/ Still using traditional reports? Why embedded ad hoc is the new standard

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Still using traditional reports? Why embedded ad hoc is the new standard

There’s no question that traditional business reports have their place.

They can be helpful for getting a quick, high-level overview of your data. But if you’re looking for anything more than that — if you want to really understand what’s going on in your business and make data-driven decisions, you need more than traditional reports. You need embedded ad hoc reporting.

Ad hoc reporting is the process of creating custom reports on demand without having to rely on pre-defined templates or formats. It’s flexible and tailored to your specific needs, which is why it has become the new standard for BI reporting.

Ad hoc reporting can give you a more complete picture of your data and help you uncover hidden insights that you might not have otherwise found. With embedded ad hoc reporting, those insights are always just a few clicks away.
But what is the main difference between traditional reports and ad hoc reporting? Let’s take a closer look.

Traditional reports vs. ad hoc reporting

Traditional reports are inflexible and time-consuming to create. They’re also often inaccurate because they can only show you data that fits into a predefined schema.

Ad hoc reporting, on the other hand, is highly flexible and can be created on the fly. It doesn’t require a predefined schema, so you can include any data you want — no matter how unstructured it might be.

Ad hoc reporting is also much easier to use than traditional reports. With ad hoc reporting, you don’t have to be a technical expert to create custom reports. All you need is a basic understanding of your data and an easy-to-use business intelligence tool.

Creating an ad hoc report is as simple as dragging-and-dropping. You can easily add, remove, or rearrange fields to get the exact report you need. And because ad hoc reporting is interactive, you can explore your data in new ways and uncover insights that you might not have found with traditional reports.

The benefits of ad hoc reporting

Ad hoc reporting offers a number of advantages over traditional reports, including:

Greater flexibility

With ad hoc reporting, you can include any data you want in your reports — no matter how unstructured it might be. This is because ad hoc reporting doesn’t require you to fit your data into a predefined schema or template. When you include all of your relevant data in your reports, you can get a complete picture of what’s going on in your business.

Easier to use

Traditional reports can be difficult to use because they usually require a technical expert to create them. With ad hoc reporting, you can easily add, remove, or rearrange fields to get the exact report you need. And because ad hoc reporting is interactive, you can explore your data in new ways and uncover insights that you might not have found with traditional reports.

Greater insight

Traditional reports can only show you data that fits into a predefined schema. Ad hoc reporting, on the other hand, is flexible and tailored to your specific needs. This means you can use ad hoc reports to see hidden insights you might not have otherwise found.

What do you need to get started with ad hoc reporting?

If you want to start using ad hoc reporting, there are a few things you’ll need:

A reporting tool

You’ll need a reporting tool to create your reports. There are many different reporting tools available, but they all have one thing in common: they allow you to create reports without writing any code. A powerful business intelligence tool allows you to easily connect to your data source, drag and drop fields to create reports, and share your reports with others.

A data source

You’ll need a data source to create your reports. This can be a spreadsheet, a SQL database, or another type of data source. The real key is making sure that the business intelligence tool you use to create your ad hoc reports can connect to your data source.

A basic understanding of your data

To create an ad hoc report, you’ll need a basic understanding of your data. This means knowing what fields are available and what they represent. It also means knowing how your data is structured.

Time

Like any project, creating an ad hoc report will take some time. But the good news is that ad hoc reports are much easier and faster to create than traditional reports. And once you have a general idea of how your data is structured, you’ll be able to create reports much more quickly.

Ad hoc reporting examples

Here are a few examples of ad hoc reports that you might want to create to answer specific business questions:

Sales by region: This report will show you the sales totals for each region. You could use this report to track sales trends over time or compare sales in different regions.
Productivity by department: With this report, you can track each department’s productivity. This can help identify areas where productivity is low and needs to be improved.
Employee satisfaction: This report shows how satisfied employees are with their jobs. This information can be used to improve employee morale or identify company problem areas.
Customer satisfaction: When you want to track how satisfied your customers are, this report can be very helpful. You can use this information to improve your customer service or identify areas where your product or service falls short.
Website traffic: This report will show you how much traffic your website is getting. This information can improve your website’s design or identify areas where people are having trouble finding what they’re looking for.

Why you should embed ad hoc reports

As you can see, ad hoc reports can be very helpful in giving you the insights you need to make better decisions. But what if you want to share your reports with others? How can you do that?

One option is to export your reports to a format that others can view, such as PDF. But there’s a better way: you can embed your ad hoc reports using your BI solution.

When you embed your reports, they become part of your existing website or application. This means that anyone with access to your app can view and interact with your reports, even though they may not have access to the BI tool you used to build the reports.

There are many benefits to embedding your ad hoc reports in your BI solution. Here are just a few:

Your reports are always up-to-date: When you embed your reports using your BI solution, they’re always up-to-date. This is because your report is connected to your data source through your BI tool. So whenever your data changes, your reports will change too.
Your reports are accessible to everyone: When you embed your ad hoc reports in your existing applications, they’re accessible to everyone who has access to the app. This means that anyone in your organization can view your reports regardless of where they are.
Your reports are interactive: Even though the reports are embedded in a different interface, people can interact with the reports to get the needed information. For example, they can filter and sort data, drill down into details, and more.
Your reports are secure: When you embed your ad hoc reports, they’re secure. This means that only people who have access to your application can view your reports. And because your BI solution is hosted in the cloud, your reports are safe from hackers.

The bottom line

Ad hoc reports are a valuable tool for any organization. They can help you make better decisions by giving you the insights you need. And when you embed your ad hoc reports in your BI solution, they’re always up-to-date, accessible to everyone, interactive, shareable, and secure.