Car Analogies Don’t Work For Qlik
It Is More About The Pit Crew… And A Challenge For Tableau Fans!
Earlier this week, I wrote a piece comparing Tableau to a Toyota Camry. A few Tableau users got offended. A few got excited. Few came to #BIMadness to vote.
So now it is Qlik’s turn and I am wondering, do I have a car analogy for that? Sorry Qlikers (my term), it is hardly a Lamborghini or even a used BMW (although the latter is where I was leaning). It occurred to me that the popularity of Qlik has little to do with the software. It gets the job done.
The unique thing about Qlik, the reason it trounces the competition, is the people. The Qlik community is awesome. Hands down and no argument to be had. If the Tableaunians (my term) want to claim awesomeness, too — well perhaps, but that would just put you on par with Qlik.
Look What I Can Do!
I designed data visualization and other expert systems once upon a time. I built them because I needed to get analysis done and every tool available did 10% or less of the job. So I tied them together.
Over the next few years, I sat through dozens of pitches of software that couldn’t hold a candle to what I was doing. It left me jaded. Although today I freely admit that most BI providers have caught up and, quite frankly, blown by anything I could build myself… I am still a hard sell.
I can count on one hand the number of times I have agreed to purchase licenses. Each time, the pitch was given by a third party entirely. Each pitch could be summed up as “look what I can do!”. Not — what this can do. It was GREAT people that sold me on GOOD products.
How do you define GREAT people?
At least in the context of this article, great people demonstrate a few critical traits:
- Passion — they love their product
- Commitment — qlik advocates may change jobs but not tools
- Humility — they admit their tool is only good… not great
- Respect — they realize that they sell tools to craftsmen
Can other companies claim the same?
Perhaps. Personally, I think BI Madness appealed to me most as a tool for finding great people. I suppose it shouldn’t shock me to find the group I already knew was among them.
My challenge to the Tableauvians (I like to change terms) — if you are committed to your products? If you are passionate about your tool? If you have the respect and the humility? Then come vote for your product!
Look, if Tom Brady could come back on the Falcons, than Tableau can still win the 2017 BI Madness championship. So bring it! Voting ends when the buzzer sounds on March Madness. You better hurry.
