Why Reporting Often ‘Doesn’t Work’ and What to Do About It
In almost every project, if you have a heart-to-heart conversation with the team, they’ll say reporting is one area that doesn’t work.
In business terms, “doesn’t work” usually means it’s causing too many issues, taking too long, or not producing the desired results essentially, something that needs attention. It doesn’t necessarily mean everything’s wrong. So, let’s get comfortable with this term and take it in our stride.
The Reality of Report Development
Out-of-the-box configurations with light customisations are generally well accepted by the business. However, report development is effectively product development.
Yes, tools like BIP, OTBI, and OACS exist, but complex reports often require code written from scratch. Limited planning, a weak strategy, and poor understanding of requirements all contribute to the challenges. Read on to explore these problem areas and their solutions.
Setting the Scene
We decide we need a state-of-the-art solution that integrates all operations and departments into a single platform and we choose Oracle Cloud. Excellent choice.
The team is ready, a ‘sort of’ project plan is in place, and all components are mapped out requirement gathering, design, migration, configuration, development, architecture, and testing.
However, one crucial element either gets a small corner in the plan or is not invited to the party at all reporting.
It’s not unusual. Reporting has long taken a back seat in programmes that (rightly, at first) focus on configuration and migration the GL, AP, HR, Payroll, approval methods, and data migration.
But the real issue behind reporting frustration is often poorly written and loosely understood requirements, which we’ll explore shortly.
Why Reporting Matters
Reporting sits at the heart of end users’ daily operations especially in the Oracle Cloud world, where tools like OTBI, BIP, PBCS, and OACS are essential. Yet incomplete planning and lack of strategy often lead to outcomes such as:
Reports that don’t deliver what’s required
Reports that partially deliver results with manual adjustments and workarounds
Reports that aren’t delivered at all (or take far too long to complete)
Interestingly, the third scenario is often better than the second. A delayed solution is sometimes preferable to a half-baked one that risks incorrect data especially in statutory reporting.
Is a Perfect Reporting Solution Possible?
Yes and no.
From an end-user perspective, a perfect report provides all key columns with accurate data and that absolutely exists.
From a programme perspective, however, such solutions may be short-term. They often don’t integrate multiple requirements, making maintenance cumbersome.
This article focuses on the end-user view. The concept of Integrated Product Development will be covered in a future article.
Why Reporting Takes So Long
Reports don’t inherently take the most time they simply start late in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
Report development usually begins only after system configuration is complete no system means no reports.
Building BI Publisher or OACS reports can often be more complex than, for example, configuring a position hierarchy.
Reports testing can only begin after system testing for key modules (Financials, P2P, HCM, etc.) is complete.
Late start equals late finish.
Why Reporting Causes So Much Frustration
Here are the main culprits in no particular order.
- Poorly Understood or Loosely Written Requirements
The primary reason for reporting delays or failures. Ambiguity during requirement gathering creates misalignment from day one.
- Wrong Methodology
Using an unsuitable approach (for example, Waterfall where Agile is needed) means defects only surface during UAT or, worse, at deployment.
- Development Team Setup
Skills, communication, and structure matter. The reporting team should sit outside the core configuration team embedded within the business to challenge assumptions and identify defects in configuration or data migration.
Report developers should be techno-functional, with broad cross-module understanding.
- Misplaced Positioning in the Project Plan
If reporting isn’t correctly positioned in the plan, expect testing clashes, frustration, and delays.
- Poor or Missing Reporting Strategy
A lack of clarity around high-level requirements and data boundaries often results in flawed reports for instance, exposing employee personal data in a financial report.
- No Dedicated Reporting Project Plan
This one needs no introduction the absence of a structured plan guarantees confusion.
What’s Next
Want to know how best to plan your reporting project or course-correct your current one? Stay tuned for our next article we’ll walk through how to build a practical, scalable reporting roadmap that truly works.
