01_chapter_01_choosing the right report development tool.doc

8/18/2019 01_Chapter_01_Choosing the Right Report Development Tool.doc

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Chapter :1 Choosing the Right Report

Development Tool

Chapter :2 Contents

Choosing the Right Reporting Tool: The Big Picture.........................................1–2

Organization of Report Development Tools........................................................1–

!sing the "pplication #ierarch$...........................................................................1–%

!sing the Tools &ummar$ 'atri(....................................................................... ..1–)

!sing the Tool &ummaries..................................................................................1–11*earning 'ore "+out Report Development Tools.............................................1–12

Revie,.................................................................................................................. 1–1

Report Development Tools 1

1

In this chapter you will lehow to:

Choose the right repo

development tool forneeds

Identify report

development tools thsupport application ain Release 4.0B

Use the Tools Summa

Matrix to evaluatedierent reportdevelopment tools


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2

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool

Organization of Report Development Tools

In Fundamentals of Reporting the !rst "oo# of this three$volume guide"oo#series we presented a methodology to help you choose a report developmenttool that !ts your reporting needs. Chapter % &"oo# '( showed how the processof selecting the right report development tool is an integral part of the tacticalapproach to reporting.

Note: )lthough the tactical approach to reporting is not discussed here we

recommend that you give it consideration. *he tactical approach can saveimplementation teams much time and e+pense as it e+plains how to ma#e"est use of reporting functionality in R,-. or more information on the tacticalapproach review chapter / &"oo# '(.

In this chapter we review the material covered in chapter % of "oo# '. If youhave already read chapter % in "oo# 'and understand how to select a reportdevelopment tool using the tools summary matri+ and the application hierarchyyou may want to s#ip ahead to the other chapters for tool$speci!c information.

Choosing the Right Reporting Tool: The Big Picture

ollow these steps to help you choose the reporting tool that "est !ts yourneeds:

'. Use the Application Hierarchy to Identify the Tools: 1tarting from theR,- applications in which you wor# you can determine which reporting toolscan "e used for your "usiness process. *he application hierarchy matri+ helpsdetermine the appropriate R,- report development tools for a particularapplication area. or more information on the application hierarchy see page

%.

/. Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help you Decide: or a 2uic#comparison of the features of the reporting tools availa"le for yourapplication area use the tools summary matri+. *he tools summary matri+provides a high$level view of the functionality availa"le with dierent tools.or more information on the tools summary matri+ see page '0.

-. Review the Tool Summaries: Before !nali3ing your decision to use aparticular tool you may want to review the tool summaries &chapters through '' of "oo# '( to "etter understand the relative strengths of eachtool.

4. Learn More !out Report Development Tools: or more information onhow to get started with the reporting tools see chapters /5% of thisguide"oo#. In addition to step$"y$step e+amples you will also !nd tips andtric#s for e6cient report development.

If you conclude that none of the tools !t your needs and you want to use )B)7to develop your report review chapter '/ for information on using )B)7 fordeveloping reports. )dditionally you will !nd templates to speed up )B)7 reportdevelopment.

Reporting 'a-e as$


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Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Too


Learn More About Report

Development Tools


Development Tools

Review Tool SummariesReview Tool Summaries

Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help You Decide

Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help You Decide

Use the Application Hierarchy

to Identif the Tools


to Identif the Tools1

2

/

Read 8Using the)pplication 9 ierarchyin chapter '

Read 8Using the *ools

1ummary ;atri+ inchapter '

1ee "oo# ' &chapters through ''( for anoverview of reportingtools

or in$depth informationon reporting tools seechapters / through %


Before getting started with the step$"y$step approach to choosing the right toolit is useful to understand the overall report development landscape in the R,-1ystem.

*here are several report development tools &for e+ample Report 7ainter )B)7 or purposes of this guide"oo# the core set of reportingtools is de!ned as tools which are used e+clusively for report development. Ifthe tool has alternate uses it will not "e compared here.

!hichreportin#tools arepart of this

core set"

*he core set of report development tools "eing compared in this guide"oo#includes the following:

)B)7


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/



!hichreportin#tools do notbelon# tothis core

set"

1everal tools are not listed in the core set of report development tools. *wonota"le e+clusions are:

)B)7 &the programming language of R,-(

Business Information =arehouse &for more information see chapters

through ''(

*here are speci!c reasons why non$core tools were e+cluded from theapplication hierarchy and the overall comparison you !nd in this guide"oo#.

)B)7 is not considered a core report development tool "ecause it is notexclusively used for report development. =hile )B)7 can "e 2uite useful indeveloping reports it includes much functionality &especially the capa"ility toallow users to manipulate data in the data"ase( that e+tends far "eyondinformation retrieval. 9owever chapter '/ presents tips on creating )B)7reports including templates to help you get started.

*he Business Information =arehouse also is not used e+clusively for reportdevelopment. *he B= is a data warehouse which can "e used to store datafrom many systems including the R,- data"ase. *he 8front$end of the B= &theBusiness A+plorer( includes powerful functionality that ta#es advantage of itsenvironment ;icrosoft A+cel. 9owever "ecause of the separate environmentand the added data warehousing capa"ility the B= is not considered in thiscore set .

!hat aboutthe otherreportin#tools I haveheardabout"

*he core report development tools listed in this chapter are often #nown "yother names within application areas of R,-. *he names of the tools are usuallycustomi3ed to applications "ecause of the data presented. or e+ample the1ales Information 1ystem &1I1( is part of the @ogistics Information 1ystem.1imilarly the A+ecutive Information 1ystem &AI1( is part of the ?rilldownreporting tool. 7articular names are used within certain application areas "ut

the core set of the tools is the same.)s mentioned it is important to have a clear core set of report developmenttools in order to eectively compare the relative strengths of each tool. )s thegoal of this chapter is to help you decide which report development tool is mostappropriate for your needs we re!ne the core set to ma#e the comparisoneasier.

*he ta"le on the ne+t page presents a 2uic# overview of the core reportdevelopment tools. =ith the help of this ta"le you can:

@earn some of the commonly used names for the core report development

tools

Identify the access points for the core report development tools

ind the application areas each core report development tool supports

Note: *he ta"le shown on the following page is also availa"le as a ;icrosoft

A+cel spreadsheet &Core development tools.xls( on the companion C?

supplied with the Reporting Made Easy guide"oo# series. In the spreadsheetyou will also !nd application$speci!c menu paths you can use to access reportcreation environments in R,- 1ystem for each tool.

Reporting 'a-e as$


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$ore ReportDevelopment Tools

Some $ommonl Used %ames&Access 'oints for Report Tools

Application Areas Supported b Report Tool

A(A' )uer ABAP Query All application areas

Adhoc query Human Resources (HR)

Report 'ainter Report Painter or Report Writer Cost Center Accounting (CO-CCA) andnternal Orders (CO-OPA)

Report Painter or Report Writer !unctional area reporting in Cost-o"-#ales Accounting

Report Painter or Report Writer Pro"it Center Accounting (CO-PCA$%C-PCA)

Report Painter or Report Writer &egal Consolidations (!-&C)

Report Painter or Report Writer Controlling Reconciliation &edger (CO-C%&)

Report Painter or Report Writer #pecial Purpose &edger (!-#&)

Report Painter or Report Writer %nterprise Controlling module (%C-&C)

Report Painter or Report Writer !inancial Accounting ('eneral &edger) reports y accountcompany and usiness area (!-'&)

Report Painter or Report Writer Pro*ect #ystems (P#)

Report Painter or Report Writer Controlling Product Costing module (CO-Costing)

LIS Standard Analses n+entory Controlling (,CO) .aterials .anagement-n+entory .anagement (..-.)

Purchasing n"ormation #ystem (P/RCH#) .aterials .anagement-Purchasing (..-P/R) (includes%0ternal #er+ices .anagement)

#ales n"ormation #ystem (##) #ales and 1istriution (#1)

#hop !loor n"ormation #ystem (#!#) Production Planning (PP)

Plant .aintenance n"ormation #ystem (P.#) Plant .aintenance (P.)

Quality .anagement n"ormation #ystem (Q.#) Quality .anagement (Q.)

Retail n"ormation #ystem (R#) #AP Retail (#-Retail)

Warehouse .anagement n"ormation #ystem

(W.#)

.aterials .anagement-Warehouse .anagement (..-W.)

#er+ice .anagement n"ormation #ystem (#.#) #er+ice .anagement (#.)

LIS *le+ible Analses #ame as &# #tandard Analyses (see ao+e) #ame as &# #tandard Analyses (see ao+e)

Drilldown Reportin# Pro"itaility Analysis Reporting Controlling and Pro"itaility Analysis (CO-PA)

%0ecuti+e n"ormation #ystem %0ecuti+e n"ormation #ystem (%#)

%0ecuti+e n"ormation #ystem Pro"it Center Accounting (%C-PCA)

1rilldo2n Reporting 'eneral &edger (!inancial +ersions)

1rilldo2n Reporting Pro*ect #ystems (P#)

1rilldo2n Reporting Consolidations (%C-C#)

1rilldo2n Reporting Accounts Payale (!-AP)

1rilldo2n Reporting Accounts Recei+ales (!-AR)1rilldo2n Reporting #pecial &edger (!-#&)

1rilldo2n Reporting Real %state (#-R%)

1rilldo2n Reporting !unds .anagement (!-!.)

1rilldo2n Reporting 3reasury .anagement (3R)

1rilldo2n Reporting n+estment .anagement (.)

Report Development Tools


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%



n page / we introduced the idea of using of a step$"y$step approach to helpyou choose the right report development tool for your needs. *he ta"le on theprevious page is intended to help you get ac2uainted with the core reportingtools and some of the common names associated with the core tools. e+t youwill see an application$centric view of the reporting tools comparison. Dou will

start the comparison "y !rst loo#ing at the application areas and the toolsavaila"le for the application.

Using the pplication !ierarch"

=hile the ta"le on the previous pageoers a tools$centric view theapplication hierarchy presented in thissection is centered around applicationareas and su"components.

*he application hierarchy shown on the ne+t two pages is a complete list of allR,- applications organi3ed "y functional areas. ;ost application modules in thehierarchy are su"divided to show individual areas in the application &fore+ample shipping and "illing are two areas within the sales and distri"ution E1?Fapplication and accounts paya"le is an area within the !nancial accounting EIFapplication(.

"#ample: If you are interested in choosing the appropriate tool for a cashmanagement &C;( report in the *reasury &*R( area then !nd *R$C; in theapplication hierarchy. e+t review the report development tools availa"le for *R$C;. rom the application hierarchy you can see that )B)7


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unsure of which applications you might "e using we suggest you view theapplication hierarchy within the R,- 1ystem. If needed as# your systemadministrator for assistance.

Note: 1ince "oth @I1 1tandard )nalyses and @I1 le+i"le )nalyses use the

same applications for report development they have "een com"ined into asingle column in the application hierarchy matri+.



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ote that within this application hierarchy several tools can "e used for mostapplication areas. *herefore it is up to you to decide which reporting tools are"est matched to the reports to you want to develop. *he report developmenttool summary matri+ covered in the ne+t two pages will give you a 2uic#comparison of tool features.

Using the Tools #ummar" $atri%

*he tools summary matri+ provides a2uic# comparative analysis of the corereport development tools. )s shown onthe ne+t page the tools summarymatri+ lets you evaluate each toolusing a set of features users typicallyconsider.

It is important to note that the matri+only presents a high$level overview of each tool. *he aim of this matri+ issimply to help users Humpstart theprocess of comparing dierent tools.

Using the information availa"le in thetools matri+ you can then review thetool summaries presented in chapters '' of "oo# ' Fundamentals of Reporting. Dou can also refer tochapters / through % of this "oo# formore detailed information on using the report development tools.

Used as a guide the tools summary matri+ can help you narrow your choicesdown to one or two reporting tools. =hile this matri+ is designed to help you !ndthe right tool it is "y no means intended to ma#e a decision for you. *he relativeimportance of each feature is li#ely to vary among users. or e+ample ease$of$use may "e important to one user "ut another user may "e primarily concernedwith the coverage of applications. =hen using this matri+ you must assign yourown weighting to the criteria.

Reporting 'a-e as$


Development Tools


Development Tools

Review Tools SummariesReview Tools Summaries

Use the Tools Summary Matrix

to Help You Decide


to Help You Decide





2

/


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" B " P

4 u e r $

D r i l l - o ,

n R e p o r t i n g

* 5 & & t a n - a r - " n a l $ s e s

* 5 & 6 l e ( i + l e " n a l $ s e s

R e p o r t P a i n t e r R e

p o r t 7 r i t e r

Des8top 5ntegration

ntegration 2ith spreadsheet programs:Uses MS Excel as a front-end toolSimple downloads and use of XXL withmanipulation

#pecial requirements o" e0ternal systems:None requiredExternal system required

&pee- vs. Performance

#peed 2ith hea+y data load:Minimal impact

Somewhat slowedSignificant impact

3ools to optimi;e per"ormance:YesNo

Delivere- 5ntegration

ie2s


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Reporting 'a-e as$


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Using the Tool #ummaries

)fter reviewing the tools summary matri+

you are now ready to familiari3e yourself with the report development tools thatmeet your needs.

*o help you get started with the reportdevelopment tools we have provided8tool summaries in chapters through'' of "oo# ' Fundamentals of Reporting.

*he tool summaries cover "asicinformation and answers 2uestionsrelated to the features shown in the toolssummary matri+.

*he tools summaries are "y no meansmeant to provide the de!nitive answer towhich report development tool&s( youshould use. =e suggest that you use toolsummaries in conHunction with otherinformation a"out the reportdevelopment tools to help you ma#e an informed decision.

Note: Dou may have heard a"out other report development tools such as the

pen Information =arehouse &I=( and the A+tended A+port of @ists &@(which have not "een included in the tool comparison.

@ has "een e+cluded from the reporting tools comparison "ecause it is asupplement to other R,- reporting tools not a tool used e+clusively to createreports. *he I= has not "een included in the comparison "ecause it was apredecessor to the Business Information =arehouse and is no longer "eingdeveloped.

or more information on @ and I= see appendi+ B and C respectively inthis "oo#.



Development Tools


Development Tools

Review Tools SummariesReview Tools Summaries


to Help You Decide


to Help You Decide





2

/


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&earning $ore 'out Report Development Tools

1u"se2uent chapters in this guide"oo# provide overview information a"out each

of the report development tools considered in this chapter. If you are new toreporting tools you may want to loo# through the tools summaries &"oo# 'chapters 5''( to learn more.

In this guide you will !nd information on the following reporting tools:

$hapter Reportin# Tool $overed

Chapter / )B)7


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Kuidance on where to !nd additional information on the tools

Beyond the tools speci!cally intended for report development this "oo# alsoprovides:

*emplates for programming in )B)7 &chapter '/(

9ints on using the )B)7 @ist Liewer &)@L( &appendi+ )(

Information on the use of the @ interface &appendi+ B(

Information on the use of we" reporting &appendi+ ?(

uture editions of this guide"oo# series will contain more information onreporting and report development.

Revie(

*his chapter presents a step$"y$step approach to choosing the right reportdevelopment tool *he following steps are recommended:

'. Use the application hierarchy matrix to determine which report developmenttool&s( can "e used within the application component&s( of your interest.

/. Use the tools summary matrix to gain an overview of the features availa"lewithin the report development tools.

-. Read chapters 5'' of "oo# ' Fundamentals of Reporting to learn summaryinformation a"out each of the report development tools.

4. Read chapters / through % of this "oo# for more detailed information on thecore set of report development tools.

Users should "e familiar with the applications they are responsi"le for in an R,-

implementation. *he application hierarchy matrix helps users determine whichreport development tool&s( are intended for use in their component areas.

*he features outlined in the tools summary matrix were identi!ed "y customersconsultants and developers as "eing the most important in choosing a reportdevelopment tool. *he summary matri+ is intended to "e a guide rather than ana"solute decision tool.



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01_chapter_01_choosing the right report development tool.doc

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