Case Studies

FBA.net finds ActiveReports Server to be Easy to Integrate and Easy to Use

Case Study | Feb 1, 2014 | Firth Babin & Associates Inc.

Customer

Enrico Bernoni, Senior Consultant at Firth Babin & Associates Inc. Industry: Manufacturing

Website

http://www.fba.net/

Technologies Used

ActiveReports Server

In this conversation with Eric Babin, President of Firth Babin & Associates Inc. (FBA.net), learn how FBA.net finds ActiveReports Server to be easy to integrate and easy to use.

What was your main concern that would have prevented you from buying ActiveReports Server?

Among other concerns was obviously cost. As we evaluated a range of products to integrate into our Cloud Reporting solution, we found that both the initial cost and ongoing maintenance cost of Active Reports Server was very reasonable and fit within the pricing structure for our SaaS service.

Our second concern was about integration. Because we were developing a Cloud Reporting Solution, we really wanted our website to look like a single coherent product and we needed a reporting platform that could be easily and seamlessly integrated into our site without looking like it was a separate product.

Thirdly, we needed a platform that would be dead simple for our users to create their own reports but that was also complete enough to provide a solution to our customers' more sophisticated needs.

What did you find as a result of buying ActiveReports Server?

Although relatively new to market, ActiveReports Server was developed under the principal of providing simple and intuitive end-user reporting as well as providing a high level of integration. The product is highly stable and reliable, and the support we received during the sales (and post-sales) process was second to none. The support team was there to help us with any technical questions and was instrumental in helping us complete our product the way we wanted it.

What specific feature did you like most about ActiveReports Server?

We found that ActiveReports Server's approach to using Models for the Business User for simplifying the data to the end user was exactly what we were looking for. The cloud-based system for which we built our add-on product has a very flexible but complex data structure. The Model approach built-in to ActiveReports Server provided a means by which we could provide our customers with a much simpler and much more relevant view of their data. This functionality combined with the intuitive browser-based report designer allowed us to provide our customers with a very clear, concise and intuitive way to build reports.

What would be other benefits of ActiveReports Server?

A licensing agreement suitable for our SaaS / Multi-Tennant offering.
As mentioned above, integration of the report designer and integration of the security provider allowed us to provide a fully integrated solution.
Report scheduling
Drill down (and drill-through) reports

What is the key business benefit (versus before) that ActiveReports Server will provide to your product or to your company, and to your customers who would be using the enhanced solution?

Our product is an add-on product to another cloud-based SaaS product which has it's own challenges related to reporting. One of our key criteria was to provide a simple and intuitive way for our customers to build their own reports. After reviewing a few products, we found that ActiveReports Server was the clear winner not just in this respect but in many of the other requirements we had.

Yes, I would recommend ActiveReports Server if not just for the merit of the product itself but for the level of personal support and assistance we have received.

Is there anything you'd like to add?

I would like to close by thanking everyone in the sales and support team for all your help. In particular, I would like to thank Bhupesh for spending so much time with us to help us successfully integrate ActiveReports Server into our website.

Firth Babin & Associates Inc.

Over the last 15 years, Firth Babin & Associates Inc. (FBA) has helped its customers make their business more efficient via thorough analysis and effective software development. They specialize in creating custom solutions and integrating existing systems to increase productivity and profitability. They are a dynamic development team with a proven track record who takes pride in building solid, cost effective, user friendly systems.

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