The Ad Hoc Reporting Resource

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April 15, 2009

What Users Should Expect of a Good Ad-Hoc Reporting Tool

With an ad hoc reporting solution, users should be guided through an intuitive, wizard-based report builder to get the information they want. Once they build and run a report, they should be able to interactively drill down and further explore the data as needed.

Ad hoc reporting should provide a full-range of capabilities to end users, such as:

- Intuitive wizard-based interface for creating reports
- Ad-hoc dashboards that are easy to create, save and modify
- Summary, crosstab and pivot table reports
- A variety of charts and graphs, plus other rich data-visualization tools like ad-hoc heat maps
- Re-usable report templates
- Export to PDF, Word, and Excel
- Interactive drill-down, sorting and paging
- Data grouping
- Report parameters and filters for returning the most relevant results
- Basic and advanced statistical calculations
- Report management features for saving, archiving, editing and sharing reports

Business end users have come to expect all of these features in the managed reporting applications that are built for them by report developers. They also want these capabilities when they are building their own reports.

Empowered End Users
Business end users know what they want from a reporting system, but they don't always have the technical training to develop their own reports in a managed report environment. That's why it is critical for an ad hoc reporting tool to provide an intuitive wizard-based report builder that guides users through the steps for creating interactive reports.

The report wizard should make it easy to change, save and share reports. If users decide to change a calculation or want to look at a different dimension, they should be able to make adjustments and re-run the report immediately.

And, they should be able to use their own everyday, business terminology without having to know a query language or the technical intricacies of the data structures.

Convenient Access with Web-based Ad Hoc Reporting

Once the user has created reports, they should be available to run and view them in a standard Web browser for convenient access. Older legacy approaches to business intelligence involved heavy client-server software on the end users' computer or at least a browser plug-in.

With pure Web-based business intelligence, the end user has full access to all functionality with just a Web browser. There should be no need for users to download client software or plug-ins to build and view reports.

This model ensures that the user can reach their reports and perform analysis from any Web-accessible location approved by the IT department, inside or outside the corporate firewall. This model also means significantly less maintenance and support work for the IT department when dealing with version upgrades and other configuration changes.

Increased IT Productivity
Business users like ad hoc reporting because of the control it gives them and because of the time it saves. Ad hoc reporting does not just save time for the end user; it also saves time for the IT department and/or report developers. With Web-based ad hoc reporting, the IT department retains the control they need to optimize and manage users, roles and access to data. Now that end users can create their own reports in a controlled environment with a self-guided report wizard, the IT department and report developers are free to focus on other more complex aspects of the business intelligence environment like automating workflow or optimizing their databases.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2009

The Main Benefits of Ad Hoc Reporting

Ad hoc reporting is an important part of just about any business intelligence (BI) implementation. Yes, even managed reporting--at least that of the good kind--has ad-hoc-like features that enable end-users to answer an increasing number of business questions without relying on IT.

(For a more in-depth discussion about this topic, please see this LogiXML Ad-Hoc Reporting White Paper, available free for download.)

1 - Gets critical information to the right people at the right time. Self-service results plus automatic scheduling/delivery of information let you facilitate timely decision-making.

Users get the information they need when they need it to answer critical, realtime questions without relying on the IT department for every report and research project.

2 - Provides flexibility for constantly changing environments. Business needs evolve; answers to changing business questions become more critical. It's impossible to predict what questions and answers users may need in the future. Since business users can create their own reports, they can solve even short-term problems and answer one-time questions. It is often not practical for the IT department to build one-time reports for users because of limited resources.

3 - Saves training costs and time by streamlining access to critical information. An easy-to-use, self-guided wizard allows users to build their own reports quickly. Users do not have to know the details of the underlying data model and do not have to be trained in more complex report development techniques.

4 - Encourages collaboration and information sharing. When ad hoc reporting is implemented as a Web-based business intelligence solution, users can easily create, organize, publish and make reports available to other users via the Web for on-demand viewing.

5 - Reduces IT workload, saving valuable development costs and time. A Web-based ad hoc reporting application itself can be deployed quickly for widespread availability to end users. Upgrades are seamless since no client applications are installed. And, once deployed, users build reports themselves anytime they need the information; no waiting days or weeks for IT staff to add new report development to their schedules.

Posted by The Ad Hoc Reporting Boys at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)