Did you know that a full 90% of the data in the world has been generated over the past two years? We’re creating more data than ever before, and this trend is only growing. The only problem: Many businesses still aren’t sure how to capitalize on all of this data.

Oftentimes, the data is inaccessible to the very people who need it most. Salespeople have no way of easily viewing their sales data. Marketing managers can’t easily create the reports they need to view prospect data. As a result, all of that data goes to waste.

The fact is, as businesses generate more data than ever before, self-service reporting becomes increasingly important. You must give your employees a way to pull that data out of your systems and turn it into meaningful management information–without going through the IT department.

Unfortunately, this is still a problem in many companies. They still force end users to go through the process of requesting reports from the IT department, and then waiting around until they’re delivered. While all too common, this process often causes 3 big problems:
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The need for self-service reportingRead More »

A few weeks back, we examined the question, “How can you buy business software that you won’t regret later?” While that article is loaded with great advice for software purchasing, the points are all very general.

What if you need a specific type of software, like reporting, Business Intelligence, or a development platform? While the points in that article still apply, how do you know what essential features to look for in each type of software?

Today, let’s answer that question from the reporting side of things. What features must you look for in an enterprise reporting solution? While your needs will (of course) vary depending on your company, all enterprise-class reporting solutions must include certain essential features. Buy software missing any of these features, and you’ll soon regret that purchase.

What are these features?

We’ve put together a handy little reporting checklist that lists and explains which features you must look for in any reporting solution. You can find it here: mrc’s 15-point reporting checklist.

If you’ve ever searched for a reporting solution, you quickly learned one thing: There are a ton of options. How do you know which is right for your company? Or, taking a step back…what makes for good reporting software?

The answer to that question largely lies in your company’s needs. However, I do believe that all “enterprise-class” reporting solutions must have certain essential features. Today, I’d like to lay those features out in a simple, 15-point reporting software checklist.

Now, I won’t get into the high-level aspects of reporting software, like open architecture and broad database support. Chances are, you already understand the importance of avoiding proprietary solutions that tie you to a single platform/database.

I also won’t get into vague features, like ease-of-use (everyone says that). Rather, let’s focus on very specific aspects of good reporting software–something I like to call “Yes/No” aspects. These are specific features that a reporting solution either has, or doesn’t have. You can ask the vendor, “Do you have_____?”, and they have to answer “Yes” or “No.” Simple as that.

Ready? Here’s a short checklist of must-have features to look for in a reporting solution. For your convenience, I’ve broken the features up into 3 different sections: …

Here’s a 15-point reporting software checklistRead More »

Tell me: Are you happy with your reporting? Or, perhaps a better question: Are your executives happy with your reporting? If you answered “Yes” to both questions, I applaud you. But, you are in the minority.

Reporting is a perpetual problem. It was a problem 30 years ago. It’s still a problem today. Case in point: We recently attended a conference, and reporting was one of the biggest topics of conversation…but not in a good way. Many of the executives we spoke with voiced their displeasure over their company’s reporting.

The big question: How can you improve your reporting? How can you create web reports that your executives will love? While I’ve frequently written about reporting in the past, today I’m taking a new approach. To help answer that question, we’ve solicited input from other experts in the field, and have compiled their advice (as well as some of my own) below. I hope you find it useful: …

How to create web reports your executives loveRead More »

When your boss (or any other executive in your company) asks for a web report, what do you create? Do you create a standard web report that displays the necessary data, includes some interactive charts and graphs, and lets the user drill down to more details?

Those are all nice features, but they’re fairly standard. What can you do to make that report really stand out? What can you do to make your boss say, “Wow!”?

I have some ideas that might help you. If you want to create reports that really stand out, they should… …

5 uncommon reporting features that will impress your bossRead More »

Are you struggling to manage your data? Is reporting a complicated job? If so, I have a story you’ll want to read. It’s about a business that was comprised of 15 different companies representing 8 different industries spread out over 50 locations across the United States. Sound complicated? It was. As you might imagine, managing the steady stream of data was time consuming and difficult.

What did they do? They found a flexible reporting option that brought all of their data together, turning their complex data management into a simple task. To learn how they did it, you can read the whole story right here.