Accell Group: One application lifecycle for Qlik and SAP BusinessObjects

The challenge: manage a centralised BI landscape across two platforms

Accell Group centralised its data warehouse, business intelligence and analytics after individual brands and entities had developed separate solutions. The architecture in the reference combined SAP IQ, SAP BusinessObjects and QlikView 11, supporting functions including sales and purchasing across several European countries.

Qlik complements SAP BusinessObjects by supporting mobile self-service analysis. As the environment grew, the BI team needed to organise development, understand dependencies and promote applications in a controlled way.

With at least 12 Qlik applications planned and four developers collaborating, the team wanted an application lifecycle management approach that could cover both Qlik and SAP BusinessObjects while limiting risk and downtime.

The solution: one lifecycle management platform

Accell Group moved from QlikView Script version control to PlatformManager when it became available. This enables the team to organise and control development and promotion across its two BI platforms.

Version control and change management support collaboration between developers. Dependency visibility helps the team understand relationships between BI assets, while the ability to inspect changes and restore an earlier version makes recovery more practical.

The interview with BI team members Bram Talstra, Johan Molenaar and Onno Oosterkamp explains why lifecycle management was part of the team's preparation for a large BI environment.

The results: clearer collaboration and faster restoration

• Version control and change management improve developer collaboration.
• The team manages Qlik and SAP BusinessObjects application lifecycles in one platform.
• The reference reports that earlier versions could be restored within seconds, reducing downtime.
• Visibility into dependencies and changes support impact analysis.
• The BI team reported lower risk, reduced costs and improved output, without assigning a quantified saving to PlatformManager.

The source also discusses benefits from the wider Qlik and data warehouse programme. Those outcomes should be distinguished from the specific application lifecycle improvements attributed to PlatformManager.

Relevant PlatformManager capabilities

Explore PlatformManager for SAP BusinessObjects, QlikView lifecycle management and change tracking. For teams managing several BI technologies, see the wider application lifecycle management approach.

More customer experiences

Explore all PlatformManager customer stories to compare approaches to cloud migration, version control and BI lifecycle management.