The True Value of Online Reports

Just this week, a customer was asking about the Return On Investment (ROI) and other benefits of Robot/REPORTS. Coincidentally, we just enhanced the Robot Browser Interface for Robot/REPORTS. The combination of these enhancements and the customer’s questions got me thinking about Robot/REPORTS and the Robot Browser Interface.

Generally, I try to answer these types of questions by flipping them and asking the customer, “What do you think the benefits will be for your organization?” This helps me understand the different ways they plan to use the product and their business needs.

5 Big Benefits

Robot/REPORTS has always been one of my favorite products. It can have huge positive impacts on your business if you maximize its capabilities, it can truly change how you handle paper output from your IBM i applications. Here are some examples:

1. Build a retention system for archiving reports

   You can retain each type of report— financial, customer, change control, security, and so on—for different audit requirements. You also can use your media drive or virtual tape library (VTL) to save them. And, the end user controls the restoration process, so they can help themselves—the Operations department isn't stuck trying to find old versions of a report.

2. Eliminate unused reports

   Ask the question, “Does anyone really look at this report?” That alone eliminates reports and reduces your printing by 10 percent or more.

3. Burst reports electronically and send only what the recipient needs

   Your recipients become more efficient because they see only the information they need for their job.

4. View reports online, anywhere

   Online reports save your company money by reducing printing costs and the time required to find information. For example, users can just sign on and display a report in a browser.

5. Index reports for fast data retrieval

   Find information faster by indexing the same report multiple ways. For instance, index by customer number and date, invoice number and date, purchase order number, and project ID. The end user just types in a value to see their report data online. It’s almost like an online query.

Cost Savings

This list shows how Robot/REPORTS solves business problems, improves productivity, and reduces costs.

Now, let's talk dollars and cents. For most companies, it costs between 10 and 15 cents a page to print. So, for a rough, conservative estimate of your potential savings, total the number of pages you print each month, quarter, or year, and divide that number by ten. Then, cut that number in half (assuming that you'll do away with at least half of your report printing). The result is the cost reduction you’ll enjoy with Robot/REPORTS.

Or, ask your accounting department how much you pay for boxes of paper and cut that number in half. (Remember, you’re not even counting the savings for labor, printers, copiers, and more.)

Browser Interface

The new Robot Browser Interface features make it easier to convert online reports to PDF and e-mail them. And, the Robot Browser Interface is now more user-friendly because it saves your preferences. Give Robot/REPORTS and the free Robot Browser Interface a try.

Robot/REPORTS is so much more than some of the other solutions on the market (and it supports IBM i release 7.1).