The modern business culture essentially insists on flexible and accessible technology platforms and procedures, with mobile apps also coming to market from more vendors as Exhibit A of the success independent software vendors (ISVs) have achieved in responding to consumer demands for solutions that keep pace with the global corporate scene, including analytics, data management, and reporting for Acumatica customers.  Nowadays, we are happy to report that you should and can rely on Business Intelligence (BI) tools that are flexible enough for your company in regard to accessing transactional and operational information for richer, quicker decision-making, whether you’re on-premises or working remotely.  ISVs are leading the charge for a flexible BI solutions.

ISV BI tools are expanding the functionality that Acumatica offers by providing best-of-breed reporting, budgeting, dashboards, and data warehousing.  In addition, today’s BI software offers choices to business end users.  At some point, everyone has probably had the experience of being out of the office when a deadline that requires company data pops up – and at times, it’s urgent.  As an Acumatica user, you are familiar with the benefits of web-based technology for modernity and accessibility.  However, if you are seeking more robust, richer reporting, planning, or data visualizations, you might feel a little restricted with Acumatica’s native functionality for modern analytics.  You might also run into sometimes shaky remote access to Acumatica with third party BI applications because you’re relying on Citrix, Terminal Server, and VPN.  If you’re looking for a true solution and an upgrade, you can get just that with today’s web-enabled BI tools.

There are some main criteria to consider when looking around for a BI technology overhaul that help you meet your organization’s short and long term objectives.  Firstly, think about how you would like to integrate your data: you might need to integrate live if you require real-time data for your analyses from Acumatica – or you might want to go with a BI data store integration, like an OLAP cube or a data warehouse.  Perhaps you need both?  You also should think about platform options: an Excel add-in tool offers your business end users the familiarity that makes learning the product typically quicker, but there are also browser-based products that would complement your Acumatica experience arguably better, since you can continue to access your information from anywhere you can connect to the internet.  Fortunately, we are happy to note that some of today’s products are Excel-powered on the web when it comes to report design.  In addition, mobile apps are increasing in popularity in the BI sector since you can access and view financial reports, data visualizations, and KPIs where you carry your mobile device(s).  Lastly, don’t ignore the potential ROI you can achieve with solutions that are part of a complete suite of fully integrated BI modules that can make your processes more efficient.

To continue learning more about BI Add-on Tools for Acumatica, read the rest of this article here.