BiLog: Performance Enablers….Schedule Only Reporting …80/20 Reporting Rule

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In last week’s BiLog , we talked about report usage, and how you can utilize a variety of mechanisms, including reports, KPIs or result sets to monitor which reports your users are and are not using.  Report usage information is also critical in identifying your reports which take to longest time to execute, as you want to insure these are optimized for report performance.

 Why is this important?   Like so many things, reports follow the 80/20 rule, where 80% of your report processing is done by only 20% of your reports.  So as you analyze the report usage data, you will find that you have a wide range of report execution times – but the key is in identifying those 20% of reports with the longest execution times. 

This pie chart highlights the 80/20 rule of report complexity.   Standard, transactional reports execute fairly quickly, and are the largest percentage of your report types.  Complex and very complex reports often make up 20% of your report portfolio, and take the longest time to execute due to the number of subreports they encompass or the hierarchy levels they span through.   This complexity is derived by the processing the report has to do – not by the number of records it displays.  So, for example, a fifty page list report could execute ten times faster than a complex two page report due to the processing defined within the report’s design.

  Complex reports are time consuming to design, develop, test, administer and maintain, and represent your largest report investment.   They are often referred to as batch reports, as they traditionally execute for a lengthy period due to their large processing requirements.   

Because of the processing load complex reports entail, you want to insure they are maximized for performance efficiency.  One way to do this it to configure them to only be executed via report schedules to minimize the impact these complex reports have on overall system performance.  This will prevent users from running large, complex reports immediately during peak use of the application, database and report server, which can negatively impact overall system performance.

To enable the ‘Schedule Only’ functionality for a complex report, access the Report Administration application and enable the ‘Schedule Only field’.   After you save the change, when your users next access the complex report’s request page, the ‘Immediate’ Report Execution Option is no longer available.  Only the two options for scheduling are presented to the user.