Benefits of Ad-Hoc Reporting

In business, every second counts. This is the reason why businesses are always trying to find a way to make processes as easy and efficient as possible because they don’t want to lose a second on something that could have been achieved faster.

It is also important for processes to be easy enough that one does not have to have a lot of knowledge on this particular application to finish the job.

The same thing applies not just in mortar and brick establishments but also in online businesses. Things are really so much easier if they are more efficient and simple enough to understand while still achieving the goal of getting something done.

Here’s where ad-hoc reporting comes in handy.

What is Ad-Hoc Reporting?

Ad-hoc reporting is the type of business intelligence wherein a technical user can generate reports easily without starting from scratch.

The user can create the reports from various data sources, complete with charts and tables if needed, using established parameters he can just click on the computer. The type of ad-hoc report generated depends on the ad-hoc solution employed and the results the end user want to achieve.

Why Use Ad-Hoc Reporting?

A lot of companies employ managed reporting wherein the technical user, most likely an IT staff, creates the report needed by the end user because the latter has no technical skills. With ad-hoc reporting, anyone can generate the report because the computer program is the one that generates the report, with minimal input by the user.

You can look at it this way.

A large sales company holds a lot of data input from its many offices and stores. Having this consolidated database is important for easy monitoring of the company’s performance as a whole.

But a sales rep can generate a report for his ‘territory’ using data from that database, allowing him to show his performance versus the sales goals in his territory as well as the entire company. This is only the beginning, though, as ad-hoc reporting allows him to create various reports easily without getting technical training on how to generate the reports.

This helps reduce IT workload while also allowing the individual users to create the reports that would best suit their needs.

What are the Qualities of a Good Ad-hoc Reporting Solution?

You’ll be surprised at the wealth of options you can find on the internet for ad-hoc reporting solutions but finding the right might not be easy.

A good ad-hoc reporting solution should be easy to use so that even a ‘non- computer savvy’ person can still generate the reports without regularly asking IT for help. Complicated programs could jeopardize self-service reporting because things might be too difficult for the user to understand.

The solution should provide easy ways to make charts, graphs, tables, and other necessary options for reports.

While your company’s own IT could build ad-hoc reporting solutions, you can also find trusted options on the internet.