Professional Web Report Applications
How do you get the newest, most accurate intelligence about your organization's performance into the hands that need it the most? Through reports accessible over the web. Communicating data efficiently and effectively is paramount to realizing your business plan, for all levels of leadership.
InetSoft knows web reports, or charts and tables of visualized data, stats, and metrics, accessed from on the web, are essential for pinpointing where your organization's strengths and weaknesses are. The insights afforded by business intelligence programs are instructive first steps towards solving recurring issues and enhancing winning strategies.
Naturally, what you need from your reporting application for maximizing your organization's productive potential are clean, professional visuals, that are easy to create and even easier to understand. Web reporting is the pivot point that you are using to allow the power of information to increase the growth your business.
InetSoft believes that a powerful web reporting application can be user friendly and quickly learnable for all levels of user and management, and still deliver the important information using high end professional visualizations. That is what InetSoft had in mind when they created their flagship software: StyleBI.
Transform The Fluidity of Information
One of the key strengths in the way StyleBI delivers web reporting is its wide range of sophisticated chart types. The idea was to increase ease and liberty through a broad range of communicative styles. But what we often see stemming from the freedom to create so many visuals is that sometimes reports lose the ability to convey their information concisely and without confusion. The fact is, too much similar looking information can become unclear and hard to read. This is a serious limitation to reporting that InetSoft set out to address head on.
In addition to reports, StyleBI comes with the capacity to build interactive dashboards, giving you the options of creating the simpler printable, paginated reports, or sophisticated analysis using an interactive display environment fit with sliders, rulers, brushing and other tools. When viewed online, paginated reports can have hyperlinks to dashboards, and vice versa. This innovation of having the best of both worlds in the choice of paper or electronic presentation serves to expedite cleanly the dissemination of high volumes of condensed statistical measures and performance metrics. In order to achieve the kind of balance between clean communication and in depth reporting needed for effective interactivity, StyleBI is a web based program designed to be accessed from any browser, making both the traditional report for print and the dashboard for dynamic interpretation accessible and viewable anywhere, at any time.
Furthermore, StyleBI has an intuitive design, with a learning curve accommodating any level of user. Not simply a powerful and adept web report utility, StyleBI was designed to improve your organization's relationship with information.
You can begin testing the software with a free evaluation right now.
Kinetic Sculpture Manufacturer Switching from FineReport to StyleBI for Its Web Report Application
A boutique kinetic sculpture manufacturer, known for creating intricate moving art installations for museums, corporate spaces, and public venues, recently undertook a significant upgrade to its analytics infrastructure. The company had relied on FineReport for reporting and operational analytics, primarily using its desktop and server-based tools to monitor production workflows, materials usage, and client project timelines. While FineReport provided foundational reporting capabilities, the company faced increasing challenges with accessibility, integration, and modern web-based analytics. After evaluating multiple alternatives, the organization decided to transition to InetSoft’s open source StyleBI, leveraging its Web Report Application to centralize reporting, enable self-service queries, and deliver real-time operational insights.
Challenges with FineReport
FineReport had served as the manufacturer’s reporting platform for several years, enabling analysts to create production reports, track project milestones, and generate dashboards. However, as the company’s operations expanded, several limitations became apparent:
- Limited web accessibility: FineReport required specific server configurations and sometimes desktop client installations, making it challenging for remote engineers, designers, or project managers to access reports from multiple locations.
- Complex report design: Creating or modifying reports often required specialized technical skills. Non-technical staff, including project coordinators and production supervisors, struggled to generate or customize reports independently.
- Data silos: FineReport did not easily support combining data from multiple sources, such as materials inventory, project timelines, and client feedback, into unified visualizations. Analysts had to manually reconcile data, slowing decision-making.
- Scalability issues: As the manufacturer’s database of sculptures, components, and client projects grew, the performance of FineReport dashboards began to degrade, leading to delays in accessing actionable insights.
- Integration constraints: Embedding FineReport analytics into the company’s internal web portals or client-facing dashboards required custom development and additional licensing, limiting its reach across stakeholders.
These challenges motivated the company to explore modern BI solutions that could deliver web-based accessibility, intuitive self-service reporting, and seamless integration across multiple data sources.
Why StyleBI Was Selected
InetSoft’s StyleBI stood out as a strategic replacement due to several key advantages over FineReport:
- Web-based report application: StyleBI provides a fully browser-based platform, eliminating the need for desktop installations. This enabled the manufacturer’s designers, project managers, and engineers to access reports and dashboards from any location, including client sites and remote workshops.
- Self-service reporting: The intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows non-technical users to create and modify reports without relying on IT or specialized analysts. Users can explore production data, visualize materials consumption, and track project milestones independently.
- Data mashup capabilities: StyleBI allows real-time integration of multiple data sources. The manufacturer can now combine inventory records, supplier data, project schedules, and quality control results in a single report or dashboard, providing a comprehensive view of operations.
- Open-source flexibility: The company valued the ability to customize and extend the platform according to evolving business needs. StyleBI’s open-source framework permits custom connectors, visualizations, and automation scripts, enabling tailored analytics workflows.
- Scalability and performance: StyleBI’s architecture is optimized for large datasets, ensuring fast report generation even as the manufacturer expands its production lines and client base.
- Embedded analytics: StyleBI enables dashboards and reports to be embedded directly into internal web portals or client-facing platforms. This allowed the company to provide clients with interactive project dashboards and real-time progress updates.
Implementation Process
The transition from FineReport to StyleBI followed a structured approach designed to minimize disruption while maximizing adoption:
1. Data Assessment and Preparation
The IT team conducted a detailed audit of all data sources used in FineReport, including production logs, materials inventories, project schedules, and client communications. Data quality, consistency, and integration requirements were evaluated to ensure smooth migration. Redundant datasets were consolidated, and necessary transformations were identified to facilitate StyleBI’s data mashup functionality.
2. Platform Deployment and Configuration
StyleBI was installed on the company’s cloud infrastructure, enabling secure access for remote teams and on-site users. User authentication and role-based access controls were configured to protect sensitive client and operational data. Custom templates and reusable report components were developed to streamline report creation and maintain consistency across the organization.
3. User Training and Adoption
Training programs were conducted for both technical analysts and non-technical staff. SQL-savvy users learned how to leverage the query builder to replicate existing FineReport reports, while designers, project managers, and supervisors attended hands-on workshops to use the drag-and-drop interface for self-service reporting. This approach ensured rapid adoption and reduced dependency on IT for routine reporting tasks.
4. Data Migration and Validation
Existing reports and dashboards from FineReport were migrated to StyleBI. Analysts validated all calculations, filters, and aggregations against historical results to ensure accuracy. Adjustments were made to leverage StyleBI’s data mashup and caching capabilities, improving performance and report reliability.
5. Dashboard Development and Collaboration
With queries and reports in place, the team built interactive dashboards for tracking production efficiency, materials consumption, client project milestones, and quality control metrics. Web-based dashboards enabled real-time collaboration among designers, engineers, project managers, and suppliers. Users could annotate dashboards, suggest process improvements, and monitor key performance indicators continuously.
Benefits Realized
Adopting StyleBI brought immediate and long-term advantages for the kinetic sculpture manufacturer:
- Enhanced accessibility: Web-based reports allowed all stakeholders, including remote teams and clients, to access dashboards anytime without installing desktop clients.
- Empowered users: Non-technical staff could create and customize reports independently, reducing the burden on IT and analysts.
- Improved decision-making: Real-time dashboards and integrated data views enabled faster responses to production issues, material shortages, or schedule delays.
- Cost efficiency: The open-source model reduced licensing expenses compared to FineReport while providing enterprise-level functionality.
- Scalable infrastructure: The platform could handle increasing datasets from multiple production lines, materials suppliers, and client projects without performance degradation.
- Collaboration and transparency: Centralized dashboards improved communication across teams and departments, fostering a data-driven culture and accountability.
- Future-proof customization: StyleBI’s extensible framework allowed integration with new IoT sensors, robotics systems, and ERP software, preparing the company for future operational expansion.
By replacing FineReport with StyleBI, the kinetic sculpture manufacturer transformed its reporting infrastructure into a modern, web-accessible, and collaborative analytics environment. The move empowered users across technical and non-technical roles, enabled real-time decision-making, and provided a scalable foundation for growth and innovation in an industry where precision, timing, and operational efficiency are critical.