Frequently Asked Questions

A variety of Workforce Development professionals with varying job responsibilities use FutureWorks BI. Organizations that recognize the value of data and strive to be data-driven will use FutureWorks BI to democratize data to empower individuals across the organization with information access. By doing so, everyone can see data through a single version of the truth, a community of practice around data can be fostered and individuals have access to information to support their responsibilities and continuous improvement efforts.

Analysts use FutureWorks BI to conduct data analysis efficiently and effectively. They can spend more time analyzing data and informing their teams and less time trying to get at and transform data they need. FutureWorks BI has application features that are designed to help analysts share their data discoveries with others, increasing their response time and effectiveness when responding to external requests for information.

Administrators and Case Managers use FutureWorks BI to explore data on their own freeing up IT, MIS and analysts to work on more mission-critical tasks. With access to data requiring no special technical skills, they may independently explore data and extract valuable information. The information they receive can direct actions that can positively impact program outcomes.

We highly recommend a 30-minute demonstration where your specific use-cases can be discussed and we can share some of the best practices we've identified among our over a thousand users across 120+ Workforce Development Boards.

FutureWorks BI presents very dynamic and interactive views of data. FutureWorks BI data views leverage very robust data filtering, slicing and dicing features without the need for users to know how to write complex data queries. Data views provide features for users to create visualizations to aid analysis and sharing information with stakeholders. Since data views are very interactive and very easy for anyone, many analytical questions can be addressed by organizing data in a single data view, making data analysis very efficient.

Case management system reports are static and void of interactivity. A report may answer a single question only to require the creation of more reports to answer questions that arise from the analysis of the initial report. For case management system reports where complex data queries are needed, users must understand the underlying data structure and know how to write data queries that require advanced technical skills.

FutureWorks BI is commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) business intelligence application for the Workforce Development System. FutureWorks BI users can immediately conduct an analysis of Workforce System data without any data or application preparation typically required from other business intelligence tools. There is no “build” required.

FutureWorks BI is truly self-service business intelligence specifically developed for the public workforce development system and has been developed over 20 years with input from over a thousand workforce professionals. Unlike other BI tools, the warehousing, extracting, validating, transforming, and loading of data are included in the FutureWorks BI application service.

In addition, an application framework that allows users to interact with loaded data is already built and ready for use to conduct complex analyses, including the ability to create visualizations of the data. Other BI tools require users to construct views of data to prepare for analysis. In FutureWorks BI updated data is immediately available, whereas in other BI tools, users must manage data updates.

Users may export any data they discover in FutureWorks BI and use that data to feed Tableau or any other BI tool. FutureWorks BI makes the task of querying data from a Workforce System data warehouse easy for anyone, requiring no advance technical skills, such as Structured Query Language (SQL). This can fast-track feeding data to other BI tools you may use.

In addition, the FutureWorks team is available to help you create custom dashboards in FutureWorks BI. Custom dashboards can be made available from your FutureWorks BI application.

Custom dashboards that require significant design and development work, dashboards designated as publicly accessible or embedded for external public sites are subject to additional service fees. Please share any custom requirements with your FutureWork Systems’ representative.

When state and local boards make the most of their WIOA data they have the information they need to make informed program and policy decisions. Access to WIOA data where everyone is looking at a single version of the truth and data insights can translate into action steps for improved WIOA performance outcomes. FutureWorks BI gives anyone the ability to analyze WIOA data to explore details behind performance indicators.

FutureWorks BI presents the most current state of WIOA performance indicators, giving your team information where they can confirm data accuracy, inform participant follow-up activities and even see what performance indicators look like in future reporting periods using FutureWorks BI’s Predictive Roster feature.

FutureWorks BI requires WIOA data in the Participant Individual Record Layout (PIRL). This is the minimum data required to run the application. Additional data extracted from a case management system may be included as supplemental data.

The PIRL data that feeds FutureWorks BI monthly is in the exact same PIRL format that states must provide USDOL. Since this data format is already being extracted from case management systems to meet federal reporting requirements, state/local boards do not need to do any special data preparation work to get started using FutureWorks BI.

Yes. Yes. FutureWorks BI can include supplemental data mined from a case management system or other sources to help you meet specific analytics needs.

It’s not uncommon for local Workforce Development Boards to not have access to a PIRL data file. This is most often due to the presence of UI wage data in the PIRL. We have worked with many local Workforce Boards who have this challenge. In most cases, your state can provide a PIRL data file to feed directly to FutureWorks BI. We work with you and your state to ensure your FutureWorks BI app can receive the required PIRL data.

Yes. FutureWorks BI can allow in-depth analysis of AJC and Eligible Training Provider outcomes, including detailed data of participant services and characteristics. Many Workforce Development Boards regularly use their FutureWorks BI application to share outcome and participant information with offices and providers. This allows everyone to extract valuable information from a single version of the truth.

No. FutureWorks BI is an entirely self-service business intelligence application. FutureWorks BI provides simple application features that allow users to perform very complex data querying very quickly and without any special technical skills. Users do not extract, transform or load data in preparation for data analysis. They do not need to know a data query language, such as Structured Query Language (SQL).