A Journey to Qlik Sense in Qlik Cloud

THE CHALLENGE

Ontrack is a niche software company that provide a Works Management Solution for the teams who repair and maintain our roads. Their solution enables contractors to manage projects, jobs and tasks from start to finish. Site teams can also send real-time updates and photos from the location through Ontrack Mobile. Ontrack was initially started by the team at SQS, a street works and utilities contractor, but has since become an independent business that is licensed by contractors and those delivering utilities works.

In 2019, Ontrack were using an on-premise Windows server to run QlikView, which they used to provide daily reports on the status of jobs to their customers. These reports contained complex information that was uploaded overnight and emailed each morning in a simple Excel file using NPrinting. Ontrack realised that their QlikView environment hadn’t been updated and suitably maintained for some time, so they approached Climber for advice on their next steps.

THE APPROACH

We initially recommended that Ontrack moved from their on-premise solution to Climber’s Managed Qlik Services known as MQS, to ensure they could use the latest version of QlikView and NPrinting, without the need to manage their own server and relevant software upgrades. This was a medium-term solution with the view that Ontrack would ultimately move from QlikView to Qlik Sense, utilising the Qlik Cloud platform.

“We thought moving to MQS was going to be very complicated, but we bought support hours from Climber and it worked well. Although we did have initial difficulties with our AWS talking to the MQS Cloud servers, this was overcome quickly.”

Chris Allen, Chief Technology Officer, Ontrack

After working with the MQS environment for a few years, Ontrack felt the time was right to migrate to Qlik Sense on the Qlik Cloud platform. This would remove the need to pay for a Qlik hosting fee to Climber. However, the Ontrack team were concerned that Qlik Sense wouldn’t enable them to continue to email basic reports, as the Qlik Sense functionality was much more interactive than their customers were used to. To put their minds at ease, we offered to demo Qlik Sense to them and the senior team at SQS, as well as providing options as how they could replace their NPrinting solution, which is not compatible with Qlik Cloud.

“The reaction of the CEO and management team was startling – they absolutely loved it! We then had more sessions with SQS and realised they weren’t wedded to receiving emailed daily reports. So, we had the dual excitement of saving money on hosting and creating something new in Qlik Cloud.”

Chris Allen, Chief Technology Officer, Ontrack

The benefits of moving to Qlik Cloud are that all software is fully maintained and supported by Qlik, which gives organisations access to the latest tools and features including Qlik Predict and Qlik Automate. It also removes the need to maintain on-premise servers and software for the operating system, which reduces costs. Development is also simpler as it can be completed using a web browser in the Qlik Cloud platform.

Ontrack have their own in-house resource, so we focused on supporting them to lead the migration to Qlik Cloud.

“If we had needed it, Climber could’ve done it all for us because they are technically very good. They’ve helped us more with the business side of things rather than the licensing side and when we’ve needed tech support they’ve always been there.”

Chris Allen, Chief Technology Officer, Ontrack

THE RESULT

Ontrack are now using their new Qlik Sense environment in Qlik Cloud to engage with their clients. The advanced functionality of Qlik Sense has made users see what is possible and they are now keen to develop it further.

“We have a Qlik meeting with SQS each month and they have had very few problems, they like it! They’re now interested in doing more with it and creating more reports themselves. They also want their finance team to start using it. Our old approach with QlikView was to create reports for users to consume. Now, with Qlik Sense, they can drill down into the data and filter themselves; the interactivity is very powerful.”

Chris Allen, Chief Technology Officer, Ontrack

Looking ahead, Ontrack would love to integrate Qlik Sense into their own solution so that users could see their reports instantly without having to log in to a separate Qlik environment. Our positive relationship with Ontrack, means we will always be on hand to help as their business develops.