Desktop Integration Application

Rita Varsani

Hi

I've heard that a Desktop Integration Application is quite useful when producing monthly management accounts. Does anyone know what this is and how it works?

oakley

Multiple uses, either as an upload tool for journals etc so you can have a spreadsheet with journals on to upload directly to the GL, saves having to type them in manually, or a download tool to get GL/ERP info into spreadsheets without having to run multiple reports. All modern ERP programs eg Oracle should have some sort of ADI, and there is also a lot of third party software eg COGNOS, Crystal reporting that you can 'add on' to download info using ODBC links in Excel, Access etc

NeilH

Hi

Without wanting to repeat what oakley said, it depends on what you'd like it to do.

I’ve used ERP systems that can "read" spread sheets that are open on the desktop. This was quite handy for journals (particularly large and frequent journals), but could also be used to process transactions; i.e. a spreadsheet containing stock codes an quantities could book the stock in or out - quite handy when there are plenty of lines to book-in!

Can also be useful for transferring information from one system to another if the two systems can't be connected directly; one system produces a report in Excel format, the other system "reads" it and imports the data/transaction.

The company I work for is part of a group, so we use Hyperion (from Oracle) to upload information to group. The data and information is produced in spreadsheet format, from reports and manual input, and then "uploaded" into the Hyperion software. Once in Hyperion we can then use it to generate other spreadsheets rather than having links to the original source spreadsheets (if that makes sense!) rather than having linked spreadsheets which can cause various headaches!!!

Some ERP systems have built in capabilities to read spreadsheets and produce reports in certain formats, others require a third party software to facilitate the integration.

Neil