Top 8 Reporting
Microsoft BITableauIBM CognosOracle OBIEEQlikViewWindward CoreDomoBoard
Popular Comparisons The most interesting feature of Microsoft Power BI is that it's very user-friendly.
The most valuable features in Microsoft BI are the analysis using the feature drag and drop function. It's very easy to load and use different data sources.
Popular Comparisons I consider Tableau to be the best analytical tool available. It's really handy to use and can be used by non-technical people.
The feature that is currently most valuable is the import feature where I can link to an Excel data source. I'm not using it with any other data source, such as SQL Server. I directly link it to an Excel sheet, and if I change anything in that Excel sheet, the changed data immediately gets reflected in the virtualization. This is something that is very convenient for me as of now.
Popular Comparisons IBM Cognos is an excellent solution for tax, planning, budgeting, profit and loss statements and balance sheets.
The three IBM Cognos features I find the most valuable are Dynamic Cubes, PowerPlay, and Watson.
Popular Comparisons I like the cloud deployment feature. There are about 20 new features, and they are available on mobile and more. I haven't used any of them, but these features are highly attractive.
Popular Comparisons Once you open it up, you see everything that you can do.
You can switch views easily.
Popular Comparisons The ultimate feature is the product it produces. The ROI around that saves hours and hours. It's probably about a hundred days per year. The time savings and the ability to turn it around quickly pleases our customers.
Popular Comparisons The best feature of Domo is that it's completely on the cloud. I also like that you can handle data end-to-end without having to depend on multiple tools. Another specific feature I like the most about Domo is Magic ETL because, through it, you can do all your expression, transformation, and loading activities very smoothly. The tool also follows the lineage concept, so you can understand what kind of transformations took place on a particular data set. You can find end-to-end data from the source until it has become the final output or the final data set. Whatever happened to a particular data set, you can understand it through the Domo lineage, and that isn't possible in most of the tools available in the market, but in Domo, that's available. The tool is also solid and because it's on the cloud, it uses multiple data engineering in the backend and multiple algorithms in the back, behind the scenes, resulting in a great performance. For example, if an end user such as the CEO or COO opens a report or the
Popular Comparisons It is very easy to use. It has got what they call a toolkit, which is a no-code development environment. You can develop a whole solution with it because it is a complete platform. There is a lot of online material that can be used as a reference. You can help yourself while developing a solution. There are some prebuilt applications in the platform environment. You can very easily customize and integrate these applications. It also has flexible scaling of machine resources, which is really great.
Buyer's Guide
Reporting Tools
July 2022

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Advice From The Community
Read answers to top Reporting Tools questions. 621,593 professionals have gotten help from our community of experts.Reporting Tools Topics
Why are reporting tools used?Reporting Tools BenefitsReporting Tools FeaturesDisadvantages of Reporting SoftwareTrends in Reporting SoftwareBest Practices for Reporting SoftwareThings to Consider when making a Decision to Purchase Reporting Software
Why are reporting tools used?
Reporting tools are powerful tools used by organizations to enable high-performance reporting and to help companies make more informed fact-based decisions. They are used to explore data and generate visualizations that accurately communicate important data information and reveal deeper insights. Reporting tools are also used for report distributions and consumption. Moreover, companies find them to be useful because they ensure that reports remain accurate, which makes decision-making easier. In some cases, reporting tools are also used to help organizations ask the real, “big picture” questions and then collect the data you need to make informed decisions.
Reporting Tools Benefits
Reporting tools come with a list of benefits, including some of the following:
- Simplicity: Because reporting tools are simple to use, it ensures that anyone within an organization can use them to generate or customize reports.
- Detailed customization: Reporting software allows for a more detailed customization of reports, meaning a single application can result in company-wide benefits
- Easily share reports: Reports can be produced in many different outputs, allowing organizations to easily share them internally or externally.
- One-click access: Having one-click access to analyzed data helps organizations make faster informed decisions.
- Cost-efficient: Because reporting tools are intuitive, organizations have no need to spend money on training employees how to use them.
- Better data analysis: Reporting software comes with data analysis tools, helping companies more easily compile and analyze business information.
- Automation: Reporting tools automate the reporting process, freeing employees to work on other priorities instead.
- Real-time reports: Using reporting software allows organizations to obtain results in real time, even from remote locations.
Reporting Tools Features
- Customizable dashboards: Reporting software provides organizations with the ability to customize reports for videos and print as well as to provide a general view of a company’s progress, making for a visually rich dashboard.
- Interactive reporting capabilities: Because reporting tools include highly interactive reporting capabilities, reports can be presented on different levels of complexity.
- Collaboration: Reporting tools allow you to share reports, ensuring everyone has access to the same data, making decisions that require team input easier.
- Ad hoc reporting: This feature of reporting tools helps users schedule or customize reports without having to seek approval or submit a request each time.
Disadvantages of Reporting Software
- Scalability issues: As an organization grows, reporting software may not always be able to grow with it. It can have limited scalability and therefore may limit an organization.
- Compatibility issues: Sometimes reporting software can cause compatibility or integration issues that may or may not compel alterations in the pre-existing systems.
- Limited functionalities: Some free versions of reporting software tools can have limited functionalities, forcing organizations to pay for better or more advanced tools instead.
- Dashboard issues: Not all reporting software tools guarantee real-time dashboards and reporting capabilities.
Trends in Reporting Software
- Seamless embedding: Organizations are slowly shifting toward a trend involving seamless embedding whereby reporting software is blended into their organization’s existing applications in order to work directly within software platforms.
- Interactive reporting: There is an increasing demand for interactive reporting and customizable dashboards as more and more companies turn into data-driven organizations.
- Mobile capabilities: Some reporting software tools now include mobile capabilities. For example, users can access, display, or generate reports using their favorite mobile gadgets.
Best Practices for Reporting Software
- Advanced planning: Organizations should ensure proper planning prior to the implementation of reporting software because it can cause major business disruptions, specifically if companies do not have the requisite internal resources.
- Data bureaucracy: In most cases, reporting software is designed to address the challenges created by data bureaucracy that affect some organizations. To access and generate reports, reporting software tool users only require user-level credentials.
Things to Consider when making a Decision to Purchase Reporting Software
When beginning to search for which reporting software is most suitable for your company, it is important to look for a solution that can handle these five components:
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Company structure: Because your company’s structure is unique, it is important to select a reporting software tool that allows you to track and report accordingly. Your organizational structure impacts how you manage, measure, and organize your goals.
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Report style: Look for a software tool that guarantees accurate report generation. If you are a large organization, it is likely that you have a large amount of insightful data, therefore making it important that your tools include multiple report formats. It is also important to evaluate whether or not your reports need to be ADA compliant. Lastly, different tools will produce reports with different looks and feel. Assess which ones you prefer, and which tools will meet your business needs and requirements too.
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Data integration: A good reporting software tool will be capable of seamlessly and automatically integrating data from different systems. In turn, it also rapidly speeds up the reporting process.
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Customization: When researching different software reporting tools, choose one that will allow you to customize it as you would like. Some options let you tailor its layout, colors, or other design elements to meet your branding. In addition, a good software reporting tool will give you the ability to customize fields (staff IDs, internal notes, order numbers, etc.) for different reporting situations.
- Customer support: The vendor you choose is just as important as the product you choose. Excellent customer service is important. You want a team that is available and has an extensive knowledge base and a clear dedication to quality.
Buyer's Guide
Reporting Tools
July 2022

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Tableau, IBM and others in Reporting Tools. Updated: July 2022.
621,593 professionals have used our research since 2012.