Code Development has considerable experience in specifying, designing and producing Maximo^® reports. In addition to standard report writing tools, SQR and Actuate, we can also support clients developing reports based on the new BIRT technology introduced in Maximo^® 7. Indeed, a particular Code Development speciality is rewriting old SQR reports for new reporting tools.

Maximo^® report writing draws on a diverse combination of skills. The report writer needs not only to understand Maximo^® and its data structures, but also to possess knowledge of the DBMS used, the Web server it is deployed on and be fully conversant with the specific reporting tool being used. Our consultants possess all the right skills, and can offer assistance in all of the following areas:

• Report specification
• Report development and testing
• Special Reports

Specification writing is a key stage in the development of any complex report. It is imperative that a consultant writing the specification is able to ask the right questions and get all the required information from business representatives, at the same time advising them on the feasibility of their requests, and the potential impact on system performance (a very important consideration for complex reports).

For example, most report writers would spend a lot of time developing a complex annual maintenance cost report for a large organisation using standard reporting technology. This would be a resource-hogging report which requires to be run on a separate report server or over the weekend. A consultant with Java customisation skills could suggest a different solution, where running sums are updated for each financial transaction via simple Java code, and the annual report would be much simpler to develop and run instantaneously.

To help you provide all the necessary information for building complex reports offsite, Code Development has also developed the Report Specification Template, an MS Word questionnaire which, once completed by a business representative, provides all the necessary information that a developer needs to create the report.

Report development is on- or offsite, based on a detailed written specification, which is the result of your input, or a completed specification template. During the development, we pay particular attention to optimising the SQL queries that retrieve the report data, as well as optimising the Maximo^® database to execute these queries as quickly as possible. A mandatory part of this process is exhaustive testing and performance tuning of the report, both in a development environment and in your production environment.

Code Development has extensive experience in writing custom reports which offer functionality way beyond the standard Maximo^® features.

Some of the examples of such reports are:

• Reports that perform live database updates or changes
• Reports which export data in a custom file or Web formats
• Reports with full custom input/output controls (tree views, special parameter selectors)
• Reports which integrate with bespoke external systems
• Reports with mail-merge features, barcode label printing etc

Code Development consultants can also help with building complex business intelligence analytics in specialised packages such as Business Objects, IBM Cognos etc.