model
The Chart & Table Engine handles the calculations and graphic display of the charts in the
user interface. It calculates multiple “cubes” in real time (one cube for each graph in
application), and promotes user selections directly in graphs.
Clients
Supported clients include an installed Windows EXE client that connects to QlikView Server;
an ActiveX component integrates other software. The Platform also allows for an ActiveX
plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer, AJAX zero footprint client and is Java-client
compatible with Mozilla based web browsers. An open interface enables automated
integration with QlikView.
Security
The data in a QlikView application is often confidential and then you need to control the
access to the data.
Authentication is any process by which you verify that someone is who they claim they are.
QlikView can either let the Windows operating system do the authentication using the
Windows log on, or prompt for a user ID and a password (different from the Windows user
ID and password) or use the QlikView serial number as a simple authentication method.
Authorization is finding out if the person, once identified, is permitted to have the resource.
QlikView can let the Windows operating system do the authorization, by allowing or
disallowing a user, a group or a domain the access to the entire application. If a finer
granularity is needed, e.g. the user is only allowed to see specific records or fields, the
QlikView Publisher can be used to automate the creation of a set of applications, i.e. one
application per user group.
As an alternative, QlikView can do the authorization itself. For this, an authorization table
must be built into the script. Also here, a finer granularity (access on record or field level) can
be achieved.
System Requirements
QlikView runs on any IBM PC compatible computer running Windows. QlikView takes full
advantage of the system hardware, so faster processors and more processors directly affect
application performance.
Available system RAM determines the maximum size of a QlikView application. Having more
RAM available allows larger applications to be created, integrating data from more sources.

QlikView

32-bit x64 IA-64
Platform Windows NT 4.0 (SP 6)
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows 2000 Server
Windows Server 2003
Windows XP Professional
x64 Edition
Windows Server 2003 x64
Edition
Windows Server 2003 for
64-Bit Itanium-based
Systems
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 17

Processor Pentium II; Pentium 4 or higher
recommended
Intel Pentium and Xeon
processors with EM64T
and AMD 64-bit
processors
Intel Itanium 2
Memory Depending on size of
applications; 256 MB minimum,
512 MB or more recommend
Depending on size of
applications;
1 GB or higher
recommended
Depending on size of
applications;
1 GB or higher
recommended
Disk space 110 MB total required to install 130 MB total required to
install
150 MB total required to
install
Security Windows or custom
authentication
Windows or custom
authentication
Windows or custom
authentication
Browser MS Explorer 6.0 or higher
1

1
When running QlikView Analyzer for IE, QlikView Analyzer Java, QlikView Analyzer ZFP

QlikView
Server
32-bit x64 IA-64
Platform Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows XP Professional
Windows Server 2003
Windows XP Professional
x64 Edition
Windows Server 2003 x64
Edition
Windows Server 2003 for
64-Bit Itanium-based
Systems
Processor Pentium II; Pentium 4 or higher
recommended
Intel Pentium and Xeon
processors with EM64T
and AMD 64-bit
processors
Intel Itanium 2
Memory Depending on size of
applications; 256 MB minimum, 1
GB or more recommend
(Maximum 4 GB)
Depending on size of
applications;
4 GB or higher
recommended
Depending on size of
applications;
4 GB or higher
recommended
Disk space 170 MB total required to install 170 MB total required to
install
170 MB total required to
install
Security Windows or custom
authentication
Windows or custom
authentication
Windows or custom
authentication
Web server MS IIS
2
MS IIS
2
MS IIS
2

2
Required for certain features in QlikView Clients

QlikView
Publisher
32-bit X64
Platform Windows 2000 Server
Windows XP Professional
3

Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
3

Processor Pentium II; Pentium 4 or higher
recommended
Intel Pentium and Xeon processors with EM64T
and AMD 64-bit processors
Memory Depending on size of applications;
256 MB or higher recommended
(Maximum 4 GB)
Depending on size of applications;
2 GB or higher recommended
Disk space 200 MB total required to install 200 MB total required to install
Security Windows or custom authentication Windows or custom authentication
Database SQL Server 2000
4
,
SQL Server 2005
4
,
Native XML
5

SQL Server 2000
4
,
SQL Server 2005
4
,
Native XML
5

Web server MS IIS 5 or higher MS IIS 6
.NET 2.0.50727 2.0.50727
Browser Internet Explorer 6 Internet Explorer 6
3
For development only. For larger loads, a server is recommended.
4
For QlikView Publisher Enterprise Edition only.
5
For QlikView Publisher Standard Edition only.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 18

QlikView Application and User Interface
The QlikView interface is designed to provide perfect data overview in multiple dimensions –
simplifying analysis and reporting for everyone. It presents data intuitively, allowing users to
question anything and everything, from all types of objects (e.g., list boxes, graphs, tables) and to
any aspect of the underlying data – regardless of where the data is located in a hierarchy.

Key Elements of the User Interface
Sheets & Tabs
In QlikView, analysis is made on sheets navigated through tabs (similar to Excel). Each sheet
can hold several sheet objects (list boxes, graphs, tables etc) to analyze the underlying data
model. All sheets are interconnected, meaning that selections made on one sheet affect all
other objects on all other sheets.
List Box
The basic building block of a QlikView application is the list box. A list box is a movable,
resizable object that presents the data taken from a single column of a table. Rather than
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 19

listing the duplicate values, only unique values are presented. If desired, the number of
occurrences of each distinct value can also be listed.
Multi Box
The multi box can hold several fields in a single object. Selections can be made through drop-
down lists by clicking or text search and select. The multi box displays values only in a single
selected mode.
Charts & Gauges
In QlikView, the results of a selection or query can be displayed in graph. Typically, a graph
holds one or more expressions which are recalculated each time a selection is made. The
result can be displayed as a bar chart, line chart, heat chart, grid chart, scatter chart, or as
speedometer or gauge. All graphs are fully interactive, which means that you can make
selections or queries directly by point-and-click or by “painting” the area of interest.
Tables
Just as with graphical representation of data (in graphs), the result of an analysis can be
displayed in a table. QlikView provides the ability to display data in powerful Pivot tables
and Straight tables. These tables are fully interactive, which means that you can make
selections directly in the tables or by drop down selection in the graph dimensions. Using a
table box, QlikView can display any combination of fields in a single object, regardless of
what source database table they came from. This feature is useful when providing listings of
any kind. The table box can be sorted by any field or combination.
Reports & Send to Excel
QlikView has an integrated report editor for ease-of-use of application specific reports. The
reports are dynamically updated as the user makes selections. Power users can also easily
create reports by a simple drag-and-drop procedure. All data displayed in the GUI is ready to
be exported at any time to Excel or other applications by a simple click of a button.

User Navigation and Analysis
Point-and-Click Queries
Asking and answering questions is a simple matter of point and click. The user forms a query in
QlikView simply by clicking the mouse on a field value or other item of interest. In a list box,
the user clicks on one or more values of interest to select them. QlikView immediately responds
to the mouse click and updates all objects displayed on the current sheet.
QlikView uses colors to allow the user to interpret the results of a query (a mouse click). The
values that the user actually clicks are highlighted in green and are called selected values. The
values that are associated with the clicked values remain white and are called optional values.
Any values that are not associated with the clicked values are called excluded values and are
dimmed with a gray background.
Multiple Sort Options
Since each field of data can be displayed in its own list box, it makes sense that you would want
to sort each list box independently of all others. When you are scrolling through a list box, you
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 20

want the values to appear in some sorted order appropriate to that field. QlikView allows you to
sort each list box independently and according to multiple sort specifications.
One or more of the following algorithms can apply to each list box in either ascending or
descending order:
• State: Selected and optional values can be sorted from the top or bottom of the list box
• Expression: Values are sorted by the result of evaluating any entered expression
• Frequency: Values are sorted by frequency of occurrence
• Numeric Value: Values are sorted according to their numeric value
• Text: Values are sorted alphabetically
• Load Order: Values are sorted according to the way they occurred in the original source
database
In addition, the same field (column) can be displayed in multiple list boxes – each with its own
sort order.
Powerful Searching
Remember that a list box represents the distinct values found in a specific field in one or more
tables. By displaying only distinct values, the number of values presented is reduced to a
minimum. However, the number of values listed can still be hundreds of thousands or more.
Finding a specific value would be difficult if you had to scroll through the complete list.
Fortunately, QlikView allows you to search through the list as simply and quickly as typing on
the keyboard. Select any list box, or open a multi box or drop down list, and start typing.
QlikView immediately begins searching through the list to find values matching your criteria.
Single character and multi-character wildcards are supported, as well as greater than and less than
symbols to enable searching for numeric and date ranges.
As QlikView locates values matching the criteria typed so far, those values are pulled together to
the top of the list box. Values that do not match the search criteria are removed from view. Once
the specific value or values you are searching for come into view you can either click on the
values with the mouse to select them or press the enter key to select all matching values.
QlikView’s normal color-coding is then applied to the values.

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 21

Rapid Application Design and Deployment
Simple applications can be created within just a few minutes using QlikView’s wizards. More
complex applications integrating data from various sources and displaying trend analysis charts
and pivot tables may take a little bit longer.
The best way to understand how simple it is to create and use a QlikView application is to step
through the process involved:
Step 1: Locate the Data Source
The first step in creating an application in QlikView is to determine what data you wish to load.
While it is possible to include inline data in the QlikView load script, application data will almost
always come from an existing file, spreadsheet or database. You may load data from a single
source file or database, or you may load and integrate data from many different sources at the
same time.
The source file will typically be arranged with each record of the file containing one record of
data. However, QlikView can work with data in practically any format, including generic
databases, cross-tables, hierarchical databases, multi-dimensional databases, etc. The first row
may or may not contain field labels, although you can always choose to set or change the labels in
the wizard or in the script. If the data will come from a text file, each file will typically be treated
as a single table. When working with spreadsheets, each tabbed sheet will be treated as a table.
If you load data from multiple files or tables, QlikView will automatically associate fields with
the same name. If tables should be associated and the association fields do not have the same
name, you need to rename the fields in the load script. If fields in different tables have the same
name but should not be associated, you need to rename those fields in the load script to break the
association.
Step 2: Create the Load Script
Once the source data has been determined, a load script must be created to copy the data from the
data source into QlikView’s associative database. Creating the load script is simplified by the use
of wizards that construct script statements for supported file types.
If the source data is contained in a text file or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, the “typed file”
wizard will guide you through a few simple steps to create load script statements. You will use
the wizards for each table that must be read. With just a few dialogs, you will specify the file
name, the delimiter, the fields to read, and the names of any fields. After completing the
specification for a table or file, the wizard will add a load statement to the script. When working
with ODBC or OLEDB data sources, there are two wizards that help you create a connection to
the database and build an SQL Select statement to read the database.
Step 3: Execute the Load Script
After the load script is complete, the script must be executed either by using the “Run” button in
the Edit Script dialog, or by selecting “Reload,” available on both the toolbar and the File menu.
During the load process, QlikView examines each statement in the load script and processes it in
sequential order. At the completion of the load script, a copy of all of the data referenced in the
load script is loaded and available in the QlikView application.
Step 4: Place Objects on a Sheet
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 22

In order to use the data in the QlikView application, you must place list boxes or other objects on
one or more sheets. The actual objects that should be used and how they should be grouped into
sheets depends on the specific application.
Typically, you should start by placing the main fields as list boxes. Using the “Select Fields”
dialog box, one or more fields can be quickly added to the current sheet using the default list box
format. Once the list boxes are created, their individual properties can be adjusted to add
frequency counts, change fonts, change borders, etc. They can also be rearranged on the sheet by
simply dragging each list box to its desired location.
Any or all fields loaded by the script can be displayed on the same sheet. If fields were loaded
from different tables, they will be automatically associated together and respond to clicks as if all
fields belong to one large table.
Step 5: Start Using the Application
As soon as the first object is created on a sheet, the application is available for use. All objects
are automatically associated together, and clicking in any object initiates a query.
Step 6: Add More Sheets and Objects as Required
Finally, continue to add and arrange objects on sheets until the application achieves the
functionality desired. You may wish to add more customization to the load script by taking
advantage of QlikView’s “Expression Engine,” or you may wish to add macros to automate
certain actions.
Objects can be copied or moved to other sheets by dragging the object and dropping it on the
sheet tab of another sheet. Layout controls on the view menu allow easy alignment and spacing
of sheet objects to help create an orderly appearance. In addition, wallpaper, pictures, and text
can be placed on the sheet to give the application a polished and professional look.
Within just a few minutes, a complete, working application can be created. The application can
be distributed to other users who can add customization to the layout – without any need to access
the original data source. For example, users can add their own sheets, pivot tables and charts (or
any other object) to make the application suit their personal working style.

QlikView Deployment
QlikView can be deployed in many ways to meet the specific needs of different organizations;
handling even the most complex organizational structures and complicated application needs.
QlikView Server is the heart of the solution, providing security. QlikView Publisher then
administers the user profiles to distribute analysis and reporting appropriately.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 23

Describing a typical deployment scenario with a server-based 250 user (Analyzer) BI platform, as
shown above, QlikView Enterprise is used for developing application and data is loaded from
various data sources (Oracle, Excel spread sheets, text files, etc.). Publisher makes sure
applications are refreshed with the right data following a strict schedule. Applications are
distributed by QlikView Publisher, based on internal distribution rules using users and groups in
Active Directory, making sure that every user in the organization gets the right analysis at the
right time. Users connect to QlikView Server for Business Analysis using QlikView Analyzer on
local PCs or offsite via the Internet through a Zero Footprint Client.
The same point-and-click approach works for those managing deployment – it requires no
training, making deployment fast.

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 24

QlikView in Action
Thousands of companies in virtually every industry around the world rely on QlikView analysis
for better business performance, allowing them to be more proactive, more efficient and able to
respond to issues faster.

Transparent, Visual Reporting on Financial Performance – In an Instant
QlikView provides graphical KPI dashboards for business improvement measurement throughout
the organization.
• Financial analysis across unlimited dimensions – by customer, product, product line,
industry segment, geography, business unit
• Automated, consolidated financial reporting – from ERP or custom applications, Excel™
spreadsheets, or other sources – in an instant
• Budget summaries by geography, department or overall, including actuals and accruals in
both local and corporate reporting currencies
• Detailed profitability analysis
• What-if scenarios and predictive analysis for proactive planning
• Streamlined Sarbox and Basel II compliance reporting – with a clear audit trail across
multiple data sources

“Everybody’s on the same page talking from the same numbers. Our President says, ‘Using QlikView is
now a way of life in our company.’”
Martina Latimer, Manager of Business Intelligence, Blyth HomeScents International

Multidimensional Sales Analysis Improves Bottom-Line Results
With QlikView, companies can analyze performance in unlimited dimensions – by rep, customer,
region, product, group, for greater profitability:
• Determine true cost of sales
• Track commissions and incentive programs
• Pinpoint underperforming products
• Perform customer-specific sales analysis and determine customer-by-customer
profitability
• Conduct predictive analyses on pricing, bundled products and territories

“We can see how the business doing today – right now. We do it on the fly and it doesn’t take two or three
days.”
Jacob Hoffmann-Petersen, IT Manager, IDG Denmark

Better Supply Chain Performance
QlikView analysis keeps supply chains flowing smoothly, pinpointing potential delays before
they become problems. As a result, companies have cut costs from raw material suppliers,
lowered excess inventory and improved on-time delivery, among other bottom-line benefits.
• Identify and solve problems proactively in your supply chain, from supplier deliveries,
production schedules to warehousing that keep operations from flowing smoothly.
INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 25

• Determine true product costs with analysis of every aspect, enabling you to improve
margins or offer discounts to key customers.
• Get the best pricing and highest service levels from your suppliers with comparative
performance analysis
• Empower those closest to the shop floor for real performance improvement. QlikView is
easy to use. Plant managers can get a dashboard view of performance metrics to manage
down to a detail level.

“QlikView has improved our forecast accuracies by more than 50%. This in turn has helped to stabilize
our production schedules, reduce safety stock, improve our service levels and decrease costs.”
Vice President, North American Planning and Operations Support, Fortune 500 food manufacturer

Proactive HR Management
QlikView helps HR executives match the right skills to the right jobs, manage talent and ensure
that individual and group performance meet Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and align with
overall objectives.
QlikView applications can:
• Balance shift schedules
• Measure recruiting performance
• Map skill requirements to positions
• Analyze retention incentives and effectiveness
• Conduct what-if analysis on staffing and scenarios
• Assess training programs, from profile attendance to evaluations
• Analyze compensation and payroll rates

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 26

Summary
QlikView offers a complete analysis solution – dashboards and alerts, multi-dimensional
analyses, slice-and-dice of data – without the limitations, cost or complexity of traditional OLAP
cubes. Solutions can be deployed in days, users can be trained in minutes, and end users get
answers in seconds – not hours – to refine their decisions.
QlikView’s revolutionary approach is completely aligned with – and ahead of – the industry with
fast, powerful and affordable analysis for anyone in the organization. QlikView is able to analyze
massive amounts of data at unprecedented speed because of its in-memory data model design. As
a result of this design, users get sub-second response times on queries and calculations and the
ability to process massive datasets; companies can deploy to large user populations quickly and
affordably.
Business Intelligence should provide not only past and current business snapshots, but also allow
for predictive analysis, giving a picture of where your business can be headed.
7

QlikView provides the capabilities that traditionally required a complex and costly suite of
products – all in a single, affordable and flexible solution – today. Thousands of companies
around the world are reaping bottom-line benefits from QlikView:
Strategic Business Benefits
• Make better decisions faster
• Improve monthly, quarterly, annual and long-term planning direction
• Reduce the cost of – and increase confidence – in compliance reporting
• Improve business process and confidence in business controls
• Consistent internal reporting and “vocabulary”
• More knowledgeable and empowered workforce
• More proactive, agile and responsive organization

7
Janet Kersner. (June 12, 2006). “Connecting the Dots,”, CFO Europe Magazine, Website:http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7001368/c_2984335/?f=archives

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 27

Tactical and Technical Benefits
• More efficient processing resources
• Faster response times – even with massive data volumes
• Lower Total Cost of Ownership
• Free IT resources from reporting and user support to focus on other critical activities
• Faster initial and ongoing deployments

INTRODUCTION TO QLIKVIEW: THE IN MEMORY BI REVOLUTION: DECEMBER, 2006 PAGE 28

For More Information
Learning more about QlikView is as simple as using it. Visit www.qliktech.com to download a
free demonstration version of QlikView, and visit our Competence Center to see your data in
dashboards in one hour. Or, contact us for more information.

Disclaimer and Copyrights
The information contained in this document represents the current view of QlikTech on the issues discussed as of the
date of publication. Because QlikTech must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a
commitment on the part of QlikTech, and QlikTech cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after
the date of publication. Specifications regarding product functionality are based upon QlikView 7.5.
This document is for information purposes only. QlikTech makes no warranties, express or implies, in this document
QlikView
®
is a registered trademark of QlikTech International AB. In the United States of America and Canada,
QlikView
®
and AQL™ are registered trademarks of QlikTech Inc. Other product and company names mentioned
herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Authored by Henrik Béen, QlikTech International AB.
© Copyright 2006 QlikTech International AB. All rights reserved.

About QlikTech
QlikTech is the world’s fastest growing business intelligence software company. QlikTech
believes information should be available broadly, affordably, and quickly. QlikTech’s flagship
product, QlikView, makes sophisticated analysis dramatically easier to deploy, use and maintain.
QlikTech’s patented technology allows instant, in memory, manipulation of massive datasets on
low cost hardware, allowing affordable widespread deployment of highly sophisticated analytic
applications in days. QlikView’s click-driven, visually-interactive interface is simple for end
users to learn and use.
QlikView has over 220,000 users at more than 4,800 customers in 65 countries, and adds more
than 10 new customers each working day (as of October 2006). In addition to hundreds of small
and midsized companies, QlikTech’s customers include large corporations such as AstraZeneca,
Pfizer, Top Flite, 3M, and The Campbell Soup Company. QlikTech is privately held and venture
backed by Accel Partners, Jerusalem Venture Partners, and Industrifonden. Founded in Sweden,
QlikTech has subsidiaries in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, and
Scandinavia, and over 100 partners across the world.

doc_892647398.pdf
 

Attachments

Back
Top