Loading data into QlikView from public APIs has always been something of a challenge, often requiring complex macros, load scripts or external executables to do the work (I have even posted various macro based solutions on this blog before here, here and here).

I was never happy with the solutions I saw or that I came up with personally but the requirement for better API connectivity kept growing - we even started using more and more online systems for our own business (particularly for CRM online and accounting and we also make heavy use of Google Spreadsheets) so getting all this great data into QlikView became a personal pain point.

QVSource, our latest product, aims to address this and in doing so we hope will make QlikView the best connected BI tool. There is a great deal of information over on the website (specifically the documentation wiki) where you can also request a free download and start playing with the beta, so I don't need to repeat it here - but in simple terms the goal is to allow QlikView users to start downloading data from their favourite APIs in minutes and with minimum technical ability (usually you just need to punch in a username/password or API key and start selecting the tables you are interested in).

Connectors are already available for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google Analytics, Google Spreadsheets, OData, MongoDB, Sentiment Analysis, Twitter trust and other influence metrics and more.

For .NET developers we also working an an SDK which allows QlikView connectors to be built in hours rather than days (or weeks) - The SDK takes care of a number of common tasks such as authentication (including OAuth), caching, settings management, converting from xml/json to DataTables, password encryption, distribution/updating and more. The Twitter connector was actually built by a partner using the SDK.

QVSource is currently a functional beta so please give it a go and let us know what you think and what APIs you would like to see connectors for.

The article Eleven BI trends for 2011 caught my eye this week. The author does state that the 11 points are in no particular order but the first in the list is this:

Excel hell still predominates. IT might hate Microsoft Excel, but it really is the choice of tool for most businesspeople. They love the freedom and individual choice it confers on them – even though it can create multiple versions of the truth. Best advice: accept the fact that users want Excel, introduce best practices, and ensure that all instances of Excel run against a single version of the truth. Spreadmarts aren't management's or non-Microsoft vendors' flavour of the day, but users can't be fought forever.

(emphasis is my own)

It's interesting to see this recognised as a point for the coming year as it's exactly what QVExcel, a product we released at the end of 2010, aims to help support.

We appreciate that as far as is possible it can be preferable for QlikView to be used in place of Excel but, as the piece suggests, 'users can't be faught forever' - or more in line with our experience, there can still be scenarios where the layout and formatting requirements for a report can't quite match the flexibility and 'pixel-perfect' opportunities offered by Excel.

We've just produced the following short 6 minute video which walks through the main features of QVExcel and finishes up showing some typical financial reports which can quickly be built using the Add-in (QVExcel is a simple Add-in to Excel). There is of course more information, screenshots and a free trial available over at the website.