sage reporting workshop understanding the information/reporting requirement graham hoyle, cherryl...
TRANSCRIPT
Sage Reporting WorkshopUnderstanding the Information/Reporting Requirement
Graham Hoyle, Cherryl Holliday
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Agenda
1. Who we are
2. Why we are here
3. What we know
4. What we don’t know
5. The Workshop
6. Next Steps
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Who we are
• Cherryl Holliday – Senior Business Analyst (Sage 1000)
• Graham Hoyle – Business Analyst (Line 500)
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Why we are here
• Feedback Sage received from delegates at the 2008 Conference
• Customer experience team and product manager Amanda Turvill
• A number of themes emerged which require further definition
• Two major themes were:
• Information and reporting in Line 500/Sage 1000
• Usability and the user interface
• Objectives of this workshop are:
– To understand the information/reporting requirement in an Informal interactive workshop.
– Open up a channel of communication with members of this group to further define this requirement and review proposed solutions in this area and others.
– Put the ‘Information’ back into ‘IT’
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What we know
• Delegate Feedback
• Some of the solutions used today
• Wide variety of industries and sectors
– Some generic and some specific information/reporting requirements
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Delegate feedback on reporting
• “Better reporting from core product”
• “Better reporting in Line 500”
• “Better integration with Microsoft i.e reports etc can be exported/copied in excel etc without further intervention or the use of other reporting tools”
• “More work into/and with Sage BI”
• “Report writer is not user friendly - could Sage not be supplied with a user friendly GUI report writer …without us having to spend £1000's.
• “Integrate BI / Reporting tool, KPI display via user specific dashboard”
• “Ability to save various enquiries and reports in purchasing module as excel spreadsheets using a straight forward option from the action bar”
• “Import data via Excel”
• “Reporting from the system other than via 3rd party software. Re-vamping report writer”
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Some of the solutions used today
• Standard Sage reports • Report writer as a tool• Standard Sage Enquiries• Product browses within the options• Drill downs• API’s• Cognos• Business Objects• SQL Reporting Services• Crystal• Dashboards: Sage 1000, QlickView, Excel, Web page or Sharepoint• Excel (exports from system, or ODBC queries)• Sage BI• Good 3rd party vendors such as: Sl-ect, and Codis Excelerator
• Production of external facing document using: DBForms/Paperless/Email/Work Templates
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What we don’t have
• A clear definition of the reporting/information requirement
• Business’s who we can work with to further define this requirement and review proposed solutions in this area and others
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The Workshop
• This workshop is designed begin to define the problem area by identifying examples where you want to obtain information/reporting from the ERP system
• The examples could be:
• Financial reports such as IFRS reports
• Management Information to share and collaborate with colleagues
• Analytical Information you need to make business decisions e.g Trend Analysis/KPI
• Operational Information you need to complete a task e.g purchasing
• Other?
• We have split information requirement into the above categories
• What we want from you is:
• Fill in the further involvement form (give it to Graham or Cherryl )
• Write examples on the category sheets
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Workshop: Example Format
• What types of information do you need (examples)?– Trial balance, free stock, aged debtors, sales trends, report to head
office, enquiries.• Why do you want this information?
– Decision making, review, audit, management meeting• How you are getting this today & why?
– Sage standard report, report writer, Dashboards, excel, Cognos, SQL Reporting services, crystal, dashboards, Click View, Browse, or ‘Find’ type enquiry. Using data warehouse?
• Where does it go when you’ve got it? – Print it, email it, file it, save to disk, export to excel or pdf
• How often?– Is it hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.
• Obstacles to getting the information?– Cannot find it?..