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January 29, 2009

What Makes Ad Hoc Reporting Software Easy to Use?

Here's the big irony of ad hoc reporting software. It's designed by techies while being aimed at nontechnical users.

OK, you'll say, but that's the case with most end-user software, so what's the biggie? To which I'll reply, sure. That's why no end-user software has ever failed after teeing off thousands of frustraded users, right?

Right.

So, if you are a company looking to add ad hoc reporting to your BI arsenal, how do you know you are not about to equip your end-users with something that will frustrate rather than help?

The solution is: easy
To use, that is. But what does this mean in practical terms? After all, what's easy for me may not be easy for you and viceversa.

In the context of ad hoc reporting software, easy means two things:

1 - Possessing a solid set of basics. I'm talking about the famous 20% that solves 80% of practical problems. These basics need to be so simple to use that even a half-trained monkey would be able to navigate through them in a way that will make a difference in his job (the end-user's, not the monkey's).

2 - Possessing the more advanced stuff, but as a clear different step for the end user.

What do I mean? If you want to look at good end-user products, look at the better point and shoot digital cameras. They have a mode selector wheel with a little red heart that means "use this if you just want to take a snapshot, and don't you worry about anything else." So, with this camera in this setting, aunt Camelia or uncle Larry only have to worry about not keeping their finger in the way of the lens and voila'. That's all they need.

However, these cameras also have advanced settings. Say Camelia and Larry get fancy and want to start taking pictures that rival those captured with SLRs costing ten times as much, the features are there. This is where my point 2 comes into play.

The same goes with ad hoc reporting software. The better ad hoc solutions give the end-user the absolute basics of reporting and analysis in a simple, foolproof wizard-driven format, which enables the user to a) adopt the solution without being scared of it and b) start using it to solve his problems.

But these solutions also have the more "advanced" features, presented in a way that don't look like must-know-the-first-time necessities, but eventually-nice-to-have extras. This way, the more advanced user can use them right the first time, while the more computer-shy one can reserve them for later while creating and using his own reports without having to run, hat in hand, to your IT department every time.

Nice two-step. One step easy-now, two step fan-cy, one step easy-now, two step fan-cy... That's the rhythm of successful ad hoc reporting software.

In the end, remember this: failed adoption and too much reliance on IT is the major reason why BI projects fail. So, caveat emptor.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

Web-based Ad Hoc Dashboards

Ad hoc reporting is all about empowering end-users to become experts in their area of business through complete access to the data that matters. One of the most powerful tools in the ad hoc reporting arsenal are web-based ad hoc dashboards. Ad hoc dashboards are single web pages on which the end user can place the information that matters to him, giving him a single view of what's critical to the efficient running of his business.

For example, the end-user can place critical metrics in the form of charts and graphs, web pages monitoring, for example, the movements of a financial index, and, in short, any other information that is relevant to him.

On the surface, this tool may sound a bit intimidating to end-users new to creating their own reporting and analysis space through ad hoc reporting. But this does not have to be the case at all.

A powerful but user-friendly ad-hoc reporting solution will enable end-users to easily create their own ad-hoc dashboards in mere hours--with more experienced users doing so in even less time. Especially with the advent of web-based reporting, creating your own ad hoc dashboard is not that much different than creating your own My Space or My Yahoo page--which are in fact web-based ad hoc dashboards.

The benefits of ad hoc dashboards are too many to list, but here are a few:

- Freeing IT from creating dozens or hundreds of different dashboards for different needs
- Letting the end-user place the information that truly matters to him on the dashboard, and change it as he pleases
- Giving the end-user the power to monitor and act upon critical metrics
- Adoption: once end-users see how easy it is to set up and use their own dashboards, BI adoption will be a sure thing and your investment will bear fruit.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 7:45 AM | Comments (4)

January 18, 2009

Ad Hoc Metadata Database--The Smart Alternative to a Data Warehouse

Let's face it. A data warehouse, while ideal for optimizing data for reporting and analysis, is often a luxury, especially for small and midsize firms. A data warehouse is complex to put in place and is expensive in terms of both cash and IT resources. In the real world, most companies of this size query more or less directly their transactional databases--that is, their CRM, HRM and ERP databases. This does save time and money, but it creates also some problems.

In particular, how does querying your transactional databases impact the implementation of ad hoc reporting?

When implementing an ad hoc reporting software, most CIOs run into several concerns. These concerns have to do mostly with the fact that, from the time the ad hoc software is implemented, their company will have dozens and in some cases hundreds of end-users reporting directly from their transactional databases. This can create problems on many levels, including but not limited to:

- Security concerns
- Data-safety concerns
- Non-standardization of data
- Concerns about the load placed on the transactional databases at query time

Many companies--especially small to midsize companies operating on finite resources--have gotten around this problem by equipping themselves with an ad hoc reporting solution that comes with the possibility to create a metadata database.

What is a metadata database?
A metadata database is what its name suggests: a database about data. It is a "ghost" database in which data mirrors that found in the transactional databases. Creating this metadata database while implementing an ad hoc reporting solution is the realm of the system administrator.

What are the benefits of a metadata database vis a vis ad hoc reporting?
Let's remember that the goal of ad hoc reporting is to enable end users to have access to data when and as much as they want (of course, with the proper safety measures in place). And these safety measures are exactly the main benefit brought by a metadata database. Here is a brief list of them:

Taking away the querying load from the transactional databases. These databases' function is not to present data for reporting and analysis--it is input of data from the company's various transactions. Moreover, a heavy querying load can slow the system down to the point that these databases can't fulfill their main task in time, which could be potentially disastrous.

Instead, an ad hoc reporting solution with a metadata database will enable the end-users to run their queries apart from the transactional databases, while still enjoying real-time updates of their data as if it came from their company's CRM, HRM and ERP.

Keeping your data safe. Once the sandbox of your data is open to the whole playground of your company's end-users with ad hoc reporting, there can be some problems. A metadata database will ensure that your data will remain safe even when it's reported on and analyzed by a myriad of end-users. Simply put, with a metadata database your users cannot wreck your real data, because it is not with real data that they are playing with.

Standardizing your data. Oftentimes, column names in the transactional databases are a) not consistent and b) not intuitively named for end-users to immediately understand. A metadata database gives the system administrator the opportunity to remedy both situations, since he has complete control over the standardization of data for ad hoc reporting.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 10:30 AM | Comments (3)

January 14, 2009

Embedding ad hoc reporting: the benefits

If you are an OEM or a software vendor, you may evaluate the possibility of embedding ad hoc reporting capability into your application.

Here is a brief list of what will add value to your software once you embed ad hoc business intelligence:

Giving your clients maximum reporting flexibility - Ad hoc reporting lets your software empower nontechnical end-users to create their own queries without waiting for IT. This makes them more productive and, ultimately, may help your client become more competitive.

Adding visual power to your application - A good ad hoc reporting module should sport user-created dashboards, plus rich visualization features, making it striking and differentiating it from your competitors.

Saving you implementation effort - If you and your main competitor are both embedding business intelligence, the one going to market quicker has a better chance to winning more business. Therefore, an embedded ad hoc reporting module that is quick and easy to set up, that connects out of the box to your data sources and that is easily customized to your branding will give you a competitive advantage.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2009

How Ad Hoc Reporting Software Can Save the Day

In this time of recession, ad hoc reporting software can give a company the shot in the arm it needs to become more competitive in the short term.

What Is Ad Hoc Reporting?
In business intelligence, Ad hoc reporting (or adhoc reporting, as some spell it) is nothing but reporting and analysis capability given to the end-user. As opposed to its "managed" counterpart, ad hoc reporting does not call for a developer preparing the report. Each end user can prepare his own report "ad hoc" (Latin for "on a case-by-case basis", or "for that specific purpose") for the problems he has to solve.

Benefits of Ad Hoc Reporting
The main benefit of ad hoc reporting is that it frees the business end-user to report on and analyze data without waiting for IT to prepare queries for him. In these tough economic times, when most companies operate on a minimal crew and everyone's job is unique, this type of flexibility is even more precious.

But even in general, ad hoc reporting is all about empowering decision-makers to get to know their business better and act as entrepreneurs to solve their problems quickly and efficiently, without the bottleneck of report-development needing to be performed by another department.

Sales, account management, finance, operations, warehousing, planning, human resources--all functions within a company can benefit from ad hoc reporting.

Drawbacks of Ad Hoc Reporting
As we all know (or should), with freedom comes responsibility. And without responsibility, an excess of freedom can cause problems. In this case, managed reporting gives a company more control over how data is analyzed, since a professional report developer prepares the queries along (one would hope) standardized and agreed-upon guidelines.

Also, allowing the end-user to query the operational databases directly can cause some technical headaches. This is why the better ad-hoc reporting software includes a meta database that effectively insulates the company's data from the ad hoc reporting by end-users.

Practical Examples of How Ad Hoc Reporting Software Can Help
Let's say that you are a company with 100 salesmen operating in 100 different territories nationwide. Would you want each salesman to have full access to his own numbers, goals, clients' history--and even human resources file? If so, ad hoc reporting is the answer. With only a few user-based security measures in place (so that, for instance, Jones cannot see Smith's salary history and vice-versa), ad hoc reporting software can offer each salesman access to the critical numbers to make his job more efficient.

With the better ad hoc reporting solutions, salesmen in our example could also place the most critical information on an user-created dashboard and receive an automatic report every morning informing them of the latest numbers.

This type of ad-hoc reporting capability would allow them not only to see the information that matters to each of them while tuning out distracting "white noise;" also, it would enable them to analyze data "how" they like--for example, some more visually, some other in a more table or number-oriented way.

The bottom line: with ad hoc reporting, you turn your employees into decision makers and empower them to become experts in their business without depending on somebody else.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 12:15 PM | Comments (4)

January 7, 2009

Top-ten Musts of Ad Hoc Reporting

Ad hoc reporting is the ultimate democratic tool in BI, since it empowers employees to create and share their own reports. It is a little bit like the Internet (post Web-2.0), since it gives all users the freedom to interact with data without having to wait for a "superior" be this technically or hierarchically speaking.

Here are the top-ten things a good ad hoc reporting software should have.

Be web based. The usefulness of an ad hoc reporting solution is greatly watered down if it does not run on the web. Being able to access ad hoc reports from anywhere is one of the main benefits.

Be easy to use. Adoption, adoption, adoption is the BI equivalent of real estate's location, location, location. Bottom line: if an ad hoc reporting solution is hard to use, adoption will suffer.

Offer ad hoc dashboards. Ad hoc dashboards are the ultimate end-user reporting tool, since it enables nontechnical personnel to put the metrics that really matter into an easy-to-grasp format.

Offer powerful visualization tools. Seeing data in a table is one thing. Seeing it in a graph is quite another. But seeing it in ad hoc tools like heat maps and animated charts makes it truly come alive.

Be easily shared. The decision maker, and his or her findings, should not live in solitary confinement. What you find in your ad hoc reports (provided the reports are relevant) should be shared with colleagues and clients without cumbersome uploads or heavy email attachments.

Keep your data safe. Empowering end-users with ad hoc reporting shouldn't mean giving them direct access to data--as in, reporting directly to your CRM, for example. Good ad hoc reporting solutions have a metadata database that insulates real data from end-user reporting.

Keep your data secure. You don't want Bradley in sales to see what Horowitz in finance makes, right? User-based, role-based security--especially when easily set up--will enable you to deploy ad hoc reporting without worries.

Connect to your data easily. So, you've got your ad hoc reporting software, but now they tell you you need Salesforce.com or Oracle, or the newest database, or else your investment is for zip. Needless to say, an ad hoc solution that plugs into most data sources out of the box is preferable to one that does not.

Set it up quickly. Even a good ROI becomes not-so-good if it's delayed unnecessarily. When you decide to equip your employees with ad hoc reporting, go with a solution that is set up in days--they are out there.

Ability to connect to other BI solutions. You wouldn't buy a chair that does not go with the rest of your dining-room set, would you? Or buy a single Swarovski crystal glass unless you were planning to buy more of the same in the future. Same thing with business intelligence. You shouldn't get a solution that doesn't match the technology of what you already have--or one that won't be easily integrated with other future BI purchases. Look for versatile technology.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 10:00 AM | Comments (8)