ChristianSteven BI Blog

Using SQL Server Standard? Tired of seeing everyone else using SQL Server Enterprise scheduling while you languish in a lower edition? Indeed SQL Server Enterprise scheduling brings handy features such as data-driven SSRS report scheduling and business process management that aren’t available in SQL Server Standard. However, there is a way to keep up with these features without upgrading your SQL Server edition. With PBRS, you can schedule SSRS reports, SSIS packages, and tackle other business processes such as updating database records.

Business intelligence solutions continue to take data-driven decision making to the next level for most organizations. Enterprises are churning loads of data every day and have an important need to process this data for tracking their goals. Additionally, reports and dashboards are an integral part of conducting business for employees at these companies. However, data can sometimes be overwhelming if not processed and delivered in the right manner.

Not only is PBRS a handy tool for scheduling SQL Server Reports, it can be a great way to manage SSRS report subscriptions. Many PBRS users have enjoyed the ability to schedule SSRS reports with expanded options such as report encryption, additional formats, and more destinations such as SharePoint & Dropbox. In addition to the advanced subscription distribution features PBRS has to offer, it can also act as an SSRS report manager. Let’s look at three ways PBRS can help SQL Server admins manage their SSRS subscriptions.

Depending on your SQL Server edition, SSRS has some built-in scheduling functions that allow administrators to schedule SSRS reports to email. Many situations require reporting administrators to turn to PBRS, an “out of system” workflow tool for scheduled SSRS reports. In the past, I have discussed in great detail the reasons why administrators use PBRS to schedule reports, but now I will cover how administrators schedule SSRS reports to email.

Imagine that the management team needs to receive 10 weekly status reports that include finances, inventory, sales etc. As usual, you have 10 subscriptions setup that deliver these reports. Everything is working just fine, then suddenly management decides that they no longer want to fuss with 10 different reports and 10 different emails. Instead, they want one document that encompasses all the weekly information they need. Great, now you have to write a whole new report, deploy it, and then set up the subscriptions all over again. Or do you? Using PBRS's Package Schedule, you can merge SSRS report output into a single PDF, text, or Excel file without the need to change the reports.