Leveraging a Third Party Reporting Tool to Create a Customizable Dashboard System

Patrick O'Gorman

This is an MS Computer Information Science capstone project. The project contains proprietary information and must have the permission of the author for viewing.

Abstract

Many departments at La Salle University have a need for quick access to data and graphs in a centralized location that is best delivered via dashboards. Our reporting tool, Evisions Argos, is good at creating ad-hoc reports, but its ability to aggregate these reports into a single dashboard is somewhat limited. The solution to this issue is a homegrown dashboard system that takes data from Argos via its API and uses it to display multiple graphs on a single dashboard page.

Another one of the current challenges with Argos is its inability to allow end users to grant other users access to a department’s reports; someone in IT must always add new users and grant them access. This new system allows certain power users to have control over which users are granted access to their department’s data. By providing this delegated user management ability, there is no burden placed on IT to manage each department’s dashboards and each power user can manage their list of users.

In addition to managing users, the power user of each department will have the ability to add pages and arrange the charts on a page as they see fit. Normal users that are granted access will be able to browse through these dashboards and view them from on or off campus; Argos is currently restricted to on campus viewing only.

Under this system, we will be able to streamline the delivery of data to those who need it without altering or replacing our core reporting system. We will provide our users with high quality charts while maintaining data security and overall ease of use.