Minority Report
Review of Windward Reports Arrow
Getting Arrow up and running was a simple and straightforward process. In about a half hour we installed and configured the 35 MB single MSI file by following the free online documentation. We wouldn't have thought free documentation was a big deal until we discovered that some other companies charge for their documentation. The instructions guided us step-by-step through copying the SetupArrow.msi file to our SharePoint front end web server and executing the MSI. We then added Arrow web parts just like any other web parts, and there were a total of eight under the category Windward Web Parts. After this we installed AutoTag which automatically detected the components that were already on our system and installed only what was necessary.
After installation we immediately started designing report templates. AutoTag is an add-in to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint so report creation was a much simpler process than with the other tools we've used. We simply opened Word and begin adding the desired elements to our template (headers, footers, text blocks, charts, graphs, images, tables of contents, etc.) using built-in commands. Because we were already familiar with Word this interface took us much less time to master than any of the other report design tools we found. Nearly all the features in Office were available to us with the exception of some minor formatting tools.
One of the features that stood out was charting. Reporting programs often stumble with charting, but this is another area where Windward stood strong. We didn't have to go through a lot of additional or complicated steps such as dummy image insertion or learning obscure beans like some of the other packages. The charts were fairly easy to create, had a wide range of layout and theme options, and were accompanied by solid examples in the sample templates and written documentation. We also designed reports in Excel and the process was as smooth as it was in Word. Of particular note was the ability to use Excel's dynamic formulas which expand intuitively with our data.
We took advantage of all the advanced capabilities of Microsoft Office 2010, features that we didn't find in any other reporting system. With this new version we easily collaborated on reports with colleagues, tracked revisions, and locked parts of our template. In Word we used the new editing tools to add, delete, and organize sections of our report and we set permissions and saved the file as a PDF with a button click. With Excel's built-in business intelligence tools we quickly drilled down through our data and sliced and analyzed it however we wanted. And in PowerPoint using photo- and video-editing tools within the software saved us even more time.
Before we ran a report we had to perform one final step: report assembly. The "Assemble a Windward Report" web part walked us through uploading a template to SharePoint and linking it to its data source. As with the other web parts, the onscreen instructions were short, clear, and easy to follow. Some features of note: built-in version control ensured we were working with the correct template, the template repositories are searchable and enforced by business rules, and we were able to set parameters for template variables in this step.
We had nine different output formats: HTML, PDF, DOCX, XML (Word), RTF, XLSX, XLS, PPTX, and direct to a printer. For the most part the final report rendered as we expected it to, although there were some minor formatting issues for which we needed to return to the template and make tweaks (namely, tables in Excel needed cells expanded to fit our data and some line drawings in PDF reports were not completely true to the original image in the template). One feature deserves special mention: generating a report URL and clicking on that URL causes the report to be run with current data.
Arrow allowed us to schedule reports to be run on our timetable: daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, with a variety of options for each category. We could to distribute to targets, email lists, shared SharePoint repositories, or printers. We appreciated the ability to set permissions so authorized colleagues and others could view, share, and edit reports. Plus, we could view a list of scheduled reports with details such as the report's description, when it was last run, and when it is next scheduled to be run.
Arrow also includes dashboards and drill-down interfaces. We could design and preview dashboards and gauges with little programming expertise, and we set them to automatically refresh for up-to-the-minute data. The drill-down capabilities let us click on links within generated templates to see subtemplates with more detailed info, and we had the option to nest links within templates.
Support is where Windward really shines. The detailed documentation covers everything from installation to program use to sys admin maintenance, and short "getting started" guides helped us get up and running quickly. The website offers written tutorials, video demonstrations, and paid support.
Overall Windward Reports outperformed the other reporting programs we evaluated. We found only a couple of features that could have been improved (the XPath and SQL wizards don’t allow for comparison of fields), and Windward Reports' robust feature set and ease of use make this a top-rated reporting solution. When it all comes down to it we would recommend Windward and Arrow to anyone looking for an all-encompassing reporting and BI solution.
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