Getting crucial business data easier and faster is more important than ever. Workbook, a feature built into SuiteAnalytics, provides users with an easy-to-use toolkit. This toolkit can be used to create, analyze and share business intelligence tools such as reports and charts. Ultimately, SuiteAnalytics makes it possible to explore and visualize data natively within the NetSuite environment.
NetSuite recently updated Workbook. Here are five key new changes.
1. Workbook templates: It's common practice to modify existing reports that are close enough to what users want to see, rather than starting from scratch. Analytical reports are no exception. Similar to NetSuite saved searches, Workbook templates can be customized to meet specific business needs. The templates, which are located under the standard Workbook section on the Analytics home page, are pre-defined thematic Workbooks for common industries, such as manufacturing and ecommerce. The templates help users look at common metrics and adjust the report for specific custom fields and visualizations. There are currently over 20 Workbook templates available.
2. Workbook builder UI and navigation: The main Workbook field navigation has been redesigned to simplify data discovery. You no longer need to use "joins" and manually connect one record to another in order to populate fields. Now the navigation bar automatically provides a list of all possible "linked" records and fields, and together with the search functionality, it quickly provides the data needed for pivot tables and charts.
Another change is a merge of the "Data" and "Criteria" pages in the Workbook UI. The Workbook UI now has a single page or tab, which consolidates viewing the data and also lets users create multiple views of the data within a Workbook.
With more complicated data sets, it’s often difficult to navigate to an existing field from a table then to the record and field tree. Now you can use the "Show Location in Field list" option, which is located in the navigation panel.
3. Pivots, Table Views, Charts and Dashboards
- Pivots: The sorting function has been enhanced to provide users access to the top or bottom items from the list. In the case of measures in pivot, users can order the list in ascending or descending order, find the top 10 or bottom 10 items, and also create a custom filter on the results of aggregated data. These options are available by clicking the ellipsis for each separate measure field or column. Using filtering, you can modify the top/bottom limits or set greater/less conditions. And similarly, the filtering and sorting options are available on the other (rows or columns) fields in pivot tables.
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Table Views: This option helps simplify, visualize and analyze datasets in the form of an itemized list. It is a visualization that gives non-proficient analytics users a simple way to analyze datasets. Additionally, you can now create multiple table views in one Workbook.
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Charts: The same filtering and sorting actions that are available with pivots are also now available on Workbook Charts. This makes reports easier to read and understand with respect to trends and timelines. For example, you can sort the "X" axis by the quarter then see production costs for orders by month. Measure fields of charts can be filtered at the same time so you can remove the outlying high and low numbers to show a better representation of your data.
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Dashboards: Workbook charts or pivots can now be placed on a NetSuite dashboard. By selecting the “Analytic“ portlet during dashboard customization, click “set-up“ and find or search the pivot or chart you need on a dashboard. The final portlet allows drill-down to the source Workbook if you want to maximize the view or set up filters.
4. Performance: Nobody likes to wait, especially if it's a daily routine. SuiteAnalytics Workbooks loads much faster. There is nothing that needs to be set up, everything is automatically enabled. On the other hand, if you need to display real-time data (for instance, manufacturing machine production on an hourly basis), it's possible to trade the Workbook loading time performance for the sake of seeing real-time data. This setting is accessible in the "cache" option in the Workbook pivot or a chart UI.
5. Separation of Datasets: Last but not least, datasets are now separated from the Workbook. Users and teams are able to pull from a dataset then customize based on individual needs. This allows users to work in different Workbooks while still leveraging the same data. Separation of datasets will save users time since they are no longer having to set up a new dataset for every new Workbook, and it also helps companies maintain data integrity.
With the above updates, you can get reliable data in a visual format to help make crucial business decision making easier and faster. Learn more (opens in new tab) about how SuiteAnalytics Workbook can help your business.