Typical uses of Pentaho reporting
Reporting itself is a complex process that demands paying attention to different aspects, depending on plenty of factors. We have therefore to consider diverse uses of reporting software. In the case of Pentaho Reporting system these are four typical uses. They're different as a whole but also have plenty of details in common what makes them operable within one reporting tool.
- Operational reporting, being probably the most popular form of reporting, is really well developed here. In a word, operational reporting considers each particular area of business. What does it mean practically? It's a model of reporting which we use whilst focusing on a concrete aspect. If we wanted to check out company's daily activity for instance we would have to use this method. And how is Pentaho Reporting facilitating this process? There are several features supporting the process. Especially, the rendering reports mechanism works powerfully, so that getting the results doesn't take a lot of time. Furthermore, another two features should be paid attention to at most. At first, Pentaho Reporting is provided with cross tabs - their role is to present as much of data as possible in the simplest way possible. They're the best for signalizing determined symptoms which facilitate tracing the problem. At second, interactive reporting enables quick diving into determined areas and operations - if there was something that had attracted our attention in a general report, we can quickly highlight wanted data and access more detailed reports. During the operational reporting, we have to remember about one restriction on the other hand. There is a risk of overloading the system after all, we have therefore to be careful with very complex queries. We could accidentally delay important transactions otherwise.
- The operational reporting mentioned above might be sensible if used extemporaneously, for basic tasks. It's also the best for getting quick answers. Nonetheless, sometimes the situation requires more detailed insight. When we need more complex or deeper report we should turn to business intelligence reporting, after all. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it seems. What's business intelligence reporting itself? In a word, whole process's idea might be boiled down to migrating data from sources operable with operational reporting to specific data warehouses. And here comes the problem, alas. Once again we get warned by program restrictions - the transition process cannot be hosted by Pentaho Reporting itself. Happily, the Pentaho products family is much wider, so that once again we do not have to purchase paid solutions. Pentaho Data Integration tools certainly is sufficient for the task we're considering. Data Integration - being simultaneously an ETL tool - is all that might be needed for creating and fulfilling data warehouses with actual data. Back to business intelligence itself, we should realize that - while having an overtime monitoring possibility enabled - we're somehow devoid of up-to-the-minute reporting. This is the difference - we see the wider spectrum but usually not enough actual for most immediate purposes. Against all odds, business intelligence reporting and business intelligence as a whole are indispensable at most larger enterprises. In a case of small and medium companies, managers usually resign from investing in BI solutions as they usually are extremely expensive. Thank to Pentaho Reporting and Pentaho Data Integration we get a full range of BI functionalities for free.
- Among diverse types and models of reporting, there are a few specific uses, which financial reporting certainly is one of. Beside strictly a point of view, what is the difference between operational or business intelligence reporting and financial reporting? Mostly the fact that both first types mentioned are being designed in a way that suits reader best. In a word, the form, the style, the size, and other features of operational and BI reports depend on the one who has ordered preparing them. Financial reports need to be different. Their form usually is determined from above, so that the end-user usually has nothing to say nor change about them. Nonetheless, the importance of such reports remains undisputable. They're required at companies of all sizes and types as they're the base for accountancy and financial management. Pentaho Reporting tool is prepared for generating financial reports that meet all the needs determined by law for instance. Summary aggregations and other features facilitate the work. Thank to that, financial reports created with Pentaho are not only law-compatible but also user-friendly.
- Finally, there still is one more particular use of Pentaho Reporting left. This is production reporting - common and ordinary, nonetheless also deserves pointing out. Production reports generated with Pentaho tool are strongly customizable, users might therefore turn them into a form that suits them best.
These are the most common types of Pentaho Reporting uses. Nonetheless, they're not the only - although Pentaho products are free, their usability is outstanding and not even a little bit worse than of paid solutions, though.