This topic describes the key workflow, application example, features, benefits, and development of Quick BI.

Overview

Alibaba Cloud Quick BI is a next-generation intelligent business intelligence (BI) service platform. It is designed for users on the cloud. Quick BI allows you to analyze large amounts of data online in real time. It also supports drag-and-drop operations and rich visualization features to help you analyze data, explore business data, and generate reports. Quick BI is a tool that allows you to view data. It can also be used to accelerate digital operations.

The following figure shows the core workflow of Quick BI.Core workflow

Features

  • Powerful data engine: The built-in high-speed cloud computing engine can be used to compute hundreds of millions of data records within seconds.
    • Rich data sources: Quick BI can access online data sources, local data sources, and cloud databases.
    • High-speed query engine: A high-performance engine is used. It adopts patented technologies to accelerate queries.
    • Data association: Heterogeneous data of different sources can be associated for data query.
  • Rich and flexible data visualization and analysis components: Rich built-in charts are provided to support multi-dimensional Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) analysis.
    • Rich visualization components: Quick BI provides 40 types of charts for data visualization, including cross table, kanban, and pie chart.
    • Flexible, intelligent OLAP analysis capabilities: Drill-down analysis, filter interaction, and intelligent prediction analysis are supported.
    • Workbooks: Workbooks allow you to perform row and column filtering, data filtering, subtotal and total calculation, and conditional formatting. Workbooks also allow you to export data and process text and tables.
  • Platform for enterprise-level data permission management: Quick BI provides fine-grained data permission management, and supports adaptive data presentation on mobile terminals, large screens, and multiple terminals.
    • Enterprise-level data security control: Quick BI provides fine-grained permission management based on user groups of all levels.
    • Data sharing: You can share workspaces with other users, make them public, or embed them in other systems. This meets the requirements of different data sharing scenarios.
    • Seamless integration with mobile terminals and large screens: After you configure Quick BI on a PC, Quick BI automatically adapts to mobile terminals and large screens.

For more information about Quick BI features, see QuickBI details page.

Benefits

  • Seamless integration with cloud databases

    Supports multiple data sources, including cloud databases, relational databases, and Hadoop and MPP data sources.

  • Quick building of BI portals

    Supports drag-and-drop operations and provides powerful data modeling capabilities and various visual charts to help you build BI portals.

  • Intelligent data analysis and interaction

    Provides chatbots for intelligent data insights and alerts.

  • Data permission management

    Supports member management and row-level permission management. Different users can be authorized to view different parts of a report.

Development

In August 2017, Quick BI was upgraded based on the experience of developers and users to include the advantages of related Alibaba Cloud services and the features of domestic and international competitive products. Quick BI is now widely used in retail, financial, media, catering, and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries.

In September 2018, Quick BI was upgraded to V3.0. In V3.0 and later versions, data sources such as OSS, Sybase IQ, SAP HANA, and Vertica are supported. Quick BI uses multi-dimensional OLAP analysis and a high-speed query engine to achieve high-performance queries and analysis. The BI process is simplified to improve user experience.

Quick BI works with Dataphin to help enterprises build their in-house Data Mid-Ends and achieve the goal of intelligent business. Dataphin provides an end-to-end intelligent solution to create and manage data. Quick BI is designed to analyze and present data that is created by using Dataphin with various visual charts and reports.