One of the reasons I started this blog in 2010 was not only to share what I know about QlikView, but also to expand my own knowledge and understanding of it. In my opinion, explaining concepts and solutions to others is a great way to identify areas of improvement for yourself.
Recently, I got a new colleague at my company; Wesley Smit. Wesley is a recent graduate of Business Economics and Organization Sciences from the VU University in the Netherlands. With this business-oriented background, Wesley has an excellent understanding of the what and why of Business Intelligence. Since joining Bitmetric as a Junior Business Intelligence Consultant, we’ve been bringing him up to speed on how to develop BI solutions. Of course, the main focus is on QlikView, but we’re also working on peripheral solutions, methods and techniques that will make him an all-round consultant.
Wesley has been making great progress and is ready for the next step, not just gaining knowledge but also sharing it. In the coming time he will be posting articles on some of the things he has discovered while learning QlikView.
I welcome Wesley as a co-author on this blog and hope that you will enjoy his articles!
Today I read a very interesting blog post about the QlikView Cache by Qlik’s Henric Cronström (HIC). In the post, Henric gives a high level overview of how caching is used within QlikView to speed up front-end response times. (for a more in-depth explanation, have a look at the patent) Henric also explains some interesting peculiarities about caching, one of which busts a myth that I hear repeated very often (“running macros clears the cache”). I highly encourage you to read Henric’s post.
Of course, this post isn’t just a me-too article. Rather, I want to show you a neat thing that will let you experience the power of caching in QlikView for yourself. Did you know that you can actually turn off caching?
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I recently read an interesting post by James Richardson over at the Business Discovery Blog: Wizards vs Scripts. In the post James makes the case that QlikView scripting is not old-fashioned or too hard, but is evidence of the power of QlikView as a platform.
Let me first state that I love QlikView scripting. I’m a guy who writes script for fun. I also agree that scripting offers much more flexibility than a visual solution ever could. With those things in mind, I would like to present a different viewpoint: I think that QlikView places too much emphasis on scripting. In my opinion, the default approach should be much more visual.
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September 19, 2013 – 11:07
I had it coming, but yesterday it finally happened; the QlikFix website collapsed under its own success. With visitors and page views steadily increasing I had outgrown the cheap ‘n cheerful hosting solution that I’d been using for the past 3 years.
So yesterday I had to scramble and do what I’d been putting off for way too long; move everything to a new provider and a bigger server with more resources. Learned a lot about WordPress migrations and DNS in the process.
Everything should be up and running again and with better performance than before. If you notice any glitches or problems then please contact me.
September 17, 2013 – 20:06
Since its publication in November 2012, our book QlikView 11 for Developers has been used by many people to take their first steps in QlikView, improve their skills and prepare for their Developer certification. But to our surprise, it haven’t only been individual developers who used the book. Mike and I learned that many organizations either developed their own training around our book, or were contacting us to inquire if such materials were available. Obviously, this is something that we welcome and will gladly facilitate.
After a few months of development and rigorous testing, we are proud to announce that we now have a complete set of ready-made materials available. These materials enable you to quickly deliver a structured, professional QlikView training based on QlikView 11 for Developers.
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As you may have read or seen elsewhere already, the 24th of June saw a new addition to the QlikView library; Stephen Redmond‘s QlikView for Developers Cookbook. Categorized into 11 chapters, this new book contains self-contained recipes that show you how to achieve various tasks in QlikView.
The book is available via the following online stores:
I was delighted to be a technical reviewer for this book, and honored when Stephen asked me if I’d write a foreword for him. For those interested in the foreword, I’ve included it after the break.
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Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, one of my favorite TV shows was the A-Team. Over-the-top, cartoonish action with huge explosions, cars flipping over in mid-air topped off with a cool theme song. And all without anyone getting seriously hurt. This was the perfect TV show for young Barry!
But I’ve grown up since, and my tastes have matured (somewhat). However, there is one thing about the A-Team which I think is still relevant today: the actual A-Team and the well-balanced blend of skills of its members. No matter what an episode’s villain (drug king-pin/shady land developer/corrupt senator/whatever) threw at them, the combined qualities of the A-Team always ensured that they came out on top.
In today’s post, I am going to take a closer look at the skills and qualities of the A-Team, and will explain how they can be translated to the role of a QlikView Consultant. (Or, alternatively, how these roles can be used to staff the perfect QlikView Competency Center.)
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Update 2014/03/11: the date and venue have been finalized: 1 – 3 October 2014 at Hotel Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam (Oudezijds Voorburgwal 197, Amsterdam 1012 EX, Netherlands).
