Business intelligence in microsoft dynamics ax

Editor's Notes

• #3: This presentation provides you with an overview of the new business intelligence (BI) capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. Before we get started let’s take a look at the different types of information that are available today and how organizations can use them to help make better business decisions.We’ll then take a look at the BI enhancements in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. We will use two fictional business scenarios to demonstrate the BI capabilities and benefits.Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and Microsoft BI technologies help organizations make better, smarter decisions. In this section we will review the different options that are available to you.Last but not least we will provide you with an overview of existing resources that help you explore BI capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2.
• #4: Innovation is the life blood of an organization. Sharing, exploring and analyzing data can help drive innovation and help organizations keep their competitive edge.There has never been such an abundance of available and valuable information as there is today. There are new questions being asked about the business that cannot be answered without tapping into this rich ocean of data. This data lives in a variety of places. First there are internal data sources, these can be: Individual data – this is data created by me, or by my peers, but relevant for the task at hand and often includes knowledge that might not be shared. Organizational data – this is data that is maintained and managed across the organization.Then there are external data sources, these can be:Community Data – this is external data such as curated 3rd party data sets that are shared into the public domain. Examples include data.gov.World Data – this is all the other data that is available on the global stage, eg. data from sensors or log files, and for which technologies such as Hadoop for Big Data have emerged.   
• #5: Companies can benefit by just combining and analyzing individual data and knowledge with data that is captured more formally by the organization. But combining external and internal data and drive decisions based on the combined knowledge can help organizations drive innovation and stay competitive.Thus the modern business analytics capabilities needs to embrace not only your data but also external data, enabling you to easily discover, enrich and share data to help turn insights into better decisions and help create more business value for your organization.
• #6: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 helps organizations gain better business insights with a pre-built BI solution that is tailored to the needs of individual business users. As organizations might have specific requirements related to BI Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 provides the flexibility to extend and customize the pre-built solution to meet specific business intelligence needs.
• #7: With the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 4 additional SQL Server Analysis services cubes are included – which brings the total number of SSAS cubes to 15.Customers can use these pre-defined cubes to get business insights by accessing the information directly from a Role Center or by using Microsoft BI technologies to analyze the data presented.Note:There is one additional data cube included to support localization scenarios for Russia. This cube is not listed in this overview (Profit tax totals cube - provides data that can help you track tax information).
• #8: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 includes role-specific home pages that are called Role Centers. Role Centers provide an overview of information that pertains to a user’s job function in the business or organization. This information includes transaction data, alerts, links, and common tasks that are associated with a user’s role in the company. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 includes 44 role-specific home pages plus 4 template. The Role Centers added in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 are highlighted in red.The pre-built BI solution can be extended if required by an organization, we’ll discuss these options later in this presentation.
• #9: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 includes several enhancements that can help organizations get better business insights. In this presentation we focus on 2 specific business scenarios that highlight how Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 together with Microsoft BI technologies such as Microsoft Excel can help organizations get the insights they need to make better, smarter decisions.In the following scenarios we showcase how organizations can explore, visualize and interact with data from both internal and external sources.
• #10: In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 additional KPIs have been added to help organizations get improved business insights with a pre-built solution. Organization performance indicators can include the comparison to budget data with the ability to split the data to display the individual elements that the indicator or KPI is made of - for example sales by product line or Open receivables by customer group. In addition multiple filters can be applied to indicators and KPIs to display only information relevant to a specific time frame or other criteria for example a particular sales person.The business overview web part is a self–service web part that is available in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. It enables a user to display KPIs and performance indicators in a role center. Developers can extend this web part and include additional information - for example:Financial performance information can be extended to include industry benchmark data as well as the owner of a specific KPI to help drive accountability and improve collaboration.Business data can be presented using Power View (a feature of SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Edition), an interactive data exploration, visualization and presentation experience right from a user’s Role Center. Note: The Contribution Margin report is included in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. The Sales performance report has been added to showcase the capabilities of Power View - for example the ability to visualize data on a map.- Click -If the required report does not already exist, business users can easily create a new report by opening Power View right from the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 client - for example from a customer list page.This eliminates the need to search for the right data source, it enables the user to easily access trusted data from a SSAS cube and use the visualization experiences in Power View to turn data into insights.
• #11: Let’s imagine your organization is planning to roll out a new marketing campaign and wants to test it in one region first. You need to make the recommendation where to run this marketing pilot.The goal of the campaign is to increase sales of TVs and research suggests that people that are older watch more TV. So maybe it makes sense to run this campaign in a region where the average age of the population is higher than in other regions.In this example we need to combine data from Microsoft Dynamics AX - for example previous sales data and demographics information that is available in the cloud - for example in the Windows Azure Marketplace to help us make the decision.Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 allows organizations to expose existing queries as OData data feeds. Data from Microsoft Dynamics AX can then imported using PowerPivot for Excel and then be mashed up with public data from the Azure Marketplace. With the help of Power View in Excel 2013 the new dataset can then be visualized to help identify the regions that works best for the marketing campaign.
• #12: Let’s take a look at how Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 can help organizations get better business insights.Please use the following demo script:BI demo script – Better business insights – available with the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Demo solution package V2, released in March 2013.The demo script can be downloaded using the following link:(requires PartnerSource/CustomerSource access): https://mbs2.microsoft.com/fileexchange/?fileID=09dfcf97-44df-48df-850f-57c1ee76ae19
• #13: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 includes a pre-built BI solution with pre-defined SSAS cubes, Reports, KPIs and pre-built Role Centers to suit different personas. While the pre-built solution may meet most of the BI requirements, organizations might want to customize or extend the pre-built solution to include external data or to meet specific BI requirements.Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 cubes are modeled in the Application Object Tree (AOT – which contains all of the definitions of elements that is used to build Microsoft Dynamics AX) thereby utilizing existing business and application constructs. These models can be extended in the AOT by adding additional metadata. Once cube metadata is modeled in the AOT, it is possible to generate a SQL Server Analysis services project using a wizard driven UI called Analysis services project wizard.For example: An Organization can add additional data (for example - measures and/or dimensions) to an existing cube by simply adding new fields or tables to the model in the AOT (Data dictionary > perspective node). When the model is complete the cube is updated by using the Analysis Services Project wizard in Microsoft Dynamics AX.Note: Generated Analysis Services projects can also be extended or modified using SQL Server BI tools including Business Intelligence Development Studio. For details on modeling please see the following topic in MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc615265.aspx Once the cubes are deployed users can create a report by using:The Excel data connection wizard SQL Server Report builder orSQL Server Power Viewto connect to a cube.In the example shown on the slide. Power View was used to create an interactive report that shows sales information with the ability to slice the information by different criteria, drill down into more detail and visualize information - for example on a map.
• #14: Organizations can be complex, they can span multiple geographies and consist of a heterogeneous company structure.Not every company has the same requirements, especially when the organization consists of many different businesses, for example a mix of retail and manufacturing companies. In this example the cube structure might need to be completely different, as one part of the business might require analysis by store location, while the other manufacturing organizations needs to analyze by production facility.The BI solution in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 supports different organization structures, languages, calendars and the use of different dimensions.
• #15: Let’s take a look at how Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 can help organizations to mash up data from different sources to help make better business decisions faster.Please use the following demo script:BI demo script – Data mash up – available with the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Demo solution package V2, released in March 2013.The demo script can be downloaded using the following link:(requires PartnerSource/CustomerSource access): https://mbs2.microsoft.com/fileexchange/?fileID=8cfabaed-d9a4-4c0d-aef6-4d0c6eb3b0da
• #16: In the pervious business scenario we learned that data can be easily imported to Excel using Odata feeds. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 supports document services that are query-based services that can be used to exchange data with external systems by sending and receiving XML documents. These documents can represent business entities, such as customers, vendors, or sales orders. System administrators or power users can expose queries in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 as OData feeds that can then be used to import data in Excel and PowerPivot for analysis and data mash up scenarios. Custom queries can be used to allow users to create a pre-defined filter to only specific data sets are imported with the data feed.
• #17: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 includes a pre-defined BI solution. Organizations can benefit from the interoperability with Microsoft BI technologies to easily create, visualize, explore and share business insights.There are many different tools to choose from. In this section we would like to provide you with an overview of the tools and different BI capabilities and some guidance on how these can be used.
• #18: Let’s take a look at an overview if the BI capabilities and tools available in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. The first column represents the BI category. There are 3 different categories: Query, reporting and analysis.QueriesQueries are used primarily to access data without the need to format it in a specific way. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 queries are grouped into 2 categories. These are pre-defined queries that are easy to consume by an operational user - for example in cues (a stack of paper displayed in a Role Center), in list pages and used to create auto reports where data can be easily displayed in a report that can be e-mailed or printed. The second option allows users to securely access data and create ad-hoc queries for example by using the Microsoft Excel add-in for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. ReportingReports allow users to consume data in a fixed-layout format . Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 supports ad-hoc reporting by using SSRS report builder or by accessing SSAS data cubes from Excel. Statutory and financial reports can be created by using Management Reporter or data can be displayed graphically by using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 chart controls. SQL Server Reporting Services is the standard tool for production reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. AnalysisThese capabilities offer intuitive data exploration capabilities that help user get better business insights. Organizations can use KPIs and indicators in the Role Centers, PerformancePoint Services, Power View or Excel PowerPivot to analyze business data or mash up internal and external information.
• #19: In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 capabilities were added for data visualization. So which options to choose?Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 chart controls are a good option when you want to visualize data, if you need a printed report, use SSRS reports. When data needs to be analyzed, use Power View for a data exploration and visualization experience.
• #20: Depending on your organizations BI requirements different SharePoint Server and SQL Server editions might be required. This slide provides an overview of the editions required for the different BI capabilities.
• #21: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 enables data exploration with Power View. In this presentation we showcased the ability to use Power View with multidimensional models. As of March 28, 2013, this capability is available as a customer technical preview (CTP) and while Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 works with Power View on multidimensional models it is not supported in a production environment until the final release. *Please refer to slide 23 for the full legal disclaimer.
• #22: Interested to learn more? The following section will provide you with an overview and links to existing content that can help you explore the BI capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2.
• #23: Resource links:If you want to see some of the BI capabilities in action you can view the demo videos listed here:Demo Videos:Provide inspiring insights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VpZc7blXfYMicrosoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 launch video - The Dynamic CFO: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/erp-ax-2012-r2.aspxFrom data to insight & impact: Using Power View to review Manufacturing Performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5kvodvw_n0You prefer a hands-on experience? Then download the demo package and use it together with the demo scripts that walk you through the business scenarios presented earlier. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 solution demo package V2.0Partner Source: https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/methodology/vpc/AX2012DemoToolsMaterialsCustomer Source: https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/downloads/servicepacks/AX2012DemoToolsMaterials.htmDemo scripts:Business intelligence demo script – Better business insightsPartner Source/Customer Source: https://mbs2.microsoft.com/fileexchange/?fileID=09dfcf97-44df-48df-850f-57c1ee76ae19Business intelligence demo script – Data mash upPartner Source/Customer Source: https://mbs2.microsoft.com/fileexchange/?fileID=8cfabaed-d9a4-4c0d-aef6-4d0c6eb3b0daNeed more technical information? Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38410 to download the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 White paper: Business Intelligence Capabilities and Tools
• #24: Legal disclaimer, please use until Power View for multidimensional models is released.
• #26: Show this slide to talk to a technical audience about the specific enhancements in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 related to BI.