Technical Blog Post
Abstract
BiLog: Understanding..Capabilities..Specification Best Practice
Body
The aftermath was astonishing. An energetic team of dedicated high school students strung toilet paper from each tree branch at our house in an annual tradition celebrating seniors on their swim team. While our daughter basked in the glory of at last being a senior, I gazed at the 100’s of strands of toilet paper, and wondered ‘What will the neighbors say?’.
While understanding unique traditions may make your toes twitch, understanding report capabilities is key to developing accurate and achievable report specifications. In the last BiLog entry, we detailed of how report specifications enable us to translate the idea of a report to an actual physical file that can be executed successfully from Maximo – and the benefits of doing this.
The report specification process consists of three key components including (1) Understand report Capabilities (2) Understand user requirements and (3) Detail requirements through the report specification.
In the first component, understanding report capabilities, knowledge of how reports can and do execute is key to creating an achievable report specification and also to be able to suggest functionality recommendations to the user requesting the report. As shown in this diagram, report functionality ranges from the types of parameters that can be utilized, application toolbar access, performance enablers, grouping and sorting, graphs, database updates and many, many other features.
So how can you acquire or build your report functionality knowledge? One great way to start is to begin utilizing the on line report resources available to you. A few of these critical resources include
Maximo Report Wiki Pages, which contain detailed information on all of the reporting processes including configuration, administration, design, development and execution.
Maximo Report Reference Material Listing, which reviews each of the 40+ report reference materials available to you – along with a brief description, applicable release, and latest revision number and date.
Maximo Asset Reporting Management, where you can interact virtually with other Maximo clients, business partners and IBMers.
Maximo report enhancements by release, which details the new features including link to news alerts, BiLogs and related report reference materials
BiLog (Business Intelligence blogs) providing short snapshots of technical information on latest report product features, best practices and customization recommendations.
These are a sampling of the report online resources available to you to help you build your knowledge of Maximo reporting capabilities. In the next Bilog entry, we’ll detail how you can apply this knowledge to work with the user in understanding his specific report requirements.
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ibm11133937