The search began several months ago when Microsoft announced the retirement of FRx and in June 2010, Sage MAS Intelligence will be introduced by Sage as their recommended FRx replacement. Sage MAS Intelligence is powered by Alchemex and is built on the framework of Sage Accpac Intelligence and Sage Simply Intelligence.
Sage MAS Intelligence allows users to build reports within the familiar Excel application with access to all available modules; FRx only allowed access to General Ledger data. While FRx allowed access to multiple company databases for consolidated reports, Sage MAS Intelligence will require an additional license in the form of a Connector. These details are not official until Sage publicly releases a statement but the plan is to supply all current, on-plan end-users with a license of Sage MAS Intelligence Report Manager allowing a user to:
- Author new reports (organizing, creating, editing), as well as filter and aggregate data based on existing data containers.
- Run, edit and clone the standard report templates for management (financial reports, dashboards, financial trend analysis), as well as general ledger, sales, purchases, and inventory transactional reports
- Set permissions/security on all reports.
- Connection to one ERP company database at a time (if running two or more companies, user can redirect to relevant company connection)
- Optional Import/Export functionality requires the purchase of an additional Report Manager License, the Designer Module, or Connector Module
- Optional Report Scheduling requires the purchase of an additional Report Manager Licence or, the Designer Module, or Connector Module
- Connections to other types of databases or more than one Sage MAS company database at a time requires the purchase of a Connector Module
Specifically the Connector Module allows access to information from multiple sources and consolidation of data from multiple companies. The Connector Module allows for consolidations and connectivity to unlimited ODBC data sources and includes a graphical join tool to simplify database queries.
Although it isn’t particularly clear how, the Report Designer extends the flexibility of the the Report Manager.
System requirements for Sage MAS Intelligence users Excel 2003 or Excel 2007 but to run the Report Designer, Excel 2007 is required.
I heard the Sage Intelligence/Alchemex product was not well received at the Insights conference. What other packages are out there as options to replace FRx?
Thanks for your comment, Steve. We have been working with BizInsight, an application from BizNet Software that offers the same functionality as Sage Intelligence without the restrictions. You can find more information here or sign up for our newsletter and you will be included in the invitation to our online User Group meeting on July 22 where we will highlight BizInsight.
You can also find a Sage-published comparison of available business insights tools.