Is there a report tool that allows users to create

Question

I have looked around a bit but I can't find a tool that fit my needs.

What I need is a tool that allows users to create their own reports preferably from a web interface where the user is able to create charts, diagrams and tables.

Therefore the tool needs to be able to handle several users and restrict the users to a certain database.

I have looked at Crystal Reports and SSRS and neither of them seems to support what I want or am I missing something?

Answer 1

SSRS also has an end-user feature to build custom reports, called Report Builder. It has been totally revised with SQL Server 2008 R2 (Report Builder 3.0). I haven't gotten around to using it much, but it seems like it may be what you're looking for.

Here's a link to a page that may help you decide if it's what you're looking for: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd220460.aspx

Answer 2

So, you're looking for a web-based limited version of Crystal Developer? I can't imagine a user audience that is skilled and motivated enough to make their own reports, set the scales for their graphs, make their own crosstabs, etc. In my experience, they either want it pre-summarized or in an Excel file. Here's my alternatives:

1. Make several template reports yourself and just let the user pick the one they want. i.e. You make 3 templates, the first template summarizing the data in a crosstab format, another using a pie chart format, and another using a bar chart format. The user then just has to choose between crosstab.pdf, piechart.pdf, or barchart.pdf.

2. Give up on Crystal entirely and just hand the data to them in an Excel file. It's not pretty, and it probably has more options than they want, but it's commonly used software that they (probably) know how to use.
   (You can also put crosstabs in the first tab, pie charts on the 2nd, barcharts on the 3rd tab, and let the user just pick the tab they prefer. This gives them the most flexibility because they can also make their own graphs in case they don't like your presummarized displays.)

Answer 3

Do you search for a Ad-Hoc reporting service like this demo? More about the feature can you find at http://www.inetsoftware.de/products/crystal-clear/ad-hoc-reporting.

Answer 4

Here's a good tool that will fit to your needs: http://www.ssrsreporting.com

Answer 5

I agree with a lot of the answers here, having previously tried to implement Crystal and Report Builder for self service BI, although they seem like a good method it soon become unmanageable.

Microsoft have releases Powerpivot for Excel 2010, as long as you have a Office 2010 licence (or above) you should be able to use Powerpivot at no extra cost.

I have been working on including it in our BI stack and have found that for the more data savvy it works a treat, you can basically set up views of the data you wish for them to access (with friendly names) and they can use all the filtering and pivot functions they are used to in excel. It can also be integrated with sharepoint and it looks like the additional features are quite cool however as the cost of licensing (and sharepoint admin) would be too high so for us at least, the free Excel version seems to be the way to go.

Here is the tech spec and install link: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/714.powerpivot-install-the-powerpivot-add-in-for-excel-en-us.aspx

Hope this helps!