HELP! Why are reporting requirements so difficult. The user seems to need to see the report before they can tell me what they need. Does anyone have any comments, suggestions to make this process easier.
Submitted by merrittarqng on Tue, 2010-02-09 13:54. *
I'm currently on a project that has the same issue. For this project, it stems from the fact that this is a new application. It will allow the users to enter information and retrieve information from a variety of systems that have never before been integrated. So they don't know what information they'll need from a system that never existed before.
I've asked them to track what requests for information they get from the field. Most of those requests were being turned down because there is no way to get a complete view of information from disparate systems. So now, if they at least keep track of the types of reports that are being requested from them, they can provide them to me so we can see if it is something the new system should be able to produce.
It's just hard for them to visualize things since they don't work with software development every day. They are used to just taking what they were given, and have never been able to provide input in advance before. Not sure if this is the case with your project though.
Since it is so hard to come up with the reporting requirements for canned reports, we are also considering some type of query function. Or, perhaps providing a Hyperion interface into the data warehouse to help create their own reports as needed. That way, we don't hard code reports that end up not being used.
Visualizing reporting requirements
I'm currently on a project that has the same issue. For this project, it stems from the fact that this is a new application. It will allow the users to enter information and retrieve information from a variety of systems that have never before been integrated. So they don't know what information they'll need from a system that never existed before.
I've asked them to track what requests for information they get from the field. Most of those requests were being turned down because there is no way to get a complete view of information from disparate systems. So now, if they at least keep track of the types of reports that are being requested from them, they can provide them to me so we can see if it is something the new system should be able to produce.
It's just hard for them to visualize things since they don't work with software development every day. They are used to just taking what they were given, and have never been able to provide input in advance before. Not sure if this is the case with your project though.
Since it is so hard to come up with the reporting requirements for canned reports, we are also considering some type of query function. Or, perhaps providing a Hyperion interface into the data warehouse to help create their own reports as needed. That way, we don't hard code reports that end up not being used.