Using Omniscope with Salesforce.com Via the free Connector for Salesforce web service

The free Visokio Omniscope Connector for Salesforce web service enables Salesforce account holders (currently only Enterprise or Unlimited accounts- soon to be extended to Professional) to download (and soon upload) standard and custom data objects (and soon also joined data objects and Reports) as highly-visual, easily shareable Omniscope .IOK files. The downloaded .IOK files contain all the data, can be re-configured to suit each organisation by uploading a modified copy as a new template.  (click for larger images)

All new downloads of the Omniscope free Viewer include a free 30-day free trial of Omniscope Professional. During this period, the standard report files provided by the web service can be modified, merged with other data and saved for forwarding to others. This provides a no-risk starting point for launching reporting and data quality initiatives.

Once the trial period has expired, upgrading from free Viewer to the Professional Edition enables anyone to customise their report template(s) for each data object, joined data object or report, correct and augment their data, save/archive the data offline and upload corrected and augmented data back to Salesforce.

Like spreadsheets, Omniscope files contain all the data, perform formula-based calculations and are accessible offline. Unlike spreadsheets, however, Omniscope files include 14 different visualisations, including maps and multiple web views showing Salesforce and other analytic 'dashboard' displays...all in a single, shareable file. Web Views in Omniscope can be used to display multiple Salesforce dashboard/reporting pages simultaneously, allowing you to mix and match web and offline customised reporting in a single portable file.

Omniscope files scale to very large record sets, and activated Professional Editions enable merging of offline/local data into reports. Read/query-only users can use free Viewers (or Flash DataPlayers embedded in web pages and documents like PowerPoint), so Visokio-based solutions dramatically reduce the cost/seat of offline reporting and preparing presentations from data held in Salesforce. Omniscope Professional can also convert selected smaller reporting data subsets (say, between 5-10,000 records, depending...) into interactive Flash DataPlayer inserts for report documents, presentations and 'dashboard' web pages.

Using Omniscope with Salesforce.com

Below is a simple, low-cost, low-risk ‘roadmap’ to improving the visualisation, scrubbing, analysis, reporting and presentation of your organisation’s Salesforce data using Omniscope and the Omniscope Connector for Salesforce version 1.2. This approach combines Salesforce online remote hosting (and the Apex development platform) with Omniscope and DataPlayers, next generation 'hybrid' desktop/web data visualisation and reporting applications from Visokio. The combination offers almost limitless flexibility to evolve ‘best of both worlds’ (CRM and beyond) solutions combining web and desktop elements to address all aspects of data quality, analysis, reporting and presentation using a single local file incorporating maps, web links to related content and images.

Roadmap to “the best of both worlds”:

Beginning with Omniscope free Viewer and the free Omniscope Connector web service installed in your Salesforce account, improving data quality, customising and enhancing your data, analysis, reporting and presentations follows a simple, low-risk, evolutionary ‘tiny-steps’ progression that delivers users live working reports containing visualisations of their own data on Day 1:

1. Download Omniscope free Viewer with 30-day free trial, then add the free version of the Omniscope Connector for Salesforce to your Salesforce account (not available with Group accounts).  You are now ready to begin developing an Omniscope-based data quality and reporting improvement process...no commands, just a mouse.

a. Based on the standard views of your data downloaded in Omniscope, start flagging any incomplete, out-dated and erroneous data records/fields in Salesforce, with a defined character, for example, by using the “!” character in the description field

b. Use the standard Flagged Errors Omniscope report page for each data object to list all flagged records/fields in each data object

c. Start creating custom reports and data objects with the most useful joins for reporting views…download in Omniscope standard templates.

d. Start exporting data quality reports and saving them as new .IOK files you can share with users.

e. Start modifying/correcting the standard files, adding new Report Pages to highlight key messages and action points for your organisation.

f. Identify other offline structured data sources (spreadsheets, databases, etc.) that can be automatically merged into your reports using Omniscope Professional.

g. Use Omniscope Professional to export corrected/augmented data sets to Excel, and then use the Excel bulk up-loader to post corrected/augmented data back to Salesforce.

h. Distribute your modified/merged prototype .IOK reporting files widely within your organisation. (all .IOK files can be viewed with free Omniscope Viewers). 

i. Based on feedback, create a set of customised Omniscope reports to be used as refreshable templates for future downloads in Step 3.)

j. Data in Omniscope can also be converted to dynamic, interactive Flash ‘DataPlayers’

k. Create and add Flash DataPlayer inserts summarising custom data objects and reports to your usual MS PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat reporting documents, and post them on intranet web pages to get evaluation feedback.

a. Upload customised Omniscope .IOK /DataPlayer template files for each report/data object to substitute the standard free service templates...your customised Omniscope report files will now be refreshed from your Salesforce data every time they are downloaded.
b. Start correcting/augmenting your Salesforce data offline using Omniscope itself, then bulk up-loading the revised data to populate data objects while at the same time updating the refreshable .IOK/DataPlayer report templates.
c. Continue to optimise reports and joined reporting data objects…enjoy the total flexibility of the hybrid solution you have created.

3. Automate reporting using Omniscope Enterprise server editions

a. Visokio Enterprise versions are designed to automate the entire process of refreshing and distributing Omniscope reports and Flash DataPlayer inserts from a central ‘always on’ server with access to all the required data sources, including the Visokio Connector for Salesforce.
b. Refreshes, merges/joins (and many other Omniscope operations) as well as distribution (via e-mail or FTP) of refreshed reports can be automated over a daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly cycle using the Visokio Scheduler included with Enterprise server editions.
c. Using the Visokio Generator, Flash DataPlayers and Omniscope report files can also be generated on-demand, for downloading or inclusion in web pages and offline documents.