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JackNoone94
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert

Introduction to Report Center


2019 is an exciting year for the Reporting & Analytics section of SuccessFactors. We have a lot of exciting features being released particularly the adoption of Embedded Analytics powered by SAP Analytics Cloud. In order for us to prepare for this feature, we are making the Report Center a universal feature for all tenants.

With this feature becoming universal, customers will be unable to opt-out of using this feature and it is imperative that admins and end-users become familiar with the upcoming changes. To prepare for this, I am writing this blog so you have a better understanding of its functionality and address any teething issues you might have once first using it.

What is the Report Center?


The theory behind the Report Center is that there is a consolidated space to have all of your reports. Report Center is developed with Embedded Analytics powered by SAP Analytics Cloud in mind. There are new features such as role-based sharing of reports and simpler scheduling.


How to Enable the Report Center?


The Report Center can be enabled from the Upgrade Center. For more information, you can check out the Help Portal Guide on how-to enable the feature and your end-users on how-to use it here.

Important Things to Consider when upgrading:



  • If you are a non EC Customer: The Enable Generic Objects - requires "Enable the Attachment Manager" feature must be enabled in provisioning. Please raise a ticket with SuccessFactors with the component LOD-SF-ANA-RCT if you do not have access to Partner Provisioning.

  • The navigation path and naming conventions to your existing reports will change for all end-users and you will need to make the familiar with the changes before upgrading.

  • All necessary RBP will be granted in relation to Report Center to allow end-users to continue running or editing their reports. See guide here.


Reporting Name Changes:




































Old Name New Name Tool
Ad Hoc Report Report - Table Ad Hoc Reporting
Ad Hoc Report with BIRT Template Report - Custom BIRT Technology
Online Report Designer (ORD) Report - Canvas Detailed Reporting (Including Learning SDS) or EC Advanced Reporting Query
Tile Tile YouCalc Dashboard Tile
Dashboard Dashboard YouCalc Standard or Custom Dashboard


What happens when I complete the upgrade?



How to use the Report Center?


Admin User:


Managing Report Center

The Managing Report Center guide provides information on how to Configure, Manage & use the Report Center and it’s functionalities from an Admin user perspective.

End User:


Using Report Center

The Using Report Center guide provides information on how to use the Report Center and it’s functionalities from an End user perspective.

Report Center Q4 2018 & Q1 2019 Latest Updates:



  • Mass Action: You can now perform actions on multiple reports at once. The first supported action is “Delete”. You can select up to 50 reports at once to delete.

  • Report Center filter stickiness: Report Center users can now retain the filter or sort settings applied to the Report listing page even after logging out of the Report Center. End users can set a filter to show only the reports they are interested in and then log out. When users log back to Report Center, their filter settings are retained.

  • Full Screen Option:  A “full screen” option has been included to allow the workable area of Report Center to be made full screen to make the best use of available screen real estate, especially on smaller screens. Full screen is now available for all pages in Report Center. This will also make it easier to create a Report - Story leveraging the different types of graphs available powered by SAP Analytics Cloud.

  • Bulk Export/Import: In Report Center, you can now import or export multiple reports with different report types in a single action. To export multiple reports, on the Report Center page, select the reports you want to export, and click the Export icon that appears above the reports list. A Zip file of the exported reports is saved on your system. To import multiple reports, on the Report Center page, click Import. Select the Zip file containing various reports with different report types, and then click Import.

  • New Tabs in Report Center: If you are now an Admin for any one or more of the different Report Types, you will now see two tabs; My Reports, and All Reports. The reports that you have created and the reports shared with you appear under the My Reports tab. All the reports in your instance appear under the All Reports tab.




  • Change Author: A further enhancement added to Reporting Admin's role is that they now have the permission to change the Author of a Report provided that the new Author has the necessary RBP to Edit or Run the report type.




  • In-App Notification: If you do not have Report Center enabled; you will receive a pop-up notification to every end-user of non-Report Center End Users that Report Center will become Universal.


 

Common Teething Issues for the Report Center:



  • How can I add folders to the report center? Missing the folder structure previously available in the Online Report Designer? Leverage the use of labels in order to organise your reports by different topics. For example:




  • Ensure that you are using SOLR in order to load Reporting Artifacts so that you are not missing any reports from the list of reports.




  • If you are still using our Classic Reports; you can access these by selecting "Switch to Classic View". N.B. We are depreciating the use of these and I would refer to the road-map on the community portal for more information. We are working on replacing these using the Embedded Analytics technology.




  • Reports do not appear in Report Center after completing the Upgrade: If the reports do not load once you have completed the upgrade, then it is necessary to "Sync the Report Center" using the "Sync Report Center Search" job available in the Admin Center. This will then populate all the reports for which you have permission to see. Also, if you are facing any Performance Issues, Errors within Report Center UI or Missing Reports; then running this job should be the first troubleshooting step done by a partner when all relevant searches through our KBAs and Guides has been completed.




 

Most used KBAs & Guides on the Report Center from Support:


2018 Features Highlights – SuccessFactors Reporting and Analytics

2543169 - How to Save the Query in Report Center for future use

2570088 - Search Bar is Missing in the Report Center

2525859 - Post b1708 release why users are unable to access Ad Hoc Report when they have Create and Run Ad Hoc Report Permission but no Report Center permission

2429295 - Sharing Report option via Report Center with Groups and Roles no longer visible

2089488 - How to Export & Import Report Definition (.sfr file) for Ad Hoc Report\Report Table

2542132 - Report Center - Unable to schedule individual components from Report - Canvas to be exported as CSV / Excel

2433495 - Unable to rename Ad Hoc Reports via the Add Localization from Report Center

2533962 - Report Center - 'Error Occurred while Fetching labels'

2512865 - How to Share a Report Using Report Center

2526174 - Report Distributor Functionalities after enabling Report Center

2739139 - Reports Under Legacy Report Distributor are Not Available at the Report Center

2673792 - How to transfer Reports, Tiles and Dashboards between instances with Report Center? (Including Bulk Export)

2427154 - Tile doesn't have the Run action enabled in Report Center

2599250 - All ORD/Canvas reports are visible to all report admins in Report Center without sharing with them

2710944 - Admin button not showing after Report Center enablement

2573516 - Unable to delete a report from the Report Center due to the error: An error occurred while deleting the report

2581244 - Report Canvas not available for few users

2673075 - Canvas report is not appearing for users - Report Center

2343087 - How to enable permission in Admin Center (RBP) - Integration WFA and RBP - Implementation & FAQ

 

Future of Report Center


Since 2017 we have been pushing the release of the Report Center and fine-tuning its functionality. The ultimate goal for the Report Center is Project Unity (aka. the Report Center):

Report Center Phase 1 involves linking all existing reporting tools under the one navigation/UI

Report Center Phase 2+ involves creating a common tool for report development (Embedded Analytics).

Report Center is the new one-stop-shop to unify all the reporting tools under one UI for Embedded Analytics. This work aligns to the strategy to sunset legacy reporting tools and will be the only point of navigation for customers to edit, view and build reports in SuccessFactors

Deprecation of Classic Reports: We are discouraging the use of Classic Reports as these fixed-view reports are based on older reporting platforms. As part of Q2, we will begin sun-setting these reports in a phased manner and provide an alternative report in Ad Hoc Framework which will allow for a smoother transition to Embedded Analytics powered by SAP Analytics Cloud.

Therefore,  I would strongly ask you to review and consider all of the above before the Report Center becomes universal.

Note: All the screenshots used in this blog are taken from Demo instance.

Thanks,

Jack Noone

Reporting & Analytics Nexus EMEA

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