Enterprise reporting

About the basics of enterprise reporting and gain hands on experience in using a simple reporting tool. Reporting is an integral part of OLTP application. Our focus is on OLAP centric reporting. These reports help leaders align their business activities to the vision and strategies of their enterprise and to monitor their performance against the organizations goal.

Reporting perspective common to all levels of enterprise

Function level:-these reports consumed by users within the department or geographic location or region or by decision makers at the corporate level. Needs to keep in mind the target audience. Requirements will vary based on target audience. Departments such as :-

HR Marketing Production Purchase Accounting etc. Reports could be generate in many languages to meet global user needs.

 Internal/external:-sometimes the consumers of reports may be external to the enterprise. Correctness as well as attractive presentation of report is required. Role based:- provide the standard format of report to similar roles across the enterprise , as they are likely to make similar decisions.

 Strategic/operational:-reports could be classified based on the nature of the purpose they serve. Strategic reports inform the alignment with the goal. Operational reports present operational facts. Eg:-DPR, daily cash flow

 Summary/detail:-summary reports do not provide transactional level information. Detailed report list atomic facts. Standard/ad hoc:-department tends to generate periodic reports weekly, monthly in standard formats. Executives many times need on demand reports for critical business decision making.

 Purpose:-reports focus on business transparency and needs to be shared with regulatory bodies. Technology platform centric:- reporting in todays context need not use paper at all. Dashboards could be delivered on smart phones and tablets.

Report standardization and presentation practices

Data standardization:- enable enterprise users performing same role to receive common, pre-determined data sets that relate directly to their role Content standardization:-tightly tied to the name of the report. Eg. Shipping report

 Presentation standardization:-set the standards on naming conventions, date formats, color, use of logos, fonts, cover page etc. Metrics standardization:- Metrics that best reflect the status of performance to achieve the goals.

 Reporting tools standardization:- deployment of specific class of reporting tools.

Features of good reporting

Report title:-cash flow report for south region Reporting period Header/footer Column headings Filters Sort sequence Group totals Data field formatting

 Calculated fields Highlighting breaches Notes

Common report layout types

Tabular reports Matrix reports List reports Chart reports

Report delivery formats

Printed reports Secure soft copy Email attachments Embedded emails FTP Link to report Worksheets, power point presentation Ebooks

Enterprise reporting characteristics in OLAP world

Enterprises invest money and efforts to help decision makers gain access to the right information at the right time . Some focus areas: Single version truth:-the value of providing the same fact value irrespective of the path the user has taken to reach for the data. Role based delivery:-required to avoid the information overload.

 Anywhere/anytime:-for the sake of flexibility users come to the same source of information again and again. Personalization:-users choice of delivery method, format like PDF/CSV. Security:-enterprise have huge concern over the unauthorized access to business critical information.

 Alerts:-decision makers need immediate notification about critical business KPIs. Devices: Laptop Mobile devices In form of email, sound, SMS etc.

Long term advantages

Enhanced collaboration:-teams around the globe will use the facts to be on the same page and look at the same facts. Objective communication Reduced cost of audits/reviews:-all the members of the team are on the same page, there is no need to waste meeting time to bring them to the same level of understanding.

 Reduced decision cycle time:-structure business analytics based reporting will make consistent decisions and that too faster. Better predictability and ability to influence goals:-fact can be used to gain the competitive advantage.

Balanced scorecard
According to survey only 5% of the workforce understands the strategy, 85% executives spend less then one hour per month discussing strategy,. So there is always a need for a strategic planning and management system which could

 Align business activities to the organizations vision. Improve the internal and external communication. Monitor the organizations performance against its strategic goals.

 The scorecard is one such strategic planning and management tool used by organization to align their business activities with there organizations vision.

Four perspectives of balanced scorecard

Financial perspective:-address the questions of how shareholders view the firm and which financial goals are desired from the shareholders perspective. Customer perspective:-address the questions of how the firm is viewed by its customers and whether the firm will be able to fulfill customers expectations.

 Internal business process perspective:identifies the process in which the organization must excel to satisfy its shareholders expectations of good financial returns and also keep its customers happy and loyal. Learning and growth perspective:- employees of the organization must acquire for long term improvement and growth.

Balanced scorecard as strategy map

Map places the four balanced scorecard perspectives into a casual hierarchy. Balanced scorecard as strategy map depicts how the company intends to create value for its shareholders and customers. Parameters: Objective Measurement

 Target Initiative Sequence Financial(shareholder value) Customer(customer relationships) Internal business process(customer, operation, innovation process) Learning and growth(people capability, tech. and infra.)

Measurement system
It interconnects the objectives and the measures in the various perspectives so that they can be validated and managed. Eg. Airline company Reduce its operating cost Reduce the number of planes Increase the frequency of the flights to increase revenue.

 How to increase customer satisfaction On time delivery For on time departure of flight, ground turnaround time should be less. How? By training and improving the skill sets of thr ground crew.

Grow revenues, fewer planes On time service Fast ground turnaround time Ground crew alignment

Steps for creating balanced scorecard

Communicate and alignment Planning and target setting Strategic feedback and learning Clarifying and translating vision and strategy Communicating and linking