Still using Crystal Reporting? Here are the two main reasons why you should switch your reporting tool.
The first reason to replace Crystal Reporting is that other enhanced tools through PeopleTools 8.55 are now available. The newly released PeopleTools 8.55 offers Oracle application users new and enhanced functionality, including the ability to access applications on a mobile device and create a user experience that is modern, simplified and intuitive. In addition, PeopleTools 8.55 will also bring increased analytic reporting capabilities through Simplified Analytics and interactive Pivot Grids, built using delivered or prebuilt PeopleSoft Queries. Users will be able to “slice and dice” data to view real-time reports, leading to enhanced decision-making and increased organizational efficiency. PeopleSoft users are also familiar with Oracle BI Publisher, introduced a few releases back to create reporting.
The second reason to replace Crystal Reporting is that support will be discontinued. PeopleTools 8.55 offers capabilities that, in many instances, will replace traditional reporting methods. SAP Crystal Reports, a traditional reporting method used by PeopleSoft customers in the past, will be discontinued. PeopleSoft Crystal Reports allowed users to create both standard and custom reports for print using data found within the PeopleSoft system.
PeopleTools 8.54 is the last release to support Crystal Reports, and PeopleTools 8.51 was the last release to bundle it. The support of these reports will end along with the Premier Support of 9.1 applications. Before July 2011, Oracle supported these reports to benefit PeopleSoft customers. Now, however, users will have improved reporting and analytic tools available to them to support their reporting needs. Users previously using Crystal Reports will be able to switch over to Oracle’s Business Intelligence Publisher tool. BI Publisher is the reporting platform for all PeopleSoft 9.2 applications.
Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (BI Publisher, formerly XML Publisher) is an enterprise reporting solution that streamlines report and form generation. One of the main advantages to using Oracle's BI Publisher product is the separation of the data extraction process from the report layout. BI Publisher enables customers to design and create report layout templates with the more common desktop applications of Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat, and renders XML data based on those templates. With a single template, it can generate reports in many formats (PDF, RTF, Excel, HTML, and so on) in many languages. Oracle’s Business Intelligence Publisher approach to reporting can dramatically reduce report maintenance, enabling power business users to adjust report templates without involvement of IT resources.
Oracle BI Publisher allows users to create, manage and distribute interactive and polished reports geared toward customers. Oracle BI Publisher also allows users to create government forms and electronic funds transfer documentation. BI Publisher makes creating reports easy and efficient, allowing users to set up reports exactly as they would like with the flexibility to export it in a number of different formats. Users can also schedule when and where they would like the reports to be delivered, such as via email. BI Publisher can also help users manage government regulatory reports.
Interested in utilizing PeopleTools 8.55 Analytics or the BI Publisher? Visit the PeopleTools 8.55 page on Oracle's site.
