Who are QlikView Developers?

QlikView Developers are often lumped into a general ‘IT’ category. I myself take great personal delight in the fact friends and family don’t know what my role as a QlikView developer entails (just because its not a normal job like Doctor, Accountant, Trapeze Artist, etc.) .

Here are my thoughts on what an experienced QlikView Developer does:

Its simple. We are Architects.

The similarity’s are striking. We listen to the wants and needs of our clients, often in a language which can be vague at times. Phrases like, “We need to understand our sales performance so we can plan for the future” can be as open to interpretation as, “We need a space which is light and airy”.

As developers we take these requirements and, using our experience, build on them to create something useful and not just creating a room with lots of windows you can open, its much more than that.

Architects need a number of skills (I’m not an architect although I have friends who are and we discussed this). They need to understand materials, their uses, their strengths and weaknesses They also need to understand design, understand how people will relate to the finished product and how that product will relate to their clients making their life’s easier and enriched.

QlikView Developers need to understand the product and what it can do. They need to understand commands, syntax and how they can be teamed together to resolve a problem or fulfill a requirement. QlikView Developers need to be able to create something that end users will intuitivly understand. Something that hides the complexity of the structure behind a clean, neat, and elegant façade.

QlikView Developers bridge the gap between clients and Database Administrators in a similar way to how an Architects work with they’re clients and the tradesmen. We require very competent communication skills to translate none technical into technical and visa versa in order to develop application and provide training.

We’re on the front line for project planning ensuring everything required to deliver is understood upfront and ready on time and often coordinating many people and departments.

Its this wonderful mix of creativity and technical skills which makes QlikView development very rewarding.