Actuate BIRT - open source that's worth a look
Overall Satisfaction with Actuate
Actuate's open source BIRT is used as an integrated reporting solution to provide data exporting and visualization of client project portfolios that empowers them with information to aid in better decisions.
Pros
- The report outputs can vary across different types such as HTML, PDF, and Excel
- Their open source offering is very sufficient
- There are great boards and blogs for developers and engineers to expand and use their features.
- The people from the company that I've worked with are professional and courteous.
Cons
- The report designer can be unstable at times.
- The reporting engine tends to have memory leaks with certain types of massive-data reporting.
- The report graphics don't have the sexiest appeal (e.g. Glossy feel, animated output)
- Some extensibility is extremely difficult to get to without purchasing a license (e.g. Setting a simple flag so that HTML outputs in compressed mode requires either creating your own emitter or going the paid route)
- There is a myriad of reporting solutions and options tend to change every other year.
Actuate has been in the industry a while and the open source community make going with Actuate's BIRT a stable decision. Changing report engines can be expensive, so going with a company with a good reputation helps long-term.
Comments
Please log in to join the conversation