Here we are in the twilight of the FRx support lifecycle. What direction forward will you choose?
With the upcoming release of Microsoft Dynamics SL 2015 in Oct/Nov 2014, Microsoft has announced that FRx will no longer be supported.
Microsoft Product Support Lifecycle
Product Released: FRx 6.7 Desktop
Lifecycle Start Date: 5/30/2004
Mainstream Support End Date: 7/14/2009
Extended Support End Date: 7/8/2014
Microsoft has provided an FRx replacement, MR or Management Reporter, at no additional charge to existing users on an active maintenance plan. Several other companies have thrown their hat into the ring and their solutions are worth considering. Of course there is a charge for the alternative solutions and for your organization their may be many benefits. For the purposes of this post we will confine our listing to options available for Microsoft Dynamics SL.
FRx Replacement Options Page
- Microsoft Management Reporter
- RenovoFYI
- BIO Analytics
Each of these solutions has their benefits and all except BIO Analytics can convert your existing FRx reports.
One key difference between MR (Management Reporter) and the alternatives, MR is a Client/Server application requiring AD (Active Directory). The alternatives are web based or a combination of MS Excel and web based and they do not require AD (Active Directory).
Many smaller customers running Microsoft Dynamics SL and FRx on a single user workstation or in an environment not using AD (Active Directory) will need to consider a replacement to FRx other than MR.
It’s good to have options!
