Is Self-Service Still Just a Buzzword — or Can Qlik Cloud Walk the Talk?
5 Key Insights from our Latest Qlik Webinar: 'Unlock the Power of Qlik Cloud for Self-Service Analytics'
After more than 25 years in the world of Business Intelligence, including over a decade in technical sales roles at IBM and Qlik, I have seen more BI buzzwords come and go than I care to count.
"Self-service" has managed to hang around, clinging on like that one old Excel macro someone is still afraid to delete. At its core, self-service analytics means empowering business users to explore data, build dashboards, and generate insights on their own, without relying on IT every step of the way.
Recently, I had the pleasure of co-hosting a webinar titled "Unlocking the Power of Qlik Cloud", focused entirely on (you guessed it) self-service.
So now, with one foot in the technical trenches and the other on the marketing soapbox, I’m asking the real question: Is self-service still just a shiny buzzword or has Qlik Cloud delivered the real deal?
Here are five key takeaways that stood out while preparing and presenting our recent webinar, insights that might just help answer the big question:
1. Smart Analytics, Zero Scripting
From data source to pixel-perfect report, from preparing training data to generating predictive insights, all without writing a single line of code. Yes, you heard that right: no code. None. Nada.
This is a crucial step, especially considering that many Qlik power users aren’t exactly itching to open a code editor. And honestly, why should they? The beauty of true self-service analytics is empowering users without making them learn code first.
So, bad news for the Qlik scripting aficionados out there (myself included): with Qlik Cloud becoming smarter and more intuitive, there’s less space left for our beloved handwritten expressions.
2. Let AI Do the Thinking, You Make the Decisions
Remember the days when getting insights from your data felt like solving a Rubik's Cube? Well, those days are long gone!
With the powerful Insight Advisor, gaining valuable insights has become as easy as dragging, dropping, and asking the right questions. The Insight Advisor does the heavy lifting, serving up smart recommendations and visualisations, but in the end, you’re still the boss: keep what works, skip what doesn’t.
3. Predictive Analytics at your fingertips
Back in my student days, statistics ranked somewhere between German and Chemistry, definitely not my favorite course. To this day, I’m not quite sure how I passed those exams (pure luck, most likely). So no, I’m not a data scientist.
But with Qlik AutoML, I was creating my own predictive models in under 10 minutes. Just by following the guided flow, I had a working application making predictions from my historical data in less than half an hour.
That’s the real win for you, predictive insights are no longer the exclusive domain of data scientists. Now, your business users, whether they’re in sales, operations, or finance, can uncover trends, anticipate risks, and make smarter, data-driven decisions before problems arise. No technical barriers, no waiting in line for the analytics team.
Just faster, smarter action, driven by the people who know your business best.
And it’s only getting better: soon, Qlik AutoML will evolve into Qlik Predict, while Application Automation will be known as Qlik Automate — making the naming as intuitive as the tools themselves.
4. Your AI Assistant Is Standing By
Ever wish your internal documentation could actually talk back and give you a straight answer, too? That’s exactly what Qlik Answers brings to the table. This generative AI-powered Knowledge Assistant plugs right into your Qlik environment and serves up context-aware, personalised responses based on your own unstructured content. Think of it as a chatbot that actually knows your business.
One of my colleagues built a smart HR assistant on top of our element61 documentation. The result? Instant answers to HR-related questions, no digging through folders or pinging colleagues required. It's like having a helpful co-worker who never takes lunch breaks.
5. Professional Reporting, the Cloud Way
Until recently, customers relying on NPrinting for their static or customised reports were stuck on-prem, and Qlik Cloud just wasn’t part of the party. But good news: the wait is over!
You can now create pixel-perfect reports directly from your Qlik Cloud apps. Whether you need scheduled PDFs or on-demand delivery, it’s all possible, no need to call in reinforcements or leave the Qlik Cloud environment. Just click, configure, and conquer your reporting needs like a pro.
Conclusion
Sharp-eyed readers might recognise that most of the topics I have touched on here have already been covered, each in more detail, in other Insights by my colleagues or me. (You will find the links at the bottom of this page.)
But if there’s one thing the recent workshop made crystal clear, it is this: when you bring all these tools and capabilities together, there’s only one conclusion to draw: With Qlik Cloud Analytics, self-service is no longer a vision — it’s a practical, scalable reality that empowers every user to make data-driven decisions.
More information
- If you want to have a look at what this webinar is all about, you can request access to the recording at the bottom of the event page here: Unlock the Power of Qlik Cloud for Self-Service Analytics
- More Information on the Qlik Self-Service related insights can be found here;
- Qlik Data Flow: The Easy Way to Transform Your Data | element61
- How Qlik Answers Revolutionises Business Insights with Generative AI | element61
- Qlik AutoML's Power: A Journey into Smart Data Science
- Unlocking Data Potential: How Can Qlik Cloud and Microsoft Excel Integration Transform Your Analytics | element61
- From Words to Wisdom: Qlik Sense’s Chatbot Revolutionises Data Exploration | element61
