If your company runs on QlikView, you have probably already asked yourself the question: is it time to migrate to Qlik Sense? The short answer is yes, and better by planning than by urgency. Qlik focuses its innovation —cloud, APIs, agentic AI— on Qlik Sense, while QlikView remains supported but without major new features. This is the guide we follow in our migration projects.
If you are still hesitating between the two tools, we recommend reading Qlik Sense vs QlikView before you go on.
Good news: you are not starting from scratch
QlikView and Qlik Sense share the same associative engine (QIX). That completely changes the cost of a migration, because there is a significant part that is reused:
- What is reused: much of the load script (ETL), the connections to sources and the logic of the data model. The syntax is practically the same.
- What has to be rebuilt: the front-end. QlikView’s screens, objects and navigation do not carry over as they are: Qlik Sense has a different visualisation paradigm (responsive, master objects, self-service). Dashboards are rebuilt, not copied.
Understanding this split is the key to budgeting a migration properly.
A phased approach
- Assessment. Take an inventory of your QlikView applications: which are really used, which are duplicated and which can be retired. A migration is the best opportunity not to carry forward what no longer adds value.
- Migrating the script and the model. We move the load script to Qlik Sense applying a Data Layer methodology (extractor, entity and functional layers) that simplifies the code, speeds up loads and guarantees data quality.
- Rebuilding the dashboards. We redesign the applications under Qlik Sense best practices: master objects (reusable dimensions and metrics), responsive design and governed self-service, instead of replicating the old screen as it was.
- Server, security and governance. Configuration of Qlik Sense (On Premise or Qlik Cloud): Security Rules, streams or spaces, users and licences. Row- and column-level security is redesigned from the outset, not bolted on afterwards.
- Training and adoption. Qlik Sense opens the door to self-service, and that only adds value if users know how to take advantage of it.
Qlik’s tools (and their limits)
Qlik offers conversion utilities that help kick off the migration of QlikView applications to Qlik Sense. They are useful for speeding up the starting point, but it is worth being honest: they do not perform a “one-click” migration. They convert structure, not judgement. Redesigning the experience and optimising the model still need expert hands.
Common mistakes we avoid
- Migrating 1:1. Replicating the QlikView screen pixel by pixel wastes everything Qlik Sense does better. To migrate is also to modernise.
- Forgetting the semantic layer and security. If you do not redesign definitions and permissions, you carry the old problems over to the new platform.
- Not training users. Self-service without training ends up as QlikView with a different face.
- Trying to do everything at once. Better to migrate by domain (sales, customers…) and demonstrate value early.
What you gain by migrating
Cloud, web and mobile access, governed self-service, APIs and automation, and the door opened to Qlik’s agentic AI. In practice, you go from having a platform that is merely maintained to one that keeps growing.
At Digital Fox Data we have spent years migrating and optimising Qlik environments —with a Qlik Luminary on the team— and we cover the whole process with our Qlik consulting, from assessment to training with our Qlik courses. Do you have QlikView and want to plan the leap to Qlik Sense? Let’s talk.