Empower your users with self-service BI tools

Are you uncovering the value in your data?

The data driven economy has lead to an increase in demand for powerful reports. As companies collect every piece of data, databases are growing in size and scope that contain potentially valuable information. Mining those databases to turn raw data into actionable intelligence is the holy grail of reporting.

At a very high level, there are two kinds of reports:

1. Standard Reports: These are the reports that businesses rely on. Monthly sales figures, hours worked, and AR Aging reports are just a few examples of staples in any organization.
2. Exploratory Reports: These are the reports requested by users. These reports can add value to an organization as insightful users find subtle correlations that have meaningful impacts on the bottom line.

The problem with exploratory reports is that they take significant time to develop. Standard reports are clearly defined, written in stone, and generally developed by report developers. Since exploratory reports are testing hypothesis, they have shifting requirements and will often be used for a short time period if at all.

How to setup self-serve reporting for your users

The key to setting up a successful self-serve reporting suite is to leverage your existing infrastructure and reporting services. Your organization has already spent time and money developing a set of standard reports; however, access to those datasets and datamarts are probably locked behind years of computer science expertise. You can open up that data to end users with minimal training by utilizing the capabilities of tools users are already familiar with, namely Excel, PowerPoint, and Report Builder.

Setting up the Microsoft Reporting Stack

Although we support other tools as well, the Microsoft Reporting stack is a favorite amongst our clients. It provides end-to-end tools that are very well integrated. To setup a powerful self-serve reporting suite, we recommend flattening your databases by creating a datamart that contains relevant data from public and private sources.

Once the back-end infrastructure is setup, your reporting tools can be opened up to end users. Standard reports can be developed using SSRS while exploratory reports can access pre-defined datasets through familiar tools such as Excel with PowerPivot. This infrastructure is both user friendly and IT friendly as the Microsoft stack offers excellent tools for managing reports, datasets, data sources, and SharePoint to tie it all together.

To learn more, watch the video below and read our case study on custom report development.