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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 April 3, 2009 11:45 AM
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