Welcome! The purpose of this book is to help you learn about Qlik Sense®, Qlik's self-service visualization platform. Our aim is to help you get more from your data by applying Qlik Sense and its unique capabilities to your analytic needs. At the beginning of the book, we'll cover why Qlik chose to develop Qlik Sense, what data discovery is and can do, and the strategy and vision behind the product. In the subsequent chapters, we'll address practical considerations, including the Qlik Sense application's life cycle, how to meet the needs of different types of users, how to develop and administer engaging Qlik Sense applications, data modeling and getting the most out of the QIX engine. The book concludes by outlining a series of example applications built using Qlik Sense, to address analysis needs in sales management, HR, T&E management, and demographics.
Chapter 1, Qlik Sense® and Data Discovery, covers why Qlik chose to develop Qlik Sense, what data discovery is and can do, and the strategy and vision behind the product. This will include:
- Qlik's history in business intelligence and the evolution of data discovery
- The Qlik philosophy and approach to data discovery
- The difference between traditional BI and data discovery
Chapter 2, Overview of a Qlik Sense® Application's Life Cycle, covers the Qlik Sense application's life cycle overview as a backdrop to highlighting key features and benefits of Qlik Sense in meeting these requirements. There are thousands of features in this initial release and this chapter will serve as a guide to the major components, features, and benefits to start your exploration of Qlik Sense. This will include:
- Overview of the hub
- Starting application authoring
- Components of a Qlik Sense application
- Sharing an application
Chapter 3, Empowering Next Generation Data Discovery Consumers, highlights the key features in the context of specific user requirements that Qlik has identified as a consumer. This will include:
- Data discovery consumption requirements
- The hub
- Navigating and leveraging the associative experience
Chapter 4, Contributing to Data Discovery, highlights the key features in the context of specific user requirements that Qlik has identified as a contributor or someone who seeks to share key findings from their analysis. This will include:
- Data discovery contributor requirements
- Bookmarks
- Private sheets
- Private stories
- Publishing to an existing application
Chapter 5, Authoring Engaging Applications, highlights an approach to building engaging applications to meet your business problems. This will include:
- Data
- KPIs and measures
- Dimensions
- Security
Chapter 6, Building Qlik Sense® Data Models, highlights the techniques and principles behind building a data model. This will include:
- Tables, fields, and records
- Joins and concatenations
- How to link tables and how not to link tables
- Normalization and de-normalization
- Synthetic keys and circular references
Chapter 7, Qlik Sense® Apps in the Cloud, briefs us on using Qlik Sense Cloud. This will include:
- Sharing Qlik Sense Desktop apps in the cloud
- Creating Qlik Sense apps directly in the cloud
- Maintaining Qlik Sense Cloud apps
- Adding external data to apps using Qlik DataMarket
Chapter 8, Extending the Qlik® Analytic Platform, gives an overview of the key APIs and how to use them to extend Qlik Sense solutions. This will include:
- API overview
- Dev Hub
- Single configurator
- Web mashup editor
- Extension editor
- Engine API explorer
- Qlik Branch overview
Chapter 9, Administering Qlik Sense®, highlights the administration of Qlik Sense applications within an organization. This will include:
- Architecture
- Clustering and nodes
- Licenses and tokens
- Streams and security concepts
Chapter 10, Sales Discovery, applies Qlik Sense to the challenges of analyzing sales performance within your organization. This will include:
- Common sales analysis problems
- The unique way Qlik Sense addresses these problems
- How the application was built
Chapter 11, Human Resource Discovery, applies Qlik Sense to the challenges of analyzing human resource data. This will include:
- General information about common KPIs
- What a typical data model could look like
- An example of how to use the global selector
- Examples of dimensions and measures
Chapter 12, Travel Expense Discovery, applies Qlik Sense to the challenges of analyzing travel expense management within an organization. This will include:
- Common travel expense management problems
- The unique way Qlik Sense addresses these problems
- How the application was built
Chapter 13, Demographic Data Discovery, applies Qlik Sense to the challenges of analyzing demographic data. This will include:
- General information about common KPIs
- Examples of how to use the lasso selection with maps and scatter charts
- Examples of dimensions and measures