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QlikView vs Microsoft Fabric: A Comparative Analysis

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    Introduction

    Choosing the right business intelligence tool is critical for effective data analysis and reporting. Qlikview and Microsoft Fabric are two notable options, each with its own set of features and capabilities.

    This comparison will delve into the strengths and limitations of both platforms, helping you understand which might be best suited for your needs.

    We'll also explore Sourcetable, a modern solution that offers a spreadsheet-like interface which automatically syncs with your data, providing a streamlined alternative for your business intelligence tasks.

    Qlikview

    What is QlikView?

    QlikView is a guided analytics solution known for its advanced data analytics capabilities. It empowers users to develop and deliver guided analytics applications and interactive dashboards. Its core feature is the associative engine that instantly generates new views of data based on user interactions. This innovative approach to data analysis allows users to discover insights without the constraints of pre-defined queries or rigid dashboards.

    • Key Features of QlikView

    • Associative engine that dynamically creates new data views.
    • Data compression and in-memory storage for rapid data exploration.
    • Supports simultaneous data exploration by multiple users.
    • Capability to directly connect to various data sources.
    • Provides an associative experience across all data used in analysis.
    • Freedom from limited drill paths and static dashboards.
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    What is Microsoft Fabric?

    Microsoft Fabric is an end-to-end analytics and data platform tailored for enterprises seeking a unified solution for their data needs. This platform encompasses essential data operations including data movement, processing, ingestion, transformation, and real-time event routing, along with report building capabilities.

    • Core Offerings

    • Data Engineering
    • Data Factory
    • Data Science
    • Real-Time Analytics
    • Data Warehouse

      • As a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, Microsoft Fabric integrates various components, allowing them to work seamlessly together. It eliminates the need for manual integration, thus providing a streamlined analytics experience.

    • Data Centralization

      Microsoft Fabric centralizes data storage with OneLake, a built-in component of the platform. OneLake serves as a unified location for all organizational data, simplifying management and accessibility.

    • AI and Industry Solutions

      The platform is equipped with AI capabilities, enhancing data analysis and decision-making. Additionally, Microsoft Fabric provides industry-specific data solutions, catering to the unique requirements of different sectors.

    Qlikview

    Key Features of QlikView

    Associative Engine

    The associative engine is the core feature that distinguishes QlikView, providing a unique approach to data analysis.

    Intuitive Visual Discovery

    Intuitive visual discovery allows for easy interpretation and manipulation of complex data sets, making analytics more accessible.

    Qlik Cloud Analytics

    Qlik Cloud Analytics is a cloud-based SaaS deployment that enhances QlikView by offering AI-powered insights and facilitating the shift to active analytics.

    Qlik Sense

    Qlik Sense complements QlikView as an on-premises solution, designed to support the transition from passive to active data analysis, leveraging AI for deeper insights.

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    Key Features of Microsoft Fabric

    Comprehensive Analytics and Data Platform

    Microsoft Fabric is an end-to-end solution encompassing data movement, processing, ingestion, transformation, and real-time event routing. It facilitates efficient report building within a unified platform designed for enterprise use.

    Integrated Suite of Services

    The platform offers an extensive suite of services including Data Engineering, Data Factory, Data Science, Real-Time Analytics, and Data Warehouse capabilities.

    Software as a Service Model

    Operating on a SaaS model, Fabric integrates with Power BI, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Data Factory, streamlined for ease of use and seamless integration.

    Artificial Intelligence and Data Lake Storage

    Fabric features AI integrations and a unified data lake storage, built on ADLS Gen2, simplifying data management and eliminating the need for in-depth infrastructure knowledge.

    Centralized Administration and Governance

    Centralized administration coupled with robust governance is powered by Purview, which includes data sensitivity labels that enhance data security and compliance.

    User-Focused Design
  • Fabric allows creators to concentrate on creation without the need to manage infrastructure.
  • The platform's design is intuitive, encouraging productivity and innovation.
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    Workloads and Architecture
  • Fabric supports multiple workloads: Power BI, Data Factory, Data Science, Data Warehouse, Real-Time Analytics, and Data Activator.
  • It implements data mesh architecture, unifying OneLake and lakehouse concepts for a consolidated data storage solution.
    • Qlikview

    Advantages of Using Qlikview for Business Intelligence

    Qlikview enhances business intelligence (BI) with its self-service capabilities, allowing users to manage reporting and data analytics efficiently. Its dynamic dashboards provide quick data interpretation, simplifying complex analysis processes.

    Collaborative Decision-Making

    Teams can collaborate effectively within Qlikview to leverage collective insights for informed decision-making, streamlining the BI workflow.

    Implementation and Usability

    The ease of implementation and user-friendly interface of Qlikview accelerate adoption, reducing the learning curve and operational disruption commonly associated with BI tools.

    Data Security and Performance

    Qlikview offers robust data security measures, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of business data. High-speed performance and advanced in-memory technology contribute to faster data processing and analysis.

    Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness

    With its superior data compression techniques, Qlikview optimizes storage costs without compromising data quality. The QIX Engine facilitates rapid data manipulation, making Qlikview a cost-effective solution for BI tasks.

    Data Visualization

    Effective data visualization in Qlikview translates complex data sets into clear, actionable insights, fostering a data-driven culture within organizations.

    Qlikview

    Disadvantages of Using Qlikview for Business Intelligence

    Real-Time Data Analysis

    Qlikview may not be the most efficient tool for real-time data analysis, potentially affecting timely decision-making.

    System Requirements

    Despite having less RAM limitations, Qlikview's performance can be constrained by system resources.

    Technical Expertise

    The need for technical expertise to develop applications can be a barrier for users without a technical background.

    Integration Challenges

    Embedding Qlikview into other software ecosystems may present compatibility issues.

    Customer Support

    Issues with customer support can lead to frustration and delays in resolving problems.

    Outdated Tools

    Qlikview's older tools and interfaces can be less intuitive compared to newer alternatives.

    Cost Implications

    The cost of Qlikview may be prohibitive for small or medium-sized businesses, affecting its accessibility.

    User Satisfaction

    Poor ratings in surveys may indicate lower user satisfaction and concerns regarding the tool's effectiveness.

    Qlikview

    Frequently Asked Questions About Qlikview

    How does QlikView handle memory usage during script runs compared to layout operation?

    QlikView uses 3-4 times as much memory when running a script as when working in the layout.

    Can QlikView join fields that have different names?

    Yes, QlikView can join fields with different names using an alias or AS statement.

    Is it possible to automatically update QlikView documents with new data?

    QlikView can update a document using incremental reloads.

    How can QlikView be shared with others?

    QlikView can be shared with others using QlikView Server or QlikView Publisher.

    Can QlikView limit access to documents?

    QlikView can limit who can use a document using section access.

    Use Cases for Qlikview

    • Qlikview

      Improving efficiency, customer service, and sales

    • Qlikview

      Simplifying analytics with a company-wide portal

    • Qlikview

      Boosting operational success

    • Qlikview

      Lowering costs and reducing effort to convert loan prospects

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    Benefits of Microsoft Fabric for Business Intelligence

    Unified Data Analytics Platform

    Microsoft Fabric serves as an end-to-end analytics and data platform, catering to enterprises requiring a comprehensive solution. Its design streamlines data movement, processing, ingestion, and transformation, ensuring efficient real-time event routing and report building.

    Seamless AI Integration and Insights

    With integrated AI capabilities, Fabric enhances analytics, allowing business users to convert raw data into actionable insights easily. The platform's deeply integrated analytics further augment data-driven decision-making.

    User-Friendly Experience

    Fabric's easy-to-learn user interface is designed to let users focus on creating value rather than managing infrastructure, providing tailored analytics experiences based on specific roles and tasks.

    Data Centralization and Governance

    Centralized data storage through OneLake eliminates silos, enabling straightforward data discovery and sharing, while ensuring robust security enforcement. Fabric's unified management and governance simplify the administration and facilitate secure data access.

    Cost Efficiency and Performance

    OneLake's capabilities, such as transparent caching and instant mounting of PaaS storage accounts, optimize performance and reduce egress costs. By bringing data closer to compute resources, OneLake enhances the efficiency of business intelligence workflows.

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    Disadvantages of Microsoft Fabric in Business Intelligence

    SQL Analytics Endpoint Limitations

    The SQL analytics endpoint in Microsoft Fabric presents several constraints that can impact reporting and data analytics processes. Its limited capabilities in automatic schema generation can lead to additional manual work, slowing down the data preparation stage. Metadata discovery is another area with restrictions, potentially complicating data governance and lineage tracking.

    Issues with renaming columns within the SQL analytics endpoint can disrupt data consistency and create obstacles in report generation. Furthermore, businesses utilizing Delta tables outside the designated /tables folder may encounter limitations, affecting data organization and accessibility.

    Lastly, the constrained support for foreign key constraints hampers the enforcement of referential integrity, making it challenging to maintain accurate and reliable relationships within the data, a critical aspect of data analysis.

    Known Issues with Microsoft Fabric

    Microsoft Fabric has recognized issues that could be detrimental to business intelligence operations. These known issues, particularly with the SQL analytics endpoint, can lead to inefficiencies and hinder the ability to derive insights from data. Organizations should weigh these considerations carefully when selecting a platform for their business intelligence needs.

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    Frequently Asked Questions About Microsoft Fabric

    What is required to work with Fabric lifecycle management tools?

    Licenses are needed to work with lifecycle management, and all workspaces must be assigned to a Fabric license.

    How does integration work in Fabric?

    Integration in Fabric refers to the Git integration, which allows users to connect to a repository.

    What should users do if a tile does not display information after deployment?

    If a tile does not display information after deployment, it may be because it relies on an unsupported item. Users must own or have permissions to other items that the tile relies on to deploy the tile.

    Can different capacity types be assigned to different workspaces in Fabric?

    Yes, different capacity types can be used for different workspaces. However, PPU, EM, and A SKUs only work with Power BI items.

    Are there any considerations regarding paginated reports and their subreports in Fabric?

    Paginated report subreports should be stored in the same folder as the parent report.

    Use Cases for Microsoft Fabric

    • tool icon

      Lakehouse end-to-end scenario for professional developers and analysts

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      Data Warehouse end-to-end scenario for SQL developers

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      Real-Time Analytics end-to-end scenario for citizen and professional developers

    sourcetable

    Why Sourcetable Is a Superior Choice for Business Intelligence

    • Streamlined Data Synchronization

      Sourcetable offers simplified reporting and data analytics by integrating data from multiple services into a user-friendly spreadsheet interface. This contrasts with QlikView, which requires on-premises or cloud-based deployments such as Qlik Sense or Qlik Cloud Analytics, potentially leading to more complex data management.

    • Intuitive Interface

      The spreadsheet-like interface of Sourcetable is familiar to most users, reducing the learning curve and increasing accessibility to business intelligence tools. QlikView, while offering visual discovery, may not match the intuitive and straightforward nature of Sourcetable's design.

    • Enhanced Collaboration

      Sourcetable facilitates real-time collaboration and action, aligning with the business intelligence trend towards immediate and collective decision-making. This is a key feature in QlikView as well; however, Sourcetable's simplicity may provide a more agile environment for team interaction.

    • Optimized for SEO

      Sourcetable's emphasis on ease of use and efficient data management positions it as an advantageous tool for businesses looking to optimize their operations without the complexity of traditional BI solutions like QlikView and Microsoft Fabric.

    Qlikview
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    Comparison Between QlikView and Microsoft Fabric

    Both QlikView and Microsoft Fabric offer solutions aimed at enhancing business intelligence and data analytics capabilities. They facilitate data visualization and assist in making strategic business decisions.

    Data Visualization and Discovery

    QlikView provides an intuitive visual discovery interface that revolutionized the way organizations use data, similar to Microsoft Fabric's focus on user-friendly data representation. Both platforms aim to put business intelligence in the hands of more people through visual means.

    Deployment Flexibility

    QlikView offers deployment flexibility, supporting both cloud-based SaaS with Qlik Cloud Analytics and on-premises solutions with Qlik Sense. Microsoft Fabric also provides various deployment options to suit different organizational needs.

    Real-time Collaboration

    Both QlikView and Microsoft Fabric promote real-time collaboration and action, enabling teams to work together efficiently and make decisions based on live data.

    Use of AI

    QlikView uses AI-powered insights to augment human intuition in data analysis, a feature that parallels Microsoft Fabric's use of AI to enhance user experience and provide deeper insights.

    Qlikview
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    QlikView vs Microsoft Fabric

    QlikView is an analytics platform that offers data visualization through an associative engine. It was the first solution introduced by Qlik and provides intuitive visual discovery, allowing users to navigate and understand complex data easily. QlikView is deployable both on the cloud, with Qlik Cloud Analytics, and on-premises, with Qlik Sense.

    sourcetable

    Comparison: Qlikview vs. Microsoft Fabric vs. Sourcetable

    Qlikview

    QlikView is an established analytics solution known for its associative engine, which revolutionized how organizations interact with data. It enables intuitive visual discovery, allowing more users to engage with business intelligence. QlikView facilitates real-time collaboration and action, with deployment options including both cloud-based SaaS with Qlik Cloud Analytics and on-premises with Qlik Sense. The platform integrates AI to augment insights and is suitable for various deployment scenarios, catering to industries with strict data regulations.

    Microsoft Fabric

    Information about Microsoft Fabric is not provided in the facts. Therefore, a comparison cannot be made.

    Sourcetable

    Information about Sourcetable is not provided in the facts. Therefore, a comparison cannot be made.

    Contrast

  • QlikView offers AI-powered insights; the capabilities of Microsoft Fabric and Sourcetable in this aspect are not provided.
  • While QlikView allows for both cloud-based and on-premises deployments, the deployment options for Microsoft Fabric and Sourcetable are not specified.
  • QlikView's associative engine is a standout feature that revolutionized data usage in organizations, a comparison to Microsoft Fabric's and Sourcetable's data processing engines cannot be made without further information.
    • sourcetable

    Frequently Asked Questions About Sourcetable

    What is Sourcetable and who typically uses it?

    Sourcetable is a spreadsheet application that is typically used by growth teams and business operations teams. It allows users to centralize, analyze, and model data that updates over time, replacing traditional workflows in Excel, Google Sheets, and Business Intelligence tools.

    How does Sourcetable integrate with third-party applications?

    Sourcetable syncs data from over 100 applications and most databases, allowing users to access and query data from these sources. Data integrations update every 15 minutes on the regular plan and every 5 minutes on the pro plan.

    Do I need to know how to code to use Sourcetable?

    No, coding is not required to use Sourcetable. Users can build live models and query data without any coding knowledge.

    How much does Sourcetable cost?

    Sourcetable costs $50 per month for the starter plan and $250 per month for the pro plan. All plans come with a 14-day free trial, and additional seats can be added for $20 per month per user.

    How quickly can I start creating reports with Sourcetable?

    Users can start creating reports with Sourcetable within minutes of beginning to use the application.

    Qlikview

    Qlikview Pricing Overview

    Qlikview offers tiered pricing plans to cater to different data analysis needs, starting with a standard plan and extending to premium and enterprise options. Each plan provides a set of features designed to accommodate various user requirements and data capacities.

    • Standard Plan

      The standard plan is the entry-level offering from Qlikview. It mandates a minimum subscription for 20 full users and permits analysis of up to 25 GB of data per year. This plan is inclusive of numerous features such as the ability to connect and combine hundreds of data sources, interactive data visualizations, dashboards, augmented analytics with AI, and collaboration tools. Subscribers also benefit from round-the-clock customer support.

    • Premium and Enterprise Plans

      Building upon the standard plan, both the premium and enterprise plans offer enhanced capabilities. These plans double and significantly expand the annual data analysis capacity to 50 GB and 500 GB, respectively. Additional features exclusive to these plans include automated report compilation and delivery, extended data source connectivity, predictive analytics with automated machine learning, no-code automation builder triggers, and robust data governance. Personalized customer success plans are also provided for a tailored service experience.

    • Usage Alerts

      Qlikview ensures users are aware of their data consumption by providing alerts as they approach their capacity limit, enabling efficient data management across all plans.

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    Microsoft Fabric Cost Structure

    • Payment Model

      Microsoft Fabric operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model, allowing users to pay for only what they use without any required usage commitment.

    • Power BI Integration

      Microsoft Fabric fully supports all Power BI Premium capacities, providing integration options for advanced Power BI features.

    • Licensing Requirements

    • Power BI publishers and consumers need to possess a Power BI Pro license when using Microsoft Fabric.
    • Publishing activities within Microsoft Fabric are exempt from the requirement of a Power BI Pro license.
    Qlikview

    User Reviews and Ratings of QlikView

    • Overall Impressions

      QlikView has an overall rating of 4.3, indicating a positive reception among users. It's recognized for its powerful business intelligence capabilities and is particularly useful in creating sales and inventory dashboards. Despite its versatility in data visualization and ability to integrate multiple data sources, users note that QlikView's visualization options are not the best in class.

    • Functionality

      Users rate QlikView's functionality highly at 4.5. As a robust BI tool, it is appreciated for its in-memory processing and ability to create complex reports. However, limitations such as the inability to export a list of licensed users are noted, and it's regarded as less suitable for detailed reporting.

    • Usability

      The software has earned a 4 rating for ease-of-use, suggesting that while it is user-friendly, there are some challenges. Users find QlikView's UI clunky and report that it is less user-friendly with certain data sources, such as BW and Big Data. It has been described as fast and easy to implement, yet some users experience a slow response with heavy data volume and a slight delay in real-time data sync.

    • Support and Community

      QlikView's customer support and value for money both stand with a 4 rating. Its wide user group and support forum are valued resources. The software is praised for being particularly beneficial for students writing a thesis and provides a ton of value.

    • Comparison to Other Tools

      When compared to other tools, QlikView is not considered as strong as Qlik Sense, Tableau, or PowerBI in terms of visualization capabilities. Despite this, its fast data processing and ease-of-use still make it a competitive option in the market, albeit an expensive one.

    • Technical Capabilities

      QlikView allows for the automation of report distribution and creation, and offers customization using VBA or other programming languages. Its intuitive interface and scheduled batch jobs for ETL are well-received, but it does not allow write-back to the database or R integration.

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    User Feedback on Microsoft Fabric

    Interest in Microsoft Fabric is evident as some customers are actively looking to try out the platform.

    Conclusion

    In summary, Qlikview offers robust data visualization and discovery capabilities, while Microsoft Fabric provides a more integrated environment for business intelligence within the Microsoft ecosystem.

    Sourcetable distinguishes itself by offering real-time data syncing across various services, presenting the information in an accessible spreadsheet format for ease of use and familiarity.

    This streamlined approach positions Sourcetable as an intuitive solution for businesses seeking to leverage their data without the complexity often associated with traditional business intelligence tools.

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