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Ad Hoc Query & Reporting Thread Tool Recommendation. Ad Hoc Query & Reporting Thread March 26, 2002. Project Organization. Pre-Programmed Reporting Thread Focused on the manipulation of pre-programmed (canned) reports that are currently generated in IMPAC II Ad Hoc Reporting Thread
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Ad Hoc Query & Reporting Thread Tool Recommendation Ad Hoc Query & Reporting Thread March 26, 2002
Project Organization • Pre-Programmed Reporting Thread Focused on the manipulation of pre-programmed (canned) reports that are currently generated in IMPAC II Ad Hoc Reporting Thread Focused on allowing the NIH user community to query the IMPAC II DB (OLTP & IRDB) to retrieve data on an ad hoc basis. Ad Hoc Reporting
Ad Hoc Q &R Team • Carol Martin, Group Advocate • Krishna Collie, Analyst • Jim Tucker, Analyst Ad Hoc Reporting
Executive Summary • User requirement – provide and support a desktop ad hoc query & reporting tool • Analysis – evaluated 4 COTS tools against stated requirements and tested using pre-defined report and selection criteria. • Result - None of the tested tools met all of the ‘MUST’ criteria. • Recommendation: • Conduct user trial using Oracle Discoverer (recommended for pre-pgm.reports) Ad Hoc Reporting
Objectives • To retrieve data from the IRDB current, history and frozen (PUB) files and/or the OLTP current files on an ad hoc basis • To produce formatted reports • To export data to spreadsheet or ASCII delimited file • To publish reports to the Web Ad Hoc Reporting
Categories of Evaluation Criteria Used • General Criteria – Must, Should, Could • Support and Maintenance Criteria • Security Criteria • Performance Metrics • Other Considerations Ad Hoc Reporting
COSSET Commercial Off-The-Shelf System Selection and Evaluation Technique (COSSET) Ad Hoc Reporting
Functional Requirements • Ease of use by end user • Allow users the ability to craft queries • Allow users ability to save queries • Export report to Excel and/or ASCII delimited file Ad Hoc Reporting
Technical Requirements • Must be easy to configure, use and maintain • Ease of creating/maintaining meta-layer • Scalability across the enterprise • Ability to self-join table more than once and use the self-joined tables Ad Hoc Reporting
Architectural Issues • Integration into eRA enterprise • Installation on Users’ Desktops • Seat Licenses • Web or Client/Server version? Ad Hoc Reporting
Vendor Survey • Market Leaders* • Hummingbird • COGNOS • Business Objects • ORACLE Discoverer *(Gartner Group Survey) Ad Hoc Reporting
Finalists • While none of the tools met all ‘musts’, Discoverer merits careful consideration for following reasons: • Discoverer selected for pre-programmed reports • OER already owns licenses for Discoverer • NCI staff successfully using tool for ad-hoc query • Other new IMPAC II products available to assist ‘power users’: • ICSTORe export custom hit list to Excel; Advanced Query • Pre-pgm. reports for user export/manipulation to be developed. Ad Hoc Reporting
Product Evaluation • Queries: • Complex • Simple • Report Formatting • Multi-lines per record • Headers and Footers • Borders, Colors, Shading, Fonts Ad Hoc Reporting
Sample of Test Report Ad Hoc Reporting
Sample Test Complex Report Ad Hoc Reporting
Hummingbird Difficult to use Cannot sort in the report Must save query separately from report in order to make changes Meta-layer setup difficult Results of Evaluation Ad Hoc Reporting
Cognos Meta-layer setup difficult Can’t self join a table more than 1 time Net80 directory must be on local hard drive After report is formatted, cannot add another data item Results of Evaluation Ad Hoc Reporting
Business Objects Can’t self join a table more than 1 time Not easy to add new data items to formatted report Very cumbersome to format multi-line report When partials results are returned, no way to next batch of results Results of Evaluation Ad Hoc Reporting
Oracle Discoverer Requires careful meta-layer design & maintenance to facilitate ‘user friendliness’ Lacks advanced formatting capabilities Object terminology very confusing End-user training and support essential Results of Evaluation Ad Hoc Reporting
Recommendation • Conduct a “live” demo of Discoverer (IRDBDEV) • Present demo to user groups • RUG • ePUG • ADP/EP • Determine if their needs are satisfied by this tool • Group Advocate to continue evaluating other tools Ad Hoc Reporting