What is a good front end database platform for visual reporting?
I have setup a MySQL database online, I would now like to connect that data to a front end software application, that can create dynamic visual dashboard reports to communicate progress. Besides Microsoft Access, what other applications are available?
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Oct 22, 2018
Consider Power BI, the desktop version is free and the licensed version is not expensive. This will make so much sense if your environment is a Microsoft shop.
Sep 27, 2014
This might not be the right fit yet, but as the project get's bigger, you might want to look at Drillable Dashboards http://drillabledashboards.com. I work for the company that makes them. Where most dashboarding software only filter or zoom into the timeframe, these actually drill. The way it works is that the data mart would pull from all the data sources necessary to capture business activity and calculate the value of each event. The result is a reliable, single source of information for the entire business rather than information that siloed across departments and people working from different sets of numbers.
Sep 21, 2014
+1 for Jasper and Pentaho, but depending on your budget, take a look at Fusion Charts. Excel like but very powerful, and works across the desktop and mobile devices.
Good luck with your choice
Sep 13, 2014
I work mostly with Drupal as a web platform, which is powerful and versatile. You can do many things with it. I recommend some Drupal modules for data visualization. Take a look at these two:
Visualization API: https://www.drupal.org/project/visualization
Dataviz with Google Charts API: https://www.drupal.org/project/views_dataviz
Sep 11, 2014
HI Justin,
Have a look at www.yellowfinbi.com - by far the lowest Total Cost of Ownership of the tools. Doing extremely well in South Africa and outselling Qlik View and Tableau. Also has a free trial version.
Stephen
Sep 9, 2014
Excel, jasper or Pentaho. the new field of data visualization is to be able to represent multiple data points in 2 dimensions and still get the data to talk to you. Depends on time and money available.
Sep 8, 2014
If you have MS Access, then you probably have MS Excel. Version 2013 has PowerPivot built into it which enables Excel to tap into large data sources and create dashboards. PowerPivot is a free download for previous versions of Excel . Look for "powerpivot dashboards" in you tube for quick tutorials.
Good luck!
Sep 8, 2014
Hello Justin,
No point in going for a simple tool for reporting if you intend it to be ab integral part of your process. Try something like Jasper or Pentaho. Relatively heavy weights and with a bit of a learning curve but worth thevefforts in the long run. These will help you scale up without affecting the base reporting platform.
Sep 8, 2014
1) Access is not a front-end solution. Don't do it. At best, MSAccess is for experienced .NET people to rapidly prototype POC's
2) What you are looking for is a visualization solution, not another "database platform".
3) What you're looking for will be some middleware and a front-end. This is way too open-ended a question to answer thoroughly.
~~REWRITE~~
From here I proceeded to outline a whole bunch of technical mumbo jumbo and realized that if you were able to follow what I was writing, you wouldn't have posted here....
So, let me suggest this instead: you have two options.
1 - hire someone to figure this out for you. My biased recommendation is me, but I'll understand if you pick someone else :)
2 - do it all in Excel. Excel has database connection capabilities, and can pull your MySQL data into spreadsheets pre-formatted and pre-aggrigated (to a point). Unless you want to build a tailor-fit solution for yourself, this may just be your best bet.
Sep 8, 2014
Hi Justin
There is one important parameter you have not specified here - cost. In terms of describing options and evaluation parameters, you can find 2 very detailed reports here:
1. http://www.tableausoftware.com/sites/default/files/media/gigaom-research-agile-business-intelligence.pdf
2. http://www.forrester.com/pimages/rws/reprints/document/115485/oid/1-Q2VNGZ
If you need a quick answer, i guess most would go for Tableau. It has a free version ( http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/ ), it can connect to MySQL, it is intuitive and offers lots of visualization options.
Disclosure: i am the author of the 1st report
Sep 8, 2014
Depending on your budget, there are a wide range but my personal favorite is Qlik View. You can view your dash as charts and graphs or in a tree view. It is more powerful but then again pricy. You can build your data models around your business processes.
Sep 8, 2014
Sounds like you are after a BI tool? If progress is measured on KPIs, that it. Are you going to use it online or from a local computer only? Are the results to be presented as reports internally or as website graphics/tables?
Sep 8, 2014
A quick Google search for 'mysql data visualization' will get you results like:
- https://chartio.com
- http://ubiq.co/ -- Seems to be more dashboard-like and reporting oriented
- http://www.datapine.com/mysql-reporting-tools
There's a broad spectrum of tools out there for database reporting ranging from free open source tools that require you to write code and SQL to off-the-shelf services that require a connection to your database, but don't require a bit of programming.
Best of luck!
-Tim
I am taking Pentaho for a test drive this week, but will also look into fusion charts