In the past, Simmons staff members who wanted to run advanced reports or gather specific data stored in Colleague and other sources would have to contact Technology to have a programmer design and run a custom report. This expenditure of time and effort was necessary for every distinct report request that came in. As the number of requests grew, this put a strain on our resources and made it difficult to produce reports in an effective and timely manner. It had become obvious that it was necessary to empower our customers by implementing a solution that allows staff to create and run reports as needed.

Technology is happy to announce that we have installed a new reporting tool called Informer, available at myreports.simmons.edu. Informer provides an easy-to-use interface that can gather, sort, and analyze information to create reports as they are needed. While Technology will still manage the data and support your use of Informer, you no longer have to request reports and wait for us to run them and return the information to you. Currently, the Registrar’s office, along with the Comptroller and the Budget Office, are using Informer to create, manage, and run their own reports, and more departments will be using it soon. Please note that if you need reports from a specific department, you should contact that department to determine the best way to gain access to the report.

Over the last few weeks, Technology has provided Informer training to key stakeholders and will continue to do so. If you have started using Informer and you need some additional guidance, you can also access training online by visiting the Informer YouTube channel. If you need access to Informer or if you want additional training or support, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.