Why Organizations Use Managed Reporting

Electronic or printed documents called reports are a common solution for extracting information from databases and presenting that information to users in human-readable form. Database reports present data in formatted and organized ways, displaying only relevant or useful information, often grouped by categories and ordered in some way, such as alphabetically or by calculated values like “Total Sales.” They may also include charts.

Managed-reporting software typically serves business or technical decision-makers and others who need specific information on a recurring basis, and it enhances reporting beyond what ad hoc query products such as Excel provide. It provides integrated tools for designing reports, generating reports from data, publishing them on the network, and distributing reports to those users who need them on an ongoing basis.

Many in the business world have waded through stacks of dreaded “green bar” mainframe reports at some time in their careers, but more modern managed-reporting methods offer greater flexibility and versatility and are in many cases paperless. For instance, instead of displaying fixed reports, many reporting tools now allow users to create semicustom reports by entering parameters, such as particular date ranges or sales regions, and drilling down into or rolling up records to provide more or less detail.