Preface

Welcome! The purpose of this book is to help you learn about Qlik^® Sense and 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 this 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 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. This book concludes by outlining a series of example applications built using Qlik Sense, to address analysis needs in sales management, HR, management, and demographics.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Why Develop Qlik Sense?, covers why Qlik chose to develop Qlik Sense, what data discovery is and can do, and the strategy and vision behind the product.

Chapter 2, What is Data Discovery?, covers the fundamental difference between traditional business intelligence and data discovery, and how it facilitates users who need this information in their daily work.

Chapter 3, The Vision of Qlik Sense, covers the vision informing Qlik Sense, and the evolving requirements that are compeling organizations to readdress how they deliver business intelligence and support data-driven decision-making.

Chapter 4, Overview of a Qlik Sense Application's Life Cycle, covers the Qlik Sense application life cycle overview as a backdrop to highlight key features and benefits of Qlik Sense. There are thousands of features in Qlik Sense, and this chapter will serve as a guide to the major components, features, and benefits to start your exploration of the software.

Chapter 5, Empowering Next Generation Data Discovery Consumers, highlights key features in the context of specific requirements that Qlik has identified as a consumer.

Chapter 6, Contributing to Data Discovery, highlights 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.

Chapter 7, Creating Engaging Applications, shows you how to build engaging applications to meet your business problems.

Chapter 8, Administering Qlik Sense, covers the administration of Qlik Sense applications within an organization.

Chapter 9, Sales Discovery, shows how to apply Qlik Sense to the challenges of analyzing sales performance within your organization.

Chapter 10, Human Resource Discovery, guides you through applying Qlik Sense to the challenges of analyzing human resource data.

Chapter 11, Travel Expense Discovery, takes us through applying Qlik Sense to the challenges of analyzing travel expense management within an organization.

Chapter 12, Demographic Data Discovery, ends the book by demonstrating how Qlik Sense can be applied to the challenges of analyzing demographic data.

What you need for this book

You can begin your exploration of Qlik Sense with a copy of Qlik Sense Desktop, which is available for free at http://www.qlik.com/us/explore/products/sense/desktop. Additionally, the sample applications' examples and many others are available for you to explore live at http://sense-demo.qlik.com/. Please bookmark this link as additional demonstrations and examples are constantly being added and updated. Additionally, this book covers a broad range of topics that are available only through Qlik Sense. Please contact your local Qlik account executive for additional information.

Who this book is for

If you are looking for an intuitive way to analyze data through Qlik Sense and make better business decisions, this is the book for you. This can include casual users who are looking for an easy product that helps them understand their data and helps transform their data into actionable information. Additionally, this book provides information for analysts, authors, and administrators who seek to help organizations improve the performance of decision-making across their organization through Qlik Sense.

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "The Budget table contains all the key information."

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Before we begin, let's review the main sheets within the Travel Expense Management application."

Note

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Reader feedback

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To send us general feedback, simply e-mail <[e-mail]>, and mention the book's title in the subject of your message.

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Customer support

Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.

Reviewing the example applications

The examples and many others are available for you to explore live at http://sense-demo.qlik.com/. Please bookmark this link as additional demonstrations and examples are constantly being added and updated.

Downloading the color images of this book

We also provide you with a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand the changes in the output. You can download this file from https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/3359EN_ColoredImages.pdf.

Errata

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Questions

If you have a problem with any aspect of this book, you can contact us at <[e-mail]>, and we will do our best to address the problem.