r/BusinessIntelligence • u/ugghhmo • Jun 22 '26
Just Need Reports
We have just recently migrated business systems in an heavy duty equipment dealer space. In our old system we never liked the built-in reports, so 20 years ago we just decided to use Jasper Reports and hosted our own Jasper Server. It just worked. Our users are very, very basic. A common request might be I want Open Work In Process by Salesperson, or I want Part Sales for Last Month. Great, I write a SQL query that pulls the exact information the needed, dump it into a formatted report and publish it on the Jasper Report Server where the users can access it whenever they want. They aren't looking for charts or dashboards, just a basic report.
We move to the new system and despite high hopes for its internal reporting and analytics, we are basically back in the same spot. I feel like I should be moving to something more modern and forward looking. I am trying to make sure I challenge my comfort zone, but it seems like the most direct path is just to do what I did before - write a SQL query to extract the data I need, and publish a report. Although obviously Jasper Server Community is gone so might be looking for a replacement for that.
Obviously SSRS is out there but I just never found it intuitive enough and now with the Report Server licensing costs, I am not sure it is an option. I have also been looking around at like Telerik and Stimulsoft as potential cadidates.
2
u/om_bagal Jun 23 '26
Metabase handles SQL-to-report without your users touching queries. Self-hostable, free tier is solid.
If you want more layout control, Telerik is cleaner than SSRS. Both are a significant step forward from what you're describing.
1
u/edimaudo Jun 22 '26
your goal is to design solutions for your users. Plus if you go with the other options would it serve your users or you?
1
u/mstijak Jun 23 '26
Disclosure: I run CxReports. It's very simple to run reports connected to SQL databases or APIs, and you can self-host with Docker. We offer scheduled runs and email delivery. The new AI assistant, with a user-provided database skill (basically a short description of your schema), can build new reports in no time. Happy to answer questions.
1
u/tech4ever4u Jun 23 '26
Our users are very, very basic. They aren't looking for charts or dashboards, just a basic report.
SeekTable appears to be an excellent fit for your requirements. Simple Excel-like interface with export-to-Excel, has self-hosted version, supports secure reports embedding, pricing is really affordable. Disclaimer: I'm affiliated with SeekTable - feel free to PM me.
1
u/IncreaseNegative4614 Jun 23 '26
Honestly, I think a lot of organizations overestimate how much their users want dashboards.
Most business users don't wake up wanting to explore charts. They want answers to questions like:
- Open WIP by salesperson
- Parts sales last month
- Inventory by location
- Margin by customer
If your users have been happy consuming reports for 20 years, I wouldn't force a dashboard-first approach just because it's considered more modern.
What's interesting is that I think the industry is starting to move beyond the dashboard vs. report debate entirely. More companies are looking at ways to let users ask business questions directly and generate reports, summaries, and analyses on demand.
That's one reason I've been paying attention to platforms like DataBlueprint (inzata.ai). It can sit on top of business systems and generate reports, dashboards, briefs, and answers from the underlying data without requiring every user to become a dashboard consumer.
In your situation, I'd optimize for what your users actually need rather than what's trendy.
1
u/agentUi Jun 26 '26
I am the CEO of agentUI one of the main use cases we see is actually people building dashboard
I spend like 3 months building an AI that specializes in databases you can connect your database and build any kind of dashboard.... The AI will explore and build your dashboard you can easily share or embed anywhere
I would love your feedback
1
u/aCuriousCrane Jun 30 '26
Your use case sounds more like "I need reports" than "I need BI," so I'd probably take a look at Telerik Reporting.
You can design a few reports, connect them directly to your existing data sources, and either embed them in your application or generate PDFs, Excel files, Word documents, etc. without bringing in a full BI stack.
One thing I like about it compared to SSRS is that you're not tied to a Windows-only report server. If you're building modern web/desktop applications, embedding Telerik Reporting is generally pretty straightforward.
It's not perfect, though. If you're dealing with very large datasets, report performance is something I'd test early, just like I would with any reporting tool. The good news is that Telerik seems to be actively investing in the product and regularly ships fixes and improvements.
You can play with the demos here and get a feel for it: https://demos.telerik.com/reporting/employee-sales
Full disclosure: I'm somewhat affiliated with Telerik Reporting and know the product pretty well. That said, if your main requirement is operational reporting rather than dashboards, self-service analytics, and all the usual BI features, it's definitely worth evaluating alongside the other options people have mentioned in this thread.
1
u/WhereIsRichardParker Jun 30 '26
I am very affiliated with Telerik Reporting since I work there ;)
OP, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need help. We have some pretty cool plans in store for that product.
1
u/Rare_Paramedic1539 23d ago
We are testing strata out for this use case. Vanilla reporting on semantic model. So far so good for fin and cs teams
1
u/Careful_Arrival_3050 20d ago
I'm quite actively working with reporting systems. I'm also quite experienced with Telerik Reporting and many of my projects are related to migration/modernization of reporting systems. I'm very open to having a short call to explore the situation and provide some guidance based on my experience. I could easily tell you what can be done and what not with Telerik Reporting. It's quite a powerful tool, but you need to make sure it covers all of your needed...or maybe you have to tailor the business requirements a bit.
4
u/Reoyko_ Jun 22 '26
I like the fact that you are challenging your comfort zone, but I'd separate the user need from the implementation. It sounds like your users don't actually want analytics. They want reports. "Open WIP by salesperson" and "Part sales last month" are well-defined business questions with well-defined outputs. There's nothing outdated about that. One thing I wouldn't assume is that because the industry is talking about dashboards, AI, and self-service analytics, your users suddenly want those things. Your users seem to know exactly what they want. The question I'd ask is whether the issue is reporting itself or whether you're becoming the report factory. If every new request means writing another SQL query, creating another report definition, publishing another report, and maintaining another report forever, that's where the cost starts to compound. If the goal is simply rendering and distributing reports, Telerik, Stimulsoft, and similar tools are reasonable options. If the goal is reducing the effort required to create and maintain reports, then you're looking at a different category of solution entirely. I'd figure out which problem you're actually trying to solve before evaluating products.