Companies often have reports that are a favorite of some part of the organization. The report, while very useful, takes too long for the end user to pull up. End users, once happy with a report that takes several minutes, are now clamoring for faster and faster response times. They want the report to be faster and they also want it to be easier to use from start to finish. Read more...
PROBLEM
Report performance isn't only about how long it takes to get from Process to Data. It's about the entire process from Thought to Information. Poor performance and a cumbersome process will discourage users from using otherwise very useful reports.
SOLUTION
Edge Solutions can help streamline front-end design, clean up any code that may not be fully optimized for performance, and improve the overall usability of your reports. Edge Solutions Associates have an average of six years of BI and reporting experience; if it's out there, chances are we've seen it.
An analyst creates an ad hoc query to gather data to handle a one-time request for information. That data proves to be helpful and the one-time request becomes the favorite request of just about every manager. Read more...
PROBLEM
The analyst, having proven to be resourceful, helpful, and knowledgeable, now spends 10% - 20% of the week processing, cutting, pasting, and formatting Excel reports instead of adding value to the organization. Then even more time is spent explaining where the data came from and why it is different than some other report.
SOLUTION
Edge Solutions can help your organization get their time back by helping to automate reporting processes and to create self-service reports so that your Analysts can spend their time analyzing instead of formatting. Our phased approach ensures success every time.
At large companies, reporting and analysis is often performed against a database controlled by a centralized IT department. That database isn't always optimized for reporting resulting in a very long wait for users to get their reports. Any request to change the database must have both a business case and detailed technical requirements. To work around that process, departments often resort to building manually loaded MS Access databases to support reporting and analysis. Read more...
PROBLEM
The process of loading data often involves manually importing text files into the MS Access database. The process is often not documented leading to questions about the data. The calculations are often buried in VBA code and Access Queries making it difficult to understand the impact of any change. MS Access, while powerful, can only handle so much data. Over time, the manual process of loading the database will eventually break down.
SOLUTION
The best solution is to take advantage of the infrastructure of your existing IT department. Edge Solutions can help your organization create a robust ETL process managed by your IT department. We work with your team to design new aggregated tables that will be created in your database. We develop Technical Requirements for your IT department so that they can build the new tables and the automated process to load those tables. The end result is a happy IT department, happy report developers, and happy business managers who now get their reports in a fraction of the time.
An Edge Solutions Technical Manager can spend a couple hours or an entire day visiting with you and your team to listen to how you use reports and how you would like your process to improve. With an increased understanding of your business and your process we can better understand how we can help your organization. Contact us to schedule your free consultation.
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