Jet Reports 2017 - Installed & Reviewed

I've written at length about staying Up to Date with the current release of Jet Essentials (now called Jet Professional), but after my last blog reviewing major Jet Reports release 2015, I walked away with mixed feelings. The features and new tools, though beneficial were cumbersome to install or subject to 'gotchas' that if you weren't paying attention, you'd easily miss.  I felt myself wishing that I'd written down all the gotchas so I could just email it to all my clients.  Well this time I did it for 2017.

In a nutshell:

• The new release has new features that are good and well worth investigating (I am ecstatic about the Web Portal).
• Installation: still challenging for those of us who like to just click through the installer and riddled with opportunities to mess up (which is why you need this article--learn from my mistakes!)
• Documentation: better than previous years, but as the product becomes more robust (and therefore complex) users also need to know 'best practices' as well as 'where does this feature apply to me'.

This article will review Jet Professional 2017 (and none of the reporting tools for Jet Enterprise).  If you have Jet Enterprise, this article still applies to you, because Jet Enterprise augments Jet Professional.

If you're uncertain whether your organization has Jet Enterprise, send an email to the same team that handles activation codes and licensing:  orders@jetreports.com for non-US and orders.us@jetreports.com for US-based clients.

Jet Professional for Everybody

During the video of my installation adventures / woes, I took notes in TextEdit. I'll present them in cleaned up form here.

The Jet Professional installation is divided into two sections: client components and server components.

Client Components
IMHO (in my humble opinion) the only client-specific component of Jet Professional (not including Jet Enterprise) is the add-on for Excel formerly known as Jet Essentials.

• Note:  Jet Reports is the name of a company not a product.  When people ask about a "Jet Report;" they are usually referring to a spreadsheet with NL(), NF() and GL() functions.  For clarity of language, it would be more accurate to refer to this spreadsheet as Jet Professional (or Jet Essentials) report.
• With Jet Enterprise, users have the ability to create Pivot Table-based reports pointed at cubes.  Although 'we know what you meant', it is inaccurate to refer to these as "Jet Reports" or even "Jet Professional" reports, because Pivot tables don't require any Jet products.  Literally, anyone can build a pivot table regardless of whether they have the Jet Professional add-on.
• If you don't have Jet Enterprise DO NOT install the Dashboard Builder or Jet Mobile, it would be completely superfluous.
• Although the Jet Administration Console is classified as a client component, I disagree and therefore lump them under server components.

Server Components
We only really saw the emergence of server components in Jet Essentials 2015 and later. Technically users can skate by with JUST Jet Professional/Jet Essentials, but the server components offer massive quality of life improvements from the administrative and user-adoption perspective.

• Note:  Jet Reports transitioned to 'unlimited viewers' in their 2015 update to the licensing model which means everyone in the organization can / should run Jet Professional reports.
• Install server components on a server (ERP / SQL server or application server) - don't install them on end user machines.
• Pro Tip #1: Use default settings during installation.  Change default accounts to JetServices account after installation completes to ease administration.
• Pro Tip #2: Use Active Directory Groups to manage access to the Jet Reports infrastructure (especially if your organization is on Jet Enterprise) to ease administration.
• Pro Tip #3: Installing the Jet Service Tier also involves creating an MS-SQL database. Verify the account used to install Jet Professional has sufficient permissions!

Jet Service Tier

• The Admin Console + JetServices database + Jet Service Tier store, manage and distribute centralized configuration settings for Jet Professional to end users -- no more setting up Data Source settings in Excel.  
• The Service tier pushes out activation information for new users.
• You MUST install Jet Administration Console (the application) and JetServices (the database) to take advantage of the service tier.
• Pro Tip #1: INSTALL THIS NO MATTER WHAT (simplifies IT/IS administration)
• Pro Tip #2: The Jet Admin Console can and should be installed in the same location as the Service Tier (the server) as only one or two users (an external consultant, Sr. Analyst or IT Staff) will manage or modify the settings.
• Pro Tip #3: Read the release notes.  Some updates of the Admin Console require an uninstall/fresh install of the Jet Service Tier and/or JetServices database.

Jet Web Portal

• NEW in Jet 2017 - IMHO the best improvement to Jet Professional in the last 3 years.
• Gives users the ability to run and view Jet Professional reports from a web browser (from within or outside the local network) -- users are not required to have Jet installed.  Mimics functionality of structured SSRS reporting.
• Uses OneDrive technology to manage file sharing & version history.
• Can generate Values Only Workbook (like running the Jet Scheduler) -- No more 'copy/paste values only'.

Implications for IT & Business

• Fewer client machines to update.
• Easier access to Jet Reports across the organization
• Centralized control of Jet Reports assets

Gotchas during Install

• If you're installing on a personal or test machine, may need to 'turn on' the Internet Information Services (IIS) feature.
• After install use IIS to configure bindings
• will need to know IP address - use IPConfig from CMD prompt.
• To access portal outside of the network, will need SSL Certificate.
• Pro Tip: As with all new Jet products, you want to keep abreast of the release notes to see which bugs have been stamped out.

That's All For Now

Stay tuned for the next blog post on Jet Professional 2017 features specific to Jet Enterprise clients.

If I've piqued your interest, sign up for our bi-monthly mailing list or visit www.OnyxReporting.com/blog to access our archived posts.
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Jae Wilson is a Jet Reports Certified Trainer from Data Analytics consultancy Onyx Reporting.