QlikView to Qlik Sense

Qlik Sense being used on computer and smartphone

QlikView to Qlik Sense

QlikView was one of the first truly modern analytics tools for the guided analytics age. QlikView pioneered the associative engine, that changed the way people access data, giving them all their data at the speed of thought.

More recently, Qlik Sense has surpassed QlikView and is the new benchmark for which modern analytics platforms are measured. Furthermore, Qlik Sense uses the very same engine that made QlikView so special. This means that QlikView customers can easily move into the next age of self-service analytics by converting to Qlik Sense.

Here, we explain some of the main reasons for converting to Qlik Sense and how to do it.

Certifications showing Stretch is Qlik Elite Solution Provider and winner of Qlik Solution Provider of the Year in EMEA in 2020

Qlik Sense being used for self-service business intelligence on computer

Why convert to Qlik Sense?

It is safe to say there has never been a better time than right now to upgrade from QlikView to its leading-edge sibling, Qlik Sense. At Stretch Qonnect, we are frequently asked about when and why you should move to Qlik Sense. So, in this piece, we highlight some of the key considerations and benefits of upgrading.

Expand your organization’s analytics possibilities

Modern analytics has ushered in a host of new capabilities not available in solutions from previous generations or from other BI vendors. In Qlik Sense, those capabilities include governed self-service analytics, mobile analytics, visual data prep, collaborative data storytelling, embedded analytics, and much more.

Adopt next-generation BI confidently, without disrupting current operations.

You don’t have to choose Qlik Sense over QlikView. You can continue to use your QlikView apps while adopting Qlik Sense at your own pace. We empower you with free tools to help. Migrating QlikView documents to Qlik Sense is not a requirement. But if you choose, you can reuse the QlikView data layer in Qlik Sense to simplify adoption and reduce the learning curve. You don’t need to re-create QlikView Data files (QVDs), data models, and analytics expressions when migrating from QlikView to Qlik Sense.

When you choose to deploy through Qlik Sense Enterprise SaaS, the QlikView Publisher automates QlikView document uploads to the Qlik Sense Enterprise SaaS hub, giving you the ability to consume QlikView and Qlik Sense side by side on the same infrastructure, managed by Qlik.

Minimize Total Cost of Ownership with flexible deployments and unified licensing.

Qlik has some great offers for QlikView customers allowing them to move to Qlik Sense at very low or no license costs, making Qlik Sense cost a fraction of other BI tools to QlikView customers. Contact Stretch Qonnect for an official offer.

Through a scalable modern architecture, Qlik Sense allows you to deploy in any combination of SaaS, on-premises and private cloud so you can focus on generating insights, as opposed to investing in new infrastructure. You can dramatically reduce your QlikView infrastructure costs and automate license management, entitlements and monitoring when you opt for unified licensing.

Whitepaper | Top 3 Reasons to Modernize Your QlikView Analytics

How to convert from QlikView to Qlik Sense

First, let’s get some of the basics straight. Qlik has done a lot to make the transition as easy as possible both in terms of converting licenses and applications.

Licenses

Qlik offers possibilities to exchange your QlikView licenses for Qlik Sense licenses one-to-one or you can move to “Dual-Use”. Dual-use refers to giving all existing QlikView users access to Qlik Sense. This will usually make the transition much smoother as there will often be applications that take a bit extra time to convert to Qlik Sense. Both the one-to-one conversion and the dual-use offers are usually either very cheap or free for you to do. Contact Stretch Qonnect or your preferred Qlik partner to get an official offer.

Dual Use with Qlik Sense SaaS

If you opt for dual-use, you will be able to publish all your QlikView apps to the Qlik Sense SaaS Hub. This means you will be able to access both your legacy QlikView applications and the new Qlik Sense application from the same hub, making the transition very easy for your users. This option requires that you convert your QlikView licenses using the dual-use offer.

QlikView converter tool

From the Qlik Sense developer hub, you get access to a tool called “QlikView converter”. The QlikView converter is a tool to support converting QlikView documents (QVW files) to Qlik Sense apps. Use the tool to move some of the value developed in QlikView documents to a Qlik Sense app. When a project has been opened, the tabs listing the converted objects from the original QlikView document are displayed: Visualizations, Dimensions, Measures, Variables. The tool also identifies the parts of the document that could not be converted. These are displayed under Unconverted Objects.

Using the QlikView converter is a great way to quickly get started on your transformation to Qlik Sense. However, converting QlikView apps to Qlik Sense should be used as an option to improve your analytics. Below we will list some of the key considerations you should make.

Whitepaper | Qlik Sense

Simon's top consideration for converting QlikView apps to Qlik Sense

Simon Heap, Senior Qlik Consultant | LinkedIn

Over the past few years, Stretch Qonnect has been helping a lot of customers to migrate to Qlik Sense to get the above mentioned benefits and maximize their Qlik investment. Here are some of the key considerations from Stretch Qonnect’s very own QlikView conversion expert, Simon Heap:

There are quite some considerations to be taken since QlikView and Qlik Sense differ quite a bit. In a project planning phase, questions like “design legacy” could be a place to start. Should one take the opportunity to give the whole Qlik-setup an overhaul? Should every line of the script be scrutinized in every aspect to ensure that scripting, that might have been written years ago, upholds new company standards? Or should one do a 1:1-move of the script, accept old technical debts and keep the overhaul near the bottom of the to-do list in the Qlik Sense Migration project for a rainy day?

Likewise, there is a similar question regarding the end-users actual use of applications. Should an analysis be undertaken to identify QlikView-apps that should just be scrapped if they are not used (enough)? And for apps that are in use, are all parts of the app fully functional? If only 30% of the tabs are worth keeping, why not just leave the rest behind? Also, QlikView has through its design possibilities invited to build very large apps with multiple uses. Since Qlik Sense invites more interactive and self-service use, it might be an idea to break down “QlikView-Monster-apps” into several Qlik Sense applications that are more to-the-point-apps and easier to identify the correct use cases for.

Once you have the project and overall architecture in place, the time comes to the actual comparison of the performance of the two applications – the devil is in the detail. Since Qlik has been striving for more simplicity and ease of use in Qlik Sense, not all features from years of QlikView development have yet found their way into Qlik Sense. And maybe they never will. But there’s always a solution – that’s what we at Stretch Qonnect strive for and stand for. Whether it’s simplifying, rebuilding from the bottom up, using 3rd party plugins or something different we are ready to put our experience and knowledge of both technologies into finding the right solution for all companies and all cases we might come across.

QlikView to Qlik Sense