In financial institutions, data is not merely ‘business fuel’; it can also be explosive material. There’s a vast amount of it, it’s sensitive, yet every department—from operations to management—demands quick, clear access.
The challenge is that many organizations still rely on solutions implemented years ago: they function, but increasingly hinder development. This was the case at the Centre for Banking Processes and Information (CPBiI), which faced a simple but uncomfortable question: how to further develop analytics when the licensing system and an outdated BI tool version no longer permitted it?
The decision to change was made when it became clear that ‘buying just one more license’ would not solve the problem. A modernization of the Qlik environment was needed—not cosmetic, but from the ground up.
Who is our client?
The Centre for Banking Processes and Information (CPBiI) is an institution serving the financial sector—including banks—in processing and providing data on client operations. In practice, this includes handling processes related to sensitive data, such as PESEL number reservations, information on system usage, or selected operational data.
CPBiI is not a typical ‘report consumer.’ It is an entity that itself provides services and data to banks and other institutions. Therefore, analytics and system usage monitoring are not a ‘nice-to-have’ here, but an integral part of daily operations—also in the context of security and regulatory compliance.
The Challenge
CPBiI was using an old version of Qlik, based on a perpetual (token-based) license model. This model was no longer being developed—new licenses could not be purchased.
In practice, this meant that:
- it was not easy to increase the number of users,
- it was difficult to develop new analytical areas,
- maintaining the old version was becoming increasingly insecure and uneconomical.
The decision to migrate was made when the BI market was already several generations ahead—offering new capabilities, new versions, and a completely different approach to scaling and security. At the same time, CPBiI processed sensitive data, including personal and partially financial information, so moving to the cloud was not an obvious path. The priority remained an On-Premise solution, but one that was modern, scalable, and compliant with best practices.
The existing environment operated on a single virtual machine, without a clear separation between testing and production. With the growing scale of data and Qlik’s role in analysts’ work, this model became a bottleneck—both technically and organizationally.
The Solution
CPBiI decided to migrate to a new, subscription-based version of Qlik Sense, building the environment from scratch. Hogart Business Intelligence became the implementation partner, responsible for both the business and technical aspects of the project.
The process involved several key steps:
- New On-Premise architecture – moving from a single machine to four virtual machines, including a two-node production environment. One node is responsible for administration, the other serves end-users. This ensures that application reloads do not interfere with analysts’ ongoing work.
- Separate test and production environments – in line with best practices, facilitating the development of new applications, testing changes, and securely deploying updates.
- Migration of licenses to a subscription model – paving the way for further scaling and flexible increases in user numbers.
- Environment standardization – an organized directory structure, clear rules for user and access management.
- Administrator training and knowledge transfer – the Hogart Business Intelligence team not only implemented the system but also ensured that CPBiI could manage it independently.
An additional element of the project was the implementation of Hogart Business Intelligence’s Admin Toolbox—a set of tools facilitating Qlik administration, including user and access management, and environment monitoring.
The entire process was technologically complex, as it truly meant building a completely new ecosystem, not just an ‘version upgrade.’ From CPBiI’s perspective, it was crucial that the migration was conducted in a controlled manner, with a clear division of roles and responsibilities.
Benefits
The migration brought a range of effects that directly translate into business value and daily operations:
- Scalability and development – thanks to the subscription model, CPBiI can purchase licenses as needed, without worrying about the limitations of the old system. This opens the door to gradually increasing the number of users and expanding the scope of analysis.
- New functionalities for developers – the current version of Qlik Sense offers richer capabilities, such as more advanced visualizations, better chart color management, and modern UI components. While minor changes occur (like a component name change from ‘button’), the gain far outweighs the adaptation cost.
- Stability and performance – the division into administrative and user nodes helped limit situations where reloading a large application slowed down other users’ work.
- Improved monitoring and security – the Admin Toolbox enabled, among other things, developers to create alerts, as they best understand the logic of their applications. This made data and application activity monitoring more precise, allowing administrators to focus on infrastructure.
- Data centralization – Qlik continues to play a key role in collecting and visualizing data from multiple sources (databases, files, FTP), but in the new environment, it does so faster and more reliably. For some analysts, it is an absolutely essential tool for their work.
For example, CPBiI can now more efficiently monitor the number of PESEL number reservations or other sensitive operations. This translates into better insight into system load, and indirectly, into the quality of services provided to banks and other clients.
Client’s Perspective
A Practical Lesson for the Industry
CPBiI’s story illustrates a typical dilemma for organizations in regulated sectors: how to modernize analytics without losing control over data or risking downtime. In this case, the answer was not the public cloud or a cosmetic update, but a well-thought-out migration to a new, subscription-based version of Qlik Sense, while maintaining an On-Premise environment.
A well-designed architecture, separate environments, administrative tools, and knowledge transfer to the client’s team have enabled CPBiI to develop its analytics at its own pace today—free from licensing blocks and the limitations of the old system. This is an example of a solution that doesn’t promise ‘data revolution’ but quietly delivers what companies truly need: stable growth, better control, and more informed decisions based on reliable information.