Colorado's Public Safety Department is using software tools and a little ingenuity to keep coins in the state coffers. Each state department puts its financial data on the system. We just gave them the Web address, and they started creating reports. Then they would rekey the data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Frelund wanted to find a way to demystify financial information.
People get confused.
The SQL database works with WebFocus, an information management tool from Information Builders Inc. of New York. I can tell what's going on in the whole department financially in about half an hour. Another perk of the SQL-WebFocus system is that the deployment was speedy, Frelund said. We just gave them the Web address, and they started creating reports. Frelund showed the financial reporting model to officials in the state controller's office.