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So you’re on a quest to become a reporting superh ero, and your next feat is to take control of all your data and find the best way to present it. There are several ap plications avail- able to you. But, you don’t want just any old software. You want one t hat is tailor-fit to your company—one that will function like a sidekick to your increasingly-powerful s uperhe- ro self and meet the unique needs of your busines s. Let us help. Below, you will find explanations of four ways you can create your reports. In addition to identifyi ng these four methods, there is an analysi s of the advantages and dis- advantages, and a description of what kind of company the particular method would be best suited for. After just a few minutes of reading, you’ll be able to choose a reporting method with con- fidence and be off to your next act of heroism. So, let’s get to business. Here are four ways to take control of your rep orting.

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Since you are reading this, there’s a likely chance that you and others in your organization already have and are familiar with the Microsoft desktop applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. (Or maybe you use Google Docs or the Apple iWorks suite.) We’re sure you have considered how to configure these applications in order to meet your reporting needs. Here are our thoughts...

Using Office applicat ions is one of the most inex- pensive options available for presenting data and reports. Programs can be purchased separately or in bundles.

When even just two people are using the application and entering dat a into the system, it becomes increasingly more difficult to present accurate dat a. The more people you have entering data, the higher the chance for error. Then, the data you’re presenting is likely to be incorrect (one way to not look like a superhero).

There aren’t different “versions” of these applications fit for small businesses or enterprises . They are more like “one size fits all.” As your business grows, you may have to manip- ulate the programs to meet your needs for reporting.

If you’ve ever owned a desktop computer, you’ve probably used these programs. They’ve been around forever, so they’re incredibly user- friendly and intuitive (or at least they’ve trained us well). And whenever software updates come out, it’s tradi - tionally p retty easy to navigate through the new interfaces.

With a program like Excel, you can easily enter data and present it in tables and graphs . Then, you can effortlessly export those graphs, tables, and charts into PowerPoint for a more polished presentation.

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Microsoft Office is the “grand- daddy” of all “Office” applications, having kicked Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect to the curb years ago. So when people talk “Office,” they’re usually t alking Microsoft Office.

Google Docs is the new kid on the block for office productivity software. While not as feature- rich as Microsoft Office, it has some neat online collaboration capabilities that warrant your consider ation.

If you are going to be the only person gathering and entering data, or, if you only need to re-port data from one department, Office applications are a great fit. Their low cost and simplici-ty make them smart choices for small businesses and startups. Once you start feeling the pains of these systems, you’ll know you’ve outgrown them and need a better solution.

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OFFICE APPLICATIONS... THE RIGHT SIDEKICK FOR YOU?

Why look at numbers and simple tables in a spreadsheet when you can be looking at a report from a database? With report generation software, you can access the hidden gems stored in your organization’s database servers. (Those are those scary boxes in the corner called “Oracle” and “SQL Server.”).

Once you create a report in a report generation software, it’s just a matter of clicking a button to get that report. No need to copy and paste from the screen into Excel or any of that nonsense— just set it up and it runs. And, you can even schedule some reports.

Using report generat ion software is not as simple as us ing programs like Microsoft Office. Instead, you may need to watch several tutorials to tap in to the full potential of the software. What report generation software is doing for you, is p utting a pretty face on SQL queries that run under the hood (so, to get the full benefit from report generators, you might need to know a little SQL).

Report generation software is not as flexible as a program like Excel. So you won’t be able to come up with a custom- made formula to show certain results. Ins tead, you’re limited to the functions the software comes with.

With report generation software, it’s easy to group numbers and sum them by category, subcategory, etc. You can create running averages, counts, and things lik e these without worrying that the number of rows will change each month. Report generation software takes care of all that for you.

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DISADVANTAGES OF REPORT GENERATION SOFTWARE

ADVANTAGES OF REPORT GENERATION SOFTWARE

Given their capa- bilities, getting a desktop license for report generation software is rela- tively inexpensive (depending on your needs, a license could cost anywhere from $300-$600)

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Kick stagnant data to the curb. Having a program with interac- tive reporting means you can sort, filter, search, zoom, and even hide and move columns around. You can take a report, copy it, make changes, and instantly have a whole new report.

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The charting capabilit ies in most report genera- tion software is pretty limited. If you’re okay with a simple line, bar, or pie chart, you’re probably okay. But, if you want “pretty” charts, there ar e other options out there that will work better for you.

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Crystal Reports calls itself a “robust production reporting tool,” givi ng you the ability to easily generate all ki nds of interactive reports, accessible on or offline.

If your company is able to budget a small amount for reporting, these programs are a great reporting solu-tion. To easily create sophis-ticated, interactive reports that will give you insight from your data sets, make report generation software your right-hand man.

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REPORT GENERATION SOFTWARE...THE RIGHT SIDEKICK FOR YOU?

A dashboard is a data visualization tool that shows the current status of business metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). With a dash-board, you can view and arrange your data and metrics in a single screen. Being able to see all these things at once and objectively can help you see any connections, trends, strengths, and weaknesses in your business. (And, we all know that pretty charts are the way to the CEO’s heart.)

You can easily take large segments of data and break them down into smaller parts unti l you get your desired level of detail. Drill, baby, drill. There’s knowledge in that database.

These programs can be very expensive, depending on how the vendor charges for software licensing. Vendors can charge by user (number or type of user), data source (how many sources you’ll requi re the software to pull data from), or by server (based on things like speed and memory required). Prices can r ange from $16-$400 per user per month, and even up to $35,000 annually.

Some programs require extensive IT involvement or customized projects in order to link data together and then slice and dice it. And, to manipulate data in certain ways, you have to define and ask the right s treams of questions. Setup may tak e six-nine months to really make all of the connections you want, and if you need to make any changes or add additional data, you’ll need to reach out to IT again.

Dashboarding solutions pride themselves on their eye candy. They produce great looking charts and graphs, with cool sliders and other visual ways to present the data. Exec- utives love the idea of dashboards

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DISADVANTAGES OF DASHBOARDING & DATA VISUALIZATION

ADVANTAGES OF DASHBOARDING & DATA VISUALIZATION

Have data in multiple places? No problem. These programs can pull and integrate data from multiple sources. They typically work in conjunction with a data warehouse, which has consolidated data from throughout the organization.

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The information presented it the dashboard is only as good as the data source that’s feeding it. If clean data isn’t going into the system, the charts and graphs won’t be accurate (which means you’ll get to endure a special kind of torture: a data cleaning project).

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This easy-to-use busines s intelligence application equip s you with tools to pull data from multiple sources and create analytic dashboards based off that data.

If you want insightful data analytics and want to see tiered data (data that cas-cades from division to de-partment, or from product category to product line by geography), look into a dash-board license.

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DASHBOARDING & DATA VISUALIZATION...THE RIGHT SIDEKICK FOR YOU?

JasperSoft will provide you with inter- active and web-based reports, online analytical processing (OLAP), data visualization, and data integrat ion.

This business i ntelli- gence application is an in-memory dashboard tool that lets users analyz e large volumes of data easily, no matter where they are.

Your company is not a mere machine pumping out products and ser-vices—there are goals you want to accomplish and there is a vision you want to see unfolding. Management reporting applications and scorecards let you see how your activities as a business are helping you accomplish your goals and make your vision a reality. A scorecard combines the measures from your dashboard with the objec-tives and projects from your strategic plan. With this kind of software, you can actually measure your company’s performance and make intelli-gent, performance-enhancing decisions based on the whole picture.

A scorecard combines the projects that you’r e working on every day with your overall goals and metrics so that you can plan, manage tasks, and report results all in o ne application. There’s no need to search all over for information—it’s a true Executive Informa- tion System.

This kind of app roach requires management to be intricately involved. They need to be the ones to develop a clear, actionable vision and strategy, and then communicate those with the entire organization so that every department (from manager to intern) can proactively work toward accomplishing company goals.

Combining quantitat ive (the “what”) and quali- tative (the “why”) data allows managers to make decisions, and document why those decisions were made so that they’re not continually revisited.

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DISADVANTAGES OF SCORECARDING & MANAGEMENT REPORTING

ADVANTAGES OF SCORECARDING & MANAGEMENT REPORTING

Have data in multiple places? No problem. These programs can pull and integrate data from multiple sources. They typically work in conjunction with a data warehouse, which has consol- idated data from throughout the organization.

As stated above, you want to actually accomplish the goals your company has in place. Management reporting software will take your data and give you a structure t hat not only measures perfor- mance, but also helps you see what should be done next.

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You may have already done this, but to get the most out of a scorecard, you need to have articulated your goals , your metrics, and your projects. If you’re jus t looking for a quick repor t on the operational aspects of your company, this might not be for you.

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The results your scorecar d gives you can only be as accurate as the data you provide the system with. In order to get accurate results , you’ll need to measure the right data consis tently and in the right ways.

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SCORECARDING & MANAGEMENT REPORTING...THE RIGHT SIDEKICK FOR YOU?

Executive Strategy Manager An intuitive, flexible software that will give users an easy way to track KPIs and monitor strateg ic goals.

Spider Strategies This popular, user - friendly, web-based metric tracking sof tware can empower you to manage your business strategy intelli gently.

ClearPoint Strategy This cloud-based applica- tion will help you translate strategy into act ion. Use it to manage strategy review meetings, automate BSCs, and track key projects and initiatives.

In our opinion, the scorecard and management reporting applicati ons are the best options for businesses to use for reporting data. This approach demands that management and executives establish clear goals and strategies for success and communicate that vision throughout the entire organization. Additionally, it gives l eadership a more holistic view of the business, helping them actu- ally measure which business actions and strategies are most prosper ous, identifying where weak links are and equipping them to make proactive, data-based decisio ns to improve the organization. Pretty powerful, right? It’s exactly the kind of solution a reporting supe rhero (like you) wants in their arsenal. Of the four methods identified, scorecard and management reporting has the highest lev- el of capability. And, given those capabilities, it’s an affo rdable option even for smaller businesses. While it may see m like an unlikely fit for small businesses, it’s not. This solution is not just for enterprises. According to 2GC’s 2014 BSC Survey, 56% of respondents using the Balanced Scorecard have less than 500 employe es. You might be thinking, “What do these businesses use their scorecard for anyway?” Well, 66% respondents use their scorecard for company planning and budgeting. And, a total of 73% of respondents said that the scorecard was “extremely” (27%) or “very” (46% ) useful to them. Understandably, not all companies are at a place of needing a r eporting solution like this (for example, startups or very small organizations). But, as business grows, the way y ou manage needs to grow, too. So, when your management process matures and you need a new reporting solution, swoop in and save the day by making a management re porting application your trusted sidekick. Hands down, it’s the most complete approach.

Give ClearPoint A Try