FAQ | OQLIS Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs
We have put together some commonly asked questions to give you more information about our OQLIS Software.
If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact us on [email protected]
OQLIS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is OQLIS?
OQLIS is a cloud analytics application that makes Business Intelligence, Data Automation, and Machine Learning part of any application without the need for the application owner to spend millions developing the functionality.
OQLIS makes it easy for users of any skill level to interrogate their data and build reports and dashboards in an intuitive drag-on-drop interface, you can share your discoveries and collaborate across the organisation in a safe and secure way.
Why use OQLIS?
OQLIS empowers people to make impactful decisions and drive positive change within their business, using Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence. It is a deeply agile Data Intelligence Software, and one of its superpowers is to unify data from multiple sources, quickly and easily, allowing for one view and automated reporting.
What is Business Intelligence (BI) Software as a Service (SaaS)?
Software as a Service business intelligence (SaaS BI) is a delivery model for business intelligence in which applications are typically deployed outside of a company’s firewall at a hosted location and accessed by an end user with a secure Internet connection. Also known as on-demand BI or cloud BI, the technology is sold by vendors on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis.
Does my organisation require Business Intelligence and reporting?
Every company needs BI reporting that works well, so that employees, managers, and owners can see what is going on at a glance, and can thoroughly analyse the underlying data. Reporting can be done directly on operational systems like ERP, CRM, or data warehouses. Ideally, reporting should be part of your Business Intelligence platform, so you should consider using Business Intelligence tools to do reporting.
What are the advantages of the OQLIS BI SaaS offering?
- SaaS BI lets companies use BI tools without having to install, operate, and maintain them on-premise, freeing customers to concentrate on creating BI reports and analytic queries.
- Organizations can potentially start using SaaS BI technology more quickly than waiting for the installation of on-premise software, and the SaaS approach enables them to expand their BI systems as usage grows without having to make any capital-equipment purchases.
- SaaS BI can be a good choice when there’s little or no budget money available for buying BI software and related hardware. Because there aren’t any upfront purchase costs or additional staffing requirements needed to manage the BI system.
- The total cost of ownership (TCO) is substantially lower than it is with on-premise software.
Is my Data secure when I use OQLIS analytics?
Yes, OQLIS uses the following measures to ensure that data is secure.
- The OQLIS website is protected by 256-bit encryption and secure HTTPS authentication.
OQLIS accesses the database with a read-only user, created by the customers’ database custodian and can be removed at any time. - A single IP address is registered on port 1433 of a customer’s firewall (or for further security, a randomised port can be used), to ensure that only the OQLIS server can connect using a read-only user on the database.
- The customer-designated administrator assigns security rights to all users that log onto the system, this includes the right to view and change any reports within the system. NO users can alter data.
- The customer database architect is responsible for creating query structures for the database to explore the functionality and assigning these rows and tables within the database to the authorised stakeholders.
Who owns my data?
You as the customer own your data, OQLIS does not store your data on its servers but only the result at the time of SQL query. This means your data will remain on your server where the data is housed and will not leave your server.
Can OQLIS host my data for me?
Yes, definitely. OQLIS can help you set up a data warehouse using a high-performance analytical database ready for fast dashboarding.
Where is the OQLIS SaaS platform hosted?
OQLIS is housed in various data centers around the globe, namely Google Cloud, Hetzner, and Digital Oceans Cloud Platforms. If required OQLIS can be hosted in your data center, where your IT department will be responsible for securing the application.
Can OQLIS scale as per my business needs?
Yes, the OQLIS platform is designed to scale as per ongoing customers’ requirements, and in theory, is unlimited. The only limitation is based on the capacity of our or your data center infrastructure. All queries are conducted on the database at the origin, reducing reliance on bandwidth and infrastructure.
Does OQLIS require any specific infrastructure?
OQLIS is a SaaS application, with no additional hardware required, however, has the flexibility to be installed on a customer’s site if so required. OQLIS uses the latest web technologies and each user connects via a web browser, therefore no software needs to be installed on a client’s computer / Laptop / Tablet or even a smartphone.
Does OQLIS need an internet connection to operate?
The application can be presented anywhere where there is an internet connection or a network.
Does OQLIS offer an on-premise BI Offering?
Yes, we understand that certain customers and industries will not adopt off-premise solutions due to data sovereignty and legislation. For this purpose, OQLIS can be installed on both a Microsoft platform (Windows Server & Microsoft SQL) or alternatively on Open source technology (Linux Ubuntu with MySQL).
Which databases does OQLIS connect to?
OQLIS can connect to various databases, MySQL, MySQL SSH, Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, PostgreSQL SSH, Amazon Redshift, Oracle, Dremio, Google BigQuery, Applications API’s and CSV imports.
How does OQLIS query your database?
OQLIS uses SQL queries and stored procedures, thereby ensuring access to skills and not “reinventing the wheel” when it comes to setting up customer queries.
Can OQLIS share dashboards and embed these dashboards in various applications?
Yes, each dashboard can be shared and embedded into a public-facing website or application. This is done by means of an embedded iframe or an API connection string.
How easy is it to train new users to use the OQLIS platform?
OQLIS has developed an “in-application help function” that assists any business user in navigating through the various functional screens and makes the process super simple. Technical resources are usually only required to set up data connections and data models, however, OQLIS can connect to existing database views and stored procedures.
Does OQLIS support self-service initiatives for BI users to develop their own reporting?
Yes, OQLIS is designed to make the data journey for any business user super simple from the developer (Explore screen) to a functional dashboard, this is achieved by adding easy-to-adopt shortcut keys in the menus of each screen, as well as an intuitive drag and drop canvas to interactively create various views of your data.
What security and collaboration features make OQLIS unique?
- The application of virtual folder structures that are secured with user access pre-defined by an administrator, allows the user to create and modify charts with co-workers, in a familiar interface.
- Embedded Visualisation, which can be shared or embedded into a web-enabled application, and shared within or outside the organisation.
- Pre-filter API allows role-based data filtering under security rules, this can be based on role, department, company, location, and division.
- The flexibility of creating dashboards in an easy “drag and drop” way, allows users with basic computer skills to explore their own data to make informed decisions.
- View users have full functionality to explore and drill into their information, which gives a user experience without the risks of data manipulation.
- The dual Security feature built into the application ensures total segregation of associated users; firstly roles-based data model (connection into the database), and secondly, virtual folder user authentication. This ensures dashboards are not distributed to users who may not view or collaborate with them.
Can OQLIS be “White Labeled” to look like my own BI Tool?
Yes, this is one of the major advantages of OQLIS, the application can be re-branded to look and feel like your own Business intelligence application. Many OQLIS customers use this function extensively to enhance their own applications.
Customers receive the benefit of embedding OQLIS while not needing to worry about ongoing improvements (that is what we are passionate about), OQLIS is continually enhancing functionality and ease of use to make sure we offer the best solution.
Does OQLIS cater to data automation?
Yes, OQLIS has an automation module that caters for data automation. Live data can be monitored for event breaches, these breaches can be set in terms of static or calculated thresholds a good example is production averages. If these breaches occur a trigger is activated with a predefined outcome, this trigger can be in the form of an alert, or an action is written back into the database. These alerts include but are not limited to API calls, email alerts, SMS alerts, Voice calls, Whatsapps, etc.
What problems does OQLIS address?
- OQLIS reduces the TIME it takes for your customers to fully utilise Business Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. All functionality is seamlessly built into a single application.
- Scalable performance: Ability to place OQLIS on various technologies and scales for any customer’s ongoing requirements.
- Self Services: A broader audience of SKILLS can develop and manage insights within the OQLIS application
- Security: One place where all users can interrogate data and only see what is important to them.
- Easy to manage: All dashboards and Machine Learning models are presented in an easy and accessible way. Users of any skill level can make this important decision seamlessly.
Can my business afford OQLIS?
Can your business afford not to implement OQLIS? The fact that billing is based in South African Rand and the fact that we offer unlimited user logins are some of the factors that make OQLIS very affordable, not to mention that the solution often times pays for itself in time and cost savings.
How is OQLIS different from leading global BI software?
OQLIS listens and adapts or upgrades the system per the client’s requirements. We aim to be at the forefront of the latest BI.