What Makes Reporting Software Fast and Why It Matters

It’s no secret that efficiency and performance are highly valued in almost everything today. As technology progresses, the speed of life increases, and expectations on how much different tasks should take rise even more.

It doesn’t matter which field or industry you look into, all of them are tightly connected with data. Being able to use it wisely is one of the most valuable skills all experts need for the best performance and decision-making.

But what matters is not just the results but also how fast you’re able to get them. Performing data analysis instantly can be a total game-changer. But here comes the question: how to choose reporting software that is indeed fast?

To answer it, I present you with some tips to consider when choosing your software and maximizing your performance.

Specific rather than generalised

Generalized software might seem like a great option since it has a ton of functionality all in the same place. But think about how many of those features you really use on a regular basis. Because the more features the software has, the more resources it requires, and the slower it’s likely to be.

So, choose software that directly corresponds to your needs. If, for example, the requirement is just to aggregate data in a grid, it would be smarter to use a simple pivot table rather than a complicated reporting tool or a full-packed solution like Power BI. Covering all possible requests when working with data, the software often loses to smaller applications that concentrate on specific functionality and optimize it qualitatively.

Simple UI

It’s true that complex animated UI might look impressive and more pleasant to the eye. But although harmless individually, together those animations and extra buttons can be real performance killers due to consuming large numbers of additional resources. Better to choose something minimalistic but with more attention to functionality and performance.

Also, the simpler the interface, the easier it is to work with. It’s not just more efficient, but also much more pleasurable to deal with software that’s intuitive to use and doesn’t have a long learning curve.

“Younger” solutions

Oftentimes programs that were assumed to be incredibly fast some time ago are now noticeably slowing down. This may be due to developers adding more and more features with each update. Or due to difficult optimization of other program functions, or even because the program is using an outdated approach that is now close to impossible to change or improve.

In contrast, newer software is developed with UX and performance in mind to compete in the market, so they often outrun the OG programs.

When you choose the tools with the best modern approaches there is more chance the product will be truly outstanding and performative. Also, such products are often created to be more durable, so their architecture allows them to be flexible and improve over the years.

Check reviews

Almost every software’s marketing strategy is to say that it’s the best of the best — the most powerful, the fastest, and the most convenient to use. Obviously, it can’t be true for all the products out there. To get a more realistic perception of its capabilities it can be good to check reviews before purchasing.

For example, you can look up the tool on Product Hunt and form your opinion based on reviews from real people. Also, consider more products that offer demo calls or trial versions to evaluate their performance and usability.

Avoid limitations

If there’s a need to work with huge datasets then data volume limits can be a real deal-breaker. Such limitations would require splitting the dataset and working with each part separately, taking the time to combine results after, which would dramatically slow down the reporting process and also lead to mistakes and wrong conclusions.

So don’t forget to check the amount of data a particular tool can handle and how drastically it affects the software’s performance.

Look at data processing

In my opinion, this is the most important thing about reporting software since its entire purpose is helping with data analysis. But it’s also usually the one that takes the most time and resources, which you might already know if you’ve ever worked with big amounts of data.

Some sources mention that “72% of business and analytics leaders are not satisfied with the amount of time it takes to get data analytic results”, so the room for improvement is huge.

When defining efficiency, be careful with how quickly and easily the tool can import and manipulate the data. A good one should have the functionality to directly connect to the data source, blend the data from different sources, automatically import data, and use optimal approaches for loading and processing. While the first three requirements are pretty clear, defining which way of managing data is optimal might pose some problems.

One of the possible ways is to load and process data on request and by parts instead of all at once. Such improvement can significantly decrease the waiting time and improve user experience.

Recently, a tool that implements this approach was announced — DataTableDev. Yet, we can’t fully test it yet since it’s still in the stage of development, but their demo shows great results: operations on a 1.6 GB dataset are performed in a split second. If the speed is the same in the full version it definitely has the potential of becoming a real game-changer in the field of data analytics.

Now that you know what to pay attention to when choosing fast software, in the second part of this article I’d like to remind you exactly why you should do it by listing all the benefits.

1. Ability to stand out in a competitive market

It doesn’t matter what is the purpose of a report you’re trying to complete — in modern society time is money. The faster you can finish and extract insights, the faster you’re able to implement the changes that come from it.

Also, working with tools that aren’t the most efficient means losing time on each task, so you’ll either have to work longer to complete a certain amount of tasks or be left behind by those who are more productive. And I bet none of those options sound appealing.

2. Better quality of work produced

It’s common knowledge that we get the best outcome when working fully focused. Unfortunately, with slower software it becomes impossible.

For a long time, since a publication by R. Miller in 1968, we’ve known that a response delay of 1.0 seconds is enough to interrupt the user’s thought flow. This means that every wait and lag acts as a distraction.

There’re a couple of reasons why you’d want to avoid that.

• Turns out, it takes on average 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on track after an interruption. So, with such a style of work, it’s possible to never be focused at all, which means getting something done becomes much harder. Only by being fully immersed in something you can achieve maximum insightfulness and creativity.
  So, by choosing faster software that runs smoothly you get much more bright thoughts and ideas than you would otherwise.
• In research from Michigan State University, they found that when participants experienced interruptions as low as 2.8 seconds they were twice as likely to make a mistake. Now think how long it sometimes takes for software to process your data and/or make a report — often it’s even longer than that. This means that favoring speed in reporting tools helps you reduce the number of mistakes that get made along the way.

3. Caring for mental well-being

It’s important to consider not only work and productivity-related consequences but also more personal and psychological ones. First of all, working with tools that are easier to manage leads to being able to apply your skills more effectively, which otherwise could cause the individual to feel out of control.

This might seem like a minor issue, but according to Champion’s latest report, lack of control is the 2nd most common cause of stress in the workplace.

On this topic, interruptions are also known to significantly increase stress levels, as well as frustration and irritability, which was proved by the same study that brought to light the 23-minute period mentioned earlier.

By switching to more efficient tools you’re not just saving time and money, but also avoiding lots of stress and negative emotions, thus improving your well-being.

Summary

Nowadays fast software is becoming a requirement rather than an option.

How fast the task can be completed determines the company’s work and impacts its achievements, also affecting the well-being of those using it.

Especially performance matters in data analysis, which is the ground for decision-making in almost every industry today. Doing some research into the efficiency of the tools is definitely worth your time. And I hope that with the tips mentioned in this article, you’ll be able to find your perfect software match with little-to-no effort!