A little time goes a long way ...
April 16, 2014
A little time goes a long way ...
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
4.3
Overall Satisfaction
Entrinsik Informer is used by power users, service staff and information technology. It allows us to easily capture real time data that we then use to feed into other systems. This allows us to expand services beyond our central database. It is also a quick way for users to pull simple lists of data for daily processing saving time and allowing users to focus on more critical tasks.
- Real time data reporting
- Simple drag and drop interface
- Easy to maintain
- Data cannot be qualified inline to exclude rows of data or sections/returns based on matching fields
- A standardization guide to map fields to common names for non-technical users (this is probably something that can be done)
- Easily transitioned users from UniQuery to Informer
- Efficiency gained through simplicity
Crystal Reports with UniDATA ODBC. This works quite well but is cumbersome to set up and maintain. This required several steps outside the UniDATA database as well as setting up security views and a variety of processes that have to be monitored more closely. No other systems were evaluated to replace the old query interface.
Product Usage
Information Technology, Human Resources, Business Office, Student Services, Curriculum Management, Distance Education. Every user group on campus uses this product for some function or in conjunction with other reporting tools. It extends our student information system to allow users to identify data in real time and address issues that may otherwise create service issues.
2 - To support Entrinsik Informer a user should have good working knowledge of data retrieval, no matter the system. They should know some or be able to pick up on Java script to extend the functionality further and beyond the general user interface. It is pretty easy to pick up on once you know the data elements and structure.
- On the fly data lists
- Save list creation
- Extraction to send to other systems
- Generated a formatted employee directory
- Email status reports
- Dashboards
Evaluation and Selection
Yes - Entrinsik Informer replaced both UniQuery as well as UniDATA ODBC and Excel. It has not completely replaced but is on the road map to replace an aging Crystal Reports Server. All those systems work fine but we need to consolidate systems and processes and having Informer will allow us to do that.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
The only thing I would have changed is probably getting it sooner. However at the time we already had three forms of reporting data and adding a fourth was not an option. Once we were able to consolidate some systems we purchased Informer and rolled it out to campus quickly and efficiently.
Implementation
- Vendor implemented
- Implemented in-house
Yes - We had an administrator implementation then end user implementation. The administrator implementation included installation and best practices with administrator training. The end user training was broken into a few groups to accommodate schedules and service needs.
- Mapping files and field names
Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes! We needed a script to generate a single line of multi-value fields and support was able to give us code within an hour I believe. This saved us from having to modify our student information system database tables which would have been more cumbersome and something more costly and more complex to maintain.
Usability
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Drag and drop
- Report output options
- Scheduling reports
- Joins
- Formatting output
- Delimiting data rows