Prevent report bottlenecks
Published: March 30, 2006
Help your users be successful finding information on their first try, and reduce churn on your server at the same time. By making simple customizations so that the tools match the way your users work, and training users on best practices, your users will find the data they need without time and resource-consuming trial-and-error along the way.
Users can find and analyze data in two ways in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0: using Advanced Find and running reports. Because both techniques require Microsoft CRM to query its database, anything you do that narrows the number of records returned helps performance.
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5 customizations to help users find what they need on the first try
Try these simple customizations you can do right from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 user interface:
| • | Edit the default view for each entity so that each view shows just the information your users need. For example, for the Contact entity, the default view shows the full name, parent customer, and business phone. If your users correspond mostly by e-mail, add the e-mail address. |
| • | Customize the columns searched when users do a search using the Look for box. These columns are defined in the Quick Find View for the entity. For example, for the Contact entity, name and e-mail fields are searched by default. If you add city and telephone number, your users can find contacts by typing an area code or city name in the Look for box. While you’re customizing the Quick Find View, you can also specify which columns show up in the results. |
| • | Customize the default filters for each report. Most reports have a default filter set to return active records changed within the last 30 days. If your users run a report weekly, change the default filter to include records from the last week. |
| • | Rename reports to make sense for your business. When the name of a report isn’t clear, users may run it when they’re looking for something else. |
| • | If you have a report that requires users to regularly use a complex set of filter criteria, create a unique report definition for individual users or groups of users. In the report definition, you can specify and save the filter criteria. Then name the report definition with an unambiguous name, like Joe’s Sales Report for Friday Status Meeting. That way, Joe can run his report without changing the filter criteria each time, reducing the chance he will make mistakes and run the report extra times to fix his mistakes. To create report definitions that can store filter criteria and schedule information, you need to download and install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Report Scheduling Wizard. Unlike reports, which are visible to all Microsoft CRM users, a report definition created with the Report Scheduling Wizard can be shared with specific users, and doesn’t show up for other users. |
4 best practices every user should follow
Take the time to train your users on these best practices. They’ll appreciate the increased speed at which they can find business information, and you’ll appreciate the reduced load on the server.
| • | Always run reports from within an entity, rather than from the Reports area. Use Advanced Find to narrow down the list of records, and then click the Report icon to run a report on just those records. |
| • | Export data from a view or an Advanced Find search to Microsoft Excel. After the data is exported to a static Excel spreadsheet, you can manipulate the data at will without putting any demand on the server. |
| • | Provide feedback to your system customizer. Let them know about changes to views and forms that would make it easier to do your job. |
| • | Ask your power users to create specific saved searches using Advanced Find that make sense for the rest of their team. They can share these job-specific searches with their team members. |
Prevent a resource-intensive report from bogging down your system
The Report Scheduling Wizard makes it convenient to schedule reports to run at specified times or intervals. You can make snapshots of the data in your system at particular times, such as end of week, end of month, or end of quarter. These static snapshots can be made available for everyone to view, so that anyone who needs to see the data as of a particular time doesn’t have to rerun the report.
Use a detailed name for each snapshot so that it’s clear what data is included. For example, a name like Summary of 1st Qtr Case Resolution Statistics for East Coast Division shows all the criteria used, whereas a name like 1st Qtr Summary is ambiguous.
If you have a report that you don’t want users to be able to run on-demand, modify the report properties so that the report is not displayed in the user interface.
If your load is heavy, consider setting up a dedicated report server
To improve performance in high-volume Microsoft CRM systems, you can run reports on a dedicated report server. This frees up the resources of the server that is running Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft CRM to better service the transaction processing requests generated by users adding, viewing, and updating Microsoft CRM records.
Next steps
The online Help in Microsoft CRM provides step-by-step procedures for the suggestions listed in this article. First, download and install the newest online Help update, because it includes answers to questions customers have asked since Microsoft CRM was released.
Here are the key online Help topics to get you started. Schedule an hour for yourself to give these ideas a try.
| • | Customize views for search results. |
| • | Manage reports for all Microsoft CRM users. There are two useful options here: Edit the properties or default filter for a report shows you how to change the name of a report as well as change the default filter criteria, and Create one-time or scheduled report snapshots provides all the information you need to schedule a report or create report definitions that can be used for specific users. |
| • | For an end-user perspective, open the online Help table of contents, open Common Tasks, and then browse through the topics in the Finding and Analyzing Information section. |
