Item: Entrinsik Informer
Rating: 8
Author: Jerry Fowler

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Entrinsik Informer was initially used by just some power users at our institution. But now with training we have increased the usage to campus wide. We have three major groups of users (those that just run created reports, then a group of staff that will take created reports and modify them to match what they need, and then the group that is made up of power users and those are the ones that will created reports from scratch. Our staff have found Informer to be a tool that can be used by all staff.

Pros and Cons

The layout of the interface is very intuitive, it makes it more simple to actually create great reports
Ease of use for all different types of users. Those that are new to reporting find Informer a great tool
Entinsik as a company will listen to the users and take comments to heart and try and find ways to make it better.
Entrinsik customer service has always been a great help and have gotten back to me in a very timely manner

With the newest update to the program we have found that it runs quite a bit slower
They need a way to quit "run away reports" we sometimes have users that will create huge reports and when the set them off they take the system down.

Alternatives Considered

Before Informer our institution was a unidata client and since our migration to SQL we have started to use Informer as our main reporting solution. So really the only thing we can relate it to is the Query Builder that was built into Colleague in the old unidata system. Informer is a superior product in so many ways.

Likelihood to Renew

Informer is a product that is always in motion. We have found that even though updates sometimes brings with it issues, we have found that the positives out weigh the negatives.

Return on Investment

Informer has created continuity between departments so that they are looking at the same data
Informer allows our users to get cleaner data by analyzing data to see if its good data or bad data that needs to be corrected
Informer allows those staff members that dont have the expertise to create reports to run reports created by power users.

Likelihood to Recommend

Entrinsik Informer is best suited for those institutions that have users that know their data and how it is laid out. They will find Informer is a tool that will fit their needs and will be a product that can be used by staff of different levels.

Informer, a tool that every institution needs in their toolbox

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Entrinsik Informer