| Getting Arrow up and running was a simple and | | | | quickly drilled down through our data and sliced and |
| straightforward process. In about a half hour we | | | | analyzed it however we wanted. And in PowerPoint |
| installed and configured the 35 MB single MSI file by | | | | using photo- and video-editing tools within the software |
| following the free online documentation. We wouldn't | | | | saved us even more time. |
| have thought free documentation was a big deal until | | | | Before we ran a report we had to perform one final |
| we discovered that some other companies charge for | | | | step: report assembly. The "Assemble a Windward |
| their documentation. The instructions guided us | | | | Report" web part walked us through uploading a |
| step-by-step through copying the SetupArrow.msi file | | | | template to SharePoint and linking it to its data source. |
| to our SharePoint front end web server and executing | | | | As with the other web parts, the onscreen instructions |
| the MSI. We then added Arrow web parts just like | | | | were short, clear, and easy to follow. Some features |
| any other web parts, and there were a total of eight | | | | of note: built-in version control ensured we were |
| under the category Windward Web Parts. After this | | | | working with the correct template, the template |
| we installed AutoTag which automatically detected the | | | | repositories are searchable and enforced by business |
| components that were already on our system and | | | | rules, and we were able to set parameters for |
| installed only what was necessary. | | | | template variables in this step. |
| After installation we immediately started designing | | | | We had nine different output formats: HTML, PDF, |
| report templates. AutoTag is an add-in to Microsoft | | | | DOCX, XML (Word), RTF, XLSX, XLS, PPTX, and |
| Word, Excel, and PowerPoint so report creation was a | | | | direct to a printer. For the most part the final report |
| much simpler process than with the other tools we've | | | | rendered as we expected it to, although there were |
| used. We simply opened Word and begin adding the | | | | some minor formatting issues for which we needed to |
| desired elements to our template (headers, footers, | | | | return to the template and make tweaks (namely, |
| text blocks, charts, graphs, images, tables of contents, | | | | tables in Excel needed cells expanded to fit our data |
| etc.) using built-in commands. Because we were | | | | and some line drawings in PDF reports were not |
| already familiar with Word this interface took us much | | | | completely true to the original image in the template). |
| less time to master than any of the other report | | | | One feature deserves special mention: generating a |
| design tools we found. Nearly all the features in Office | | | | report URL and clicking on that URL causes the report |
| were available to us with the exception of some minor | | | | to be run with current data. |
| formatting tools. | | | | Arrow allowed us to schedule reports to be run on our |
| One of the features that stood out was charting. | | | | timetable: daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, with a |
| Reporting programs often stumble with charting, but | | | | variety of options for each category. We could to |
| this is another area where Windward stood strong. | | | | distribute to targets, email lists, shared SharePoint |
| We didn't have to go through a lot of additional or | | | | repositories, or printers. We appreciated the ability to |
| complicated steps such as dummy image insertion or | | | | set permissions so authorized colleagues and others |
| learning obscure beans like some of the other | | | | could view, share, and edit reports. Plus, we could view |
| packages. The charts were fairly easy to create, had | | | | a list of scheduled reports with details such as the |
| a wide range of layout and theme options, and were | | | | report's description, when it was last run, and when it is |
| accompanied by solid examples in the sample | | | | next scheduled to be run. |
| templates and written documentation. We also | | | | Arrow also includes dashboards and drill-down |
| designed reports in Excel and the process was as | | | | interfaces. We could design and preview dashboards |
| smooth as it was in Word. Of particular note was the | | | | and gauges with little programming expertise, and we |
| ability to use Excel's dynamic formulas which expand | | | | set them to automatically refresh for up-to-the-minute |
| intuitively with our data. | | | | data. The drill-down capabilities let us click on links |
| We took advantage of all the advanced capabilities of | | | | within generated templates to see subtemplates with |
| Microsoft Office 2010, features that we didn't find in | | | | more detailed info, and we had the option to nest links |
| any other reporting system. With this new version we | | | | within templates. |
| easily collaborated on reports with colleagues, tracked | | | | Support is where Windward really shines. The detailed |
| revisions, and locked parts of our template. In Word | | | | documentation covers everything from installation to |
| we used the new editing tools to add, delete, and | | | | program use to sys admin maintenance, and short |
| organize sections of our report and we set | | | | "getting started" guides helped us get up and running |
| permissions and saved the file as a PDF with a button | | | | quickly. The website offers written tutorials, video |
| click. With Excel's built-in business intelligence tools we | | | | demonstrations, and paid support. |