'Business discovery' solution helps BI operators stand out

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to business intelligence, according to business discovery – aka ‘user driven business intelligence’ – company QlikTech.

Mark Sands, QlikTech Australia and New Zealand regional director, says in an age when companies are drowning in data, traditional business intelligence offerings need help in providing easy-to-use, intuitive capabilities in the hands of users anywhere.

"It’s about streamlined simplicity at heart,” Sands says. "We’re not constrained by pre-defined queries and logic.

"The traditional, report-centric business intelligence software provides reports out to users based on pre-defined queries with maybe an element of filtering,” he says.

In contrast, the company’s QlikView software delivers ‘self-service’ business intelligence which, Sands says, can complement the BI offerings of other vendors. "Larger organisations can have very heavy investment in BI technology of the more traditional type. We’re seeing our offerings increasingly used around the edges of the big – what I would call unwieldy – platforms to deliver more agile offerings.

"There is absolutely a requirement out there in all sizes of organisations for the type of capabilities we provide – for the right data whenever, wherever and whoever you need to work with. Business decisions aren’t made in a vacuum, collaboration is a natural part of decision making, so being able to provide social decision making through secure, real-time collaboration is key.”

QlikTech launched its global partner certification programme for business discovery in March. The new QlikView 11 Certification Program is also available to members of the Qonnect Partner Program.

Sands says the programme is designed to help partners differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market, by measuring the knowledge and skills of individuals and benchmarking these against an established level of competency.

"Our partners are not just selling QlikView as a solution; they are building an entire business platform. We value that level of expertise and want to provide those partners a chance to differentiate themselves and their expertise to our customers.”

He says the revisions to the programme recognise that partners invest very heavily in training and expertise ‘so it’s only right and proper that we help protect them by providing partner certification’.

Sands says the company’s New Zealand business grew ‘largely independent’ of the company in the early- and mid-2000s.

"It’s become increasingly important for us that we ensure our partners are reaping the benefits of working with us and that we invest in them as much as they invest in us.”

The company has five solution providers in New Zealand, including Theta Systems, Greentree International and the newly appointed Acumen Consulting.