Why Is It So Hard to Get My Microsoft Dynamics Data?

A common question among users of Microsoft Dynamics is: ‘I just bought a new and expensive ERP system from one of the most well-respected technology companies on the planet, shouldn't BI and Reporting capabilities come with it?' 

Well, it does! In fact, Gartner ranks Microsoft as a strong leader among BI platforms. Even better, the solution that you now own is made up of tools that many in your company are already familiar with.

Microsoft's approach to providing a robust BI solution to its customers is to leverage the already widely-used platform components that most companies already own and use on a daily basis - namely Office (Excel), SQL Server, Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) and SharePoint.

Within these platforms, Microsoft has a robust list of technologies and applications that form their BI stack. It is an impressive list, and most anybody in the Dynamics community will agree that Microsoft has the best BI and reporting platform in the world. Enter the caveat - ‘best' does not mean ‘easy to use', ‘easy to customize' or even ‘generally accessible' to business users. 

This distinction is in the fine print. To use the tools Microsoft provides, it is recommended that a team be technically skilled, have a background in software development (acquired through formal education and preferably certified in each application), and work experience. Microsoft itself recommends their BI stack be manipulated by professional organizations such as Independent Software Vendors (ISV's), Value Added Resellers (VAR's), Solution Integrators (SI's), IT developers, and Microsoft developers who implement Microsoft Dynamics.[i]

What this means ...