Showing posts with label Business Analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business Analysis. Show all posts

SSRS REST API v2

Here is a response from the SSSR REST API in action.. (you can access a lot more SSRS item properties and customize at will once you know the API)


The SSRS API v2 has far more functionality than v1, but they essentially work the same. You must be authenticated to the SSRS report server you are targeting (localhost in this case) to make web GET/POST requests to the API.

Once auth'd you can push and pull any useful SSRS data pretty easily to make SSRS do some pretty cool things it can't do out of the box..


This is the SSRS API as accessed through a web browser; simply give your .NET app an HttpClient and you can make use of all these responses; it's just JSON...



You can get a collection of SSRS catalog items as in the example above (folders, reports, KPIs) by just specifying the action name, or you can select an individual item by putting the item GUID in parenthesis in the API request URL:


You can access individual items in the API via GUID in parens after the API action name.




Common Useful SSRS API v2 Actions:
  • Reports
  • Datasets
  • Data Sources
  • Folders
  • Schedules
  • Subscriptions
  • Comments
  • KPIs
  • CatalogItems (everything)



Example of a .NET Standard library with an HttpService abstacting the SSRS API calls:
 namespace ExtRS  
 {  
   public class SSRSHttpService  
   {  
     const string ssrsApiURI = "https://localhost/reports/api/v2.0";  
     HttpClient client = new HttpClient(new HttpClientHandler() { UseDefaultCredentials = true });  
         public async Task<GenericItem> GetReportAsync(Guid id)  
     {  
       client.BaseAddress = new Uri(ssrsApiURI + string.Format("/reports({0})", id));  
       var response = await client.GetAsync(client.BaseAddress);  
       var odata = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;  
       return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<GenericItem>(odata);  
     }  
   }  
 }  
This is verbose to better break down the steps of what is happening on the ExtRS service end




A very basic class designed to demonstrate using SSRS API Response to create a .NET object:
 using Newtonsoft.Json;  
 using System.Collections.Generic;  
 namespace ExtRS  
 {  
   public class GenericItem  
   {  
     [JsonProperty("@odata.context")]  
     public string ODataContext { get; set; }  
     [JsonProperty("Id")]  
     public string Id { get; set; }  
     [JsonProperty("Name")]  
     public string Name { get; set; }  
     [JsonProperty("Path")]  
     public string Path { get; set; }  
   }  
 }  
The power of the SSRS API is limited primarily your imagination- lots of customization can be made




And finally, called from a Controller Action in an MVC app:
 using System;  
 using System.Web.Mvc;  
 using System.Threading.Tasks;  
 using ExtRS;  
 namespace Daylite.Controllers  
 {  
   public class ReportsController : Controller  
   {  
     public SSRSHttpService service = new SSRSHttpService();  
     public async Task<ViewResult> GetReportsAsync()  
     {  
       return View("Index", await service.GetReportsAsync());  
     }  
     public async Task<ViewResult> GetFoldersAsync()  
     {  
       APIGenericItemsResponse result = await service.GetFoldersAsync();  
       return View("Index", result);  
     }  
     public async Task<ViewResult> GetReportAsync(Guid id)  
     {  
       GenericItem result = await service.GetReportAsync(id);  
       return View("Index", result);  
     }  
   }  
 }  


Reference: https://github.com/Microsoft/Reporting-Services/tree/master/APISamples


NPV, IRR and Project Viability Evaluation

Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Rerturn (IRR) are quite similar financial expressions.

In fact the two share the same formula (same variables being measured), but use it to describe the present value of something from 2 different perspectives - (1) what is this project's expected future cashflow currently worth is today's dollars? vs. (2) how profitable (%-wise) will the return on project investment be based on (1)?

NPV = Net present value is today’s value of the expected future cash flows.


If NPV is positive, the project is estimated to be profitable



IRR = The expected rate of return from the proejct.

If the IRR of a project is higher than the WACC, the project is estimated to be profitable


The below simple spreadsheet area explains both concepts nicely. This project would generate a $3.7k profit (NPV) over 5yrs and have a significantly profitable 15.64% IRR, higher than the 8% WACC of the 20k invested.



 The project's estimated cash inflows over 5 years would add value, on paper at least


References:

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032615/what-formula-calculating-net-present-value-npv.asp 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw5-wccViOM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSAfp6D28RM

OLAP: Facts and Dimensions

OLAP can adequately be described as the storage of redundant copies of transactional records from OLTP and other database sources. This redundancy facilitates quick lookups for complex data analysis because data can be found via more and quicker (SQL execution) paths than normalized OLTP. And OLTP after all- should stick to its namesake and what it does best: processing, auditing, and backing up online transactions, no? Leave data analysis to separate OLAP Warehouses.

OLAP data is typically stored in large blocks of redundant data (the data is organized in ways to optimize and accelerate your data mining computations). Measures are derived from the records in the fact table and dimensions are derived from the dimension tables.


Facts are "measurements, metrics or facts of a particular process" -Wikipedia. Facts are the measurement of the record value: "$34.42 for today's closing stock price", "5,976 oranges sold at the market", "package delivered at 4.57pm", etc.

Dimensions are "lists of related names–known as Members–all of which belong to a similar category in the user’s perception of a data". For example, months and quarters; cities, regions, countries, product line, domain business process metrics, etc.

Dimensions give you a set of things that you can measure and visualize in order to get a better pulse and better overall understanding of the current, past and even potential future (via regression models) shape of your data- which can often alert you to things you might not be able to see (certainly not as quickly or easily) in an OLTP-based Data Analysis model which is often tied to production tables out of necessity or "we don't have time or money to implement a Data Warehouse".


Yes, you definitely do need OLAP/DW capabilities if you think long-term about it. Having intimate knowledge of your operations and how you can change variables to better run your business? Why would any business person (excepting those committing fraud) not want that?

I'd say that implementing a true and effective OLAP environment is worth any project investment and would pay itself over and again in the way of better and more specific/actionable metrics that help administrators of operations make the best, data-backed decisions- some very critical decisions involving millions of dollars and sometimes lives. I'd like a better look at the data before making a multi-million dollar or life/death decision.


SAS, Hadoop, SSAS, with healthy doses of R and/or Python customization?- whatever data solution you choose, my advice is to go with something that has a great track record of providing the kind of solutions that your business and/or your industry require. Use the tool that your ETL developers can utilize effectively and that helps you to best meet the needs of your constituents with whom you will exchange data with (the company, the customer, industry and/or regional regulation compliance).