Standard, Custom, or Third Party Reporting: For Microsoft Dynamics AX Customers, Choosing the Right BI Balance is Key to User Adoption, IT Efficiency

Out of the box, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and 2012 come with hundreds of standard reports, but customers commonly report low utilization of many of these, such as AX users at a recent AXUG event. The reasons for the low usage vary from lack of awareness to a lack of planning and adoption efforts to a lack of AX developers to customize standard reports to the simple need for more sophisticated reporting.

When it comes to enhancing business intelligence (BI) reporting, companies routinely turn to options including SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and third party BI tools to deliver the remaining financial and operational reports that their users require. 

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is a Dynamics AX customer that, according to IT executive David Freedman, is doing a little work with AX standard reporting and a lot on the side of SSRS and third party BI, in this case a solution from Zap Technology. Freedman offers six solid report design recommendations for other AX customers that you can find below.

The reason CAA has been able to use some native Dynamics AX reporting is because these reports were, in fact, ready to go.  "Not a lot of them but some of them," he said. "So for efficiency's sake we went with them out of the box. Why rewrite them if they're already there?"  CAA are using the native AX reports for some of the more basic reporting including for trial balance; standard financial statements; fixed asset transactions; and tax 1099 voucher transactions.

From platform to solution

"The biggest advantage of an ERP package is its ability ...