Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
. Is this an oxymo-
ron? Reports are based on historic data — then what does a real-time
report have? They have been broadly classified as “reports” because their
objective is to report on the status of the organization at that instant of
time. These are not really hardcopy type reports. Instead, they are GUI
oriented with dials, moving histograms, and changing numbers similar to
the digital dashboard of automobiles. Such dashboards communicate a lot
of information in a succinct way — with colors and numbers — that will
give the general health of the organization at a quick glance. Dashboards
can take a development life of their own and should not be clubbed in
the same category as reports.
Graphs, drawings, and figures are a universal means of communication.
Report creators prefer text and numbers in their report, using pictures as
a complement. However, they should aim to express the information with
pictures and use explanatory text as a complement.
Dynamic or real-time reports — portals, dashboards
This is a change in
approach that requires some care. The aim is to stimulate the brain —
not strain the eyes.
Report Design
While designing a report, the following factors should be considered:
Who will use the report (i.e., the intended audience)?
How many people in the organization will need access to the
report?
Where is the output needed (i.e., screen, database, hard copy)?
What is the purpose of the report (i.e., information or analysis)?
What is the performance expected while generating the report?
How frequently will the report be needed (i.e., the information
refresh rate)?
Is there any special condition or regulation under which the report
is produced, stored, or distributed?
The purpose for writing a report should be very clear before beginning
to write it. There can be major differences between the structure and
contents of two reports on the same topic, just by virtue of the message
they are trying to convey. For example, a spreadsheet containing the sales
data of organizations' products in various regions over two quarters is a
decent way of showing multivariant data. The same, represented graphi-
cally, can be used to obtain guidance and trends by region or product.
Within the same data, anomalies in the revenues earned at various times
of the week, month, or quarter could be good to review, prepare for the
