Five Tips for Evaluating Solutions in Enterprise Reporting

Choosing enterprise reporting software should be a straightforward, step-by-step process. One, you figure out your company requirements. Two, you do some research online. Three, you take it out for a test drive. And four, you make a decision. It’s all kind of like buying a car. The only problem is that after you’ve driven the auto off the lot, you find out the brakes need work, that family members don’t know how to drive a stick shift, and that the vehicle runs on super premium gasoline. In other words, you’ve invested in something that doesn’t work as advertised, doesn’t meet your needs, and costs WAY more than you bargained for.

The process of choosing the right business reporting tools is notoriously difficult. It isn’t because you don’t have options – there are plenty of programs focused on enterprise reporting – but because it’s really difficult to get a handle on the product until you’ve used it for a while. Following these five tips will help give you the necessary information before you buy, not after.

Talk to everyone who will use the product. The key word here is USE. Yeah, it sounds obvious, but I’ve seen time and again how the decision to buy software that will be implemented in a lot of different departments gets hijacked either by one particular group or by someone who won’t spend much time actually USING the software. If you’re the purchase decision maker, listen long and hard to what your colleagues are saying. If you’re not, make your opinions known.

Do an “X Solution Sucks” web search. Granted, developers love to rant (don’t we all), and you’ll find plenty of unwarranted crankiness in a “I could have done so much better than this” vein – but you’ll also gain some valuable insight from these postings. Look at the complaints that pop up again and again, and think about whether your company can solve or at least put up with them.

Skip the list of features. If you’re worried because you’re going to have to justify making a major purchase, it’s tempting to say “we should buy this because it does A, B, C and all these cool D things.” No one can fault you if you’ve done your homework, right? Be brave. Instead of buying something because it has every conceivable option, buy it because it will make life easier.

Pay attention to support early on. Every software company loves to tout how they offer “fabulous customer support.” But there are real differences in support, including how quickly bugs are fixed and whether solutions to problems are posted for all users. No matter how well the software is designed or how useful it promises to be, sooner or later you’ll be interacting with support. And it can make or break your experience with the program.

That goes for documentation, too. Business reporting software has a well-deserved reputation for poor documentation. Read it before you buy. And find out whether it’s free; some enterprise reporting companies charge extra for documentation.