Changes in POS Analytics Report Management

With the release of version 12.8.0, we have made some changes in the POS Analytics Report management. The following document is an outline of the objective, the changes that have been done in version 12.8.0 and changes which are coming in future in this regard.

The Issue

POS Analytical Reports were introduced in Ginesys almost from the inception of Ginesys POS to provide POS Store Managers and Operation Managers a customizable view of all POS transactions and masters, in addition to the fixed set of reports of Ginesys POS. These reports allowed cross tab views as well as simple tabular views of the POS data when running at POS stores. All these reports are designed at Ginesys HO and then distributed to the stores via \Retail Management\Setup\Allocation Group. Ginesys HO has a desktop module where the Analytics Report is designed with similar data structures of Ginesys POS exposed in Ginesys HO. This is done so that the user designing the report can check and verify the reports behavior before sending the same to the stores. This approach has the following challenges -

• Same data structures and database objects have to be maintained in both HO and POS applications. Redundant objects in HO poses a maintenance challenge for the software.

• Some users have started using the Analytical Report designer at HO for running those reports at HO. They are facing performance bottlenecks since these reports are not designed to be run at HO with consolidated data of multiple stores. Consolidated report viewing should be done from Ginesys Reports or Ginesys BI (Qlik).

The Solution

Phase 1

Starting from version 12.8.0, we are initiating a deprecation process for Analytic Reports from Ginesys HO. From this version, an Analytic Report can be designed in Ginesys POS while previously we could only “view” it in Ginesys POS. After designing, it can now be directly stored in Ginesys HO Analytic Report repository from POS. Once stored in HO, the report will then be available for distribution via the \Retail Management\Setup\Allocation Group. The HO utility will still be available for designing and distributing reports as earlier, but support issues related to performance of Analytic Report in HO will not be considered for resolution. The connection to HO should be via a public static IP through which POS Stores can access the HO application with REST API calls.

Steps for designing Analytic Report in Ginesys POS

1. Configure Ginesys WebAPI from Ginesys Web > Retail Management > Utilities > Configure > WebAPI and send it to Store via sync.

2. Go to the system where Ginesys POS is installed & open Analytics.exe from Ginesys POS installation folder (...\Program Files (x86)\GSL\GINESYS POS).

3. Login with POS user (this user must have access to configure Analytic Report module, a new operation 'Configure' has been added under Back Office > Analytic Report).

4. Here users can View report, modify it by adding columns, calculative fields and save it.

5. The report template will not save locally, it will directly save in HO via API.

6. User also can Delete, Export, Import reports the same way it was done in HO.

7. User has to assign these reports from HO Allocation Group to each POS (including the POS where it was created) to view it.

Impact and suggested actions for on-premise Ginesys customers

1. Procure a static IP from internet service provider (ISP)

2. Enable API access from POS via the \Retail Management\Utilities\Web API module

Impact and suggested actions for Ginesys SaaS customers

1. Ginesys HO application is already available via a public URL

2. Enable API access from POS via the \Retail Management\Utilities\Web API module

Phase 2

Starting October 1, 2022, POS Analytic Reports will stop running at HO. Continued access to the POS Analytic Reports means that on-premise customers would have to procure and setup a static IP at the HO for allowing REST API based access from POS.