Microsoft releases Business Analyzer for Dynamics AX 2012 R2

Microsoft released Business Analyzer R5 in November 2013 and while it worked with Dynamics AX 2012 R2, it was only in preview status. Now BA is released for AX 2012 R2, according to a new blog post.

Connecting a live instance of Dynamics AX to BA is not trivial. It's largely the same process that a customer would go through to enable the other AX mobile apps that Microsoft is rolling out for approvals, time entry, and expenses.  There is a white paper that explains the architecture and configuration, which include the Windows Azure Service Bus, Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS), and Azure's Access Control Service. There are a range of other elements to plan for with BA like Dynamics AX hotfixes, Management Reporter configuration, and the Windows 8 client itself.

Here is a demo of Business Analyzer for Dynamics AX 2012 R2:

Business Analyzer R5, is available in the Window App Store. It also supports Dynamics GP 2013 and Dynamics SL 2011 FP1. This new release supports data from SQL Server Analysis Services Cubes, SQL Server Reporting Services and Microsoft Dynamics Management Reporter.

Microsoft sells BA's value on factors like the ability to take the pre-built reports and pre-defined user roles and personalize them by updating the set of charts, KPIs, and Management Reporter reports for different users' interests. Reports can also be shared through other Microsoft technology like Lync and ...