December 14, 2011

What are YOU interested in seeing a post on?

Typically, the blog posts I make are related to an issue that a client is currently experiencing and the resolution we arrived at.  Sometimes, it's something cool I learned along the way by reading other blogs that I follow.  However, the main reason I publish a blog is to provide YOU, the users who are kind enough to read my ramblings, insight into how to do things better, faster, easier in Dynamics GP.

To that end, I'd like to know what you would like to see a post on.  Do you have a particularly sticky issue that you haven't been able to find an answer to?  If so, leave a comment on this post and we'll see what we can do.

Thanks!  Frank

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving and a Turkey Day Tip

Looking for a particular 3rd party product to augment Dynamics GP, CRM, or any other Dynamics product?  ISV Central provides a great searchable compilation of products for your reference and research.  Visit ISV Central by clicking on their logo below.




Wishing you all a safe and healthy Thanksgiving holiday!


November 23, 2011

Add Logical Argument Field to SmartList via SmartList Builder

I'm no SQL guru but I needed to add a column in SLB that evaluates the results in another column in the SmartList (basically an IF, THEN, ELSE statement) and ran across this great tip on Devon Southall's Dynamics GP Builders & Reporting blog.

Thought I'd share it with you . . .


Thanks Devon!

It's Year End Already???!!!

Hard to believe but it's time to start thinking about closing the year again.  In that spirit, you may find some of my previous Year End Close articles helpful.  Click on the calendar image to jump to the articles.
Good luck!

November 21, 2011

MSDynamicsWorld Decisions Fall 2011 Coming up in 14 Days!

Don't forget to register for Decisions Fall 2011 to gain new insights into Dynamics GP.  Remember, this is one conference that is FREE!  Click on the logo below to register and attend this conference from the comfort of your own desk.

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I'll be participating in the Microsoft Dynamics GP MVP Roundtable with fellow MVPs Mariano Gomez, Mark Polino, and Jivtesh Singh.  Join us for a fun and exciting discussion about all the things you always wanted to know about GP but were afraid to ask.

November 16, 2011

GP10 SP2 User Login Hangs at Homepage Rendering

Had a client run into this situation.  Upon logging in to a brand new client install of GP 10, her login would hang during rendering of the Homepage.  I tried turning off all the Homepage elements, thinking it was probably Metrics or Outlook making it hang.  That didn't help.  I even disabled Reminders from the System Preferences menu.  That didn't resolve the issue either.  And to make the mystery even more mysterious, this issue only happened in one company.  She could login to a different company with no issue.  Hmmmmm . . .

So, on to Google we went.  What I found led me to look at the records in SY01404 (Custom Reminders Setup in DYNAMICS db) and lo and behold - there was a corrupt record in that table for the company the user was having trouble logging into.  I cleared that record from the table, and voila . . . login issue corrected.

Living and learning!!

November 13, 2011

Things Learned at GPUG Summit 2011

We had a great time at Summit 2011 in Las Vegas last week.  In addition to the awesome learning experience at Summit, my much better half Sheila and I took some time to drive out to the Grand Canyon, tour Hoover Dam, walk up and down the Vegas Strip a couple of times and even visit the Pawn Stars Shop!

I taught a couple of classes and provided a couple more presentations.  One of the reasons I like doing these things is because I always learn something new about GP that I've never seen before.  This particular tidbit of knowledge is courtesy of Kristen Tennant of WEL Companies in Wisconsin who attended my Beyond the Basics - Financials class.

I've known for quite some time how useful the Navigation Lists that became available in GP 10 are.  What I didn't realize is that these lists can be customized in very much the same manner as you create SmartList Favorites.  Here's how you do it:

1. Open the Navigation List you want to customize
2. Click on the list name and select 'Save As'
3. In the Save As box, give the list a new name like 'My Account Transactions'
4. Click OK

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Now you have a new Navigation List called My Account Transactions that you can customize.

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When you click on Customize, the List View Customization window opens where you can add or remove Columns, modify the Action Pane associated with your list, modify list Sharing settings and more.

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For example, click on the blue arrow next to Columns to open the Columns Details window:

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And if none of these options suit your list needs, you can always use Navigation List Builder to create a custom list from scratch.  Navigation List Builder works very similarly to SmartList Builder and is available as an option under the SmartList Builder menu.

Thank you so much Kristen for this very useful tip!!

October 30, 2011

Can I attach multiple documents to a Note?

Yes. When you attach your documents, make sure you check the 'Display as Icon' box in the Insert Object window.

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Otherwise, when you attempt to attach the second document, it will superimpose over the first document in the OLE Container.

October 29, 2011

GPUG Summit is fast approaching


GPUG Summit 2011 runs from November 7th through the 11th this year at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and promises to be the best Summit ever. 


Yours truly is teaching a couple of classes and doing a couple other presentations:


Classes
'Beyond the Basics - Financials'
'Beyond the Basics - Distribution'

Sessions
'13 Classic Underused Features in GP'
'Using Job Costing as Project Accounting Lite'

I hope to see some of you there and have the opportunity to meet face-to-face more of the wonderful members of the Dynamics GP community that I only know via online interaction.

There's still time to register so if you haven't yet and you don't want to miss one of the premier Dynamics GP learning and networking events of the year, click on the Summit logo above to sign up!

October 28, 2011

Dynamics GP 2010 Installation & Configuration

After many years of intending to take this exam, I finally did it this week.  And wonder of wonders - I passed first time! LOL

Actually, it wasn't that bad.  The Install & Config exam is 75 questions and covers 8 separate areas of knowledge from Preparing the GP Environment to Optimizing Performance to Configuring Reporting.  I used the Install & Config E-Learning from Microsoft and it did a pretty good job of preparing me for the exam.  Save your money on the practice tests available on the web, however.  The questions contained in the $79 practice tests are the very same practice questions found in the E-Learning material and bear very little resemblance to the actual test questions.

Now I have one more logo to put on my business card:

Professional Services Tools Library

Did you know that PSTL is now a standard part of Dynamics GP 2010?  This previously optional set of tools from Microsoft now comes as part of the GP 2010 installation media.  While many of the tools still carry a cost, there are 14 tools that come FREE, meaning you don't have to have the PSTL registration keys to activate them.  See the checked items below - these are the freebies:

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Many of these tools were available free before but you had to install them individually as .cnk files.  Now they're all available in one spot.  For a detailed description of what each of these tools do, refer to the PSTL .pdf document that comes with the installation of PSTL.

October 26, 2011

That Pesky Print Dialog Box

Want to get rid of it?  Here's how -

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Go to Administration>>Setup>>Named Printers.  Click on the 'Machine ID' link.  In the Named Printer Options box, check the 'Do Not Display System Print Dialog'.

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That's it!  The Print Dialog box now will not appear when you print your documents.

October 5, 2011

Congratulations to Mark Polino and Siva Venkataraman - MVPs for Another Year!

There are no two individuals who are more deserving of this award than these guys.  I'm proud and honored to call them my friends and to occupy the same space in the MVP world with them.


Congratulations Mark and Siva!  You add immeasurably to the Dynamics GP community.

September 6, 2011

Taking you to the Fourth Dimension . . .

Here's a little trick I ran across a couple weeks ago. I have a client that needed more dimensions on certain accounts. They'd been using the first two User Defined Fields (UDF) in the account card but needed more, and needed to be able to pull this data into SmartList. Unfortunately, the canned SmartLists expose only the first two UDFs. So, here's how we resolved the issue.

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First, you need to use SmartList Builder to use this solution. That's because UDF #3 and #4 for some strange reason are not exposed in the canned SmartLists even though they are stored in the same table as UDF #1 and #2 - GL00100. Go figure.

Next, replicate the appropriate canned SmartList using SmartList Builder and expose UDF #3 and #4 in your new SmartList. (UDF #3 and #4 are identified in GL00100 as USRDEFS1 and USRDEFS2).

Finally, change the UDF labels in the General Ledger Setup window (Financial>>Setup>>General Ledger) and enter the appropriate field values for all UDF's in your account cards.

Now you can run your SmartList and sort and filter on all four UDFs instead of just two.

August 15, 2011

What's New in GP 2010 PO Returns? Replace Returned Goods!!

You can process returns against both Purchase Order Processing receipts and Inventory receipts. Items that have been received on a shipment or shipment/invoice receipt are available to be returned as a Return or a Return w/Credit document type. Items that have been transferred to another site, added to inventory through an inventory adjustment or variance, or returned by a customer are available to be returned in Purchase Order Processing as an Inventory or Inventory w/Credit document type.  New to GP 2010, Replace Returned Goods automatically updates the PO that the items were received on originally to allow the items to be re-received.

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August 4, 2011

Anyone hate the new Knowledgebase search on PartnerSource?

Sometimes improvements just don't work out.  For those of you who, like myself, prefer the old KB search interface over the new one, instead of navigating through Support>>Knowledgebase, navigate through Deployment>>Knowledgebase.  It will take you to the old search window.

Cheers!

July 28, 2011

International Financial Reporting Standards - Are You Ready?

Major accounting changes are coming to the U.S. as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) converge in the next several years.  And the impact should concern more than just accountants. A change of this magnitude will impact analysis models, accounting software, and training.  Companies of all sizes, but especially publicly-held companies who will see the changes first, need to understand that using a different accounting method can create different financial results and, potentially, increased tax liabilities.
 
There are two projects going on simultaneously.  The first one is the move to IFRS. The second is a draft of a new statement presentation format.  The change in statement presentation format will probably happen sooner than the change to IFRS, but both of these changes demand attention because they will affect everything we do in analyzing financial statements.
 
And if you are a Microsoft Dynamics GP customer, it will also be important to understand whether your version can support the coming IFRS requirements.

The New Statement Presentation Format
The presentation format of the financial statement will include the following changes:
  • The balance sheet, income statement, and cash flows each will be divided into five sections: business, discontinued operations, financing, income taxes, and equity.
  • A fourth statement will reconcile the statements of comprehensive income and cash flows.
  • The business section of each statement will be further divided into operating and investing assets and liabilities, income, and cash flows.
Where accounts are placed will be based on where management believes they should fall.  The operating section will have anything that's integral to the company's business.  The investing section will include investments considered fundamental to business activities.  So if you're a manufacturer, for instance, the operating section should have your labor costs, your cost of goods sold, your inventories receivable.  If the company believes that its accounts receivables are investments, however, it very well could appear in the investment section.
  • The Balance Sheet will not list total assets and liabilities. Instead, assets and liabilities will be broken out into financing and business assets and liabilities. Business numbers will be further broken out as operating and investing assets and liabilities. Rather than equalizing assets with liabilities plus equity, assets will be netted against liabilities to come up with equity.
  • The Income Statement will disaggregate information far more than the traditional income statement today with considerably more detail on the statement of comprehensive income. Most of the work on this change in format was based on input from equity analysts and rating agencies.
  • In the reconciliation of the statements of comprehensive income and cash flows, cash flow is going to be actual cash. When looking at this, it will give actual cash balance, actually what's happening with cash, what is in accrual, and what is a ‘fair value' change. The new format will challenge financial analysts who are more familiar with GAAP statements. Because of its disaggregation, the new financial statement format requires a lot of searching and adding things up to get what is available by just looking at GAAP statement. Under the new format, current assets and liabilities are in the operating segment, the investing segment, the financing segment, the tax segment, and the discontinued operations segment. But because there will still be interest in current cash requirements, current liabilities, and how current assets pair up with those, there will have to be some arithmetic to figure out a company's total assets and total liabilities.
The Convergence of GAAP and IFRS
Besides the format differences in presenting financial information in IFRS, there will be an underlying difference in philosophy that will give management greater discretion in preparing statements.  IFRS is described as being ‘principles-based'.  So far, neither extensive application guidelines nor comprehensive, industry-specific guidelines exist, and there are not as many rules to follow as exist under GAAP.
 
With the complexity of modern financial instruments, however, there is a concern about judgment. Management will need to include explanations of their judgments and analytics in footnotes, which could increase notes three- or fourfold over GAAP statements.
 
Other changes include the following:
  • Under GAAP, extraordinary items can be shown on the income statement. Under IFRS, that doesn't exist. Those items have to be apportioned to whatever business line they are appropriate in.
  • LIFO accounting for inventory will not be allowed. Only FIFO or weighted-average cost will be used. There's going to be a major impact on companies with large deferred tax liabilities that have been created by LIFO accounting and how they manage the treatment of those liabilities. According to Mary Ann Lawrence, senior VP of Commercial Credit Risk Review at KeyBank, United Technologies has estimated that if it can't use LIFO accounting, it will have a $4 billion tax liability for the first year. The impact is significant.
  • Under GAAP, fixed assets are recorded at historical cost. Under IFRS, fixed assets can be revalued. There's a lot of concern about fair valuation of fixed assets. It creates another noncash element that has to be backed out to determine if the company is actually earning money or increasing income due to the valuation of its fixed assets.
  • Research and development are expensed under GAAP. Under IFRS, research costs are expensed but development costs are capitalized. As an example, companies in the pharmaceutical industry may see large swings in profitability because of the capitalization of their development costs.
  • Under IFRS, goodwill and inventory can be written down and then written back up again. All of these things introduce additional noise under the financial statement, especially when it comes to cash flow analysis.
  • Operating leases are not included in IFRS statements. Instead, you have what is called a 'right of use' of an asset. Renting a building will show up as a 'right to use your office facility.' This will allow companies to capitalize the present value of the future lease payment and show the liability on the other side as the present value of the lease payments.
Using a different accounting method will create different financial results. According to industry experts, when companies on IFRS are compared with those on GAAP, on average, the earnings are 6% to 8% higher under IFRS than under GAAP.
 
Who Will Be Affected - When and Why?
The move to IFRS is a joint project between IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) and FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board).  The IASB has, for now, excluded nonprofits and private companies.  They are working on a different set of accounting standards for them.  FASB says it hasn't made the decision yet as to whether this change will apply to private companies or only to public companies.
 
One timeline, published by Deloitte LLP, has U.S. public companies partially converting to the new accounting standards by 2013. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved IFRS accounting for foreign companies listing on U.S. stock exchanges without having to reconcile to GAAP standards.  EU countries, Canada, India, and Japan are ahead of the U.S. in adopting the IFRS standard.  This has fueled the drive for convergence as the world's investors, businesses, and governments complain that different accounting systems are an economic cost that would prefer not to bear.
 
The primary factor driving the movement toward IFRS is that about 100 countries are on IFRS and only one is on U.S. GAAP - the U.S.  Many of the people at FASB acknowledge that IFRS will most likely be the global accounting standard moving forward.
 
The convergence of GAAP and IFRS is likely to be costly and difficult.  Analysis models, accounting software, and training will need to change to reflect the new standards.  Given the impact this change could have on your organization, especially if you're publicly held, if you're not yet reviewing how the transition to IFRS from GAAP will affect your accounting and reporting system requirements, you need to be soon.
 
The good news is, if you're already running Dynamics GP 2010, you're covered for IFRS reporting.  GP 2010 introduced ‘Reporting Ledgers' that enables recording transactions in compliance with IFRS rules.  If your company has not yet upgraded to GP 2010, the transition to IFRS is one more compelling reason to do so.

July 18, 2011

Your Shore or Mine?

is the title of an article published by an associate of mine, Dave Turbide, in the current edition of APICS Magazine.  It's a very interesting piece that explains why 'on-shoring' of manufacturing back to the U.S. is being considered by more companies than ever.  Here's an excerpt from the article:

Reconsidering the decision to outsource
Several years ago, it was almost fashionable to outsource to low-wage areas of the world to reduce costs. Business leaders developed the mind-set of “off shoring is always cheaper” and they scarcely looked beyond unit cost plus transportation.

Fast-forward to 2008 and 2009, and witness the costly and embarrassing problems surrounding the discovery of lead in children’s toys, contaminated baby formula, and toxic drywall. Also consider recent oil price shocks and the earthquake and tsunami that severely disrupted supplies of many critical electronic and automotive parts in 2011. The US dollar has been on a downward path, making imports increasingly more expensive – and, on top of all this, wages in China are skyrocketing. Is it any wonder that company decision makers are taking another look at the costs of off shoring . . .

Click this link to read the full article.  Enjoy!

July 13, 2011

Sharpen the Axe - Enhance your GP Knowledge

A few weeks back I ran a survey querying users as to what they thought were the primary reasons their organizations were not getting all the 'bang for the buck' out of their Dynamics GP system.  The responses indicated overwhelmingly (67%) that users believe that lack of post-implementation training is what limits their ability to extract more value from GP.  These findings support the anecdotal evidence I've observed over the years and I'm sure every GP consultant out there would concur - management typically does not fully appreciate the value of recurrent training of any sort, let alone that for their ERP system users.

Unfortunately, this places the onus on individual users to enhance their skills on their own.  Fortunately, their are myriad resources available to those users who have the desire and motivation to engage in some self-learning exercises.  To that end, the PowerPoint document below is an update to a presentation I gave at MSDynamicsWorld Decisions 2010 that is chock-full of learning resources for Dynamics GP.   I hope you find it beneficial.

Please pardon the formatting errors.  Not all formatting survives the upload to Google Docs :(

July 5, 2011

Extending Microsoft Dynamics GP Manufacturing: Six Add-Ons for Process and Industry Needs

Microsoft Dynamics GP's Manufacturing module is best known for its discrete manufacturing capabilities and does an admirable job of meeting the requirements of discrete manufacturers in mid-market to enterprise-level organizations.  Although I've seen it used in process manufacturing industries such as food, cosmetics, and life sciences, application in these industries is not in playing to the Manufacturing module's strengths . . .

Read the rest of my latest article at MSDynamicsWorld by clicking on the gears. 




July 3, 2011

Jivtesh Singh our latest Dynamics GP MVP!!

Congratulations Jivtesh.  This is a very well deserved award that you have attained.  I personally have benefited from your contributions to the forums many times.


And, congratulations also to Mariano Gomez for being awarded the MVP designation for the fourth year in a row.  Way to go amigo!!

June 30, 2011

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook: LITE

I just finished a pass through the Mr. Polino's latest work, mainly because, being the kind of person who likes to get to the bottom line quickly, I'm attracted to literary works that include the word LITE in the title.  Well, this latest version of the Cookbook may be light in weight but it is chock full of all the best tips from the full version of the GP 2010 Cookbook.


From Personalizing GP to Organizing GP to Automating GP, this book, in an hour or less, will make you the envy of your GP peers with the new found skills you'll have acquired.

I highly recommend this book to every GP user, administrator and consultant.  It should be on your desk now.  And you can get it in either print or ebook format from Amazon or Packt Publishing.

June 29, 2011

Resize the left pane in SmartList

The inability to re-size this pane has been a pain to me since the first time I saw SmartList.  Well, here's a solution from Nicole Albertson of Microsoft, compliments of the GPUG Weekly News.  

Click on this link, follow the instructions to Save, Unzip and install the code, set security to the modified SmartList window and bingo, bango, bongo, that annoying pane is cut down to size - Click Here.

And, if you're not a member of GPUG - you should be, so you can get these weekly tips firsthand.

May 28, 2011

May is Packt Publishing's Dynamics Month

If you're looking for a deal on Dynamics books, have a look at Packt's Dynamics Month promotion here- http://www.packtpub.com/article/exclusive-offer-microsoft-dynamics-books.
Packt offers titles from authors such as Mark Polino, MVP, Victoria Yudin, MVP and others so you're sure to find extremely valuable insight into the Dynamics product line with any of their books.

Happy reading!

May 17, 2011

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Reporting

I just finished my first trip through this new book on GP 2010 reporting and all I can say is - incredible.  This work, written by David Duncan and Christopher Liley of IBIS and reviewed by my dear friends Amy Walsh and Christine Belding, also of IBIS, provides an extremely well thought-out, well written, thorough look at the state of the art in reporting in GP 2010.

The book not only covers all the reporting options available in GP 2010 but also provides a framework for developing a cohesive reporting strategy for your organization.

From SmartList to Report Writer, from Excel Report Builder to Management Reporter, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Reporting provides an overview of all of the report types, plus technical instruction on how to use and get the most of each of the report development tools.

Whether you're a GP report developer or a GP user who's curious about the myriad reporting options now provided in the application, this book needs to be in your library.  I highly recommend it.

You can purchase Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Reporting from PackT Publishing (http://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-reporting/book) or on Amazon.

May 16, 2011

Required Fields

If you're having trouble with Required Fields not showing as Bold, Red, or Italicized, even after making the appropriate settings in User Preferences, check to make sure that "Show Required Fields" on the Help menu is checked.


May 12, 2011

Why do you think your company's utilization of GP is not optimal?

We ran this survey over the last 3 weeks and here are the results:


It's interesting to note that fully two thirds of the responses (67%) indicate lack of training after implementation. This supports my personal observation over a decade of software implementations that most companies don't understand or appreciate the value of recurrent education for their employees.  I truly believe that the difference between a good company and a great one is the investment made in employees.  

So how do we address this issue?  That's going to be the topic of a future blog post so stay tuned . . .

May 5, 2011

Free Post-Convergence 2011 Webinar - RESCHEDULED!


Due to several requests from participants to reschedule this event, we've moved it to next week.  So, if you weren't able to make the webinar this week, here's your chance!  Don't miss the opportunity to gain insight from top-rated sessions of Convergence 2011. Click here to register for this informative webinar that will take you through the "how-to's" and save you time and money!

Join us on Wednesday, May 18, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST and be eligible to win a FREE one day guest pass to Microsoft Convergence Houston 2012! The webinar agenda includes:

Microsoft ERP Roadmap Overview, by Ted Mauldin, Dynamics MCP
Migrating from FRx to Management Reporter, by Frank Hamelly, Dynamics GP MVP
Effectively administering Dynamics GP, by Mariano Gomez, Dynamics GP MVP
Ask IntellPartners - Q&A

Hope to see you there!

April 23, 2011

How to do I recover the Administrator password in FRx?

The answer to this question is - you don't.  If you lose the password and can't remember it, you're stuck.  A call to Microsoft is required to help.  However, there is a work-around.  If you have the FW company setup in FRx, login to the FW company as Administrator.  The Admin password in the FW company is blank (unless you change it).  Once in as Admin, you can make changes in your production companies also, not just the FW company.

April 14, 2011

Why do you think your company's utilization of GP is not optimal?

Okay, now that we know a lot of you aren't getting all you could from your GP system, let's explore some of the reasons why.  I just posted a new poll and would love to get your input as to why that's the case.  If there's another reason that doesn't appear in the list, let me know and I'll add it to the choices.

Thanks!

April 13, 2011

Final poll results - How much of your ERP system do you actually use?

The poll closed yesterday and between driving back from Convergence in Atlanta and getting ready for a client engagement today, I'm just now getting around to posting the results.  The breakdown of the 23 responses is as follows:
As you can see, the average utilization is less than 50% of the capability of the respondents' GP systems.  Why is that?  I have some ideas.  To get a peak at what those ideas are, please have a look at my recent article on the topic at MSDynamicsWorld - http://msdynamicsworld.com/story/don%E2%80%99t-let-your-microsoft-dynamics-erp-solution-fall-short-5-tips-successful-implementation.

Until next post!

April 12, 2011

Migrating from FRx to Management Reporter

I sat in on this session yesterday at Convergence, presented by part of the Microsoft FRx/MR team.  I personally have not yet had to migrate any clients from FRx to MR but I know the time is coming soon.

The good news is, if you follow the upgrade guide provided by Microsoft with the MR software (and additional documentation which can be found in the KBs on CustomerSource and PartnerSource) the upgrade looks like a relative piece of cake.  Likewise, the Microsoft folks are reporting a very short ramp to get your people up to speed on Management Reporter.  The similarities between it and FRx are strong, so it should be a pretty easy transition.

One disadvantage that exists right now in MR is that you can't email reports like you can in FRx.  That capability may be included in future releases of MR, but that's going to be determined by the user community.  The MS team reports that the focus group they use to provide input into the features that are included in the future hasn't indicated a strong desire for email capability within MR.

If you're using MR right now and or are planning to in the near future, you might want to check these links.  The first is a link to the LinkedIn Management Reporter Users Group.  The second link is to a You Tube video posted by Microsoft on the Management Reporter tool.



Good luck!