The skill level required to build a report is within our team's capabilities

Description

In the context of Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software, the capability to build reports by the team members themselves, without always depending on technical support, can increase efficiency and reduce operational delays. An intuitive interface, coupled with necessary training, can equip users with the ability to generate, customize, and interpret reports using the CPM software.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A medium-sized corporation with a small analytics team uses CPM software to monitor its business performance. The team often relies upon their IT department or external service providers to build complex performance reports, causing delays.

Solution: Opting for CPM software that is user-friendly and requires a skill level that aligns with that of the in-house team. The software allows users to independently generate and customize reports. This change speeds up the reporting process, making the data readily available for decision making.

Considerations

When we say “within our teams capabilities” we are describing a user interface that is agreeable to everyone and does not require extensive training before the team can be productive. Many tools on the market will offer training for their reporting package. If that reporting takes place over several days, you're in for a tough adoption. Modern reporting tools should be intuitive, well documented, and with plenty of ~2-minute videos to get your team productive in a short time.

Keep in mind that building a report may take place via an Excel plug-in or a web interface. This requirement doesn't specify which, it only requires that it be something that your team can be productive with in a short time.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Ease of Use: How long does it take the average user to be productive in this reporting interface?
• Training: Realistically, how much training do we need to produce a professional-quality report in this tool?
• Documentation: Where is the written and recorded documentation for this tool? Is it included in the license?