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Microsoft Dynamics AX Users Weigh Final FRx Opportunities as Management Reporter Readied for Price List

by Linda Rosencrance
Contributing Writer, MSDW

Now that FRx, Microsoft's previous-generation financial reporting software for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, is being replaced by Management Reporter, Dynamics AX customers who think they might need additional FRx user licenses have about 30 days to get them at a discount and possibly avoid higher prices in Management Reporter that are likely to come.

"Management Reporter will be on the AX price list on Apri1 1 and FRx will be removed from the AX price list a month later, so you can continue to purchase FRx user licenses for 30 days," said a presenter at a recent online meeting of the Microsoft Dynamics AX User Group. "And existing customers can get additional FRx licenses by purchasing Management Reporter licenses until AX 2012 general availability."

"I can't specifically tell you yet but there will be a significant pricing difference between FRx user and Management Reporter user licenses. So if you think you may need additional FRx user licenses then you have 30 days to get them at a discount," the presenter said

The presenter said the official pricing and the migration policy from FRx to Management Reporter will be announced next week - but it's basically a one-to-one migration.

"So if you have a FRx designer you'll get a Management Reporter designer," he said.

Microsoft Dynamics Corporate Performance Management, which is made up of Management Reporter and Forecaster, is the future of financial analysis and forecasting for Dynamics ERP customers in terms of software and best practices.  "There are three main activities," the presenter explained. First is the development of the goals - your planning and budgeting that would be handled by Microsoft Forecaster. Second is the measurement of the progress against those goals - the reporting and analysis piece that will be handled by Management Reporter. And the third piece is the performance improvement and intervention - the decisions that businesses make and the actions that they take to make adjustments for performance.

Management Reporter is designed for high volume, presentation-quality financial reporting.  Security is built in through a combination of Windows Authentication for login and SQL Server as well as application roles within Management Reporter.  And it offers enhanced visibility across the organization with reporting trees that allow users to drag and drop and produce "what if" reorganization.

"So unlike working in a spreadsheet environment, Management Reporter is going to give you some confidence that your reports are accurate and secure," he said. "Users aren't going to go in and tweak the numbers. You can lock down the components and design the reports and have a sense that what you're publishing is accurate."

Forecaster for Microsoft Dynamics is designed to manage financial performance through accurate financial budgeting, planning and financial forecasting. 

"When you're budgeting in a spreadsheet, say you have 50 departments and you're performing a calculation in Excel, you have this big old workbook and you have 50 different sheets and you're looking at about 600 different formulas to maintain for just one row," the presenter told the audience. "In Forecaster it's a single formula that is going to be applied to all the different departments and for all periods of times. When you look at these purpose-built budgeting applications there's a huge difference in how they function compared to Excel."

Forecaster also enables accurate consolidation.  After the set up, including integration with Dynamics AX, there's a data transfer utility that moves the data back into the Dynamics AX tables, so once you have the information and the budget created, you can then report on it using Management Reporter.

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About Linda Rosencrance

Linda Rosencrance is a freelance writer/editor in the Boston area. Rosencrance has over 25 years experience as an reporter/investigative reporter, writing for many newspapers in the metropolitan Boston area. Rosencrance has been writing about information technology for the past 16 years.

She has covered a variety of IT subjects, including Microsoft Dynamics, mobile security issues such as data loss prevention, network management, secure mobile app development, privacy, cloud computing, BI, big data, analytics, HR, CRM, ERP, and enterprise IT.

Rosencrance is the author of six true crime books for Kensington Publishing Corp.