What Would Prevent Data From appearing in a Custom Report?

A question that often comes up when people talk about custom reports is – what would prevent data from appearing in a custom report? This is a natural observation based on the fact that custom reports are normally produced on a regular basis. Usually, there is some sort of data already available in the company’s database so producing a custom report on the basis of this data is hardly sensible. So what can be done to overcome this?

Well, first of all the whole idea of creating a custom report is to reduce the data that is already present in the company’s database and present only those pieces of information that are really relevant for the audience that is to be informed about the product or service. Data that is redundant is of no use because it would not help the decision making process.

Another way of looking at it is that of the simplified form of data. Here, data is presented in a condensed form that makes it easier for a decision maker to digest.

However, even this simplified form has some limitations. Suppose the company wants to present data on the financial health of the company and they have access to the year end performance figures for every customer and they want to use this data in their decision making process.

What would happen if they get data that clearly indicates that the profit margin was lower than the revenue? Obviously, the decision maker would never make this kind of mistake because it is risky to make assumptions based on inaccurate data.

In such a scenario, it would be extremely important for the company to find out how to overcome these problems. Now, if you are wondering what would prevent data from appearing in a custom report, the answer is simple – training! Yes, training the staff on how to collect the right kind of data in the right manner and then presenting it in an easily understandable manner.

Imagine a situation where there is missing data that has been tampered with. This can not only defeat the whole purpose behind creating the custom report in the first place but also serve as grounds for dismissal of the entire project. So, in order to avoid such a scenario, ensure that all the data required by your company is collected and stored in a secure location. For this purpose, you can hire a private storage facility or purchase a secure lock box. This way, data will be safe and you can rest assured that there would be no loss of data ever.

So, what would prevent data from appearing in a custom report? The simple answer is awareness. If your company is not aware of the format and structure of a report, then chances are high that you would not create one at all. It is important to understand how the format and structure of reports work. Only then can you adopt the right techniques and procedures in collecting and saving the data.