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Urgent Assistance Required: Challenges with Flexmonster and Client Reporting Needs

posted on August 16th, 2024

Answered
Akshay Kurian asked on August 16, 2024

Dear Yuliia and Tetiana,
Hope you are doing well.
We have been a proud client of Flexmonster for over seven years, relying on your tool as the primary reporting and BI solution within our web application. Our Sustainability SaaS application serves all our clients globally. However, we have recently encountered growing concerns from our clients regarding Flexmonster’s capabilities in comparison to other BI tools, which is starting to impact our client relationships and business continuity.
To provide you with a clear understanding of the challenges we face, please find attached an Excel workbook with two sheets and an image created by our client using Power BI:

  • Sheet 1 - Flexmonster Pivot Table: This sheet contains data extracted and pivoted using Flexmonster.
  • Sheet 2 - Excel Pivot and Visual: This sheet showcases an Excel pivot table and chart generated from the data in Sheet 1.

The attached image illustrates the visual created by our client in Power BI.
Our primary issue is that when attempting to create visuals using Flexmonster, E-charts, or Google Charts, we are unable to replicate the same results as seen in the "Excel Pivot and Visual" sheet or the Power BI image. Specifically:

  • The Power BI image and Excel chart offer a clear monthly comparison across two years, which we have been unable to achieve using any of the charting tools integrated with Flexmonster, including Flexmonster Charts itself.
  • Additionally, the pie chart created in Power BI, as shown in the attached image, cannot be replicated using Flexmonster or the other integrated charts.

These limitations have put us under significant pressure from our clients, who are demanding the same level of reporting they can achieve with Power BI and other BI tools. As a result, we are at risk of losing business, which is a serious concern.
Given our long-standing relationship, we are reaching out to seek a solution that can address these issues and help us meet our clients' expectations. We value our partnership and are eager to continue it, but we urgently need your assistance to resolve these challenges.
We look forward to your prompt response and a solution that will help us maintain client satisfaction.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Kind regards,
Akshay

Attachments:
Data Sheet & Excel Pivot and Visual.xlsx
Client PowerBI Visuals.png

2 answers

Public
Nadia Khodakivska Nadia Khodakivska ⋅ Flexmonster ⋅ August 19, 2024

Hello, Akshai,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

We appreciate you providing detailed information and examples from Power BI and Excel, as this helps us gain a clear perspective on the challenges you are facing. After reviewing the provided examples, we can assure you that similar functionality is possible to implement using Flexmonster Pivot Charts combined with Google Charts. You are welcome to see the code samples for both provided cases:

Delving into the most important implementation details from a technical perspective, there are several things worth noting:

  1. Monthly comparison. By arranging a slice in a manner that puts a “Year” hierarchy below “Month”, you can create a data structure that allows a month-by-month comparison in the form of a column chart. Column chars are supported within Flexmonster Pivot Charts, so this part would not require a third-party charting library integration.
  2. Donut chart. The provided Power BI screenshot contains a donut chart, which is essentially a pie chart with its center cut out. We used Google Charts to create this chart type as it is not supported within Flexmonster Pivot Charts. You can check Google Charts for more information about this chart type: https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/gallery/piechart#making-a-donut-chart
    In addition to that, you can pass a different slice to a chart connected to Flexmonster, allowing you to show the data from a different perspective.
  3. Filtering. The sample you provided contains a side filter menu containing data that is not directly represented on charts. You can achieve a similar result in Flexmonster by adding a report filter - a field that is not displayed on the grid and charts but can be used for filtering. The only visual difference is that Flexmonster filters would be accessible from a pop-up instead of a side menu.
  4. Percentage-based stacked column chart. Referring to our second example, it is worth noting that you can change the measure’s aggregation to ”priceofrow” to make each chart column have an equal size representing 100%. Then, by adding any field into columns, you would get a similar chart showing the contribution of each individual item to a total sum.

While providing a broader look at the matter, we acknowledge that there may be small details that we might have missed along the way. Do not hesitate to reach out with any additional questions or concerns that need addressing. Also, any feedback on the provided solutions would be highly appreciated.

Best regards,
Nadia

Public
Maksym Diachenko Maksym Diachenko ⋅ Flexmonster ⋅ September 3, 2024

Hello, Akshai!

Hope you are doing well.
We would like to know if you have time to review the chart examples provided in our previous reply and if they match your requirements. Our team would be glad to help if any adjustments to the examples are needed.
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Maksym

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