Hi DBeard,
What i have noticed is that at alot of companies, they don't have a dedicated sql expert. Usually someone who is the most technically competent becomes the de facto custom report guy. Probably the only one who understands sql. What happens is they start getting bogged down with custom reports, and it starts taking 10-20% of their time. They are expected to perform custom reports, while performing a completely different job at the same time. They start getting stressed, and the turn around on simple custom reports goes from minutes to days to weeks.
I have to agree with you that most BI packages that can do this stuff are too expensive. $100k+ . But we aren't like most other BI packages. We don't charge $1,600. We start from only $500.
When you compare any of these with a package that costs only $500, and can be setup in less than a day, the cost saving becomes obvious.
But when you realize that its take 5-10 minutes to modify your sql query to give you the analysis you want. Now multiply that for each adhoc query and it can easily add up over time. Spread that out over your userbase and you begin to realize that the time to query and get results can take alot of time.
Also added is the problem that alot of users might not be as good as you are with sql, then you can realize, that ad hoc analysis is not as simple as that.
We at interactive reporting, have developed an approach that makes adhoc querying of structured data easy. We do it, by providing one screen, that can be used for drilldown, aggregative, charts and comparative analysis.
We try and make the setup easy by using a template, that contains the essence of the problem domain you are trying to analyze, and a mapping layer, that allows you to tweak the template and make it work with your own data.
We at interactive reporting, offer a much easier to use graphical analysis tool. You can play around with it online, and even download a free trial.
We have developed a template based approach to reporting and BI, that allows you to reuse complex reporting structures, and then map it into any underlying database.
Slashdot Mirror
Hi DBeard,
What i have noticed is that at alot of companies, they don't have a dedicated sql expert. Usually someone who is the most technically competent becomes the de facto custom report guy. Probably the only one who understands sql. What happens is they start getting bogged down with custom reports, and it starts taking 10-20% of their time. They are expected to perform custom reports, while performing a completely different job at the same time. They start getting stressed, and the turn around on simple custom reports goes from minutes to days to weeks.
I have to agree with you that most BI packages that can do this stuff are too expensive. $100k+ . But we aren't like most other BI packages. We don't charge $1,600. We start from only $500. When you compare any of these with a package that costs only $500, and can be setup in less than a day, the cost saving becomes obvious.
But when you realize that its take 5-10 minutes to modify your sql query to give you the analysis you want. Now multiply that for each adhoc query and it can easily add up over time. Spread that out over your userbase and you begin to realize that the time to query and get results can take alot of time.
Also added is the problem that alot of users might not be as good as you are with sql, then you can realize, that ad hoc analysis is not as simple as that.
We at interactive reporting, have developed an approach that makes adhoc querying of structured data easy. We do it, by providing one screen, that can be used for drilldown, aggregative, charts and comparative analysis.
We try and make the setup easy by using a template, that contains the essence of the problem domain you are trying to analyze, and a mapping layer, that allows you to tweak the template and make it work with your own data.
We at interactive reporting, offer a much easier to use graphical analysis tool. You can play around with it online, and even download a free trial.
We have developed a template based approach to reporting and BI, that allows you to reuse complex reporting structures, and then map it into any underlying database.
www.interactivereporting.com
sorry about the blatant plug!