Qlikview to Tableau Migration

Tableau is one of the most popular Business Intelligence software in the market today. Many organizations are adapting Tableau recently and trying to migrate from their old Business Intelligence platform to Tableau. In this post, we will focus on QlikView to Tableau migration.

Effort needed to migrate from QlikView to Tableau depends on the way your QlikView software is implemented. In some cases, the data needed for QlikView Dashboard is completely prepared in a 3rd party tool so when migrating to Tableau, you do not need to convert ETL (extraction - transformation - load) code. But in most cases, ETL for QlikView is implemented using Qlik's own query language, AQL (QlikView is based upon patented technology called Associative Query Logic (AQL)).

Tableau does not provide a native ETL functionality so when migrating from QlikView to Tableau, you will probably need a 3rd solution to implement ETL for Tableau.

The exception above is of course keeping QlikView for ETL and just converting QlikView in-memory data to Tableau's native data set, TDE. But this usually involves, keeping two software licenses under maintenance.

QlikView to Tableau Migration

So usually, Qlikview to Tableau migration requires :
1 - Selecting an ETL tool to migrate QlikView AQL code to
2 - Migrating QlikView AQL code to new ETL logic
3 - Reimplementing the dashboards

Yes, there is no product/tool that does automatic migration from Qlikview to Tableau dashboards. You need to manually implement the dashboards in Tableau. Traditionally, QlikView scripting language is richer than Tableau's own expression language so you will also need to handle some in dashboard calculations in ETL when migrating to Tableau.

Though looks difficult, the task is achievable, especially if you outsource the Qlikview to Tableau migration work to a company who knows both QlikView and Tableau. Here is one such company.

Tableau Data Integration

Tableau may be a great data visualization tool but it has very limited functionality for data blending and data integration. Worse, most customers misunderstand "self service business intelligence concept" and think that they will get Tableau and without any data integration they can connect to the databases and create visualization (customers are actually made to believe this with Tableau's sales pitch).

Unfortunately, most business data is stored in complex relational database management systems or ERP which is very difficult, if not impossible to connect directly. Thus, many companies buying self service business intelligence solution realize that they cannot use it effectively due to this limitation.

Solution for this Tableau data integration problem is developing a  data integration with a non-Tableau application which is purpose built for this function. This data integration layer will simplify, consolidate and usually enrich the complex transactional data and will make it available for business users to easily develop visualizations. It will also transfer the query load from transactional system to this intermediary stage so the dashboards will also work faster. Such intermediary Tableau data integration layer became more crucial in the big data age.

Since Tableau deploys ease of use of "Drag-and-Drop", ideally the data integration system should also have the same drag-and drop capability and free of scripting. Luckily there are drag-and-drop data integration software out there and some are open source such as Pentaho.

There are drag-and-drop data integration software out there and some are open source such as Pentaho.

You can download Tableau Data Integration Services brochure to find out more : Enterprise Tableau Data Integration and Management Paper.

If you are having problems in Tableau data integration and data management, an expert Tableau services help may be very useful. In this case you should choose a Tableau consultancy firm, which will guide you in the process and implement the actual Tableau data integration layer.

Marketing Performance Analysis Dashboard

Marketing data analysis allows marketing people to align strategies to address market shifts, customer sentiment, and developing trends. Used correctly, a data analysis dashboard for marketing can boost marketing ROI through better targeting and campaign performance.

This Marketing Performance Analysis Dashboard, named Marketing 360, is an online business intelligence demo app brings together data from multiple sources into a one-stop-shop view. Analyze Marketing's performance across the organization from digital performance of the website to pipeline and install base engagement.

The demo application is composed of below screens to analyze different details and aspects of the marketing data :

Marketing Performance Dashboard View - Summarizes Awareness (Total Visits), Pipeline (Number of Opportunities Created) and Engagement (Net New Logos).

Awareness View - This section analysis visits to company site through Web, Social Media and Inbound (CRM).

Pipeline View - This section shows overall pipeline, marketing contribution to this pipeline as well as marketing influenced pipeline.

Engagement View - This section analysis penetration, community and partners.

The application is freely accessible online. To access it, fill in Data Analytics with Qlik Demo/App Request Form and don't forget to select Marketing Performance Analysis Dashboard from drop-down menu).

Marketing 360 - Marketing Performance Analysis Dashboard

Tableau subscription pricing model

Tableau Software is finally making the big change in the way it sells its business intelligence products: they have announced their new Tableau subscription pricing for all its products, including Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server. These new pricing model will potentially lower the threshold for users looking to gain access to a full-fledged analytics platform.

Tableau subscription prices are now as below :

• Tableau Desktop Personal subscription price is US$35 per user per month
• Tableau Desktop Professional subscription price is $70 per user per month
• Tableau Server subscription price is US$35 per user per month
• Tableau Enterprise offerings prices are not public but this is also available under  Tableau subscription model.

Tableau perpetual prices are $1000 for Tableau Desktop Personal, $2000 for Tableau Desktop Professional and $1000 for Tableau Server per user. The perpetual model also comes with 20% yearly license maintenance.

Since Microsoft Power BI entered the market 2 years ago, there is a growing market pressure on Tableau and its rival Qlik to lower the prices or provide flexible subscription models. This new Tableau pricing model is in line with customer demand and industry trends, and will significantly reduce the initial expense of deploying Tableau business intelligence. Under subscription model, customers will also gain full access to frequent product updates without having to purchase a perpetual software license.

“Many customers have told us they prefer to purchase software through a subscription model to more easily access the products they want, reduce upfront expenses and increase flexibility,” said Adam Selipsky, president and CEO of Tableau.

Tableau subscription pricing offers affordable access to one of the best Business Intelligence solution available today.

This move will make it easier for Tableau to compete in a very crowded BI market. Tableau customers surveyed for Gartner’s Magic Quadrant were always happy overall with Tableau software, but they were often frustrated with the company’s rigid pricing policies.

Tableau's rival Qlik has also announced their subscription model this year in January.