Marquette University Makes the Grade With Web-Based Reporting System
Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin teaches its students that the pursuit of excellence is a lifelong endeavor and that education is a diverse experience touching the whole person. A commitment to focusing on the big picture, rather than on individual parts, is a major factor behind the university's decision to use Information Builders' EDA, WebFOCUS, and InfoCube to bring together disparate data into coherent, flexible reports that are available to all users.
The task of developing and deploying a new analytical application fell to Marquette's Data Management Department. "We wanted to establish an enterprise-wide reporting system that would be accessible through Web browsers," says Jim Schwarz, assistant director of Data Management at Marquette. "We have thousands of users spread throughout a campus that spans 16 blocks. We can't send people out to upgrade everybody's client software every time there's a patch in the financial system."
Schwarz's directive was clear: minimize what is necessary on the desktop to perform standard business functions. With this basic requirement in mind, a committee was formed to examine potential software solutions that could be used to create the type of reporting infrastructure they envisioned. Products from Information Builders, Cognos Corp., Brio Technology, and MicroStrategy were evaluated. All of the vendors offered useful Web reporting solutions, but only Information Builders could supply the key infrastructural pieces as well.
"Information Builders could easily provide access to our legacy data; none of the other vendors could," explains Schwarz. "The EDA server can get to so many different data types and database formats and present it all in a standard way to our Web server."
"The central components of the Information Builders solution included WebFOCUS, a data publishing and reporting system for Web users, and InfoCube, a set of decision support templates that work with WebFOCUS to streamline the report development process. Information Builders provides the best reporting solution for our needs," says Schwarz.
At the last minute, Marquette also received something unexpected with their purchase: a university discount. "It was a surprise to us," declares Schwarz. "It allowed us to add some training. "
Web Reporting 101The first step for Schwarz and his team was to convert many types of legacy data into a common format. Oracle 8 was selected as the database standard and the Oracle Financials were selected to handle the university's core financial operations, such as general ledger, payroll, purchasing, accounts payable and accounts receivable.
EDA solved the problem of universal data access, but the university's information experts faced another Challenge: presenting the data to users ranging from students to analysts to vice presidents, all in a concise, flexible and easily administered format, while avoiding the headaches of traditional client-based applications.
WebFOCUS was the answer. It combines thin-client reporting and analysis, managed reporting, Java-based development, and On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) capabilities in one powerful package, and requires no application programs or drivers on the desktop. It allows any level of user to create sophisticated reports without runaway queries.
"WebFOCUS reports can be accessed with standard Web browsers, which means they look the same to both Mac and Windows users," explains Schwarz. "Our Mac users don't want to give up their computers. With WebFOCUS, there's no need to."
Independent StudySchwarz and his team didn't need to wait for on-site training to begin to see results. They asked some of their more demanding users to test the reports created with WebFOCUS. "Until recently, these users had been getting text dumps of their data and loading it into Microsoft Access," says Schwarz. "Each request for data had to be individually handled by a programmer or analyst. I turned them loose with WebFOCUS connected to an Oracle database and they haven't put in a request for help since."
Marquette's IT team also needed a way to quickly develop high-level reports for university management. Enter InfoCube, a series of decision support application templates. These templates provide preconstructed report requests that allow users with any level of computer or business experience to get the information they are looking for with just a few mouse-clicks.
"We purchased the WebFOCUS Suite, which includes InfoCube and five days of on-site consulting time," explains Schwarz. "We used two of those days for InfoCube, and worked with our financial people to determine exactly what they wanted in the reports, and how they should be formatted. The consultants designed some screens for us and completely prototyped the whole system in about a day and a half."
InfoCube templates are designed to provide answers to common analytical questions, quickly identifying the greatest opportunities or trouble spots. In a corporate setting, that might mean which products or services have the best profit margins. For Marquette University, the templates simplify the analysis of cost and budget data from the Oracle Financials and other sources. "The cooperative effort between Information Builders and our IT staff resulted in a solid set of reports on expenses, budget and actual comparisons by department, and other key financial information," says Schwarz.
The IT staff is not alone in benefiting from InfoCube. "Our financial people seemed really happy with its capabilities," says Schwarz. "Having cost and budget data so readily available will reduce the number of requests they get. The requests they continue to receive can be quickly and easily answered. A vice president might call down and say, 'I want to know how to find information on year-to-date expenditures in my department,' and the financial analyst can reply, 'Just click here.' "
New Campus ArchitectureMarquette's IT infrastructure is powered by DIGITAL AlphaServer systems from Compaq Computer Corporation, all running the Digital UNIX operating system. A pair of clustered AlphaServer 8400 systems in the data center hosts the schools primary business applications. The Oracle Financials are installed on an AlphaServer 4200, along with WebFOCUS, EDA, and InfoCube. Oracle data is maintained in StorageWorks disk drives, also from Compaq, about 100 gigabytes total.
The Marquette network is mostly based on internetworking gear from Cisco Systems. Cisco LightStream 1010 ATM switches direct traffic around a campus-wide WAN, while Cisco Catalyst 5000 switches in the computer room and each building direct traffic among the various segments of a 100BaseT Ethernet LAN. Other portions of the campus network run FDDI media over a fibre optic infrastructure.
Schwarz' pleasure with this advanced information architecture and the applications it enables is plain to see. "We put in a system that leverages cost-effective Internet technologies with very minimal effort," he says. "It's going to have a big impact, especially with upper management."
Schwarz is also confident that the quick results don't mean the new systems will be a flash in the pan. "Another key factor in choosing Information Builders was knowing that the company has been around a very long time," he stresses. "We're looking ahead 10 years, when we're dealing with the next generation, and we're confident Information Builders will be there to provide us with a migration path. The investment we're making now will pay off for a long time."
Advanced LearningThese early successes with Web-based reporting are just the beginning of the story. Once training gets under way, Schwarz believes his team will start to benefit from the full capabilities of the new software. "Information Builders is coming on-site and training about 18 of our people in the IT department, and some of our WebFOCUS users," he explains. "We're taking a two-phase approach to this, and this is phase one."
Departments that place the heaviest demands on IT staff will be among the first to be tutored by the Information Builders team. "We're training them to use the tools so instead of sending us requests they can generate the reports themselves," says Schwarz.
The next phase of training will be aimed at those who aren't familiar with reporting and querying techniques. "Some users might not even know what data is available," says Schwarz. "As we go along, we'll reach out to these novice users. Eventually, I could foresee Web-based applications for students, possibly even job listings."
Admittedly, it will be a gradual process, but Schwarz and others at Marquette are accustomed to long-term horizons. A relentless commitment to excellence and the ability to address all aspects of an issue are precisely the qualities that have helped them to build a top notch educational institution.
"We've been using the Web for a long time at the univer-sity, and we're comfortable with it," concludes Schwarz. "Probably 60 to 70 percent of our applications and reporting will be Web-based by mid-1999. Information Builders is playing a key role in that process."
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