My favorite thing about JReport is the fact that it is proven in extremely important customer facing applications, at some of the Worlds largest companies. Major banks have chosen JReport to deliver information to their customers, and ISV’s including IBM, EMC and HP have chosen JReport as the reporting tool embedded in some of their most important products. These excellent customers have really helped drive the product forward, to be highly scalable and stable.

As we are about to release version 10 of JReport, it is extremely mature with so many features having been in the 11 years since it was first released. This allows us to fare very well when comparing JReport with competing products, in particular the commercial open source products which are still lacking in many areas.

Our customer list and product maturity really make JReport the proven choice for embedding.

Robin Davies

Director, World Wide Sales

Jinfonet Software

ISVs and SaaS vendors have special reporting requirements which make choosing the right BI and reporting tool critical to their success. Their applications need robust BI functions to deliver interactive and actionable information, typically provided by a combination of canned reports, dashboards and ad hoc reporting.

Acquiring all these functionalities in a cost effective manner can be a difficult process. Successful ISVs have focused their attention on key factors including seamless integration, agile development and maintenance, cross platform support with 100% Pure Java, simplified installation, and flexible licensing models, among others.

We will explore the most essential reporting factors in this webinar. Learn how JReport’s flexible Java reporting solution addresses all the requirements, and see real life examples from ISV customers who have successfully embedded JReport.

Join our webinar for an in-depth discussion of the 7 reporting essentials for ISVs

Organizing, managing and analyzing data is a fundamental part of running a good business. Securing that data should be of main concern, regardless of your companies’ size or industry. It is important to ensure that member’s of your organization can easily access the data they need, but with that access must come safeguards.

When was the last time you took a good long look at the security of your BI tool? Ok, how about the last time it even crossed your mind? It’s fairly common to assume that the security provided by your BI software is on point, but we all know what happens when you assume…

With repercussions ranging from minor performance issues to serious security breaches, it is important to know the key security features to look for when purchasing a BI tool.

Unauthorized access to data could simply be an irritant, for example a West Coast Sales rep that somehow gets all the data for the East Coast. It’s not the end of the world, but wasting time slogging through unnecessary information definitely won’t help that rep, or the company. Time is money, as the old adage goes, and in this economy who has money to spend wasting time?

Improper security could also lead to far worse things than inefficiency. What would happen if a disgruntled employee suddenly had improper access to proprietary sales information? And leaked it all to, say, a competing software developer?

BI security is in place for a reason: to keep your data safe, and ensure that it is efficiently disseminated to the proper users. There are two modes of doing this: authentication and authorization.

Authentication is a means of ensuring that the user is who they say they are. A person in the marketing department should not be able to sign into the system as the CFO. It is important to check that your software comes with built in authentication capabilities, as well as being able to support external ones. Single sign on is fairly standard right now, but with the efficiency it provides it is important to make sure. FOSS software, for example, often comes without any security, so you just want to make sure you are not taking the inclusion of a critical feature for granted without confirmation.

Authorization establishes what data the user can see and run based on their established role.
There are five ways to do this.
• The first is ‘permissions.’ This title is basically self-explanatory. The user can only view the resources, catalogues and templates which are of interest to them (i.e., for which they have permission.)

Once you have taken care of permissions, you can proceed in four ways:
• With parameters, where the application can automatically pass parameters based on the user’s role – sales region, product line etc. This means that one report template can be used by a range of users within an organization.

• A catalogue can be built with Row Level Security, a metadata based security method. Here, the query is limited based on the role permissions built into the catalogue.

• Report Bursting is an alternative to the above security techniques. Bursting can similarly limit the data available to users, but requires fewer DBMS and server resources. With report bursting, data from a single query can be used to create distinctive reports.

Some BI tools, such as Inetsoft, only support single hierarchy bursting, for example, bursting a credit card report to a company. Others, like Jinfonet Software’s JReport, support bursting on multiple hierarchies, so the credit card use could be broken down specifically by employee, as well as providing the CEO with a comprehensive statement.

• Another important security feature is Page Level Security. Page Level Security allows you to organize data into groups; the report is then divided into corresponding pages. The user’s role then determines what pages of the report result are visible to the user.

Greg Harris, a 30 year veteran in Business Intelligence, recently put out a whitepaper with an in depth dissection of what security in BI should really consist of. For a comprehensive discussion on these security features, as well as other crucial aspects of BI software security, click here: JReport Security White Paper.

Greg is also hosting a Webinar, “How are you Protecting your Data?” on June 9th. To register click here: Security Webinar

When choosing your BI reporting software you want to ensure that it will support, not hinder, your decision making process. Ask questions, and really look at what the tools are offering. Do they include the above features? Do they come out of the box, or for an additional cost? JReport is the only tool that includes all of these essential elements without additional fees.

Many commercial open source software companies seem to take care to avoid mentioning security at all, let alone offer a description of precisely what features a consumer is actually getting when purchasing their product. Finding out exactly what safeguards are supplied shouldn’t be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Today it’s time to shake off complacency. Take a page out of the Boy Scout book and ‘be prepared!’ Or at the very least actually ensure that your BI tools’ security is up to par.

-Samantha Small

Business Intelligence isn’t simply about accessing information – it is about delivering actionable information to the right people, so they can make confident decisions.

How do you ensure that information is only delivered to those authorized to view it?  Join JReport in our upcoming webinar Business Intelligence and Security find out.

In this webinar you will learn:

• why security is important
• how to implement security
• important security features: data source, resource access, parameter based, report bursting etc.
• how to evaluate the security of your existing BI tool, and what to look for when purchasing a new one

Business Intelligence plus security is a vital combination.  If you are an engineer, business executive, or regular user of a BI Reporting Tools, this webinar will help you make better decisions for your projects in the future.

“How are you Delivering your Data?” webinar live June 9th at 2:00 pm

To access the JReport Webinar, please register by clicking the link below:

http://www.jinfonet.com/products/webseminars/security.html

According to Gartner, use of open source software will increase five-fold by 2012 – but is it for you?

Given the growing awareness and usage of open source software, we here at Jinfonet decided it was time to examine what open source is really all about.

Join us in our upcoming webinar as we delve into the real issues, features, and disparities between open source and commercial BI tools.  We will compare:

• Scalability
• Security
• Risk
• Total Cost of Ownership
• Product Support

Industry experts maintain that the growth of the open source industry will be fueled by purchases from mid sized, government and manufacturing companies.

We will dissect views from developers, business leaders and customers, helping you make an educated decision about how open source fits your business model -  from small implementations to large enterprise level and ISV builds.

We will give you the knowledge necessary to determine for if open source works for you.

Join us live Wednesday, May 19th at 2:00 to take an in-depth look.

To access the JReport Webinar, please register by clicking the link below:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/196402760

The epic thunderstorm that is the iPad launch has stirred up an old debate.  And no, I’m not talking about the tired back and forth about whether Apple is an evil empire or herald of all things cool.  Unless you have been living underground, you have heard that the iPad doesn’t support Flash.  This decision has relit the AJAX vs. Flex discussion, not only regarding the relative benefits of each, but also in terms of the future of RIA technology.

Apple’s stand on Flash is most likely less a statement on the merits of the technology, and more an issue of proprietary control, and as ever, money.  That aside, the Flex vs. AJAX battle has a renewed relevancy in the tech world.

This is really a rich subject, with many possible avenues for discussion – but I think it is important to rehash the essential differences between the two technologies. Let’s remember that they are each better suited for different things, and that Apple’s decision, the spark of this polarizing debate, is not necessarily based on merit.

Flex and AJAX are both strong technologies, each with particular strengths and weaknesses.

On the Flex side: In 2004 Adobe (then Macromedia) released Flex software development kit, a set of technologies used to create Rich Internet Applications (RIA’s).  Adobe’s Flex is a framework that allows a developer to compile an XML based interface description language and a programming language called ActionScript into a Flash SWT file.  Adobe’s Flash is a popular tool for spicing up web sites, adding features like animation, surveys and games.  But here is the thing – while Flash can be run in a wide variety of web browsers, it requires the browser to install the Flash plug-in.  The plug-in plus the application can be much slower and use more resources than using the native browser JavaScript support.

Still, Flash is the easiest to develop once you get over the large training hurdle for Java programmers, with a powerful programming foundation.

The current lack of continuity between browsers is a driving reason to use Flash, which already supported by Microsoft Explorer, Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Opera.  Further, Flash has far and away the better tools for 2D/3D rendering capabilities, most important for fancy user interfaces and online gaming.

AJAX’s Arsenal: AJAX is generally described as more of a methodology for producing RIA’s.  It is usually used on top of web pages to basically make it function more like something would on your desktop, with pop ups and shadow boxes, as well as some cool features like drag-and-drop.

AJAX is composed of a combination of languages, leading to issues not only with multiple browser support, but with buggi-ness in general.  The lack of standards for combining certain languages with JavaScript means that each browser chooses if/what/how it will support programming requests.  This necessitates an increase in code plus a long list of features supported by some browsers and not others, which can make AJAX development heavy and less open.  Particularly closed source browsers like Internet Explorer and Safari are at the mercy of the owners to choose when to support AJAX applications and how efficient they will be.  With Microsoft owning a competing technology, Silverlight, they have no incentive to make AJAX work well.

Still, AJAX definitely rules in certain departments.  It is search engine friendly – Google away – easily assembled, and no plug in required.  It is very widely used, so that an enormous number of developers already are proficient in the technology, whereas only a small number of engineers know Flex programming.  AJAX also excels at CSS and Dynamic Content Generation, areas where Flash is only fair.

AJAX is also just plain cool right now.  Don’t ask me why, but I’ve heard a lot of developers in various companies asked to make something in AJAX just because it’s trendy.  Sounds frustrating, but AJAX really is sometimes considered synonymous with innovation.  They really destroyed the older web site model, eliminating the need for an entire page refresh every time you want new information – making really interesting sites like map.google.com possible.

So Now What? What it comes down to is that right now Flash has the video side and AJAX is dominating on making web pages interactive

But what about HTML5 you must be asking?  Won’t it unify the world?  While the promising standards will eventually provide rich web application development features, it is still a long way off from standardization across the browsers.  So get excited, but don’t jump the gun on hailing HTML5 as the new king just yet.

Or ever, according to Adobe.  They aren’t too worried about HTML5.  Adobe’s John Dowdell said “(we are) clearly supportive in terms of making sure as HTML 5 is evolving that we will support it in our web authoring tools but from the perspective of continuing to drive Flash and innovation around Flash and rich Internet applications, we still think that actually the fragmentation of browsers makes Flash even more important rather than less important.”

So where does that leave us? For the time being, we are looking at a draw.  Sensible companies still need to provide the technologies their customers are asking for, and right now that is both AJAX and Flash.  Companies like Jinfonet Software, who provides both AJAX and Flash, recognize the current demand for both.

“JReport is used by many companies who embed JReport into their products or applications, and thus we must provide both and let our customers choose which one fits best into their application,” said Greg Harris, Sr. Product Manager at Jinfonet.

Apple may have the clout to drop Flash from their repertoire, but unless your name is Steve Jobs it seems like the only sensible thing to do is offer both.

-Samantha Small

Everyone loves an underdog story – when the Saints rocketed to victory in the Super Bowl this year, the collective cheer could be heard from coast to coast (with the exception of those disgruntled Indianapolitans).  What happens when the underdog turns out to be a pit-bull in its own right?  When the little guy comes up and knocks the big man out of the ring?

This is the story the software industry and the media love to spin about SaaS.  The little guy, coming up from behind, to as effectively quell onsite software as the Saints did the Colts.  The reality, however, is far more complex.

Rather than thinking about SaaS and onsite as fight-to-the-death competitors, its time to readjust our software world view.  This new world, a world in which SaaS and onsite live together in peace and harmony – is a place called reality.

Companies like WaveMaker, SugarCRM and iPlanWare are ahead of the pack, offering both on demand (SaaS) and onsite options.  WaveMaker’s ‘Cloud Edition’ is a hosted, multi-tenant version of the company’s Community Edition, basically moving their open source offering to the cloud.  Therein, however, lies the problem, and the reason onsite and SaaS must coexist.  WaveMaker’s Cloud Edition is appropriate for community needs, but not a suitable replacement for the Enterprise Edition.  SugarCRM’s Express edition is formulated to ‘fill the gap between community edition and pro edition.’ Notice a trend? SaaS has a hard time filling enterprise needs.

SaaS’s main drawback affects enterprises more than the individual users.  While the convenience and efficiency of SaaS is appealing, the truth is that in SaaS the vendor has control over the data.  For businesses, this lack of proprietary control is unacceptable.  The enterprise isn’t ready to hand their data out to third-party vendors.

Given the benefits and drawbacks of each, this dual offering is only the first step in a truly integrated software universe.  For companies like Eucalyptus Systems, Zoho, Boomi and Cast Iron cloud software represents the next step.  Combining the scalability of cloud computing, the ease of maintaining/updating of SaaS, with the security and control attached to onsite technology, these emerging companies represent the future.

The future, however, is not yet upon us.  SugarCRM’s example says it all – cloud bridging software can be utilized for more than just community editions, yet when it comes to enterprise use, still falls short.

The ending to this ‘underdog’ story is not little guy mauls big guy, but little guy and big guy sharing a pizza, on a cloud computing bridge.

-Samantha Small

Where can you find an office of techies, each smarter than your average bear, with more degrees than a Harvard reunion, working at an innovative and energetic software company?

I’ll give you a hint – this isn’t the vaunted Google workplace.

And no, it isn’t SAS, this year’s #1 on the Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for.

What on earth am I talking about? Jinfonet Software, a Maryland based reporting software vendor.   With Dr. Bing Yao, legendary in the world of database access and query processing, at the helm, Jinfonet Software has quietly crept up alongside the big boys.

As Sales Director Robin Davies so aptly put it: “One of the great things about Jinfonet is when we talk to prospects who have never heard of us, but it turns out they have used JReport without knowing it.  We often meet people who have used JReport through Visa, IBM, HP or one of our other partners and have been impressed with the reporting capabilities, but had no idea it was JReport.”

Complementing a lot of company pride, Jinfonet’s open door culture motivates employees and drives the company.   “Its great to work for a company so open to ideas,” said Marketing Director Ben Taylor, “We have technical people coming up with Marketing ideas and Sales people making feature requests!  It’s great to see these ideas be quickly implemented, and see the impact they have on the company.”

There is a strong correlation between employee satisfaction and customer service, according to a 2005 study by Ford, McLaughlin and Newstrom published in the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism.  Given Jinfonet’s exciting and receptive work environment, its no wonder the company is a world leader in reporting solutions.

While an array of fresh bagels can’t compare with Google’s three free gourmet meals, as Sales Representative Aaron Warren says “It’s great to work at a company where we have people from all over the world! It makes for an interesting culture and we get to try lots of different types of food!”

-Samantha Small

It’s time for part two of our pre-launch series on the anticipated new version of JReport, set to be released this summer.  Combining Jinfonet’s history of reliable reporting products with the latest in technical innovation, JReport 10 has optimized business reporting.  In part one, we discussed the new Interactive Reporting Engine and its impact on scalability and performance.  Now let’s address the increased usability factors made possible by this new architecture.

Web Report Studio

The responsive click-based reporting tool simplifies report viewing and enhances the user experience.  Users can sort, filter and select parameters with a single click to view an immediate on-screen response. Report components can share the same data set so they will all be immediately updated synchronously.  Simple layout changes such as moving, deleting and resizing columns are all accomplished instantly within the browser. With a clear, easily accessible interface, “what-if” reporting is only a click away.

Web Report Wizard

In today’s online environment users are accustomed to instant gratification.  With a few clicks of the mouse we have immediate access to an enormous amount of information and services.  Your business reports are now just as quick and easy to formulate.   Essentially an extension of the web experience, the Web Report Wizard allows users to create their own reports through a Wizard interface on their browser.  By simply clicking through basic screens, a new report can be drafted on the fly.

AJAX/Flash

JReport can generate reports with both AJAX and Flash, taking maximum advantage of the capabilities of Rich Internet Applications (RIA’s) for enhanced usability.  The asynchronous data exchange allows the client-side browser to react with greater efficiency, improving user perception of response time. Using RIA’s, portions of the screen can be updated individually, rather than having to wait for the entire page to refresh. Faster onscreen results and richer interactive actions translate to enhanced user experience and better productivity.

With JReport 10’s Web Report Studio, Web Report Wizard, and AJAX and Flash interactive capabilities, business reporting has never been easier!  Increased performance and usability ups the ante for reporting software. Our teams of Business Intelligence experts are here to help take your organization to new heights. To view a demo or request a trial version of JReport please calls 240.477.1000 or visits us at www.jinfonet.com today!