What are my choices?

When it comes to Reporting Solutions, there are many different options available. This list breaks down the 5 major categories of solutions & provides some specific details on which type of tool might work best for your organization.

OPTION 1 - Large, Complete Package Solutions:

Cognos
Hyperion
Business Objects
Etc...

How it works	Analysis and reporting functions work together to provide an integrated user interface to provide a single solution to users
Pros	Sophisticated analysis can be accomplished against business data with large numbers of pre-built reports, against large data sets
Cons	Complicated to set up (requires a programmer), and very costly. Users sometimes do not feel well-served since IT has to set up everything
Who it's for	Works best with large ERP Finance or HR systems such as PeopleSoft or SAP, where users expect reporting to be pre-built for them

OPTION 2 - Small, Application Specific, “Canned” Reporting:

Embedded in an application
Static factory delivered reports

How it works	Analysis and reporting functions are integrated within a business application, such as a case management system, to provide pre-packaged reports
Pros	Look and feel are usually similar to the overall application, which helps provide access to reporting that can be intuitive to users that are familiar with the application
Cons	Typically limited in scope of reporting and analysis features, and users often have to get new functionality delivered by the programmers that are responsible for the application
Who it's for	Works best with a dedicated business-specific application, where reporting only needs to be targeted to specific needs when working within the application itself

OPTION 3 - Client Server Tools for Advanced User Reporting:

Visual Studio
Crystal Reports
Etc...

How it works	Individual installations of reporting tools are placed on a user’s machine, in support of personal data retrieval requirements
Pros	Specialized job functions can be served by installing a few copies of the client server tool, without having to support the tools across large user populations
Cons	Requires a sophisticated end-user to make use of the toolset, and necessitates individualized maintenance of user machine installations
Who it's for	Works best with advanced analytical users, where specialized functionality, such as high-end statistical analysis, is needed

OPTION 4 - Ad-Hoc, Self Service Web Reporting against data from many sources:

Cizer.Net Reporting

How it works	Individuals access reporting functionality through their browser, making use of server-based reporting tools to create reports on-the-fly
Pros	Requires no installation on end-user machines, and can enable users to accomplish reporting and analysis without waiting for IT to help
Cons	The reporting features are less robust in a browser, where everything must be accomplished within an Internet Explorer environment
Who it's for	Works best with large user populations, or geographically dispersed users, who need Self-Service Reporting against a variety of data, and who have little or no knowledge of SQL to pull the data without technical assistance.

OPTION 5 - Web Access Complete Business Dashboard Solutions:

Cizer.Net Reporting with MS Business Scorecard Manager
Specific Portal Applications

How it works	Reporting, analysis, and measurement (the 3 pillars of business intelligence) are presented in an integrated dashboard interface, sometimes known as an executive information system or decision support system
Pros	Users can see the health of their organization portrayed on the screen, and use automatically connected analysis and reporting tools to examine data areas of interest or explore problems highlighted by the measurement scorecards
Cons	Requires a dedicated business intelligence server, with a properly designed fact-dimension arrangement of data pulled in from enterprise data sources
Who it's for	Works best where many users need to run an organization with one trusted source of measurement indicators, supported by analysis tools and reporting – brings a single version of the truth to meetings so areas of concern can be objectively handled

Download the full .pdf of the Reporting Solutions Options Chart here