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How University of East London built QlikView prototype in 1 day

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Industry

Higher Education

Challenge

UEL's IT team struggled with a decade-old OLAP system creating data silos, making new application development infrequent and maintenance costly.

Results

We delivered a unified student data platform, deployed to 70 users in under a month, enabling split-second analysis across previously separate systems.

Key products

Qlik

uel.ac.uk
1 day
prototype build
70
users deployed rapidly
Split
second response times
JISC
project funding secured

"Being able to integrate a wide range of data into one application has proved hugely beneficial and the rapid development capability has meant that we have already superseded our previous management information capacity."

Gary Tindell

BI Project Manager

Pathways-Feature-Image-London-UEL-Homepage-10-1024x682

About University of East London

The University of East London is a careers-first public university with over 40,000 students from more than 160 countries across campuses in Stratford and Docklands. Founded in 1898, UEL was named University of the Year for Teaching Quality 2025 and ranks 1st in London for student experience.

With 57% of students being the first in their family to attend university, UEL focuses on preparing diverse learners for sustainable careers of the future.

The challenge

UEL developed their first Management Information System in 2001 using OLAP technology. Over a decade, their Oracle data warehouse grew significantly. Escalating maintenance costs meant developing new applications became infrequent.

The university recognised they needed to upgrade their business intelligence capability.

Managers wanted access to much broader information ranges to enhance strategic planning and implement their new corporate strategy.

 

The solution

On day one of QlikView installation, the UEL Business Intelligence Team built a working prototype student data application without any previous QlikView experience.

The deployment used QlikView's 64-bit Server for high performance with large datasets. Users access the system through web browsers using Ajax technology. Key managers received two-hour training sessions to use the Student Lifecycle application.

 

The results

Within a month, UEL integrated student enrolment and applicant data into one application. These had previously been separate systems. Users can now visualise complex data through dashboards and Google Maps integration.

The rapid development capabilities helped UEL secure JISC project funding. The system provides split-second response times for queries and analysis. Users interact by mouse click, selecting filters and viewing results instantly.

The integrated application enabled UEL to gain greater understanding of student recruitment, particularly applicant to enrolment conversion rates based on postcodes. This allows them to intelligently select areas for concentrated recruitment activities.

"This new, integrated application has enabled us to gain a greater understanding of student recruitment, particularly in terms of applicant to enrolment conversion rates based on postcodes. As a consequence, we can now intelligently select areas in which to concentrate our recruitment activities."

Gary Tindell, BI Project Manager

 

"Seeing Gary's team build their first QlikView prototype on day one, then scale to 70 users within a month, shows the power of putting rapid development capabilities directly into our clients' hands. When a university secures additional JISC funding based on the success of our work together, that's the kind of commercial outcome that makes these partnerships so rewarding.

Steve Sapseid, Sector Manager at Ometis

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