Introduction to Qlik Sense
Today, we will see an introduction to Qlik Sense. Moreover, we will look at all the basic concepts of Qlik Sense to understand it better.
In order to learn any software, one must be familiar with its key concepts. We define any software’s fundamentals or a basic design by its concepts. In this lesson of the introduction to Qlik Sense, we will learn about some of the very important concepts of Qlik Sense.
What is Qlik Sense?
Qlik sense is an application released by QlikTech, which is specifically used for visualizing and analyzing the data. It helps in building interactive dashboards and reports, and also to extract the data from various data sources. It mostly serves as an analytics platform for technical as well as non-technical developers and works better for data visualization as it has augmented graphics that help in the effective visualization of data.
What can you do in Qlik Sense?
Most Business Intelligence (BI) products can help you answer questions that are understood in advance. But what about your follow-up questions? The ones that come after someone reads your report or sees your visualization? With the Qlik Sense associative model, you can answer question after question, moving along your own path to insight. With Qlik Sense you can explore your data freely, learning at each step along the way and coming up with next steps based on earlier findings.
Qlik Sense Architecture
Qlik Sense Architecture provides a scalable, secure, and manageable work environment for customers by offering high-quality services. It offers users high visual analytics and management tools.
Before getting into the architecture of qlik sense, let’s get to know the other major components which are associated with it. They are:
- Qlik Sense Hub
- Qlik sense management console
Qlik sense Hub:
Qlik Sense Hub acts as a platform to the user where they can perform various operations on data, conduct analysis, and build applications that are suitable for data visualization. It comes with unique features like drag and drops functionality, associative data models, a wide range of visualizations, and more, which makes the user build flexible visualizations that suit different screen sizes of various devices such as desktops, tabs, mobiles, etc. Qlik sense hub was developed using HTML5, JavaScript, CSS3, etc.
Qlik Sense Management Console:
Qlik Sense Management Console plays a very crucial role in qlik sense. Without having a management console, the administrator cannot monitor and control the operations that are taking place on qlik sense. So, it plays a central place where the administrator can operate the things. The major services managed by the management console are listed below:
- Data connectivity
- Task management
- Data monitoring
- Application management
- Security administration
- Auditing
Qlik Sense Architecture Components
We have five main components in Qlik sense architecture, let’s list them and start comparing:
- Qlik Sense Proxy (QSP)
- Qlik Sense Engine (QSE)
- Qlik Sense Schedule (QSS)
- Qlik Sense Repository (QSR)
- Qlik Sense Applications (QVF)
1. Qlik Sense Proxy (QSP):
Qlik Sense Proxy (QSP) service handles tasks like Qlic sense authentication, load balancing, and session handling. It serves as an entry point for administrators as well as for the users. It is mostly used for many operations, but below listed are some of the major elements.
- License provisioning
- Sessions management
- Load balancing
- Connecting with user identity providers.
2. Qlik Sense Engine (QSE):
Qlik Sense Engine (QSE) service is an application service management, which is responsible for handling calculations and logic. It serves as a most interactive engine because of the major functionalities it has provided. They are:
- Indexing of data from In-memory and calculations. ( the engine works based on the RAM)
- Self-service interactions
- Smart searching
- Correspondents with the repository, scheduler, and applications
3. Qlik Sense Schedule (QSS):
As the name suggests, it works for scheduling various tasks. Qlik Sense schedules and coordinates with the application loads and data reload.
4. Qlik Sense Repository(QSR):
It acts as a repository to store the information regarding the configuration and management of the qlik sense services. The main functionality of the Qlik Sense Schedule is to manage user definitions and security as well.
5. Qlik Sense Applications(QSF):
It is the final layer in Qlik Sense architecture, where the user works with data to build visualizations and generate sheets in Qlik Sense. The.QVF file is used for storing data in a compressed form, and it also contains a data model which allows the data loading into the Qlik Sense in-memory, and the final stage is a presentation layer.
Qlik Sense Features
Below mentioned is the list of features that made Qlik Sense popular.
- Drag-and-drop visualizations
- Fast and reliable connections to multiple data sources
- Data storytelling functionality
- Shared Object Library
- Rapid Development Environment
- Multi-source data integration including big data
- Enterprise-level security
- Smart Search feature
- Access to real-time analytics anytime, anywhere
- Self-service simplicity
- Progressive Creation
- Managed Data Connections
- Powerful Open and Standard APIs
- Manageability
- Scalability
Qlik Sense Editions
The following are the three different types of qlik sense editions:
- Qlik Sense desktop
- Qlik sense cloud
- Qlik Sense enterprise
Qlik Sense Desktop
Qlik Sense Desktop is a free product from Qlik Sense, which allows you to build engaging reports and dashboards with compelling charts and graphs. This data visualization software makes your path easier in analyzing data and helps you in making more informed decisions.
Features of Qlik Sense Desktop:
Below mentioned are the features of the Qlik Sense desktop:
- Drag and drop functionality to complete the work at a faster rate
- Qlik Sense smart search feature allows you to uncover data relationships
- Using a single app, you can explore multiple data sources
- One can collaborate and share Rich data insights.
QLIKVIEW
The Qlik BI Tool QlikView is based on the principle of guided data analytics. This means that the end user will be provided with a QlikView developer app that contains the previously defined data models with different visualisations. Within this QlikView app, the user now has the option of completely freely filtering the data provided, selecting it, or exploring it through drill-downs and so-called cycle groups. This enables quick and accurate answers to important business questions.
Configure Qlik Sense Mobile for iOS and Android
The Qlik Sense Mobile app allows you to securely connect to your Qlik Sense Enterprise deployment from your supported mobile device. This is the process of configuring Qlik Sense to function with the mobile app on iPad / iPhone.
To connect to a Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows deployment from Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed, users must be allocated the appropriate access type. Users who have been allocated User access, or a Professional or Analyzer access license, can connect. Users with Analyzer capacity licenses or login access cannot. Anonymous access is not allowed.
Environment: Qlik Sense Mobile for iOS and Android.
Installing the Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed app
Download the Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed app for your device from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Contact your Qlik Sense system administrator for instructions about how to connect your Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed app to your Qlik Sense Enterprise server.
For information about system requirements for the Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed app, see System requirements for Qlik Sense.
Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed can be deployed and managed using a supported Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) environment, see Installing Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed.
Terminology
In a world of apps, terminology can sometimes be confusing. Please note the following:
- Qlik Sense Mobile Client Managed app refers to the Qlik Sense software that has been developed for iOS and Android.
- Qlik Sense app refers to the dashboard and data visualization applications that you build in Qlik Sense.
- Qlik Sense mashup refers to a web page or web application that has integrated objects from Qlik Sense.
Pre-requirements (Client-side)
See the requirements for your mobile app version on the official Qlik Online Help > Planning your Qlik Sense Enterprise deployment > System requirements for Qlik Sense Enterprise > Qlik Sense Mobile app
Pre-requirements (Server-side)
- Qlik Sense Enterprise Server September 2017 or later deployment.
- (only for versions prior to September 2018) Qlik Sense license that is not a test license. Evaluation licenses and other special editions are fine. Support for test licenses was introduced in Qlik Sense Enterprise September 2018.
Configuration (Server-side)
Acquire a signed and trusted Certificate.
Out of the box, Qlik Sense is installed with HTTPS enabled on the hub and HTTP disabled. Due to iOS specific certificate requirements, a signed and trusted certificate is required when connecting from an iOS device. If using HTTPS, make sure to use a certificate issued by an Apple-approved Certification Authority.
Also check Qlik Sense Mobile on iOS: cannot open apps on the HUB for issues related to Qlik Sense Mobile on iOS and certificates.
For testing purposes, it is possible to enable port 80.
(Optional) Enable HTTP (port 80).
- Open the Qlik Sense Management Console and navigate to Proxies.
- Select the Proxy you wish to use and click Edit Proxy.
- Check Allow HTTP
Update the Host White List in the proxy
If not already done, add an address to the White List:
- In Qlik Management Console, go to CONFIGURE SYSTEM -> Virtual Proxies
- Select the proxy and click Edit
- Select Advanced in Properties list on the right pane
4. Scroll to Advanced section in the middle pane
5. Locate “Host white list”
6. Click “Add new value” and add the addresses being used when connecting to the Qlik Sense Hub from a client
- IP address: 192.168.0.10
- FQN: myqlikserver.company.com
- (Third party web-portals being used to re-direct users to the Hub)
- etc…
NOTE: An entire domain can be white listed by adding company.com into the white list. This will white list all other addresses within that domain, such as myqlikserver1.company.com, myqlikserver2.company.com, etc.
Generate the authentication link:
An authentication link is required for the Qlik Sense Mobile App.
- Navigate to Virtual Proxies in the Qlik Sense Management Console and edit the proxy used for mobile App access
- Enable the Client authentication link menu in the far right menu.
- Generate the link.
NOTE: In the client authentication link host URI, you may need to remove the “/” from the end of the URL, such as http://10.76.193.52/ would be http://10.76.193.52
Associate User access pass
Users connecting to Qlik Sense Enterprise need a valid license available. See the Qlik Sense Online Help for more information on how to assign available access types.
Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows > Administer Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows > Managing a Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows site > Managing QMC resource > Managing licenses
Configuration (Client side)
- Install Qlik Sense mobile app from AppStore.
- Provide authentication link generated in QMC
- Open the link from your device (this can be also done by going to the Hub, clicking on the menu icon at the top right and selecting “Client Authentication”), the installed application will be triggered automatically, and the configuration parameters will be applied.
- Enter user credentials for QS server
Thanks for reading Qlik Sense introduction.
