irdie, a software product generating Band distributing reports is Daten- Kontor Kft. s own off-the-shelf product for the regular and ad hoc fulfillment of report requirements arising at medium-size and large companies. In recent days, the activities of companies are supported by one or several IT systems that contain critical information affecting business efficiency, and the information stored in them serves as the basis of business decisions. The query of this information and its inclusion into reports establishing decision-making processes entails serious concentration, reserves human resources and generates significant IT investment (e.g. transferring information from various systems into a data warehouse).
The Birdie report generating and distributing system supports the inclusion of data deriving from one or several source the automatic generation and analysis of reports of queried systems into unified reports the display of queried data in table- and/or graphic formats data the display of these reports in desktop and mobile environments The business problem the distribution of these reports to the appropriate decision makers of the organization the retrospective storage and subsequent downloading of reports The benefits of Birdie No expensive data warehouse is necessary to query the data of several systems and to include them into unified reports. Various data sources are supported via Oracle DBLink (e.g. Oracle, MSSQL, MySQL, Postgre etc.). Create reports Reports, Decision makers Reports, decision mekers Solution: Birdie The licensing structure of the application and the operating environment can be customized to the size and needs of the organization. The GUI can be accessed and customized through a WEB browser. Multi-language reports and GUI are available. Central data storage and data protection are ensured. There is a central version management. Authorization management is flexible. 4 Source systems Source systems Final reports - BIRDIE 5
Report definition Report run Bill report Report definition Historic data query Managed data sources Ad hoc display SQL experienced users can also generate reports managed by the system without the assistance of programmers. No programmers interference or know-how is necessary to create a new report and to make it accessible to other users. Applying the principle of all-in-one-place, the user interface in which you can edit the reports makes the definition of reports as simple as possible. Comfort services (snippet management, drag and drop services) support fast and efficient work. The system lets you insert so-called historic codes. SQL elements like these enable users to define various filtering options depending on the values of certain data (e.g. the time the data are generated). In such cases the application compiles a query in which data are filtered in certain periods based on different criteria. By means of the Oracle DBLink function, the system is capable of accessing several databases stored even in several different database management formats. Such are e.g. Oracle, Progress, MySQL, MSSQL etc. This means that it is not necessary to merge and duplicate several databases of a company into one data warehouse. Our system accesses all data in their original locations. Birdie saves only the reports it stores the filtered and aggregated data necessary for their generation only until the reports have been created. Ad hoc display enables users to run pre-generated reports at optional times. Users can influence the findings of the reports by modifying the filtering parameters defined during set-up, group the data and define group operations (Min, Max, Sum, Count). Display can take place in tables in which groups can be opened and closed and which appear in accordance with the grouping and display settings, or in ready-made, formatted templates too. Data displayed in grids can be exported in HTML, XLS, PDF and CSV formats. 6 7
Automatically generated reports Automatically generated reports Automatically generated reports Distribution channels Automatically generated reports are created automatically by the system based on the settings at regular intervals. Users can also define options by means of which the system checks whether all necessary data are available for the generation of the report. If they are not, the system will postpone the generation of the report. Automatically generated reports get into the report library of the system and/or are sent to the appointed users by the application via the supported distribution channels. These reports are always generated on the basis of an Excel template with the parameters and in a template that have been pre-specified upon definition. In the Excel template, the abounding formatting- and chart options of Excel can be fully exploited. In Excel, you can further group the results of the queries and insert cell contents deriving from mathematical and statistical operations referring to groups or individual rows. Reports utilizing several worksheets are also supported. You can specify distribution lists with each of the automatically generated reports and you can define distribution channels as well. Having generated the reports, the system conveys them automatically to the given users or after analysts have checked, possibly modified or supplemented them in the report library. At the moment, sms and email are the supported distribution channels. The reports can be accessed via web service as well. Upon the definition of reports, you can also specify in what format the system should send them out. Supported formats: XLS, XLSX, PDF, HTML, CSV or ODS. 8 9
Riport library View reports for all known mobile platforms Report library The report library is a storage place in which the reports generated automatically are stored in a hierarchical order. Here, in accordance with the settings, you can view and download the current and earlier versions of the reports. When you wish to download a file, you can freely choose from all the supported file formats. The rollout time can be set for each report. The report library makes it possible for the authorized users (analysts) to check, re-generate or even modify the reports before distribution and to launch distribution after checking. This step can be omitted in conformity with the settings. It is in the report library that you can view the data sheet of the given report as well as the relevant log entries. The log file contains all the events (even the views) related to the report. Display and functionality optimized for mobile platforms The application detects if it is accessed from the browser of a PC, a tablet PC or a smartphone and accordingly it responds with an optimized screen and functionality. The GUI you can access on smartphones is optimized for fingers and small screens. As because of a small screen you cannot overview large reports, you can specify for each report whether they are suitable for viewing on smartphones. A further option is that by means of a subscription system you can select which reports you personally wish to access from your smartphone. The tablet PC manager provides you with a simplified display and use of the PC version of the report library. As browsers are implemented on all smart phones and tablet PCs, the solution is available on both types of devices independent of the operating system of the phone or the tablet. 10 11
Menu editor Report editor Modifiable menu structure Supporting multilingualism Authorization management In the application, the menu structure of the application and the access rights to the menu items and reports can be freely set and changed by the authorized users. The drag and drop option makes the modification of the menu structure and the creation and set-up of new menu items necessary for the ad hoc view of new reports possible. The system supports three languages from the point of view of the user interface and the data that users can record. All this enables users speaking foreign languages to use an application that communicates perfectly in their own languages. The language of display can be set for each user. The application has its own user maintenance and authentication solution but can also be set for LDAP-based operation. 12 13
Flexible solution Although Birdie can be regarded as an off-the-shelf, ready-made solution, it is expressly flexible and easily integrable to other systems owing to its design and structure. It is also guaranteed by Daten-Kontor Kft. as the sole developer of the system. This way we can integrate further development to the already implemented system components. The flexibility of the system is ensured by a thin-client structure based on a three-layer architecture, due to which the user will have the following advantages: Access via WEB browsers Because of the thin-client design, there is no need to install any software products whatsoever on the users PCs, tablet PCs or smartphones. All the functions can be accessed via WEB browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox. The application runs on a specific application server and this fulfils the users needs. At the same time this means that those users who have the appropriate authorization can access the application from any PC within the network, computers logging into it through the internet or from phones. Central data storage and data protection As no software products are installed on the client PCs, no data are stored on the computers. All data are stored on the central server and you can save them from here. Central version management The system can be updated only on the central application server and all changes will immediately be implemented on the users PCs without the need for performing any installations on the clients PCs. Flexible authorization management Due to the flexible authorization management, several user roles can be established. Users rights can be limited even to the extent of function buttons. Customizable user interface The functions which cannot be accessed by a certain user do not even appear on the screen of the application. The user interface can be customized to the company image and needs in a short time. 14
Further information white paper For further information and details on BIRDIE system please contact our sales representative: Kajtor Dániel; E-mail: kajtor.daniel.pp@dk.hu; Phone: +36 1 279-3400; Web: www.dk.hu