Informer 5 is well known for its powerful and easy to use analysis and reporting functionality. What’s less known is the fact that Informer also helps organizations improve efficiency by simplifying the process of transferring data between systems.
Informer’s Jobs Scheduling Feature Streamlines the FTP Process
You can easily generate a report that includes data based on the specifications provided by a vendor you’re working with, in the required format, and send the files via secure FTP to the vendor’s systems, with Informer’s Jobs Scheduling feature.
For example, at colleges and universities, teachers need to choose books for their courses. This process requires that course and session information, created within their Ellucian Colleague or Banner ERP system, be transferred to the institution’s bookstore database. The bookstore (managed by an external vendor) needs to know what courses are taught daily, so their software can show the courses offered along with the associated faculty.
Before Informer 5…
An institution’s IT team face a complicated set of tasks that include:
- Generating the file based on the bookstore’s specifications that include, the term, courses taught in the upcoming semester, the professor, and other details
- Uploading the file onto a server
- Creating a nightly scheduled report containing the file
- Writing a script saying, ‘pick up this file’, include FTP credentials with log-in and key, then send the file out to the bookstore’s FTP servers
The bookstore’s IT staff then logs into the secure FTP and pulls the information into their database.
With Informer 5’s secure FTP functionality…
Institutions can automate multiple tasks within one process. Without the need for a script, a simple schedule is set that says, “send this file out to that server and here are the credentials”. Every night the schedule runs automatically, and the file appears in the vendor’s servers.
California Lutheran University Simplifies the FTP Process
California Lutheran University is an example of an institution struggling with the issue involving a complicated set of tasks with their FTP process. Their goal in selecting a new BI solution was to eliminate those extra steps.
With Informer, California Lutheran University simplified the FTP process. They liked that a report can be launched and shared across departments in one straightforward move. According to Michael Graham, the Director of Administrative Information Services, “The registrar’s office was excited not to need to use FTP anymore. All they wanted to do was launch the report, export the report, and load it into Excel or whatever format they needed. The registrar’s office loves having the ability to put in a PDF, with our watermark, and they can give that to department chairs to show the data in many different formats.”
Michael has found it invaluable to have the credentials and all necessary information within Informer, so when he sends the file, he knows it’s secure and based on the correct specifications. As a bonus, Informer 5 also enables him to send files to a shared drive for easy and secure access.
To learn more about Informer 5’s many capabilities, please call 888-703-0016, or contact informersales@entrinsik.com.
