ReportingvsBusinessIntelligence Whitepaper v2

8/8/2019 ReportingvsBusinessIntelligence Whitepaper v2

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A White Paper for Microsoft Dynamics customers

RepoRTingVS

Business InTelligence


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InTRODUCTIOn

This white paper aims to distinguish the dierence

between relational reporting solutions and businessintelligence (BI) solutions, to help Microsot Dynamics users

understand the dierence in commercial benets that each

provides.

There is a wide array o solutions available in this particular

market that may at a glance appear similar, but which have

signicant dierences in terms o capabilities and technical

approach. Its important to understand these dierences in

order to ensure you select the best technology to meet your

organizations needs.

RelATionAl RepoRTing03

Business InTelligence05

TypicAl chAllenges of

business inTelligence

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conclusions11

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Most Microsot Dynamics customers are amiliar withreporting. Users have the ability to produce reports directly

rom Microsot Dynamics itsel or utilize a reporting tool, botho which oten require a skilled sta member or a contractor tocompile the reports. These reports (which may be describedas operational reports, relational reports, at reports, or listreports) are typically distributed daily, weekly, or monthly providing sta with the same inormation on a regular basis.Common types o reports include billing payment history,sales orders, and sales pipeline reports. Microsot Dynamicscustomers use relational reporting to deliver inormation.For many companies, relational reporting is all they know.So what are the issues with this approach? Here we outlinetypical challenges aced by users and consumers o relationalreports.

Expensive and time consuming

Whether through an internally hired resource or outsourcedcontractor, report writing requires technical skills that costby the hour. In any ast-paced organization, inormationneeds are dynamic, resulting in requent changes or anyxed report structures. This results in delays and associated

costs as deep programming skills are needed to createmultiple reports to keep up.

One Canadian Microsot Dynamics NAV customerexplained:

Every time a new product was added or a newcategory was set up, it became dicult to workwith NAV reports, including having reports ail.Developers had to make constant adjustments,

and when a new report was required, that was aninstant $1,500.

Blair Fleming, Natura World

Users resort to ofine spreadsheets

When reports are rigid and marred by delays and costs tomake changes, users oten resort to exporting data to oinespreadsheets that are not connected to the corporate datasource. This causes other problems, most notably datadiscrepancies and errors. Disputes around data validitycan arise when users have conicting versions o the truthcaused by data pulled rom corporate systems at dierenttimes and potential errors during data manipulation.

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Limited insights

While reports can provide users with critical inormationnecessary or decision making, they are oten lengthyand difcult to understand, due to the amount o detailthey contain. The rapid prolieration o data in businesstoday can leave organizations struggling to cope withthe sheer volume o transactional data they accumulate,

and subsequently report on at length. This can lead tosta skimming or even ignoring reports, because theysimply dont have the time to wade through the masseso inormation provided to nd what they want to know.Traditionally, reports only tell you WHAT happened whatthey dont tell you is WHY. Imagine i your sales managernotices an issue, such as sales o a certain product suddenlydropping. The process to nd out why is then completelymanual maybe more reports have to be written, orregional managers need to be called. The sales manager

has no way to interact with the data to discover instantlythe causes o the issue. In circumstances such as this,reports dont meet the needs o companies wanting toremain competitive, agile, and alert to new opportunitiesand ways to improve.

Organizations need to transorm transactions into an evenmore powerul asset real intelligence and insight. Lookingat the same reports over and over does not oster a cultureo proactive management and continuous improvement.Users need to be empowered to look beyond standard

reporting, and be able to proactively interrogate data touncover the valuable insights that may be hidden within.As one Microsot Dynamics CRM customer in Asia saidwhen comparing standard relational reports to thoseproduced by a business intelligence solution:

We had been using static orecasting reportsand reporting in the same way rom the same perspective or a long time. But with Business Analytics, I immediately came across problemsthat I didnt know existed. A single report inBusiness Analytics exposed holes in the way I hadbeen analyzing sales, in particular that somelonger term orecasts were infated by redundantdata.

Erya Houn Houng, First Cambodia

This brings us to business intelligence.


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The undamental dierence between reporting andbusiness intelligence is the ability to interact with the data toperorm multi-dimensional analysis that provides meaningulbusiness intelligence that will support decisions and

strategy. The main commercial benet this provides is SPEEDTO ACT to identiy and respond to changes in the economic,competitive, technical and nancial environment. This agilitycan become a unique competitive advantage as companieso all sizes struggle to survive in a constantly changing world.

Business intelligence provides a completely dierentapproach to using and navigating corporate data one thatis ocused on proactive management through setting goalsand monitoring outcomes. Capabilities include:

Key Perormance Indicators (KPIs) and scorecards are

used to set goals, make them visible, monitor perormance,

and provide alerts when perormance does not match

expectations.

Analysis when a problem occurs, ad-hoc analysis can be

done instantly to identiy where the problem is occurring

so that remedial action can be taken.

Dashboards are used to gain a ast, visual overview o

perormance. They can be sliced and ltered to explore

data and understand what variables are impacting

perormance.

Reports add the lowest value within a BI solution in

terms o providing drill down inormation to granular or

transactional data i this level o detail is required.

Business InTelligence


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KPIs and Scorecards

Key Perormance Indicators (KPIs) and scorecards helporganizations actually reach their goals, by monitoringthe perormance o everything that is important. Abusiness intelligence system can help a companymonitor every single outcome and process to acceptedlevels or thresholds. As soon as any o these expected

outcomes or processes alter, a business intelligencesolution alerts a company to take immediate action.

For example, service quality can be improved greatlyi on-time deliveries by both distributors and suppliersare monitored and agged the minute they all shorto expectations. When companies dont already useKPIs, it can seem a daunting process to develop theright metrics that will help improve perormance. But itdoesnt have to be hard, as your existing reports will tell

you whats important to measure. For example, take alook at your current reports at the row and column level,and examine the acceptable thresholds o perormanceat data level or summary level.

Example: A large retailer monitors delivery perormanceo its suppliers. I the agreed delivery perormance byeach distributor is three days, then this metric is alreadyset. Using a business intelligence system, i there is onedistributor whose deliveries take 4.5 days, the retailercan easily identiy other distributors whose perormance

is above the acceptable threshold, and restructure thesupply chain.

KPIs can be at both micro and macro levels, andbecause o this, can sometimes appear to be in conict.For example, a salesperson needs to hit sales targets ora current market, but is also expected to do businessdevelopment work in a new market that will not bringin immediate revenue. Monitoring these goals andobjectives can be a challenge unless they are careullycommunicated, managed, monitored and rewarded.Teams must have a clear view o the macro goals theyare contributing towards.

A business intelligence solution is undamentallydesigned to allow business users to create KPIs to monitorgoals, and roll the KPIs up into scorecards that providean overview this can be at individual, departmental,workgroup, divisional or company level. Combining KPIcapability with alerts when perormance diers romexpectations allows you to manage perormance in a

very proactive way. Alternatively, a report writing toolonly provides static inormation.


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Analysis

When a particular outcome or process is not meetingthe expected perormance levels, analysis is requiredto understand why this has happened. Businessintelligence is optimized or querying the data,commonly via OLAP, which stands or online analyticalprocessing. OLAP technology presents inormation in a

ormat that provides more powerul analysis capabilitiesthan a reporting tool. Traditionally, analysis using arelational reporting tool requires a lot o programming,or exporting to a spreadsheet and developing pivottables. This time consuming process requires technicalskills, thereby preventing instant analysis. It alsoexposes the company to considerable risks when usersmanipulate data in unsecured spreadsheets. Eectivecorporate analysis must be based on a single source othe truth.

For a business intelligence user, analysis is an instant,simple process because data is already stored in aormat optimized or querying.

A good BI solution should have a user-riendly interacethat doesnt require technical skills or programming, andas such, a BI user can immediately determine the causesor a certain result by asking any question at any time,and exploring data rom many dierent perspectivesusing ltering, drilling down, slicing, and dicing. Good

BI solutions allow you to navigate your data on the y,and nd answers to even the most complex questions,without having to write new reports. Once again,business intelligence provides users with the ability tomake good decisions quickly, providing a SPEED TOACT advantage.

Dashboards

Dashboards are a collection o analytics that arecomposed into a unied display to provide an instantvisual picture o perormance. For instance, a dashboardmight contain an analysis report, KPI, and a scorecard.Dashboards can be ltered and sliced in various waysto help users explore the data. Specically in the areao nancial perormance, many leaders struggle tocommunicate nancial perormance to others whoare not experts in the eld, and may be too busy toreview detailed nancial reports. A dashboard enablesdata to be communicated visually and quickly. CXOs inparticular oten use dashboards to gain a ast, overall

view o perormance rom many departments.

Dashboards provide real estate or your corporatedata. Smart use o this real estate gives a usermaximum inormation on multiple subjects at a glance.


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I BI solutions oer such advantages, why doesnt everyoneuse them? The simple answer is RISK. Deploying BI usingconventional methods exposes a company to considerablerisk due to the time involved in implementing BI, and thetechnical resources needed or deployment. Here we outlinetypical stumbling blocks and what to look or when evaluatinga BI solution.

The Back End: Data Structures

To achieve ongoing perormance monitoring (KPIs)and analysis capability, the greatest challenge is tohave the data available in a ormat that is optimized or

business analysis. Transactional tables typically usedor relational reporting (rows and columns) are welloptimized or capturing data and processes. However,the row and column table structure does not allow easyquery o the data. On the other hand, a data warehouseand OLAP cube (multi-dimensional data) is designedexclusively or ad-hoc business analysis and monitoring.

It is imperative that the BI system supports the businesslogic o how transactions are treated in the underlyingbusiness system. I the BI system does not do this,

incorrect results will be returned. It is also importantthat the BI system can easily adapt to new business logicthat might be adopted in the uture as the businesschanges.

The eort needed to build a comprehensive datawarehouse, OLAP cubes, and reports MANUALLYon a moderately customized Microsot Dynamicsapplication (assume 20% customization) can requiremonths o development work i you select a solution

that relies heavily on manual processes to build theback end o the solution. The ongoing maintenance othe BI solution in this instance would also require deeptechnical expertise and signicant time.

Questions to ask when evaluating the back end o a BIsolution:

How easily and quickly can the back end

data structure be developed to deliver a

comprehensive BI solution across all subject

areas in your ERP or CRM system?

What is the depth o technical skills required to

deploy the solution?

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How much technical expertise is required to

maintain and make uture enhancements to the

BI solution?

Will a BI solution be created that is unique to

your organization and your individual BI needs?

For example, will all your Microsot Dynamics

customizations be available or analysis?

How exible is the BI solution on an ongoingbasis? Can you change it to suit your

organization, departmental and individual user

needs?

Is the BI solution based on industry standard

technology, or is it black box proprietary

technology?

The Front End: Analytics Interace

Typically, the burden o producing reports and analysisor Microsot Dynamics users alls on the IT department,as specialist technical skills are required to produce theend result. This task takes considerable time, typicallyhindering other time-sensitive responsibilities o theIT department. Users who bypass the IT departmentand export corporate data to spreadsheets expose thecompany to data discrepancies and risks.

A BI solution should eliminate this tedious work and

corporate risk, and allow IT departments to ocus onmore important challenges and strategy.

Questions to ask when evaluating the ront end o a BIsolution:

Can business users easily generate their own

KPIs, scorecards, analysis, reports (including

management reports and report scheduling),

dashboards, and alerts without specialist skills

or any programming? Is the ront end o the BI solution easy to

maintain, so that the IT department is not

burdened with maintenance and support? For

example, a browser-based, zero ootprint BI

application is easier to maintain and support

compared with a BI solution using a client-server

architecture.

Is the solution easily consumed rom or

integrated with other Microsot technologies,

such as Outlook, SharePoint and MicrosotDynamics CRM and NAV?

Can existing Reporting Services reports be called

and or users to lter them dynamically using

the BI solution?

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A reporting tool and a BI solution are very dierent.Reporting tools provide inormation, whereas BI solutionsprovide insight, and the ability to monitor and manageperormance. Companies with a BI solution gain a SPEED TO

ACT advantage, can reduce costs and improve perormancemanagement, as they manage their business proactively.

In todays environment, change is the only constant.Remaining proactive and agile is a unique competitiveadvantage in itsel, and one that business intelligence enables.Its not just survival o the ttest, but also survival o thequickest. I you can beat your competitor to take advantageo a new trend, or set strategies to ward o an impendingdownturn, youre already one step ahead. The question is notso much can you aord business intelligence, but can youaord to be without it?

For more inormation about Zap Business Intelligence orMicrosot Dynamics CRM, NAV and AX solutions visitwww.zaptechnology.com

Conclusions
http://www.zaptechnology.com/http://www.zaptechnology.com/


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ReportingvsBusinessIntelligence Whitepaper v2