From the course: CompTIA Data+ (DA0-002) Cert Prep

Reports

From the course: CompTIA Data+ (DA0-002) Cert Prep

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Reports

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- [Instructor] After you complete your data analysis and create some beautiful visualizations, you're still going to need to present the results of your work to your stakeholders. That is the crucial moment for any data analysis effort. If you're trying to use data to make informed business decisions, you need to effectively communicate the results of your analysis to those decision makers. In many cases, you'll do this in the form of a report. Let's talk about a few of the different ways that we can categorize those reports. First, we can divide reports into two categories based upon the data that they draw upon. Snapshot reports are created at a single point in time and reflect the data that was current at the time of the analysis. If you've ever read a report in PDF form, that's a great example of a snapshot. If I create a snapshot report today and provide it to you, that report will be the same today, tomorrow, next month, and next year. It will always be based upon the data that I analyze today, because snapshot reports don't change. Realtime reports, on the other hand, change with the data. They're designed in a way that they can always pull in current realtime data and they're updated as the data changes. We often publish realtime dynamic reports through websites. Users can then visit the website and view that dynamic report whenever they want. The report they view today will be based upon today's data, and the report they view tomorrow will be based upon tomorrow's data. Real-time reports change based upon new data availability. We can also describe reports based on how often they're generated. Recurring reports are generated on a plan schedule. Users might receive the same report every day, once a week, at the end of every month, or some other scheduled interval. For example, managers might want to receive a weekly report of all of the sales at a retail store. That report would have the same format every week and report developers can set it up to run automatically every Sunday morning. Other reports might be created on a one-time or ad-hoc basis. This just means that they're not intended to be created over and over again. Reports like this are normally meant to answer a one-off question. For example, a company considering an early retirement plan might want to know how many employees would be affected, and ask a report writer in human resources to generate a report showing the number of employees in each department that would be eligible for the plan. They'll use that report to make the decision whether to offer the plan and never use the report again. It's a one-time report. As we wrap up our discussion of reporting, let's talk about some examples of the reasons that you might generate reports. Many organizations are subject to a variety of regulatory compliance requirements. These might be related to health, safety, financial reporting, or other obligations. When managers want to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, they often use reports to track those obligations. Reports are also very useful in the operational of an organization. Managers can use reports to track the organization's key performance indicators or KPIs, and ensure that the organization remains on track to meet its goals. Managers also use reports to monitor risks facing the organization. These might be strategic, operational, financial, reputational, or other risks, and reporting can help monitor and manage those risks.

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