Qlik Customers Step Forward To Help Each Other During COVID-19

Indeed, it seems this disruption across organizations, markets and society has propelled us to be more connected. At Qlik, we’re always looking to foster customers’ learning to raise and enrich their business capabilities. This could never be on better display than during three recent webinars we hosted as part of our Customers Helping Customers series over the past few weeks with some of our key clients in Supply Chain, Financial Services, the Public Sector and Healthcare industries. For the events, which had attendees from across the globe, our customer speakers graciously offered their time and insights – joined by Julie Kae, our head of Corporate Responsibility and other experts from Qlik – in sharing their challenges and approaches to business continuity in their own industries.

Our Supply Chain session included customers Joe Easley (Odyssey Logistics and Technology Corporation) and Javier Leon (Amazon Produce Network), who emphasized the scope of the logistical challenges posed by COVID-19 and the importance of sharing best practices. Some of these challenges included inventory tracking, preventing perishable goods spoilage, ensuring the safety of carriers in hotspots, and being vigilant about the volatility of supply and demand. In particular, Joe noted that all organizations need to meaningfully engage with data to navigate through this crisis; that data needs to sufficiently detailed, accurate and timely to be useful; and that data literacy at all levels needs to be encouraged.

Jonathan Cheris (Sterling Bank), Nick Blewden (Lloyds) and Laura Ashworth (Raymond James) joined the Financial Services event, which was headed up by Qlik’s Paul Van Siclen. Each observed that while the financial markets are currently unstable and will likely be for the near future, business continuity plans are being deployed to ensure clients still have access to financial services, particularly given the environment of austerity and retrenchment created by COVID-19. Laura and Jonathan both noted that emotional resiliency is key and that finding ways to de-stress were crucial to performance and personal health. The through lines they each observed were collaboration, less data guarding, and more consensus building. Having more check-ins with teammates certainly helps, too, which I strive to do with my own team and encourage all organizations to explore.

For me personally, one of the most impactful events in the series was the Public Sector and Healthcare industries session, led by Qlik’s Heather Gittings, who was joined by Lori Mongold (Army G3/5/7), Chris Hansford (the UK Cabinet Office) and Rob O'Neill (NHS Trust Morecambe Bay). Nowhere are the effects of COVID-19 more poignant and more profound than in these industries, where frontline workers and government officials are tirelessly working to save lives. Lori spoke about the Army’s overriding mandate to protect and serve, an unwavering promise of support that must be successfully executed to ensure the safety of the populace in far-flung parts of the world and in local communities. She went on to remark that, although fighting COVID-19 isn’t done on a traditional battlefield with a physical enemy, the Army’s rapid response and mobilization ethic led to the creation of a COVID-19 task force, charged with using data to create situational analyses, draw up strategies, and disseminate information on the ground for senior Army officials to make informed decisions for maximum positive impact.

The Customers Helping Customer series, which provides deep insights into how various industries are grappling with COVID-19, is the first phase of a larger effort we are undertaking at Qlik to bring customers together in various formats and settings from different geographies. In the coming months, we will be holding additional events, including region specific sessions, as we launch a more formal Qlik Customer Exchange Network that in the future will also include in-person events to continue sharing across a variety of topics.

Lastly, I’d like to send out our sincere thanks to all our participating customers and also to Julie Kae and Qlik.org. Through data and analytics, Qlik.org drives positive change at the intersection of business, society and our environment, so everyone, everywhere can enjoy a healthy and prosperous future. Julie’s work through Qlik.org has been instrumental in helping forge partnerships and alliances during the COVID-19 crisis, resulting in amazing applications for organization like Direct Relief and the Asian Development Bank, and her words of wisdom were reflected in each of these webinars.

I hope you, your colleagues and your friends will join us, as we learn and grow from each other during this challenging time.

I invite you to watch the three events by clicking here.