Closing the gap between data integration and business intelligence is key in allowing your business to make effective use of data and translate it into action. And trust in your data is vital, as outlined by global professional services network PwC, which says organisations that don’t trust their information tend to waste time debating the data itself, rather than discussing what the analytics mean.

This point was reiterated by Tuna Yemisci, Regional Director - Middle East, Africa & East Med at Qlik. He was speaking at the recent Johannesburg leg of the QlikWorld Tour - an annual global conference for professionals working within the field of data analytics and data integration.

During his keynote address, Yemisci clarified: “Qlik enables customers to move from raw data to informed action, even to the extent of having human action triggered when it is needed, in real time. Qlik enables organisations to connect everything  to be business ready, allowing you to act on your data - enabled by both artificial intelligence and machine learning - as well as taking comfort from knowing that trust and governance issues are included.”

In this regard, Yemisci added that Qlik was proud to have been recognised by Gartner as a Leader in Analytics and Business Intelligence platforms for the 13th year in a row.

“The move to the cloud has helped business facilitate many of IT’s previous infrastructure challenges, but also raised new issues. Companies in emerging markets like South Africa face the same IT challenges as the rest of the world, but with additional key issues of their own.  This includes data collection and data quality; infrastructure and how to invest in cloud, hybrid or on-premises; data integration and governance; scalability; and ensuring that best-of-breed tools are used, which should be easy to deploy.”

Yemisci also introduced delegates to the breaking news of Qlik’s global unveiling of a comprehensive suite of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, known as Qlik Staige: “With Qlik Staige, companies can accelerate their innovation and decision-making processes by integrating secure, governed AI and automation seamlessly into their workflows.”