a comparison of enterprise reporting tools - bi / dw...
TRANSCRIPT
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A Comparison of Enterprise Reporting Tools
Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence
A Comparison of Enterprise Reporting Tools
Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence
Adam Getz
Practice Manager, Business Intelligence
DCS Consulting, Inc.
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DCS Consulting - Corporate OverviewDCS Consulting - Corporate Overview
About DCS Consulting:
DCS Consulting is a Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing (BI/DW)
professional services firm specializing in providing highly experienced
consultants.
Located in Washington DC Area.
SAP Business Objects Extended Business Partner.
Our customers range from DOD and Federal Civilian clients to Health Care, Financial Services, Consumer Goods, & Energy.
Technology Expertise:
SAP Business Objects
Visual Cue
DOMO
CGI Momentum Financials
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 2
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What is Business Intelligence?What is Business Intelligence?
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 3
Operational ReportsDisplays data with rich presentation and within a structured layout (i.e. rows and columns).
Primary Tool: Crystal Reports
Query and AnalysisInteractive methods to query data, present data in an ad-hoc manner, and to find information on an as-needed basis.
Primary Tools: Web Intelligence
Dashboard ManagementGraphical interfaces and real-time methods to provide guided analysis and to intuitively monitor organizational metrics.
Primary Tool: Dashboards (formerly Xcelsius)
Business Intelligence is focused on reporting and analysis of data residing in either enterprise data warehouses (EDW) and/or data marts.
Crystal Reports
Web Intelligence
Dashboards (formerly Xcelsius)
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Crystal Reports vs Web Intelligence (WebI)Crystal Reports vs Web Intelligence (WebI)
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 4
Crystal Reports can access data directly from a data source or through a Universe
Web Intelligence must access data through a Universe
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Crystal ReportsCrystal Reports
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 5
Ideal Tool for:
Complex, highly-formatted report design
Creating canned report templates
High volume report distribution (publications)
Tight web / application / portal integration
Offline/online report viewing
Less than Ideal for:
Out-of-the-box web-based report design
Ad-hoc query & analysis
Self-service reporting
When to Use Crystal Reports?When to Use Crystal Reports?
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Web Intelligence (WebI)Web Intelligence (WebI)
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 6
Ideal Tool for:
Web-based report design
Ad-hoc query & analysis
Offline/online report viewing
Answers unpredictable questions
Providing access to novice/casual users
Less than Ideal for:
Highly-formatted reports
High volume report distribution (publications)
Tight web / application / portal integration
When to Use Web Intelligence?When to Use Web Intelligence?
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Crystal ReportsCrystal Reports
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 7
Perfect solution for canned or published reports
Create high-fidelity, pixel-perfect reports
Access almost any data source
End users view, print, and export reports
Multiple deployment options:
Crystal Reports Designer: Client developer tool (Most Common)
Crystal Report Server: Web-based environment for organization-wide use
Crystal Reports: Operational Reporting ToolCrystal Reports: Operational Reporting Tool
Crystal Reports
Designer
Crystal Reports
Preview
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Crystal Reports - FeaturesCrystal Reports - Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 8
Report Templates
Design Wizards
Experts
Formatting
Grouping / Sorting
Section
Data Access
Intuitive Report DevelopmentIntuitive Report Development Template Expert
Group Sort Expert
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Crystal Reports - Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 9
Advanced / Hierarchical Grouping
Running Totals
Parameters
Alerting
Guided Navigation
Sorting Controls
Hyperlinks
Drill-Downs
Numerous Methods for
Report Viewing and Interaction
Numerous Methods for
Report Viewing and Interaction
Hierarchical Grouping
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Crystal Reports - Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 10
Relational Databases Oracle IBM DB2
Sybase MS SQL Server
MySQL MS Access
Informix
Common Business Applications ACT! Salesforce.com
Spreadsheets MS Excel Lotus 1-2-3
Groupware / Email Exchange Lotus Notes
Text files, XML files, and OS Event Logs
ODBC, OLE DB, and JDBC Sources
Web Services
Business Objects Universes and Repositories
Data Access to Most Common Data SourcesData Access to Most Common Data Sources
Crystal Reports provides a long
list of available data sourcesIn addition report authors can write their own SQL commands.
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Crystal Reports Developer Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 11
240 Functions that Control
Calculations: Median, Mode,
Standard Deviation, etc.
Reporting Formatting
Complex Logic
Custom Functions
Formula Expert
Powerful Formula Language and Custom Code EnvironmentPowerful Formula Language and Custom Code Environment
Developers can Program
Using Either Basic or
Crystal Syntax
Through Code,
Developers can Control
Formatting, Selection,
Calculations, and Logic
Crystal or Basic syntax (very similar to Visual Basic)
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Crystal Reports - Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 12
Interface Solution Deployment Kits (SDKs):
J2EE .Net COM
Integration of Reports
Web Applications Client / Server Apps
Portals
Embedded Reporting Components
Custom Add-ins
Create custom add-in modules
Shows up under Add-ins menu in Crystal Reports
Implement custom workflows
User Function Libraries (UFL)
Extend function library of Crystal Reports
Call external executable (exes) from inside the report
Integrated Development Environments (IDE)
MS Visual Studio BEA WebLogic Workshop
Borland JBuilder Borland C# Builder
Advanced Programming CapabilitiesAdvanced Programming Capabilities
Develop and Integrate Custom Add-Ins
Advanced Charting
Report Distribution
Web Publishing
Version Control
Custom Workflow
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Web Intelligence (WebI)
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 13
No Client Installation Necessary for WebI
Leveraged through Internet Browser
Users ask business questions
Users develop reports / charts / ad-hoc queries
Ability to drill-down, drill-up, drill-through
Filter and prompt data
Intuitive to end-users
Data source must be a Universe!
WebI: Web-Based Query & AnalysisWebI: Web-Based Query & Analysis Web URL
New Web Intelligence Document
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Web Intelligence - Rich Client
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 14
Same Functionality as Web Intelligence
Users develop reports / charts / queries
Users ask business questions of data
Ability to drill-down, drill-up, drill-through
Filter and prompt data
Intuitive to end-users
Client Installation on Desktop
Installed from Infoview Portal
Off-line Access of Data
Access to Universes and Excel Files
WEBI Rich Client: Off-line Query & AnalysisWEBI Rich Client: Off-line Query & Analysis WebI Rich Client Full Client InstallationOff-line Logon
Same Reporting Interface as WEBI
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BusinessObjects Universe
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 15
Universe: Semantic Middleware Layer / MetadataUniverse: Semantic Middleware Layer / Metadata
Business Representation of a Database
Resides between a database and reports/queries
Provides an interface to create ad-hoc queries
Foundation of Web Intelligence (WebI) Reports
Optional Data Source for Crystal Reports
Universe -
Translates
Databases into
Business Terms
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WebIntelligence - Designer
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 16
Self Service Reporting Ad Hoc Query CreationSelf Service Reporting Ad Hoc Query Creation
Generates Answers to Business Questions
Ideal for Business Users and Analysts
Intuitive Drag & Drop Interface
Run Query to
View Results
Web Intelligence Designer
Drag & Drop Data Fields and
Filters to Document
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WebIntelligence - Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 17
Highly-Interactive Charts and DataHighly-Interactive Charts and Data
Convert Data into Charts and Graphs
View Data Graphically or in a Table
Data Displayed in a Table
Data Displayed in a Chart
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WebIntelligence - Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 18
Drilling ResultsDrilling Results
Analyze the Detailed Data behind the Displayed Results
Performing On-Report Analysis
Types of Drilling
Drill-Down
Drill-Up
Drill-Through
Drill Results to a Lower
Level of Detail
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WebIntelligence - Features
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 19
Drilling ResultsDrilling Results
Analyze the Detailed Data behind the Displayed Results
Performing On-Report Analysis
Types of Drilling
Drill-Down
Drill-Up
Drill-Through
Drill Results to a Lower
Level of Detail
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Crystal vs. WebI Product Comparison
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 20
Crystal ReportsBusiness Objects
Web Intelligence
Primary Function Operational Reporting Query & Analysis
Report Author IT, Developer Business User, Data Analyst
Report Consumer Information Consumers Information Analysts
Report Design Tool Wim32 Desktop ClientWeb-Based
Desktop Rich Client
Formatting Precise, Pixel Perfect Formatting Basic Formatting
Data AccessDirect to Data Source
UniverseUniverse Only
Typical Use(s)
Operational reporting
Pre-built report templates
High-volume publishing
Predictable questions
Ad-hoc query & analysis
Self-serve reporting
Unpredictable questions
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Questions
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-863-7202 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 21
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DCS Consulting - Contact Us
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079
703-966-5831
Adam Getz
WWW.DCSFEDERAL.COM
DCS Consulting, Inc.
9048 John Sutherland Lane, Lorton, VA 22079 | P: 703-966-5831 | [email protected] | www.dcsfederal.comPage: 22
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