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Recommended End User Reporting Tool
Message
From
08/04/2014 11:47:30
 
General information
Forum:
Microsoft SQL Server
Category:
Third party products
Environment versions
SQL Server:
SQL Server 2012
Application:
Desktop
Miscellaneous
Thread ID:
01598253
Message ID:
01598279
Views:
37
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>a client is wanting to create their own reports from a SQL Server database (yeah right!). They must be able to export the results to Excel.
>>>
>>>I am familiar with Stonefield Query and SQL Server Reporting Services (I don't think they will be tech savvy enough to use SSRS). Are there any other tools out there that will be easy enough for an end user to use to query a database?
>>
>>Have you tried just using Excel?
>>
>>I have a client who uses Excel extensively for reports from a SQL database.
>>I supply the views and the client does the rest.
>
>One thing I have learned is that the more time a user can spend in Excel, as opposed to other some other mechanism for data exchange, the happier they are. Which I am fine with. Why not have a preference for something they are already familiar with?

Exactly, Mike.
As Kevin points out some things don't lend themselves to Excel reporting and can be dangerous.
I, for one, won't accept a financial statement in a spreadsheet, since I can never be sure what formulas, etc., are at work behind the scenes. Yes, other tools that prepare them can be jimmied too, but not so readily.
My clients use it primarily for secondary analytics, ad hoc queries, etc. They know its strengths and limits and use it prudently. As you say, they're happy with it.
Most only use a small fraction of its capabilities, but if you think about it a large piece of reporting is still the same thing we used to do with sorters and tabulators before computers came on the scene i.e.- sort, summarize, and list.
Anyone who does not go overboard- deserves to.
Malcolm Forbes, Sr.
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