Drilling Down: How Microsoft Dynamics NAV Improves the Accuracy of Decision Making

Each user of Microsoft Dynamics NAV attending a user group Forum 2009 session in St. Charles, IL, expressed the same concern: how to present copious amounts of data to upper management in a manageable way. 

"How do you break it down and summarize it better?" one audience member asked.

The executive breakout session, "How to Improve the Speed and Quality of Decision Making through NAV," was led by partner Tom Taylor, partner technology specialist for Microsoft Dynamics from Cincinnati, Ohio, who spoke to a group of users from various industries.

Taylor gave a demonstration of how to explore analysis reports to find specific information.

"Each cell allows you to drill down to source transactions," said Taylor. "That is the beauty of NAV-the ability to dill down and then to navigate."

According to Taylor, it all comes down to analysis and reporting.

"In previous versions, we always had analysis and functionality for financial," he said. "In 5.0 they extended that to inventory, sales and marketing, and purchasing. Now you can do it on a sub ledger, not just the general ledger. We extended what we had in finance in other years to other modules to add to the speed and quality of decision making."

Last year, Microsoft Dynamics launched NAV 2009, which Taylor says, "is not a functionality change; it is an architectural change in the product."

The change includes four alterations. First is the role-tailored client, which is "a client that is installed and is based upon your role," Taylor said, adding that another change is new reporting capabilities. "This allows you to take the same data and use Visual Studio to lay out your report in a ...