# Which Reporting Tools Work with Ellucian Banner?

Source: https://www.itcadence.com/blog/what-reporting-tools-work-with-banner
Category: Banner Technical | Published: 2026-10-04 | Updated: 2026-10-04 | Publisher: ITCadence

Banner reporting options range from delivered reports and job submission output to Argos, the Banner ODS and EDW, and modern analytics platforms. How to choose.

**Short answer:** Banner institutions typically combine delivered Banner reports run through job submission, operational reporting tools such as Evisions Argos, Ellucian's Operational Data Store (ODS) and Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) for reporting-friendly views and history, and analytics or BI platforms such as Power BI or Tableau fed from those sources. In SaaS, reporting is usually based on Ellucian-supported data access options rather than direct production database queries.

## Overview

There is no single Banner reporting tool. Most institutions use **layers**, each suited to a different question.

## The reporting layers

| Layer | Best for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered Banner reports | Standard operational output | Reports run via job submission |
| Operational reporting tools | Lists, letters, ad hoc operational queries | Evisions Argos |
| Reporting data stores | Simplified views and snapshots | Banner ODS, EDW |
| BI and analytics | Dashboards, trends, leadership reporting | Power BI, Tableau |

## How to choose

- **Who is asking?** Clerks need lists; leadership needs trends.
- **How current?** Real-time operational data vs census snapshots.
- **How heavy?** Big historical queries do not belong on production.
- **Where is Banner hosted?** SaaS changes how you access data.

## Good reporting habits

1. Join on **PIDM** and **term**, not names or IDs. See [what PIDM is](https://www.itcadence.com/blog/what-is-pidm-in-banner).
2. Define **census dates** and freeze official numbers.
3. Keep a **catalogue of reports** with owners and definitions.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should reports query the production Banner database directly?

Light operational reports often do, but heavy or historical reporting is better run against the ODS, a data warehouse or a replica to protect production performance.

### What is the Banner ODS?

The Operational Data Store is an Ellucian reporting database with simplified, reporting-friendly views of Banner data.