As the old saying goes, it's the exception that proves the rule. In management reporting we need both: regular and exception reports. And DeltaMaster's ReportServer takes care of both.

Many of our customers use DeltaMaster's ReportServer to automatically generate and publish reports - either in defined time intervals or at the click of a mouse. You can also use ReportServer, however, to report certain events. To use this feature, you simply need to define which variance thresholds or other criteria it should monitor. If these conditions are met, ReportServer will then notify all relevant parties with reports that refer to the situation in question and, if necessary, provide additional information.

The ReportServer doesn't just keep an eye out on your data. It also keeps you informed when something has happened, for example, a variance has exceeded a defined threshold.

In management reporting, this type of functionality is often referred to as Exception Reporting, Alerting or Monitoring. With DeltaMaster, you can start using this feature quickly:

• Define the conditions that state whether the ReportServer should send a signal or not. Since these criteria are directly linked to a report in DeltaMaster, ongoing administration is easy.
• Create a ReportServer job that regularly evaluates these criteria. The ReportServer will only generate and, for example, e-mail a report when the conditions have been fulfilled.

Empty report? That's a good sign because the variances lie within the allowed limits. As a result, no alarm is necessary.

Oftentimes, the number of rows in a report is an adequate criterion. This way, you could use a filter rule in a pivot table, for example, to list all stores that are more than 5 % under budget. If all of the variances fell within this range, the report wouldn't contain any rows on account of the filter. The ReportServer, in turn, interprets this as a good sign that all is clear for now. Since the exception report is empty, it doesn't have to send an alarm. Alternatively, you could use MDX to create a wide range of conditions.

Exception reporting, however, is controversial for many different reasons. If you are able to define your exceptions as rules, however, you can rely on DeltaMaster to automatically take care of the rest.

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