I am excited to join the team here at Gilchrist Scott Ltd.  This is my very first blog post and it’s obvious that I should start with SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) as I have a wealth of experience with it, and it seems like most customers can’t see the benefits until it’s deployed.  So that is the goal of this post, to convince you that SSRS is a platform you should deploy as soon as possible!

SSRS has been around for a while now, but only in the last couple of versions of GP has it been tightly integrated into the UI.  Reports can now be launched directly from GP Lists, and since GP 2010, the reports are separated into series (Sales, Purchasing, etc) with a link off of each navigation ribbon.  This makes them very easy to launch from within GP.  Some of the great features of SSRS that enable you to get business data out of GP easily and quickly are as follows:

Web Based / Security - Different from Crystal Reports, SQL Reporting Services does not have to be installed on all the workstations where the reports are launched.   The reports are created and then deployed to the Reporting Server, which is hosted just like any other web site.  SSRS also has built in security by report so you can restrict access based on the windows user or group.

Subscriptions – SSRS has a feature called subscriptions which allows you to schedule the delivery of reports through e-mail or to a folder.  This is certainly a very cool feature that enables you to take those reports you run on a regular basis and set them up to be delivered right to your email inbox.  This streamlines your reporting process and cuts down on time.  The reports can be sent in a PDF or Excel format among others.  You can also choose to run reports to a Windows file share.  This is great for “point in time reports” that you may need to go back and look at a later date.

Drillbacks – Drillbacks are an SSRS feature that allow links to be embedded into the report that will launch GP windows.  I have created Inventory reports for instance that have embedded links on the item number field that, when clicked, will pop open the Item Inquiry window in GP with that item already loaded.  This is great for when you need more information on certain items in the report in order to make smart business decisions on the fly.

Report Models – Report models are groupings of tables that are linked together and then published to the report server.  This allows users who are not familiar with complex table linking to be able to create reports for themselves, taking the report writing away from the IT department and allowing them to work on other projects.  The report creation process is done with a program called Report Builder.  This can be downloaded from the Report Server and installed on the users system simply by clicking on a link.

I think you will agree that this is very cool stuff!  So for those of you who do not have SSRS deployed; give us a call at 207.761.2133 or email us to schedule some time to get SSRS installed and start migrating you current reports or creating new ones.  If you do have it deployed and would like to start using it more, we can help with report creation, report model deployment,  and any questions/issues you may have.