5 reporting myths from the point of view of a Business Intelligence architect

Every day – as a Business Intelligence architect and BI consultant – I encounter interesting beliefs. Most of them are unjustified. In the following text, I have collected all the myths in one place. I hope that they will help change the way of thinking about reports, because I believe that conscious business decisions should be based on real data.

Myth 1: Go big or go home

Myth 2: Excel does it

Myth 3: Self-service? It’s quite enough

Myth 4: They’re just reports, after all

Myth 4: reporting is expensive

Summary

Myth 1: Go big or go home

“Either a lot or not at all” / “all or nothing” / “hit from the beginning” – this is how some managers imagine reporting. In my opinion, this is counter-productive and does not help you take a step forward.

One step at a time

Many managers consider the implementation of an analytics platform to be a significant expense. This requires the creation of a data warehouse and the purchase of expensive components, which was once common practice.

However, it is now possible to start with a single report that answers key business questions. In some companies, the previous day’s sales information is extremely important. You can start collecting data from one system, without having to immediately integrate multiple sources.

Together with my team, we had the opportunity to implement such solutions in just 6 days. As part of this process, we developed a multi-page report, presenting sales from various perspectives. Thanks to this solution, it is possible to make more informed decisions regarding the sales strategy.

Myth 2: Excel does it

There is no need to lie – in a large part of companies (and even very large ones) Excel serves as the main reporting tool. Isn’t one of the greatest advantages – the multitude of functions – a curse in this case? Excel is a great tool, endowed with a multitude of useful applications. By what percentage of users are they used? That’s a completely different topic.

However, the problem with Excel starts when there is a lot of data. It is true that we produce and process more and more data. It often happens that they no longer fit in Excel. At the same time, the way to refresh the data, i.e. feed the report and distribute it, becomes cumbersome. This is because each input of new data requires someone’s work. There is no built-in mechanism for refreshing data in Excel. You have to do it manually. This work is tedious and ineffective, and the risk of making a mistake is considerable.

Excel’s short quilt

Data sharing is also problematic. It may seem to us that if we store them on a shared drive, e.g. on Sharepoint, and give access only to selected people, this solution works great. The challenge arises when there are a lot of these files. Meanwhile, any person can take such a file with source data outside the company’s structures or change its content.

The situation is different when we use the reporting tool. Users do not have access to the source data and it is not possible to download this data so easily (each report download is recorded in the system). In addition, no one has to manually divide data according to categories, e.g. prepare a separate report with only data on one branch or service sector. Power B can do all this automatically for us

Excel is a really good tool, but its possibilities are not endless. If we are serious about running full reporting and we don’t want to hire new people to handle the tables, we should think about building a report in PowerBI.

You can read more about the projects we implement at Power-BI | Transition Technologies MS S.A. (ttms.com)

Myth 3: Self-service? It’s quite enough

Power BI enjoys a reputation as a standalone tool that works great as a platform for implementing advanced automated reports, even in small businesses. It can integrate with virtually any data source.

New system updates are released every month, which makes Power BI not only a better, but also a slightly more advanced tool. Appropriate training is necessary to use its full potential. The ease of using Power BI is quickly exhausted and it becomes necessary to acquire specialized knowledge. This in turn enables even more precise data analysis, such as generating reports from large volumes of data or creating data-driven storytelling.

The development of skills related to the correct analysis of data is essential in the development strategy of every company.

Having access to a lot of data in different configurations doesn’t do much in itself. It is necessary to skillfully interpret, correlate and draw conclusions in order to be able to forecast more accurately. Only such an approach will help to minimize financial risk in uncertain times.

Myth 4: They’re just reports, after all

The implementation of a reporting solution cannot be compared to creating a single table in Excel. It is worth remembering that reporting concerns a deeper analysis not only of data, but also of systems. We investigate areas where there are problems with data quality (such as data quality).

It often happens that the start of the implementation of the analytical platform is suspended due to the need to introduce changes in transactional or production systems. This is because someone eventually looks at the data from these systems and comes to the conclusion that it is incorrect.

Of course, this is ultimately a huge benefit for the company. Improving data quality always brings benefits. You can’t build a strategy based on wrong data.

The implementation of the reporting platform and the general analytical model allows us to look at the company from a broader perspective, not only as individual sections, such as a warehouse, stores or HR department. Finally, we can look at the company as a whole. Thanks to this, we can analyze the outlays related to the storage of the product, marketing costs related to the promotion of a given product, as well as the margin at which we sell it, etc.

In addition, reports based on the company’s internal data can be combined with external data (e.g. from the Central Statistical Office, social media, competitor websites using the so-called web scraping). Thanks to this, we can compare ourselves with the competition. We have the ability to monitor not only our company, but also the entire industry to find out if we are behind or ahead of the competition.

You can read more about the projects we implement at Power-BI | Transition Technologies MS S.A. (ttms.com)

Myth 5: Reporting is expensive

Managers are often convinced that the implementation of a comprehensive reporting solution is very expensive.

However, the price of a Power BI Pro license is currently only $10 per person.

It is worth noting that so far there has not been such an economical solution that would offer so many possibilities.

In addition, if we do not plan to share reports in Power BI, we can use the tool for free. Preparing a report takes days, not months, so the costs of the programmers’ work alone are not as high as they used to be.

Summary

I have tried to select five – in my opinion – the most popular and limiting reporting myths. Although, of course, I realize that there would be more beliefs binding our hands. It’s worth changing the way you think about reports.

Lesson for today? Excel is not an “all-in-one” environment, the implementation of an analytical platform does not have to be expensive, self-service tools require appropriate training, reports are important not only for data presentation but also for systems analysis, and currently available reporting tools such as Power BI they don’t cost a fortune. is it worth it? Appropriate tools can significantly facilitate the process of reporting and data analysis, and this is the basis for conscious business decisions.

I’d love to hear your opinion – feel free to comment on the article!