Salesforce offers two distinct reporting experiences: Salesforce Classic Reports and Salesforce Lightning Reports. While both aim to help users analyze and visualize data, the differences in their features, capabilities, and user experience are significant. As Salesforce transitions towards the Lightning Experience, it’s crucial to understand these differences to make the most of the reporting tools available in both environments. This guide will explore the key distinctions between Salesforce Classic Reports and Lightning Reports, highlighting their unique features and the advantages of transitioning to Salesforce Lightning Reports.
1. User Interface and Navigation
One of the most noticeable differences between Salesforce Classic Reports and Lightning Reports lies in the user interface (UI) and navigation.
Salesforce Classic Reports: In Salesforce Classic, the report creation and management interface is relatively simple but can feel outdated compared to modern standards. Users navigate through tabs and lists to access reports, and the options for customizing the UI are somewhat limited. The Classic UI offers a traditional look and feel, which may feel familiar to longtime Salesforce users, but it can be cumbersome and less intuitive.
Salesforce Lightning Reports: The Lightning Experience, on the other hand, offers a modern, intuitive, and more user-friendly interface. Report creation in Lightning uses a drag-and-drop functionality, allowing users to build and customize reports more easily. The dynamic UI makes it easier to switch between views, apply filters, and interact with data. Navigation is simplified, and features like the “App Launcher” and “Utility Bar” provide quick access to reports, dashboards, and other tools.
2. Report Types and Customization
Both Classic and Lightning allow users to create a variety of report types, but the customization options differ.
Salesforce Classic Reports: Classic reports offer a set of standard report formats, such as Tabular, Summary, Matrix, and Joined reports. While users can customize these reports by adding filters, columns, and grouping data, the flexibility is more limited compared to Lightning. For example, report formatting and drag-and-drop functionality are not as advanced in Classic, which can hinder more complex report customization.
Salesforce Lightning Reports: Lightning Reports provide enhanced customization options, including advanced features like cross-filters, dynamic reports, and more flexible grouping and summarization capabilities. Lightning Reports introduce a powerful drag-and-drop report builder, which allows users to add fields, filters, and columns with ease. Lightning users can also access features like report charts, conditional formatting, and joined reports, which make it easier to analyze and visualize complex datasets. Furthermore, Lightning supports the new “Report Builder” and allows for more seamless integration of report types across the platform.
3. Interactive Dashboards and Visualizations
Visualizing data through dashboards is another key area where Lightning Reports excel over Classic Reports.
Salesforce Classic Reports: In Salesforce Classic, dashboards and reports are separate entities. While you can create dashboards that reflect report data, the interaction between the two is somewhat rigid. Classic dashboards often require more manual effort to adjust filters or modify the layout.
Salesforce Lightning Reports: In Salesforce Lightning, reports and dashboards are closely integrated, providing a more interactive and responsive user experience. Lightning dashboards allow for dynamic filtering and drilling down into specific data points, making it easier for users to explore their data. Reports in Lightning can be embedded within dashboards, providing real-time updates and more visual elements like graphs, pie charts, and bar charts. The ability to interact with dashboards and reports in Lightning allows for greater flexibility and makes data analysis more engaging.
4. Report Scheduling and Sharing
Both Classic and Lightning allow for report scheduling and sharing, but Lightning offers enhanced capabilities for collaboration and automation.
Salesforce Classic Reports: In Classic, users can schedule reports to be sent via email and share them with other users or groups. However, the scheduling interface can be cumbersome, and sharing options are relatively basic compared to Lightning. Also, the sharing rules are less flexible, requiring manual intervention in many cases.
Salesforce Lightning Reports: Salesforce Lightning improves on scheduling and sharing with more advanced options. Users can schedule reports with greater ease, set up recurring schedules, and choose from a wider range of report formats. The sharing interface is also more flexible, allowing users to collaborate in real-time by sharing reports with specific team members or public groups directly from the report builder. Additionally, Lightning allows for more advanced collaboration features like commenting and @mentions, streamlining teamwork around report analysis.
5. Performance and Data Processing
The performance of reports and data processing is another area where Lightning Reports provide significant improvements.
Salesforce Classic Reports: Classic Reports can experience slower performance, especially when dealing with large datasets or complex report structures. The data processing capabilities in Classic are relatively basic, which can result in longer loading times and a less responsive experience when running large or intricate reports.
Salesforce Lightning Reports: Lightning Reports benefit from Salesforce’s advanced architecture, offering better performance and speed. The platform leverages modern data processing techniques and faster query execution, reducing the time it takes to generate and load reports. Lightning Reports are also optimized for handling large volumes of data, ensuring that users can run complex reports without facing significant performance bottlenecks.
6. Collaboration and Real-Time Updates
Collaboration is a key feature of Salesforce Lightning Reports, particularly in the context of team-based environments.
Salesforce Classic Reports: Classic reports offer limited collaboration capabilities. Users can share reports with others, but the platform lacks features like in-app commenting, notifications, and real-time updates. As a result, collaboration around reports tends to be more static and less interactive.
Salesforce Lightning Reports: In Lightning, collaboration is much more seamless. Users can comment on reports, @mention colleagues, and even share real-time updates. These collaboration features help teams work together more effectively when analyzing data and making decisions based on report findings. Furthermore, Lightning allows for the embedding of reports directly into Chatter posts, making it easier for users to engage with data and share insights in real-time.
7. Reports on the Go: Mobile Experience
As mobile access becomes increasingly important, the way Salesforce reports work on mobile devices differs between Classic and Lightning.
Salesforce Classic Reports: While Classic offers a mobile version of Salesforce, the report experience on mobile devices can feel limited. Reports are often harder to navigate, and mobile users may experience slower load times and a less optimized UI.
Salesforce Lightning Reports: Lightning Reports are optimized for mobile use. The mobile version of Salesforce Lightning offers a much more user-friendly interface for accessing and interacting with reports. The responsive design adapts well to smaller screens, ensuring users can easily generate, filter, and view reports on the go.
8. Conclusion
While both Salesforce Classic Reports and Lightning Reports provide essential tools for data analysis and reporting, Salesforce Lightning is the clear winner in terms of advanced features, performance, and user experience. The modern interface, enhanced customization options, integration with dashboards, and real-time collaboration capabilities make Lightning Reports a superior choice for businesses looking to leverage the full potential of Salesforce data. As Salesforce continues to invest in Lightning, the Classic reporting experience will eventually phase out, making it crucial for organizations to embrace Lightning for its enhanced functionality and improved efficiency.