SUNGARD SUMMIT 2007 sungardsummit.com The Luminis Portal and Dashboard Reports Presented by: Joe Sawasky and Dominic D Emilio The University of Toledo March 20, 2007 A Community of Learning
Introduction Purpose: Share knowledge of how the University of Toledo utilized existing products to create a secure executive webbased dashboard portal for key performance indicators that was personalizable Benefits of attending: Attendees will understand what products and techniques may be used to create their own web-based dashboard portal Joe Sawasky Chief Information Officer Dominic D Emilio Associate Director, Data Administration
Agenda Topics We ll Cover Today Business drivers for a dashboard application Current UT business intelligence, web portal, and reporting environment Requirements for the UT dashboard portal Options explored Solution developed The future
About the University of Toledo Public 4 year comprehensive research university in northwest Ohio ~23,000 students Main and health science campuses Big news from 2006 merged with the Medical University of Ohio to form one new entity on July 1, 2006 1 of 17 universities nationwide that have the breadth of professional colleges Institution includes ~300 bed hospital and trauma center Single merged Information Technology organization supports both University and hospital functions one CIO
SUNGARD SUMMIT 2007 sungardsummit.com Topic #1 Business drivers for a dashboard application A Community of Learning
UT Business Drivers for a Dashboard Framework Merged institution need for a single place to access decisionmaking data from multiple systems Data-based decision making emphasized by new administration Single content aggregator application needed for many disparate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and source applications Need to personalize KPI views for executives Need to leverage existing tools Need to keep project expenses low Our Vice President William Logie!
SUNGARD SUMMIT 2007 sungardsummit.com Topic #2 Current UT business intelligence, web portal and reporting environment A Community of Learning
Reporting Data Sources Banner Human Resource ODS (April 2006) Implementing Banner Finance and Student modules In-house developed ODS for legacy systems (1996) In-house developed Student data warehouse (2003) Numerous Oracle and SQL Server based bolt-on and third party applications Excel documents
Legacy ODS Efforts Why We Did It Why is it SO HARD for IT to get me the information I want??!! I m working as hard as I can!
Legacy ODS Efforts Developed ODS environments for all major enterprise applications (HR, Finance, Student, Ugrd Admissions, Financial Aid, Housing, Student Accounts, Graduate School) Empowered end-users by providing on-going training efforts for using ODS and MS Access Conduct monthly reporting user group meetings to share information and discuss reporting techniques Developed a centralized MS Access based report library on a file share for sharing production quality reports Have trained over 400 users
Banner ODS Efforts Using Crystal Reports as the report tool standard Share reports through a Web based report library, Business Objects Enterprise Reports organized into folders and sub-folders Access granted by roles (General, Payroll, HR, etc.) Developed report standards Implemented quality control measures and procedures for moving reports to a production folder Data access limited to ODS
SUNGARD SUMMIT 2007 sungardsummit.com Topic #3 Requirements for the UT dashboard portal A Community of Learning
Dashboard Requirements So easy, Jane Jetson should be able to use it!! Easy to use Easy to deploy Secure Web accessible Ability for institution to mandate display of required content Ability for end users to subscribe to custom content Ability to personalize, customize and reorganize Need to integrate security Ability to render multiple content types Application should recognize end user roles at login
Dashboard Initiative VP organized cross-functional group to develop Dashboard application (June 2006) Project formed to help identify key KPI information sources Project deemed a top priority Quickly apparent that there were many sources and formats
SUNGARD SUMMIT 2007 sungardsummit.com Topic #4 Options explored A Community of Learning
Options Explored Looked at purchasing a Dashboard product Reviewed partnering with College of Engineering graduate students to develop Dashboard front-end and reports through the guidance of Engineering faculty Searched for free-ware software that we could utilize for components of the system Reviewed existing tool-set for Dashboard like capabilities Last Option: Considered other employment opportunities!!
Dashboard Opt. 1 Purchase an application Reviewed numerous tools including BO Dashboard and Oracle Portal/Dashboard offerings Liked BO Dashboard application, but the tool was deemed too expensive Oracle Portal/Dashboard option was interesting and seriously considered since we already were licensed for the products Eventually decided to not use Oracle Portal/Dashboard since we already had a portal product
Dashboard Opt. 2 Leverage Engineering Resources VP, project champion, was hoping IT could form a partnership with the College of Engineering (COE) to develop a Dashboard application from scratch Exploratory meetings were conducted with COE faculty COE graduate students developed early prototypes of a simple Dashboard application Collaboration progressed slowly More time was being invested by IT in creating data objects that simplified complex data time spent developing objects could be better spent doing actual dashboard report development
Dashboard Opt. 3 Find Freeware/Shareware Software Both IT and COE looked for freeware that could serve as components of a Dashboard application Java based applets were explored that created gauges and charts Applications were useful, but not easily integrated with existing architecture and security
Dashboard Opt. 4 Review Existing Tool Set Tested using Crystal Reports (CR) to create KPI and Dashboard-like reports via charts and gauges Tested existing Luminus Web Portal for rendering dashboard reports Even though CR dashboard capabilities are not robust, we came to realize that we were really looking for KPI reports in the form of charts and graphs Crystal Reports does do charts and graphs well
SUNGARD SUMMIT 2007 sungardsummit.com Topic #5 Solution developed A Community of Learning
myut Luminis Portal Eureka! Secure intranet web application Implemented as part of the Banner ERP project Allows individual roles to be recognized (student, faculty, executive, etc ) at login Handles multiple content formats Content can be delivered through multiple channels inside portal Individuals can configure their own channel views Individuals can subscribe to role-relevant content Dashboard graphical displays developed using Crystal Reports/Business Objects tools Standards for reports displays developed through trial and error
UT Dashboard Dashboard tab in the Portal Each Dashboard report is a subscribable channel in the portal Users can subscribe to a dashboard channel based on their role Image from Crystal Reports in Business Objects Enterprise (web report library) are rendered in the Portal Developed a simple process for rendering Excel reports and graphs
Technology to Link Crystal Reports Already Run Crystal reports are scheduled to run at 6:00 am each morning since most data being is refreshed nightly An ASP.NET web application was developed to render the pre-run reports A report ID is passed to the application through secured HTTP requests. The application uses the report ID to retrieve the latest pre-run report, then display it. ASP.NET caching technology is used to further increase performance. Each pre-run Crystal report is placed into the server memory the first time it gets loaded. Each subsequent request will then retrieve the report object from the cache.
Technology to Render Images of Excel Graphs A folder is created on the web server to store the static images. Users create JPG images from static Excel reports. Authorized users save the images into the folder. Standards were created for creating the images. Image size and width File name is the report and channel title. Common font type and size. A channel is created for each image. When an image changes the channel will display the latest data.
myut Portal and the Dashboard Once logged in, click on the Dashboard tab
myut Portal KPI Channels Each KPI channel is a rectangular frame within the portal
KPI Channel Display Types KPI s can be displayed as gauges, run charts, bar charts or nearly any other type of graphical format. Further, channels can be subscribed to, deleted, or moved around for customized individual views
SUNGARD SUMMIT 2007 sungardsummit.com Topic #6 The future A Community of Learning
The Future Performance improvements New KPI s (dependant upon data availability) Streamline channel content publication Expand usage Develop roles for access to different area KPI s
Summary A customized dashboard product can be developed using existing products at relatively low cost Luminis framework perfect for delivering multiple content types Channels allow customization of KPI delivery Role-based views Secure environment It s not rocket science!!
Questions?
Thank You! Joe Sawasky and Dominic D Emilio Please complete the online class evaluation form Vote early and vote often!! SunGard, the SunGard logo, Banner, Campus Pipeline, Luminis, PowerCAMPUS, Matrix, and Plus are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. Third-party names and marks referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. 2007 SunGard. All rights reserved.