Express Metrix CEO Kris Barker on Overcoming the Limitations of Crystal Reports

Express Metrix is a 16-year veteran in the IT asset management market.  We focus our efforts on computer inventory and software metering solutions that provide IT departments with visibility and control over their hardware and software assets. The result is heightened protection against failed compliance audits, IT overspending, inappropriate use of software, and the consequences of uninformed IT decisions. Our flagship product, Express Software Manager, provides comprehensive IT asset discovery,  hardware and software inventory, and usage reporting that takes the guesswork out of what's deployed and being utilized across companies' PC networks. As you can image, this IT asset data, while core to the value of our product offerings, is of little use unless we can present it in a way that allows a business to make good decisions about how to manage their IT investments.  This is where LogiXML comes in.

THE CHALLENGE
Prior to implementing Logi Info, the reports in Express Software Manager were a mix of Crystal and hand-crafted ASP. The reports were visually outdated and provided only limited high-level summaries. Additionally, the application lacked cross-report linking to allow drilling down into data. The only way we could provide customization capabilities to our customers was through filtering. With our Crystal reports, we didn’t even have the ability to do such simple things as column sorting. Finally, the reporting did not fit with the overall product architecture which is built on .NET, so we decided to re-implement the entire reporting model.

THE SOLUTION
We selected LogiXML due to a smooth and easy proof of concept as well as the ease of report development and modification.

THE RESULT
Express Metrix used LogiXML to build a better report console to present the nearly 100 reports in

Express Software Manager in an organized manner. High level dashboards and exporting to PDF and Excel are also now available.

Building report elements such as drill-downs was really easy; it’s actually a simple process. The LogiXML development interface is very intuitive, so it was easy for our developers to get up to speed. It’s simple and straight-forward to build something, bind it to our data source, and test it within the development environment itself. The ease of use and the ability to share reporting components have allowed us to include more of the development staff in working on the reporting component of the product. In general, the time and energy it took us to build those reports was pretty miraculous.

When we demo the product for a prospect, the very first thing we show is our reporting console and the reports themselves. The data that’s being presented and the visual impact are the most important things and that’s one of the reasons we chose LogiXML. By increasing the flexibility, filtering power, and graphical intuitiveness of our reports, our product's value has become more immediately visible, and our sales cycle is now three times shorter as a result.

Kris Barker is the co-founder and CEO at Express Metrix. Follow Express Metrix on Twitter at @expressmetrix.

Read the full Express Metrix-LogiXML case study here. For more on how LogiXML compares to Crystal Reports, attend our webinar on Wednesday, March 14 and 2:00 p.m. EST. Sign up here.