Beware of Ad hoc Business Intelligence reports

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Ad hoc reports are regular reporting functionality and procedure in every business intelligence software. Ad hoc (non standard queries)reports do not belong to standard reports and reporting processes. Their goal is to prepare quickly non standard report with additional information for decision makers.

Ugly truth is Information Systems produce unreliable data and that is almost always in highly complex business environment. In such environment any non regular production of information can make more damage than benefit. Non standard reports are requests for additional information from decision makers, usually on tactical decision level.

In everyday practice non standard reports made to get quick information for decision makers will gain beneficial information and knowledge in very short time of period. Decision makers will be happy because they provided to strategic decision makers additional information.

What makes difference and a problem from stated?

Analysts who asked for ad hoc report made quick analysis and found slight differences with regular data on point of correlation. After quick analysis information was passed to for example strategic decision makers. Soon after information was passed need to be consolidated into regular information flow. Information from ad hoc report has to be correlated and needs to be fit with other regular information gathering process. For example why performance indicator X does not fit together with indicator Y and Z? With more detailed analysis differences are still not understandable. Analyst will make report about data inconsistencies and will send it to IT or whoever administrates data flow.

IT will gather information about data inconsistencies and will try to analyze production systems data and try to find cause of difference. Cause is always on production level and in non transparent processes. After some time IT will spend more resources on explaining data differences instead of developing regular business intelligence reports.

Non standard reports first considered as great help return as worst enemies. IT spends more time on cleaning mess from wrong side instead of production improvement and better process description in data flow. Non standard reports kill regularly scheduled reporting implementation and releases.

Ad hoc reports are professional assassins, Business Intelligence killers.

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