5 tips for implementing an embedded ad-hoc reporting solution quickly and easily

There’s never been a better time to use data to drive better business decisions. With the advent of powerful embedded analytics tools, it’s easier than ever to put data-driven insights at the fingertips of everyone in your organization.

An embedded ad-hoc reporting solution is a great way to enable your team to quickly and easily generate custom reports without IT assistance. And by combining automated reporting with the capabilities of modern BI tools, companies can keep their finger on the pulse of their business and make decisions based on the most up-to-date information.

Here are five tips to help you implement an embedded ad-hoc reporting solution quickly and easily:

1. Define your requirements and objectives
2. Select the right embedded analytics platform
3. Implement security and governance controls
4. Train your users
5. Monitor usage and feedback

By following these tips, you can be sure that your embedded ad-hoc reporting solution will be up and running quickly and smoothly. And with the ability to easily generate custom reports, your team will be able to make better, more informed decisions that drive your business forward.

Let’s break down each of the above tips in a little more detail, starting with how BI tools and embedded analytics can help you achieve your business goals.

How BI has driven embedded analytics

In the past, business intelligence (BI) was largely the domain of IT professionals. Data was gathered from various sources, transformed into a format that could be analyzed, and then presented to decision-makers in the form of reports and dashboards.

However, with the advent of powerful embedded analytics tools, this process has become much easier and more user-friendly. These tools allow businesses to embed BI capabilities directly into their existing applications, making it possible for non-technical users to generate custom reports and dashboards without IT assistance.

This shift has had a profound impact on the way businesses use data to make decisions. By putting data-driven insights within internal applications, companies can make better decisions faster and respond more quickly to changes in the market.

At the same time, embedded analytics has also driven a need for BI tools that are more user-friendly and easier to use. After all, if you’re going to put BI capabilities in the hands of non-technical users, the tools need to be easy to use and understand.

This has led to the development of modern BI platforms that are designed for the average business user. These platforms offer an intuitive interface that makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even if you don’t have any technical expertise.

5 tips for implementing an embedded ad-hoc reporting solution

Now that we’ve seen how embedded analytics can help your business, let’s take a look at five tips for implementing an embedded ad-hoc reporting solution quickly and easily.

Tip 1: Define your requirements and objectives

Any time you implement a new system or process in your company, it is critical that you take the time to define your requirements and objectives. This will ensure that you select a solution that meets your needs and helps you achieve your desired outcomes.

When it comes to embedded analytics, some of the key things you’ll want to keep in mind include:

• The types of reports and dashboards you need to generate
• The data sources you’ll need to connect to
• The level of complexity required for report creation
• The level of security and governance controls you need to put in place

By taking the time to define your requirements upfront, you’ll be able to select an embedded analytics platform that is well suited to your needs. And by having a clear understanding of your objectives, you’ll be able to better measure the success of your embedded analytics implementation.

Tip 2: Select the right embedded analytics platform

With so many embedded analytics platforms on the market, it can be difficult to know which one is right for your business. When making your selection, there are a few key things you’ll want to keep in mind, including:

Ease of use: The platform you select should be easy to use, even for non-technical users. It should offer an intuitive interface that makes creating custom reports and dashboards easy.

Data sources: The platform you select should be able to connect to all of the data sources you need, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud-based data.

Security and governance: The platform you select should offer the security and governance controls you need to protect your data. This is especially important if you’re going to be sharing reports and dashboards with external users.

Making sure the embedded platform for your ad-hoc reports has all of these features will help to ensure a successful implementation.

For example, the embedded analytics platform from Domo offers all of these features and more. It is specifically designed to be easy to use, even for non-technical users.

And it provides a wide range of data connectivity options, making it easy to connect to all of the data sources you need. This can help you ensure that you always have the most up-to-date data for your reports and dashboards.

Tip 3: Prepare your data

Clean data is critical for any BI or analytics solution, but it is especially important for embedded analytics. This is because embedded analytics platforms are typically designed to be used by non-technical users who may not have the skills or knowledge needed to clean and prepare data themselves.

Here are some tips on ensuring that the data you are using for your embedded analytics implementation is clean and ready to use:

Use data quality tools: Data quality tools can help you identify and fix problems with your data, such as incorrect values, duplicates, and missing data. When you can trust the data you’re using, you’ll be able to make better decisions about your business.

Use data transformation tools: Data transformation tools like Domo’s Magic ETL can help you prepare and shape your data so that it is ready for analysis. This can include things like joining multiple data sets, creating calculated fields, and grouping data by dimensions.

Use data visualization tools: Data visualization tools can help you spot patterns and trends in your data that you might not be able to see using traditional reports and charts. This can help you uncover new insights about your business.

Making sure your data is clean and prepared will help you get the most out of your embedded analytics implementation. If you don’t, you risk making decisions based on inaccurate or incomplete data.

Tip 4: Build custom reports and dashboards

Embedded ad-hoc reporting thrives on customization. This is because every business is different, and each one has its own unique reporting requirements. By building custom reports and dashboards, you’ll be able to create embedded analytics solutions that are tailored to your specific needs.

This is one of the main reasons that embedded ad-hoc reporting and BI work so well together. BI platforms are designed to be highly customizable, so you can build the exact reports and dashboards you need. And because embedded analytics platforms are built on top of BI platforms, they inherit this same level of customization.

Building custom reports and dashboards is not as difficult as it may sound. Many report and dashboard builder tools are available that make it easy to create the exact reports and dashboards you need without any coding required.

Tip 5: Share reports and dashboards with others

One of the benefits of embedded analytics is that it allows you to share reports and dashboards with others, both inside and outside of your organization. This is possible because embedded analytics platforms are designed to be embedded into web and mobile applications.

This is a great way to increase transparency and collaboration within your organization. For example, you can embed reports and dashboards into an intranet or customer portal so that everyone has easy access to the information they need. Or you can embed them into a mobile app so your employees can access them while on the go.

Who should you share your embedded report with? That depends on the reports and dashboards you create and your organization’s needs. But some people who might benefit from having access to embedded analytics include customers, partners, employees, and executives.

By sharing reports and dashboards with others, you’ll be able to make better decisions about your business and improve collaboration within your organization.

The bottom line

Embedded ad-hoc reporting is a powerful way to make better decisions about your business. By following these tips, you’ll be able to implement embedded ad-hoc reporting quickly and easily and get the most out of it.

If you’re looking for an embedded analytics solution that can help you quickly and easily create custom reports and dashboards, check out Domo. As an industry-leading BI platform, Domo makes it easy to build the exact reports and dashboards you need, without any coding required. And with Domo’s embedded analytics capabilities, you can easily embed your reports and dashboards into any web or mobile application.

To learn more about how Domo can help you quickly and easily implement embedded ad-hoc reporting, request a demo today.