Challenges with manual reporting

Manual reporting, as mentioned in an earlier section, is largely based on Excel reports. Substantial efforts are required by the Management Information System (MIS) team in preparing the reports. These efforts are repetitive in nature, depending on whether there are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly reports.

Because the reports are manual, there are chances of human errors creeping in and the numbers being wrong, thus giving the wrong picture to the senior management. The downside could be incorrect decisions, leading to losses.

The other challenge with this approach is the amount of time taken to prepare the reports. By the time the management gets the reports, a significant amount of time has elapsed and the data is not current and may even be two or three weeks old. This also hampers an effective decision making process.

As data starts growing, the performance of Excel drops. Vlookups, if used, take several hours to complete and may fail to complete leading to repetitive work. As an organization grows, the number of Excel sheets starts becoming unmanageable and can lead to chaos.

Organizations pay a lot of attention to security of data these days. Excel sheets have very limited security, and the information which is meant for certain users may knowingly/unknowingly go to unintended audiences.

Another downside is that the manual approach becomes people dependent and any absenteeism or attrition causes further delays. There could be other reasons for the company to look for a new system as well, and the consultant must understand them.