How Qlik Helps Midmarket Firms and SMBs Unlock the Power of Data Analytics

If connected cloud is the logical starting point for discussing the essential elements of a connected business platform, connected insights is the discussion’s logical destination. In today's highly competitive business environment, the significance of data has increased exponentially for most types of enterprises, including midmarket organizations and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). However, organizations often need help to harness data effectively to achieve desired business outcomes, mainly due to their lack of readiness for analytics. To address this issue, Qlik offers a comprehensive suite of real-time data integration and analytics solutions that seamlessly connect data, insights, and actions.

With over 40,000 active clients, of which 25,000+ are mid-sized businesses, Qlik offers an easy-to-use platform that allows business users to analyze data, gain insights, and make data-driven decisions. It empowers companies to unlock growth opportunities and optimize operations by seamlessly integrating diverse data sources and customizable analytics applications. Moreover, as organizations grow, Qlik's scalable solution can seamlessly handle mounting volumes and complexities of data analysis, making it suitable for midmarket clients and SMBs. Additionally, the company’s capacity pricing model is designed to be affordable, allowing organizations with limited resources to leverage the full potential of its robust analytics capabilities.

Techaisle’s latest research shows that analytics is a top priority for SMBs, with 73% of SMBs, 92% of core midmarket firms, and 99% of upper midmarket firms prioritizing it. In 54% of organizations, IT and business users struggle to manage data growth, while in 59%, IT and data analysts focus on data integration. Developing an ‘evidence-based culture’ is critical in using analytics to achieve business objectives. 39% of firms are working towards enabling a data-driven decision-making culture. Given this data, Techaisle believes that Qlik is well-positioned to meet the needs of midmarket firms.

Data literacy is as crucial in today’s workforce as reading and writing were during the Industrial Revolution. Qlik provides a wide range of free data literacy resources, including various courses available through a consortium with other companies. For organizations looking to enhance their employees’ skills, Qlik offers tailored programs designed in collaboration with Chief Data Officers.

QLIK: DELIVERING DATA TO INSIGHTS TO ACTIONS TO FORESIGHT

The availability of various data sources makes gaining a unified and comprehensive view of a business complex, and integrating data from diverse systems and formats is incredibly challenging for SMBs and midmarket enterprises with limited resources. Recognizing this challenge, Qlik provides a solution that empowers organizations to conduct cross-functional analyses, unveiling hidden insights and correlations that may otherwise remain concealed in data silos.

Qlik’s data integration capabilities allow organizations to connect and extract data from multiple sources, providing a comprehensive view of their data. This enables businesses to discover valuable insights and make informed decisions. Qlik creates flexible, controlled, and scalable data pipelines that form a data fabric for integrating, processing, and distributing data throughout an organization. This makes it easy to import, manipulate, and load data into Qlik’s analytics platform, allowing organizations to gain actionable knowledge for better decision-making.

Expanding beyond mere hindsight, the Qlik data analytics platform incorporates AI and machine learning to unearth hidden patterns, trends, and correlations within data. Designed to offer customers a self-service analytics experience, it enables users to explore and visualize their data, transcending the boundaries of traditional analytics. Its user-friendly and intuitive interface empowers individuals to effortlessly create and personalize dashboards, reports, and visualizations without extensive technical expertise.

The renewed interest in Generative AI, sparked by the introduction of ChatGPT, has led Qlik to launch a series of OpenAI connectors. These connectors enhance Qlik’s existing AI, ML, and NLP capabilities and allow users to harness the power of Generative AI within the Qlik platform. The connectors are designed to support cloud analytics and automation applications effectively. At QlikWorld 2023, Qlik demonstrated the integration of Generative AI and Qlik Cloud, showcasing the potential of this combination. The integration of ChatGPT within the Qlik platform is a prime example of how Generative AI can enhance various applications. The release of OpenAI connectors is the first phase of Qlik’s plan to leverage an open platform approach to enable customers and partners to maximize the value derived from data using Generative AI. According to Qlik, their best is yet to come.

Unlike competitors such as Sisense and OutSystems, which focus on specific use cases like data preparation and application development, Qlik sets itself apart with its comprehensive analytics platform and exceptional adaptability. These qualities, combined with Qlik’s unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction, give it a competitive edge and make it the preferred choice for organizations seeking a robust and flexible analytics platform.

MAXIMIZING BUSINESS SUCCESS WITH QLIK'S DATA ANALYTICS INVESTMENTS

Qlik has experienced rapid and strategic growth through acquisitions and has bolstered its capabilities in various areas. One notable acquisition is that of Knarr Analytics in 2020, which has significantly enhanced the company’s real-time collaboration features and helped it acquire collaborative data science capabilities. This acquisition aligns perfectly with the company’s overarching vision of empowering organizations to embrace a data-driven culture and cultivate an environment of collaboration and shared insights. With the integration of Knarr, Qlik has provided users with improved tools for exploring and analyzing data collectively, facilitating quicker decision-making and offering collaborative insights.

In 2021, the company expanded its portfolio by acquiring Big Squid, using its AI-powered platform to enable its data and analytics teams to leverage advanced augmented analytics capabilities. These capabilities encompass critical driver analysis, predictive analytics, and what-if scenario planning and are supported by API-deployable AI models for on-demand predictions directly within the Qlik environment. By incorporating Big Squid's technology, the company has strengthened its industry-leading augmented analytics offerings, empowering users with no-code automated machine learning (AutoML) functionalities.

These strategic acquisitions, coupled with Qlik’s dedication to supporting collaborative decision-making and delivering advanced analytics capabilities, demonstrate the company's commitment to meeting the ever-changing needs of organizations in an increasingly data-centric world.

TALEND ACQUISITION: ENHANCING DATA INTEGRATION CAPABILITIES

The actual value of an organization's analytics strategy can only be fully realized when a robust data strategy complements it. Unfortunately, many vendors in the market fall short in this aspect, leaving customers struggling to extract the maximum value from their data. Recognizing this gap, Qlik has taken a significant step forward in enhancing its data integration capabilities by acquiring Talend, a data integration and data governance entity.

Through this acquisition, the company enables seamless interaction with any data source and allows customers to access the data they need when needed. Talend is renowned for its comprehensive data integration and management software, and its offerings seamlessly align with Qlik's analytics and business intelligence solutions. It offers extensive tools for managing data across an enterprise, making it particularly suitable for the mid-market segment. By integrating Talend’s capabilities into its product portfolio, Qlik has solidified its data integration and management position, providing customers with a more comprehensive data solution.

The acquisition also grants Qlik access to enhanced data integrity, quality, and governance capabilities, seamless application and API interaction, and no-code tools that empower business users to develop their own data pipelines. It also allows the company to incorporate Talend’s data fabric capabilities into its offerings and provide unified data integration and management solutions.

The expanded product line-up resulting from the acquisition of Talend is expected to create new cross-selling and upselling opportunities for Qlik's channel partners, further solidifying Qlik's market presence and providing additional value to its customers.

Qlik has significantly enhanced its ability to help customers increase the value of their investments in Databricks Lakehouse with its recent acquisition of Talend and the launch of Qlik Cloud data transformation services. Qlik’s data integration and analytics solutions, combined with Talend’s cloud data quality and transformation capabilities, create a unique portfolio of solutions that help Databricks customers scale their ability to find, transform, trust, and analyze data. Talend combines broad on-premises and cloud connectivity, advanced data transformations, and native Spark processing on Databricks clusters to support scalable batch and stream data processing essential to ingesting data into Databricks.

However, Talend’s acquisition is not an isolated event in Qlik’s commitment to bolstering its data integration capabilities, as the company has focused on strategic acquisitions and product developments in this space over the past five years. The acquisition of Podium Data in 2018 marked the company’s initial foray into data integration, followed by the acquisition of Attunity, which has served as the foundation of Qlik's data integration activities. Additionally, the acquisition of Blendr.io has added data integration and automation capabilities to the company’s arsenal, allowing it to construct a robust data integration platform that effectively complements its analytics suite.

CAPACITY-BASED PRICING: SIMPLIFYING THE ADOPTION OF QLIK’S CLOUD-BASED DATA INTEGRATION PLATFORM

Historically, the pricing models for data integration and analytics solutions have been based on factors such as user licenses and data volumes. This conventional approach has posed challenges for businesses, particularly midmarket organizations, and SMBs, as it often leads to unpredictable costs and difficulties in accurate forecasting.

Thus, Qlik has introduced a new pricing system that reinforces its conviction that "if data drives value, then everyone should have access to it" and aligns with its commitment to democratizing data and analytics. Through this pricing model, the company aims to remove barriers to data access and empower organizations of all sizes to leverage the full potential of data integration and analytics without the burden of complex and unpredictable pricing structures.

This capacity-based pricing model offers fixed-cost plans that promote pricing predictability, faster adoption of new capabilities, and eliminate end-user limitations. It also provides several advantages to businesses. With capacity-based pricing, more users can engage with data without immediately incurring additional costs. Regarding data integration, Qlik measures the amount of data moved, allowing businesses to pay for the resources they utilize.

Additionally, the model provides transparency, offering a clear understanding of costs and enabling accurate financial forecasting and budgeting. This predictability is crucial for organizations as they can allocate resources effectively and avoid unforeseen expenses. It also allows businesses to scale their usage according to their needs, ensuring they only pay for what they utilize. This flexibility is particularly advantageous for midmarket clients and SMBs as it enables them to start with smaller implementations and expand them as their data integration and analytics requirements grow.

Qlik plans to extend the capacity-based pricing approach to its analytics suite, following its availability for the data integration platform. In the analytics domain, it focuses on the number of users and the volume of data analyzed, providing businesses with a clear understanding of their costs and enabling them to make informed decisions.

QLIK PARTNER PROGRAM (QPP): ENHANCING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

QPP is crucial for Qlik because it is a key sales driver. It has an extensive network of over 1700 partners serving thousands of customers worldwide. The channel accounts for roughly 40% of Qlik's sales, and a partner is involved in some way in more than 70% of the company’s business transactions. This is very much in line with Techaisle’s data, which shows that 69% of enterprise sales involve one or more partners, and 87% of SMB midmarket segment customers purchase from partners.

The program also focuses on establishing strategic partnerships with organizations that resell, implement, and provide services associated with Qlik's data analytics platform. This includes a diverse range of partners, such as system integrators, value-added resellers, consultants, and technology partners. Through QPP, partners receive various benefits and access to training programs, support, and resources that enhance their expertise, expand their market reach, and enable the delivery of successful data analytics solutions. Qlik also recognizes and rewards partners based on their value to customers and commitment to the partnership with Qlik.

The Technology Alliance Program is another facet of Qlik's partner ecosystem. It aims to enhance the company’s data analytics platform by collaborating with technology vendors to create integrated offerings. It allows customers to seamlessly combine Qlik's solutions with other technologies, addressing specific use cases and industry requirements. Through this program, the company collaborates closely with technology vendors to develop joint solutions, conduct joint marketing activities, and ensure technical compatibility. By expanding its ecosystem and offering a broader range of integrated solutions, Qlik continues to provide value to its customers.

In addition to the partner program and technology alliances, Qlik focuses on partnerships with Global Systems Integrators (GSIs) such as Deloitte, TCS, and Accenture. These GSIs are renowned multinational consulting firms that deliver end-to-end solutions and services to enterprise clients. They offer a wide range of services, including consulting, implementation, and managed services, often integrating Qlik's platform with other enterprise systems to provide comprehensive solutions to their clients. Qlik leverages GSIs’ expertise, global presence, and extensive customer relationships to drive the adoption and implementation of its data analytics solutions on a larger scale.

FINAL TECHAISLE TAKE

One of the fundamental questions that a vendor’s market team must ask is, “What do our customers need in a solution – where do we fit – and who else is involved in meeting the customer’s demand?” This is s sometimes referred to as a ‘whole product’ approach, in which a vendor looks to maximize opportunities for its products/services by attaching to solutions that address specific buyer needs.

Qlik's comprehensive suite of data integration and analytics solutions has proven instrumental in helping midmarket businesses, and SMBs unlock the power of data analytics. With its user-friendly platform, seamless data integration capabilities, and customizable analytics applications, the company empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions, optimize operations, and uncover growth opportunities. Its commitment to affordability through its capacity-based pricing model makes robust analytics capabilities accessible to organizations with limited resources.

Furthermore, Qlik's strategic acquisitions, including its recent acquisition of Talend, have strengthened its collaborative and augmented analytics offerings, demonstrating its dedication to meet evolving customer needs. Overall, Qlik remains at the forefront of empowering businesses to harness the transformative power of data and drive success in today’s competitive landscape. With Qlik, SMBs can concentrate on solving business issues rather than managing their environment, lowering their total cost of ownership (TCO) and accelerating the process of obtaining actionable insights from their data.