Reporting & Data Integration Options

Purpose/Overview

Accurate reporting is essential for informed decision-making. While Irth offers embedded Power BI reporting within Utilisphere, some advanced Power BI features are restricted in the embedded experience. If your organization needs greater flexibility — such as custom calculated measures, automated distribution, or the ability to combine Irth data with other systems — you have several options for integrating your data into external reporting tools like Power BI, Tableau, Google Looker, or Domo.

This guide outlines the available integration methods, what's involved in setting each one up, and how to choose the right approach for your organization.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Choosing the Right Method:
• Things to Consider:
• Scheduled Export 
  •     Key Benefits
  •     How it Works
• Scheduled Export + API Supplementation
  •     Key Benefits
  •     How it Works
• Manual Exports
  •     Key Benefits
  •     How it Works
• Related Features/Next Steps:

⚠A note on effort: The Scheduled Export (leveraging automation) and API integration paths require meaningful IT involvement to implement and maintain. Engage your IT resources early and plan accordingly. 

Choosing the Right Method:

Before diving in, it helps to understand the honest trade-offs between each option. The table below summarizes what each method requires and what it delivers. 

Things to Consider:

• Scheduled Exports are the foundation of any robust reporting integration. They deliver data from Utilisphere to a destination your team defines on a recurring basis, which your IT team then loads into an on-prem database or maintained dataset. Because data lives locally, reports run faster and aren't subject to API latency or rate limits.
• The API is designed to supplement Scheduled Exports — not replace them. Rather than querying the API every time a report loads, it's used to append or update records between export cycles, keeping the dataset more current than daily exports alone. 
• Scheduled Exports can be used with or without an automation layer, and with or without API supplementation. Manual Export is a separate, lightweight path that doesn't require any pipeline or IT configuration. 

Scheduled Export 

Scheduled exports deliver data from Utilisphere to a destination your team defines on a recurring basis, reflecting records through 11:59 PM ET the prior day. This method can be used with or without an automation layer, and can be supplemented by the API for more frequent updates between export cycles. 

    Key Benefits

• Flexible automation — use exports directly, or pair them with an automation tool to create a self-maintaining dataset that refreshes without manual effort 
• Fast report performance — local data means your BI tool isn't dependent on API availability or subject to latency at query time 
• Full data control — shape, transform, and enrich data before it reaches the reporting layer; build calculated fields and custom relationships not available in embedded Power BI
• Cross-system reporting — combine Irth data with metrics from other platforms (CRM, operations, finance) in a single reporting tool 

    How it Works

Without automation: Utilisphere delivers the export to a defined destination. Your team manually retrieves and processes the file — loading it into a database, updating a dataset, or using it directly as a BI data source. Less upfront setup, but more ongoing manual effort.

With automation: An automation tool (e.g., Power Automate, SQL stored procedure, or ETL process) detects new export files and processes them automatically — appending or updating records in a maintained local dataset or folder structure that your BI tool connects to and refreshes against.

Scheduled Export + API Supplementation

When more frequent data currency is needed between daily export cycles, the API can be layered on top of the Scheduled Export foundation. Rather than replacing the export pipeline, the API fills the gap — appending or updating records that have changed since the last export ran. Your BI tool continues to query the local database, not the API directly, so report performance remains fast and consistent regardless of data volume. 

Because this method builds on Scheduled Export, all of the same setup considerations apply — with the addition of API credential setup (obtained through your Irth Sales Account Executive) and your IT team determining the appropriate call frequency and scope based on your data currency needs. Note that high data volumes can introduce latency, and the overall architecture is the most complex of the three options to build and validate. 

    Key Benefits

•  API supplementation — layering in API calls fills the gap between daily export cycles when more current data is needed 

    How it Works

Scheduled exports establish and maintain the historical baseline in your on-prem database. Between export cycles, the API is called on a defined schedule to identify and append records that have changed or been added since the last export ran. Your BI tool queries the local database at all times — never the API directly — which keeps report performance fast and decoupled from API load or availability. 

Manual Exports

Manual exports allow you to download data from Utilisphere at any time and use that file directly as a data source in your BI reporting tool. No automation or IT configuration is required to get started. 

    Key Benefits

• No setup required — download a file, point your BI tool at it, and start building reports
• Low IT overhead — no pipeline to build or maintain
• On-demand and flexible — export exactly what you need, when you need it
• Good for historical analysis — well suited for teams that primarily work with past data and don't need frequent refreshes
• Cross-system reporting — export files can be combined with data from other sources in tools that support multiple local file sources
• Bridge option — can serve as a starting point while a longer-term automated integration is being planned

    How it Works

UtiliSphere delivers the export as a downloadable file (CSV or Excel). Your team sets that file as a data source directly in your BI reporting tool. When updated data is needed, a new export is run and either replaces the existing file or is appended to it — depending on how your team has chosen to maintain the dataset. 

Related Features/Next Steps:

• IRTH Support: Exports - Define Export Data Scope 
• IRTH Support: Export Schedules - Configure Export Frequency and Destination 

Questions?  Contact us!