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Hello, December; the holiday season has begun for many of us! May all the joys of the holiday season fill your heart and follow you throughout the coming year.
This month, we will introduce you to a rising star in the Qlik Community. He is not only a Qlik Partner but also a Partner Ambassador. As a Partner Ambassador, he goes above and beyond in the Qlik Community to support members and customers by providing solutions, sharing apps in the Qlik Gallery, and staying updated on Qlik product releases. He also supports other partners in the Partner space of the Community by generating discussions and engaging with partner-focused news and events. It is with great pleasure to introduce you to December’s featured member, Jochem Zwienenberg, AKA jochem_zw.
Jochem’s journey, in his own words:
Once upon a time, long, long ago...
No, seriously, when I was 20 years old, I interned at a plastic production company, specifically in the automation department. Back then, they had a Motorola Linux machine running Baan Info Systems software. Our task was to generate management information on paper in list form. This meant printing out 3 to 4 boxes of A3 / A4 paper and delivering them to the director's desk on Monday morning. Later, they transitioned to an IBM AIX machine, but the software remained the same, leading to a lot of list-making for management information, often using 'AWK' scripting. (awf -f......>>Output.asc>>.....??? or something like that)
Later, I moved to another company, delving into a different realm within the field of ICT. I became a Helpdesk worker when Microsoft Windows wasn't standard on PCs, but MS-DOS operated in a character-based environment, WordPerfect 5.1 instead of MS Word, Lotus 1-2-3 instead of MS Excel.
I learned much about PC technology and how to navigate tricky internal employees. I experienced the rise of Microsoft Windows (3.1/3.11 for workgroups) within a Novell network and, later, Windows NT 3.51 (installation based on 35 3.5" disks, you know, that little 'Save' icon in MS products nowadays). I witnessed the emergence of the internet, initially in the form of Compuserve...
I participated in beta testing for Windows 'Chicago,' 'Longhorn,' etc., also known as Windows 95/98. After a few years, I was able to apply for a system administrator position internally. I learned so much about token ring (As/400)/Later Ethernet, cabling, Cisco Routers, Switches, etc., IBM AS/400, RS6000, etc.
Time flies...
After a few more years, I returned to where my heart truly lies—management information within the same company. Initially, it was reporting again, utilizing Business Objects. Soon, the need for comprehensive management information arose, leading to the necessity of a Data Warehouse (DWH). Thus, ETL tools like Business Objects (Data Integrator) and later SAP Data Services were employed to create a DWH from various sources. Through various dashboard developments via Excelsis, I eventually encountered QlikView, which was then in version 7 or 8, if I recall correctly.
With the help of the Qlik community (thanks to @Oleg_Troyansky and others), I learned a lot about QlikView. I engaged in numerous sessions with an external party that developed a method for defining good KPIs within an organization. All these KPIs were shaped into a dashboard/Process Balanced Score Card. After several years, a Qlik consultancy approached me, wondering if I'd like to work for them.
It was a big step after having worked for the government for 20 years, but I took the leap, and now, 12 years later, I'm still content with what I do at Victa BV. Victa is a consultancy company primarily focused on Qlik. We now have complete data management and data science teams to assist clients in this field. Thus, we can offer an end-to-end solution across different platforms. I've witnessed a lot of the history of QlikView and have experienced Qlik Sense from the beta phase (QlikView.Next) to where we stand now with Qlik Cloud. It's been incredibly exciting.
Some may know me from creating these Qlik Dashboards for the Data Challenges, but I will also try to keep doing them. Creating these dashboards keeps me learning ways of visualizing data and keeps me updated on new functionalities in Qlik. I'm thrilled that my contributions to the Community are valued, and I'll continue doing so. Providing solutions to what may seem like a simple question can sometimes be very tricky, so helping others keeps me learning new techniques. After all, this is where I began, and I still remember how happy I was when, after much puzzling, the Community provided a simple solution.
Thank you all!
What an incredible journey! On more personal note, Jochem is married, has 2 children Zoe and Jack. He loves to watch everything related to car racing. He is a big fan of Valentino Rossi and as a dutchman, Max Verstappen.
Please take a moment and give Jochem a like and comment to show how much we appreciate his contributions to the Qlik Community and his journey. Jochem even created this great visual showcasing his extensive professional history with Qlik and Qlik Community. Take a walk down memory lane…
@jochem_zw @SarahUrbiss @Melissa_Potvin @Jamie_Gregory
