Custom Report Development in SSRS Case Study

The Client

The client is a multinational shipping company that requires on-demand financial reporting.

Reporting is an invaluable competitive advantage to this client helping them gain insight and make better business decisions.

The Challenge

Our client was replacing legacy software while upgrading their infrastructure and changing reporting services.

It was vital to migrate data from their legacy system into the new system. This meant the data had to be extracted, transformed, and loaded (ETL) into the new reporting environment.

They had been using Crystal Reports on an Oracle database for years, but were now switching to Microsoft’s SQL Reporting Services (SSRS) on an SQL database.

Over the years they had developed countless customized reports that their business relied on. This publicly traded company needed these reports to satisfy both business and audit requirements.

The Process

  1. Pull data from the existing system.
  2. Clean and transform the data.
  3. Load the data into the new database.
  4. Build the reports.

How Optimus Helped

We worked to extract data from the existing system while the client decided which reports to migrate. We then programmatically cleaned the data to eliminate duplication and improve data quality.

After the data was cleaned, we imported the clean data into the new system. The data was then tested to ensure the transfer was successful.

Once the ETL was complete, we proceeded to develop critical reports first. Our on-site manager helped coordinate efforts and review reports with the client while ensuring the back-end team was efficient in developing and testing reports. This delivery model benefited the client by increasing speed while maintaining high quality.

When the critical reports were complete, Optimus continued developing lower-priority reports as required. This relationship allowed the client to evolve reports to meet shifting business requirements.