Reporting Tools

[Derek Brown]

I am looking for a reporting tool that would be easy for non-technical people to use. The data source will be Microsoft Access and/or Excel 2010.
I have had a quick look at Crystal Report and SiSense PRISM but I would ideally like to find a comparison report of those and other reporting tools currently on the market.
Any ideas/links/comments would be appreciated, please.
Thank you.

 

[Smitty]

Take a look at Power Pivot. It's a free add-in from Microsoft that's a game changer. It uses SQL Server as a hidden back-end and allows you to analyze hundreds of millions of rows of data in Excel (yes, millions of rows). It's so fast that it will have you wondering if you even need Access as a data management tool at all.

It also allows you to use asynchronous tables instead of having to consolidate disparate tables into one before using a Pivot Table, like you have to do with normal PT's. And it has a relationship builder that will automatically sense relationships between like fields. So let's say you have a table with sales transactions including a store ID, then a table with store names & ID's. PP will create that relationship for you.

And it includes Slicers, but they're much more intuitive in PP then they are in Excel 2010's Pivot Tables.

If you follow the link you'll see several demos that you can play with, and the Azure Marketplace also has some free datasets that you can download.

HTH,

 

[Derek Brown]

Thank you for your reply, Smitty.
I have used PowerPivot myself at home but that will be far beyond the capabilities of those who want to be able to create their own reports using a 'reporting tool'. They don't use Pivot Tables or even simple Excel formulas (such as IF statements)!
Currently I create monthly reports and have provided them with Excel workbooks (for daily use) that update either automatically on opening or on the click of a button on the Ribbon.
One of the users suggested using Microsoft Reporting Services but I need to make sure that whatever is implemented can be used by them all.

 

[Smitty]

Actually, the nice thing about PP is that you can set up dynamic reports just by adding Slicers. That way the user doesn't need to know how to build things themselves. And if they can't figure out how to click slicers to get what they want, then you need new users.

SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) require that you know SQL Server, which ain't easy. It's similar to PP, but you need a SQL Server person to set up the base reports (generally someone in IT), whereas an Excel guy can set up PP reports on their own with very little effort other than learning how PP works.

 

[Derek Brown]

Thank you for the information about SSRS - I have not used it but you have confirmed my thoughts from what I have read about it.

PP is really a non-starter because some of the non-technical users are Managers/Directors who want to be able to create their own reports without any help from IT at all - for example, when I am not available (busy on another project, on leave etc.) to produce them. The reports may be needed for a presentation at a Board Meeting and could just be a table of data, with or without (one or more) different types of chart - or it could just be a list of customers who meet certain criteria with no numeric values or charts. By the nature of what may need to be done, it will not be possible to prepare a workbook for this solution.

It is just possible that I don't find any reporting software that meets the criteria, in which case I will see if PP would be accepted. However at the moment they do not want a Microsoft Access or Excel solution.

 

[Smitty]

You could look at BIRT OnDemand, as it offers a set of robust reporting and dashboard tools, but again, you need someone to set it up.