Overview
The last layer in our solution architecture is reporting. Reporting is mostly the face of the analytics solution to the end-client. Reports can source data from Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) systems as well as Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems. Reports can be categorized at a higher level into three categories – Operational, Analytical and Strategic. We will look at how these three categories of reports facilitate analytics.
Explanation
Operational reports are generally used for reporting transactional or short-term data from transactional systems. Examples of operational reports are daily status reports, product catalogs, Excel like tabular reports, etc. These category of reports are usually short-lived and are used for aiding day-to-day operational activities. Usually the users of these reports are the personnel who work in the field like sales executives, operations manager, store attendants, etc.
Analytical reports are generally used for reporting analytical or a large volume of historic data from Data Warehouses or Data Marts. Examples of analytical reports are production reports with pivoted and aggregated data represented in a matrix, such as country level sales reports that use charts and graphs to represent data, customer sentiment analysis data represented on a geo-spatial map, etc. This category of reports are usually used for problem-decomposition, trend analysis, pattern recognition, etc. Usually the user of these reports are mid-level managers, data analysts, statisticians, data curators, etc.
Strategic reports are generally used for reporting a mix of operational and analytical data against a pre-defined set of thresholds based on the goals of an organization. Typical examples of strategic reports are dashboards composed of scorecards, gauges, trend-lines, indicators, etc. These reports are also known as decision support reports. This category of reports are usually used as decision support and monitoring progress. Usually the user of these reports are senior-management or leadership of the organization.
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is the reporting technology for the Microsoft Business Intelligence technology stack. Using SSRS, one can create professional quality reports in each category. Consider reading the SSRS tutorial to start learning SSRS. You can download AdventureWorks SSRS Samples and analyze the sample reports, which also has reports that are relevant to our business scenario as shown below.
Additional Information
- Consider reading SSRS tips to learn more about SSRS development.
Siddharth has more than 14 years of experience in the IT Industry, with more than a decade of experience in Business Intelligence and Analytics, for clients banking, logistics, government, Media Entertainment, products, life sciences and other domains. He has been a lead architect for a portfolio of 40+ apps, containing apps in web, mobile, BI, Analytics, data warehousing, reporting, collaboration, CMS, NoSQL and other technologies. He has several certifications and is a published author for online and print-media publications, as well as the MSDN Library.
In his present role, he remains responsible for architecture design, technology stack selection, infrastructure design, 3rd party products evaluation and procurement, and performance engineering. These applications use technologies like Elasticsearch / Lucene, MongoDB, SharePoint 2013 and 2010, jQuery-based framework like Highcharts and GoJS, SQL Server and the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack (SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, MDX, PowerPivot, PowerView), jQueryMobile, Bootstrap, iOS xCode framework, and many others.
- MSSQLTips Awards: Champion (100+ tips) – 2018 | Author of the Year – 2017 | Author Contender – 2016, 2018-2019