Many solutions on the market provide effective ways to manage your company's iSeries data, but which one is right for your environment? More often than not, business intelligence (BI) and document management solutions require a lot of technical expertise and/or programming skills. Implementing and maintaining the software can be an overwhelming task. But many companies are finding that they can bring key iSeries data into a program that their users already know, providing them with timely access to information.



When it comes to easy report-generation, the first solution that comes to mind for many users is Excel. When this ubiquitous spreadsheet and reporting application is paired with software that can easily transfer iSeries data into spreadsheets, users can obtain the information they need and manipulate it with the powerful tools that Excel provides for analysis, communication, and results-sharing.

Many facets of your company's reporting procedures can generate cost savings. As an IT administrator, you may be creating numerous reports for employees throughout your organization: one report for your executive team, a different report for accounting, and others for administrative users. Often, these reports are created by copying and pasting data from hard-to-use file formats into Excel spreadsheets. By using a solution that easily and rapidly exports your data into pre-designed Excel templates, you can save aggravation and expense.

Other savings may occur if your company is currently using preprinted forms. By moving from preprinted forms to a simple solution that exports data into Office products, companies can save thousands of dollars each year by eliminating wasted, outdated forms. Major savings occur when your users can save their documents, print them on plain paper, and easily email them using Outlook.

It is IT's responsibility to provide tools that improve employee productivity. When data is held up because users have to depend on IT to create their reports and IT is busy with other significant business tasks, problems can arise—particularly when mission-critical data is needed immediately. Having both easy access to key information and the needed tools to analyze that data are necessary to an organization's growth. When users are able to create their own reports, they have access to the information they need when they need it.

With some reporting, BI, and document-management software programs, valuable time is spent learning and training new staff members to use the products. Software that can export iSeries data into Excel gives users the ability to manipulate the data in a program that they already know. Many BI software products on the market require extensive time and knowledge from the IT staff, which, again, takes IT away from critical projects.

The distribution method that you use for your internal documents can contribute to many headaches. The best solutions provide the ability to distribute your documents with applications that you already use. With programs that transfer data into an Office product, users can easily send the documents via email or fax, using the applications they know best.

A versatile solution provides the ability to transfer iSeries data into various document formats. A solution that offers the flexibility to create forms in Word or present information in a PDF allows users to tackle many tasks.

Once data is in a Microsoft Office document, the ways to customize that data are endless. Users can create formulas, charts, graphs, and tables to make documents visually appealing and to help them more efficiently analyze the data. Programs that allow you to set up an Excel template in advance—with all of the formatting already created—can be especially helpful because they can save the user a great deal of valuable time. iSeries data is imported quickly with one step, and the completed report is immediately available.

Ideally, your iSeries-to-Excel solution should allow you to set it up and forget about it. Look for a product that lets you easily set up jobs that automate your reporting process.

To eliminate strains on your network, some solutions offer the ability to save IT resources by working in batch overnight. Those solutions allow optimal performance of your iSeries during peak daytime periods.

As with any BI or reporting solution, your iSeries-to-Excel solution must limit access to sensitive data and easily control access to the reports that users can see.

Users with no authorities on the database can receive iSeries data easily in a spreadsheet format. This prevents you from having to provide authority to everyone who needs access to this data. You don't have to manage the access authorities because the data is sent to the user from the system itself.

The widespread knowledge of the capabilities of Excel make it easy to explain the benefits of moving iSeries data into spreadsheets. When evaluating BI and reporting solutions, find one that can perform all of the tasks your company requires in one complete solution while making it easy on your users.

For a longer version of this article go to http://www.bosanova.net/iseriesdatatoexcel.html