What is QlikView

What is QlikView?

April 1st, 2026
6583
7:00 Minutes

If you've ever worked with large data set and felt overwhelmed by endless spreadsheets, reports, and charts that don't really make sense, then QlikView might just be the tool you need in house. It's like having a super-smart assistant that helps you dig through tons of data and instantly shows you what matters. Professionals including business owners, data analysts, and just someone who loves playing around with numbers, QlikView is the right tool to explore, visualize, and understand your data - all in one place.

In today's time, QlikView is trusted by nearly 40,000 customers worldwide and is widely used across various industries and business domains. In this article, we will cover many important topics such as what is QlikView, how does it work, features, benefits and more.

Let's get started.

What is QlikView

QlikView is a business intelligence (BI) and data visualization tool that helps businesses and professionals analyze data and generate insights quickly. Developed by Qlik, this tool uses an in-memory data processing technology that allows professionals to interact with data instantly, without waiting for reports to run. Unlike traditional BI tools, QlikView lets you create interactive dashboards, charts, and reports with just a few clicks - no deep technical background needed.

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History of QlikView

Before going further, let's explore the history of QlikView. Staffan Gestrelius and Bjorn Berg founded this company in 1993. The idea to build this tool was creating a solution for retrieving data analysis from different systems. The first product of this tool was launched in 1994.

They then patented the application in 1995 after getting a positive response. This product was named QUIK which is the acronym for quality, interaction, understanding and knowledge. It had just 35 employees in 1999. Then they thought to include BI capabilities and became 70 in 2003.

What Is QlikView Used For?

QlikView is used for turning raw data into result-driven and meaningful insights. Businesses and professionals rely on it mainly for data analysis, visual reporting, and making smarter decisions faster. 

Here's what QlikView is commonly used for:

  • Interactive Dashboards: QlikView helps create interactive dashboards that you can actually interact with. You click on a chart, and boom - everything updates to match your selection. No waiting, no refreshing.
  • Business Intelligence (BI): It's a solid BI tool that pulls together data from different sources like Excel sheets, databases, or even web files and presents it in a way that's easy to explore and understand.
  • Data Discovery: Sometimes you don't know what you're looking for until you find it. QlikView lets users dig through data freely to uncover hidden trends or unusual patterns.
  • Reporting and Monitoring: Professionals use it to build reports that track performance, monitor KPIs, and check business health in real-time.
  • Decision Making: Whether it's sales, marketing, finance, or supply chain, QlikView helps decision-makers act based on actual data, not just gut feelings.

How Does QlikView Work?

QlikView works by getting data from multiple sources - like Excel sheets, databases, cloud services, or even web files - and brings it all into one place. But what makes it really stand out is how it stores and processes that data.

QlikView uses in-memory technology. Instead of constantly going back to the original data source (which can be slow), it loads the data into memory and works from there. This means everything happens super fast, even when you're dealing with large datasets.

Once data is loaded, it automatically builds relationships between different data points. No need to manually create links or write complicated code - it figures out how your data connects and lets you explore it through smart visualizations and dashboards.

The best part is, it's interactive. You can click on any part of a chart or table, and QlikView will instantly update everything else to reflect that selection. It's called "associative data modeling," and it helps you see patterns, trends, and outliers in real-time without getting lost in the numbers.

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Features of QlikView

This blog has already mentioned some features of QlikView. We have to go through each feature of this platform to understand its significance. Knowing its advantages also gives a better understanding of how to use this platform. Let's explore the features of this self service platform -

This tool connects with different types of databases with custom connectors. It does a thorough and complete search to speed up data discovery. This feature benefits business unique insights and global search.

2. Collaboration

All the valuable insights extracted from data visualization are sharable on this platform. These insights are shared on cloud or enterprise servers. This feature is best for achieving good collaboration among the teams.

3. Flexibility & Integration

It is a flexible tool in many terms and gives different types integration features. Here individuals can build their dashboard and reports according to specific requirements. It is integrated with different types of tools to formulate scripts for data mapping.

4. Cost-Effective

This platform is featured with a memory-resident application. This means companies do not have to spend a lot of money on storage systems. It only uses required data for particular instances. This means it is a cost effective platform.

5. Absolute Control Over Data

This platform has a user driven data discovery feature. Individuals can build different types of models with this feature. They also have control over the entire data. It gives them ideal interpretation from available data.

6. Secure Working Environment

This platform has a safe working environment for their users. There is always a major risk for theft or loss to corporate data. But using this tool for BI benefits businesses with proper security.

7. Associative Data Modeling

This tool functions on an in-memory associative model. This means there is no requirement for IT experts if one can write SQL queries. They just have to build a query to understand data.

Related Article - QlikView Tutorial For Beginners

Advantages of QlikView

QlikView comes equipped with advanced and latest features. Here are the advantages of QlikView.

AI-Powered Insights for Everyone

Even non-technical users can gain deep insights thanks to built-in AI and machine learning tools that suggest insights, prepare data, and assist in analysis.

Real-Time Data + Instant Action

Combines live data pipelines with action-based triggers so users can react instantly to business changes and opportunities.

Associative Analytics Engine

Unlike traditional query-based tools, Qlik Sense lets users explore data freely in any direction and instantly see related insights without starting over.

Search & Natural Language Interaction

With conversational analytics and natural language search, users can simply type or speak what they want and get smart visual results.

No-Code Predictive Analytics (AutoML)

Build machine learning models and generate predictions without writing a single line of code. Fully explainable and integrated into dashboards.

Disadvantages of QlikView

No platform can be proficient in every way. They always have some drawbacks. Here are some of the major disadvantages of QlikView -

  • Complicated data integration is not possible on this tool.
  • Customization of reports is not good on this platform.
  • It gives interactive analysis.
  • It does not have the feature of WRITE BACK to the database.
  • Data reloading on this tool requires a significant amount of time.

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Components of QlikView

This tool has logically intact and associative architecture that comprises the software framework. It is a windows application compatible with both x64 and x86 architectures. This BI tool has five key components. These components collectively design, develop and implement the new apps. Let's discuss them in detail to know more about this tool -

1. QlikView Desktop

It is an integrated development framework for data extractions and building transformation models. This is a Windows-based platform that performs data analytics, builds GUI layouts, visualizes information and exports them as reports.

2. QlikView Server

It is a mixture of web applications and servers that works as a presentation layer between the servers and their users. Developers use this component for hosting, managing and distributing different types of documents. The server can connect with different data sources and give live feedback.

3. QlikView Publisher

It is also a server-side app that works with its script to perform two types of functions. One is to load the information directly into QVW files like SAP Net, SQL server, Informatica, etc. Another one is to build tasks and reloads for the application.

4. QlikView Management Console (QMC)

It has an online interface with a management console. This interface centrally manages each component of this tool's environment. Administrators mostly use this component for assessing data and deploying associative models on the server.

5. QlikView User Access

It is a front end component of this tool that gives different access points as web-browsers. These access points fetch the information from the server, perform database queries and run other operations. These operations can be performed on different systems like laptop, desktop or mobile.

Wrap-Up

Business intelligence is one of the most used technologies these days. It is clear that QlikView has become a preferred choice of many individuals and companies. This 'what is QlikView' guide describes all aspects of this BI platform. If you are planning to make a career in this field then there is no better time than this.

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FAQs on 'What is QlikView'

Q1. Who uses QlikView?

Answer - Many industries like retail, finance, automotive and insurance use this platform for converting raw data into meaningful insights.

Q2. Is QlikView an ERP system?

Answer - It is definitely an ERP system. It streamlines entire ERP data analysis with a few clicks.

Q3. What programming language does QlikView use?

Answer - This business intelligence tool uses Visual Basic programming language.

Q4. Is QlikView a free tool?

Answer - It is free for personal use known as QlikView Personal Edition. It also has paid licenses with additional features like collaboration, sharing and advanced analytics capabilities for enterprise use.

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About the Author
Author Nehal Sharma
About the Author

Nehal Sharma is a skilled Data Analyst with expertise in Java, mobile development, and data analytics. She transforms complex data into actionable insights and has experience in business intelligence, data science, and Salesforce. She also simplifies technical concepts into clear, engaging content for learners and professionals.

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