Roles and responsibilities of a consultant

The previous section gave an idea about being a consultant and why a developer must look at progressing towards being a consultant.

This section will cover the overview of the roles and responsibilities of a consultant. The subsequent chapters will cover these in greater detail.

Roles of a consultant

The roles of a consultant can be summarized as:

• Interacting with business users
• Understanding the data sources
• Setting the expectations correctly
• Designing the perfect solution
• Planning the Go-live
• Planning for the future road-map

Interacting with business users

This is one of the most crucial phases of any BI project. This phase involves spending time with end users, understanding the business challenges, and the goals of the function and organization at large.

Usually, it’s not possible to get everything in a single meeting and several follow-up meetings will be required. Business users will fall in to various categories. There will be senior management, middle management, and regular users. Each of these profiles of business users will have different sets of expectations and KRAs. It’s important to map all these users as their buy-in is important for a project's success.

Understanding the data sources

One of the reasons people look at implementing BI solutions is to have a single source of truth. The technological advancements have made data spread across different applications. It’s important for the consultant to understand all the data sources. There could be Excel sheets, ERPs, cloud CRM, social media applications, big data, and legacy applications.

Qlik can usually connect to most of the data sources, but a recheck is important to ensure that it does. If a direct connection is not possible, alternate ways need to be explored. It could be as simple as taking CSV dump from that data source, or it could be using the SDK to write a custom connector.

Setting the expectations correctly

This is an often-neglected factor which later leads to disgruntlement among the users, and can lead to feeble adoption and project failures. It’s important to discuss with the users what is possible and what is not. Any workarounds which are possible should also be discussed. If a non-Qlik solution is being used, the business users may be accustomed to the way the earlier software worked.

The way a functionality worked in earlier software may be different in Qlik. Alternately, a consultant may need to look at other ways to achieve the exact functionality using extension objects. All of these need to be discussed, so that the users know what to expect and you can avoid backlash at a later time. Most of the non-Qlik BI solutions are query based and the reports developed in such solutions may show near real-time data. The consultant should discuss these aspects as well and prioritize which data needs to be refreshed at frequent intervals and which can be done at a periodic intervals.

Designing the perfect solution

A perfect foundation is required to build a structurally strong building. Similarly, a consultant has a crucial role to play in planning the solution. The solution architecture must be robust, scalable, and flexible. One of the important reasons for lower adoption is poor performance. Business users will not have the patience to wait for data to be refreshed when they select something.

The consultant must take this into account and understand all the factors which affect performance. For multi-geographical deployments, ensure multi-node deployments. The business users are always paranoid about security aspects. Qlik is very good at governance and security, and offers powerful ways to meet the security requirements. Modeling and design also play important roles.

The UI should be simple and intuitive. Since Qlik is based on responsive HTML 5 design and offers single development for laptops and handhelds, the design too should be well-thought of to make it easy for the users to use in multiple form factors.

Plan the Go-live

The consultant must properly plan the Go-live stage. The users, being new to the system, will be anxious and will expect a lot of support. This part of the project can be made easy with a planned UAT phase.

The consultant takes care of the minutest details to ensure client satisfaction. Simple factors like single sign-on can make the initial experience satisfying for the users. The queries raised should be addressed as soon as possible. Make the documents/manuals easily accessible to the users. Users accessing during non-office hours should also be able to refer to the same.

Plan for the future road-map

This, too, is an important point which gets missed out. Organizations start with functions which are high priority for them and subsequently roll it out to other functions. A function that potentially has a large user base may not have been considered and then suddenly the architecture may run into performance issues.

The consultant must also make a note of the rate at which data is growing and plan accordingly. The Qlik platform approach makes it a very versatile solution, allowing it to be used as embedded analytics as well. Hence, the consultant must plan if the organization is wanting to extend analytics to external users.

A consultant carries huge responsibilities, as he/she must implement the solution from start to end. A consultant must get involved in all the phases of development.

Responsibilities of a consultant

The responsibilities of a consultant can be summarized as :

• Doing value adds
• Documentation
• Implementing best practices
• User Acceptance and Training (UAT)
• Post Go-live

Doing value adds

Business users broadly fall into two categories:

• Users who are new to Analytics
• Users who have been using an existing solution

The consultant must have different approaches for both the sets of users.

The consultant, while doing the requirement gathering, should also come up with suggestions which will be beneficial to the client. Any alternate approach which may better the end result should be proactively suggested. The value add should happen in UI aspects and even future road-maps.

Documentation

A great way to ensure that all major and minor points are noted is in the form of documentation. Documentation must happen in all the phases of projects. The consultant must ensure that he/she is prepared for requirement gathering stage by having a proper questionnaire.

This approach ensures nothing gets missed out. The requirements must be scoped, and if required, be broken into functional and technical parts. A project plan with timelines and a responsibility matrix helps both of the parties and avoids confusions. All prerequisites and system requirements from an infrastructure perspective should be documented and sent to the client.

A good approach is to run through the documents jointly with the concerned stakeholders and then take acceptance. Before the actual development starts, it’s important for the consultant to ensure that he/she and the client are on the same page. The documentation part takes some time, but shouldn't be ignored or taken lightly. A consultant must ensure that timely communication is sent out to the client during the development phases and that regular reviews are done to avoid last minute surprises.

Implementing best practices

Once a solution has been designed and agreed to by the client, the implementation process starts. Implementation has various stages, including the installation of Qlik Sense software, connection to the data sources, data modeling, user interface, validation, and testing. Using the best practices plays an important role in the performance of the software and helps with ease of use. The best practices also improve the flexibility and help increase adoption.

Best practices include writing perfect logic to do incremental data loads. Incremental loads help with faster data refreshes and at same time ease the load on the source systems. If multiple options are available, choose the one which gives better performance; for example, if you have the option of using ODBC or OLEDB, choose OLEDB, as OLEDB gives better performance.

A good approach is to make development as modular as possible. This approach makes the code flexible and easily manageable. The data modeling should be optimized to ensure performance even with an increase in data volumes.

The UI is another critical piece which has a direct impact on how the end user perceives the software. Ensure the Qlik Sense application is neatly categorized and the Dashboarding Analysis and Reporting (DAR) approach is followed. A sheet should be pleasing to the eyes. Too many objects make it difficult for the end users to comprehend.

Aspects like comments in code and brief descriptions of logic shouldn’t be ignored. Validation and test cases should be done thoroughly. Nothing irritates the user more than seeing incorrect data.

User Acceptance and Training (UAT)

Once the development is over, the crucial phase of User Acceptance and Training (UAT) starts. Just like a good trailer propels user interest and adds to the value of a movie, the UAT phase is where the consultant starts creating excitement in the end users. A lot of effort is required to make this phase successful.

A lot of time needs to be spent with the end users to make them comfortable. After validation from the consultant side, validation must also be undertaken by the end users. Any deviations should be noted and promptly fixed. Validations should be done thoroughly. Security aspects such as role based access, application rights, and data level security should be taken care of. On completion of the validation part, significant time should be allocated for user training.

The creation of an easy and user friendly manual must be done beforehand. Always remember that though you know the system thoroughly, the system is new for the user. Trainings should be conducted with small user sets. The size of batches for training should be such that every end user can be given attention. Record the sessions, thus making it easy for the user to refer back to it whenever required.

Simple, self-explanatory how-to videos (for example, how to make selection) make the user comfortable. Seeing a video is always easier than going through lengthy paragraphs! The training, if required, should be repeated. Ensure that the users are comfortable and can do the basic stuff easily. Allow the users to use it on both their laptops and handhelds. Also, publish a FAQ document.

Post Go-live

Once the project goes live, it’s not the time to relax! This phase will decide the adoption of the software and the overall success of the project. Use the Qlik Monitoring application to check all critical parameters, such as System performance.

Ensure all reload jobs are executing properly and that users see the correct data. Look for users who aren’t using the system. This can be infectious and spread to other users. Address their concerns and ensure a positive word spreads about the software. Plan an adoption strategy with the stakeholders.

At some organizations, the carrot and stick approach may be required. One good way to drive adoption is to ensure senior management uses it regularly; educate them on the benefits of doing their reviews on the Qlik application. Once the seniors start using the software, the other users are bound to start using it too. Identify your internal champion who will keep up the adoption drive once your job is over.

Qlik keeps releasing newer versions. Lot of times, new functionalities are introduced. A consultant must also plan for these upgrades. This gives an additional opportunity for the consultant to touch base with the end users by conducting a follow-up workshop/training.