Jaspersoft BI, Powerful GI Suite with Low TCO
Updated March 01, 2016
Jaspersoft BI, Powerful GI Suite with Low TCO
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Software Version
5.5
Modules Used
- Jasperserver, iReport,OLAP Workbench
Overall Satisfaction with Jaspersoft
- Jaspersoft's suite of report writing, report distribution and ETL have provided my clients with a solution that is both easy to use and powerful, allowing for rapid deployment of basic reports and extensive flexibility for advanced configuration, Data Warehouse development and reports and OLAP analysis.
- The iReport report writer allows both graphical report design and development and direct code writing allowing me to quickly train users on how to graphically design and build reports using the drag and drop user interface and rapidly develop custom components. The breadth of report development features is massive including; Drill down report links, sub-reports, built in extensible graphs and maps of all kinds, a vast array of data sources, easy passing of variables from and to sub-reports, adding custom code to components using Java, custom style development and assignment. iReport is internally integrated with Jasperserver allowing easy report deployment to the enterprise report and analysis portal.
- The Mondrian OLAP Work Bench is a fantastic tool for designing and deploying OLAP cubes for online analysis. The graphical UI is easy to use and allows for advance configuration of Cubes and their components. With a built in MDX designer, Cube design and query result can be tested in one place. Cubes and queries can be directly uploaded to the Jasperserver portal which provides a visually attractive and feature rich Analysis View feature for OLAP analysis. Analysis Views on the report server can be drilled to from reports designed in iReport providing a very powerful view of information
- The JasperETL tool, which is based on the Talend* ETL suite, is so powerful that we use it both for Data Warehouse population but also for Enterprise Application Integration projects as well. From basic JDBC data pulls to transactional data layers, to complex transformation to Data Marts and FACT Tables this tool does it all. We have successfully deployed ETL projects that pull and combine data from MSSQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Flat File, Web Services, LDAP, Spreadsheets,MDM and REGEX files to produce rich and effective reporting Data Marts and Topics. I cannot say enough about this suite and it's power and flexibility.
- Jasperserver is the web-app based reporting portal that acts as the hub of the Jaspersoft reporting suite. The server is easily integrated with your LDAP enabled directory services and can quickly be configured for SSL or be placed behind your Apache HTTP server. Reports and OLAP Analysis developed using iReport or OLAP Workbench can be uploaded directly to the server. The server provides for iReport Reports, Mondrian OLAP analysis Views as well as views on any Cube that is XML/A enabled, Ad-hoc reports, Static Content Deployment (PDF, XLSX, DOCX, HTML and much more). In addition powerful Dashboards that combine multiple reports can easily be created using the GUI provided in the Jasperserver portal. Access can be controlled through users and groups which can be directly integrated into your corporate Directory Services (Active Directory, OpenLDAP, etc) and data can be filtered within reports based on those assignments. The server can be extended into clusters for large enterprise deployments. The portal can be customized extensively from basic styling and branding to full JSP/Spring development of new pages and functionality. This is hands down the best report server I have worked with.
- Jaspersoft has moved to Jaspersoft Studio as it's preferred report writer and will be the only report writer supported fro new features. Bug fixes and technical support for iReport will be supported through 12/31/2015.
- Built on top of the popular Eclipse Integrated Development Environment, Jaspersoft Studio delivers a sophisticated graphical reporting experience with extensible component configuration for advanced report development. Features include:
- Visual drag and drop designer for rapid report development
- Easy access to Report Elements and Tools within report designer
- Large inventory of Report Elements and Tools for rapid development of visually rich reports
- Complete set of charts for dynamic visual presentation of reporting data
- Integrated preview allows viewing report results as you design
- Built-in Expression Editor with Syntax Highlighter
- Easy Access Data Explorer
- Extensible for Custom Report Plug-ins
- Dynamic and Cascading Report Parameters
- Vast array of configurable Data Sources
- Extensible properties for exporting formatting and formulas to Excel
- Extensible properties for exporting PDF formatting
- Develop your own styles for consistent look and feel across all reporting elements
- Version control to GIT,SVN and more
- Export to PDF, HTML, XHTML, XLS, RTF, DOCX, Text, CSV, OpenOffice, XML, PNG
- Full integration with Jasperserver including publishing, server explorer and resource editing
- While many of the advanced report writing features of iReport are available through the GUI, customization requires knowledge of Java. We often need to produce reports that are exportable to Spreadsheets with formulas and formatting intact. As consultants we can produce this quickly for our clients, but the GUI tools are not as friendly as they could be.
- While Jaspersoft does offer the Talend Integration Server which is a web-app and execution server of it's own, the basic ETL tool requires some sophisticated knowledge to deploy scheduled jobs on Linux or Windows servers. Managing the libraries and status of the jobs can become non trivial as they grow in number.
- Finding qualified consultant like RLWilliams Consulting can be difficult.
The breadth of features and functionality, Ease of access to a vast community of users for support. The key factor after comparing features and functionality was price. The Jaspersoft suite is hands down the best value bay a large margin..
Using Jaspersoft
100 - Simple and ad-hoc reports are designed and deployed by line staff and managers from all parts of the organization. Complex reports are generally developed with a combination of a designer,developer and a subject matter expert.
1 - Jasperserver support is usually managed by IT. Basic understanding of J2EE Web Application functionality and features is required and a full understanding of the container used (JBOSS, Tomcat, Glassfish) is required for effective day to day management as well as scaling and growth. Managing Backups is critical and having an experienced consultant to help with the DR and maintenance design is very important.
- Enrich traditional financial reporting with operational performance Graphics for a complete view of organizational performance.
- Combine Purchasing/Maintenance Cost data with IT Infrastructure performance to enhance cost structure analysis and reporting.
- Combine external Demographic information with internal Sales/Marketing/CRM data for relative performance across key sales performance factors.
- Financial and Accounting Reporting and Analysis
- Consolidated Sales/Maketing/CRM
- IT Service Management
- IT Infrastructure Performance.
- Vastly improve delivery of Line of Business Reporting.
- Cross Application Data Consolidation provided analysis views that was believed to be unavailable to the organization.
- Consolidation of MIB,Syslog,Application Log and Ticketing data provided in depth analysis of IT infrastructure performance.
Evaluating Jaspersoft and Competitors
Yes - Most of our clients are replacing expensive commercial products including IBM Cognos TM1, Actuate/Birt and Microsoft SSIS/SSRS/SSAS to bring BI and reporting development in house.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Analyst Reports
While a baseline of features and functionality as well as ease of use are requirements for all the products our clients look at, price/value was the success factor for Jaspersoft BI.
Most of our client know that they want a reporting and BI solution that can be used enterprise wide for both functionality gaps in existing systems but also enterprise wide consolidated data, they do not spend enough time putting together functional requirements. Understanding the critical needs of information consumers allows for a rapid package selection process based on enumerated tactical and strategic reporting, IT Infrastructure and Data Warehouse requirements.
Jaspersoft Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team No escalation required Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - As a Jaspersoft partner we both provide and use Jaspersoft Support. We recommend clients use both paid support from Jaspersoft which comes with the commercial edition and a consultng partner for more complex and urgent needs, particularly when deploying in a complex enterprise.
In a complex non-standard deployment of Jasperserver in a fully Centos environment with a remote MySQL server acting as the Jasperserver Application Database, Jaspersoft was able to rapidly assist with MySQL configuration issues that caused corruption in the database and assist with a complete recovery.