Reporting Challenges in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Introducing a new ERP system requires a huge amount of resources; time, money, and the company’s overall energy. Most times, the business’s essential day-to-day operational needs, such as monitoring and general data, are fulfilled by the legacy ERP system, which has developed with years. Despite these challenges, businesses can opt to replace legacy ERP systems with a more modern, versatile ERP system to adapt to evolving business needs, take advantage of technological advances, and help propel the company forward.

Similarly, Reporting in Dynamics AX can be difficult, particularly after the release of AX 2012 introduced a more complex underlying data structure, increasing the table count from an average of 1800 to 6400. The feedback gathered from hundreds of implementing partners and users around the world about reporting and analytics in Dynamics AX 2012 is that it takes time, money, and unreliability at best. SSRS is the most popular native tool for reporting from Dynamics AX 2012. As the reset tool, all regular out-of-the-box operational reports need the use of a technical resource who is familiar with Visual Studio, SSRS, report design, and the Dynamics AX database structure.  If you’ve been using Dynamics AX 2012 for some period of time in your daily operations activities, you’re probably familiar with the process of generating and exchanging reports. If you’ve been using Dynamics AX 2012 for some period of time in your daily operations activities, you’re probably familiar with the process of generating and exchanging reports.

You may have noticed that your organization is not getting all of the information it requires when it comes to reporting. So what challenges arise when it comes to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 implementation?

• Complex underlying AX 2012 data.
• No skilled AX developers.
• Dependency on consultants and cost of facilities.
• No simple way to integrate additional data sources.
• Inability to get a single, accurate, real-time view of your data.
• Lack of available out-of-the-box cubes.

These challenges lead to business leaders thinking about whether they need a new reporting solution, a huge ERP upgrade, but an ERP system upgrade won’t fix the reporting and data visibility obstacles. Listed below are the four main areas in Dynamics AX 2012 reporting and analytics that take time, money, and effort. We will start by breaking down the problems and then presenting a solution to help save Dynamics AX users’ time and money.