DENVER, Aug. 24, 2004 — FRx Software Corp., a Microsoft company and a part of Microsoft Business Solutions, today announced the availability of Microsoft® Business Solutions for Analytics® Integration Designer 2.0, an application that accelerates the process of integrating FRx Softwares financial reporting application with nearly any midmarket segment general ledger (GL) system. Integration Designer 2.0 is equipped with new product features and enhancements that streamline the integration process and empower FRx Software Analytics Solution Providers to quickly and cost-effectively offer Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics–FRx® to midmarket segment companies with GL packages not already supported by FRx Software.
“Since the introduction of Integration Designer last year, weve seen a jump in our Analytics Solution Provider program to more than 30 partners that now help extend FRx to a broader market,”
said Chris Scherpenseel, president of FRx Software.
“That is a strong statement about the effectiveness of Integration Designer and the overwhelming need for financial reporting in the midmarket segment. With new features to accelerate and simplify the process of building integrations to FRx, Integration Designer allows partners to give more small, midsize and emerging enterprise organizations what they are looking for: confidence and complete control over their financials.”
Integration Designer 2.0 simplifies the integration process, allowing end users to enjoy the benefits of timely, accurate and comprehensive financial data from FRx quickly and cost-effectively.
“Our need for effective financial analytic applications is more evident today than ever,”
said Brian Grewal, executive vice president of TSC Solutions LLC.
“Our customers need access to accurate financial data to identify and analyze trends before they happen. Using Integration Designer, TSC was able to quickly and easily build an integration from our general ledger to FRx. We are now able to leverage the power of FRx to help us develop a profitable business.”
To build integrations with FRx, partners transform and load data from a customers general ledger to the FRx Financial Data Mart (FDM) that can be read by FRx. Integration Designer 2.0 supports FDM 7.0, which includes additional capabilities and flexibility over FDM 6.0 and Integration Designer 1.0, such as the ability to include multiple charts of account structures from different companies, all in one database. Other improvements in Integration Designer 2.0 simplify the integration process even more, reducing the amount of manual programming needed to complete an integration, thus speeding the integration process and improving profitability opportunities for FRx Softwares Analytics Solution Provider channel.
“To facilitate simple and efficient integration into end users financial systems, Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics-Integration Designer 2.0 leverages embedded financial intelligence,”
said Mark Smith, CEO and senior vice president of Research at Ventana Research.
“Organizations that want to eliminate custom coding and speed up implementation and deployment should consider this solution.”
Other new and enhanced product features in Integration Designer 2.0 include the following:
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Preliminary schema discovery. Integration Designer 2.0 allows users to limit the number of database objects (tables or views) that are displayed during the GL mapping process. This simplifies mapping, making it easier to scroll through data to find relevant information.
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Manual input of values. General ledger values that are needed in the integration even if they are not yet available or do not yet exist in the general ledger can be entered as a part of the integration. This eliminates the time-consuming process of updating the integration when changes occur in the GL.
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Enhanced incremental loads. Incremental loads now support delta loads in addition to the period-based loads available in Integration Designer 1.0. A delta load is dependent on an identification available in the general ledger, such as a date time stamp, to reduce the volume of data included in an incremental load to just that which has changed since the last transfer of data from the GL.
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Negative credits. With Integration Designer 2.0, an option is now available to support the different ways credit balances can be managed in different GLs, including recognizing normal credits that are recorded as negative values.
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New product training. Partners are trained on the new functionality of FRx Software products, allowing them to launch marketing campaigns simultaneously with new product releases.
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E-mail Notification. Automatic e-mail notification is available to notify users when a transfer of the data from the general ledger has occurred.
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Integration reset and selective editing. Integration Designer 2.0 gives users the ability to reset an integration package back to its original state at the time of shipping. In addition, changes made in Data Editor can now be controlled at a more distinct level to ensure that work already completed is not in danger of being erased or reset.
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Documentation. Improved documentation options available in Integration Designer 2.0 ensure that implementation procedures and instructions can be easily accessed and consistently followed at the customer site. Also, a new document is available that identifies all the details in the integration for a quick review of what has been mapped and where it can be found.
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Reusable integrations. Integration Designer 2.0 makes it easier for Analytics Solution Providers to reuse integrations that have been written once with other customers using the same GL. Integration Designer 2.0 now supports the ability to map the segments included in a chart of accounts from the general ledger.
About FRx Software
About FRx Software FRx Software, a Microsoft company and a part of Microsoft Business Solutions, is a leading provider of advanced financial analytic applications that work with virtually any general ledger to give companies the control they need to be more effective. Its product suite, Microsoft Business Solutions for AnalyticsFRx and Microsoft Business Solutions for AnalyticsForecaster, can improve productivity by helping customers efficiently manage their organizations financial reporting and budgeting processes. FRx is used by more than 115,000 sites worldwide to gain immediate control of the financial reporting process. Forecaster is a browser-based budgeting and planning application that makes it easy for organizations to quickly realize the benefits of budgeting. Used together or separately, FRx and Forecaster provide the financial visibility customers need to actively manage their business and take decisive action. The applications are widely available through a worldwide channel of Integration Partners and Analytics Solution Providers, who can help companies quickly implement these solutions and start saving time and money throughout the year. Additional information about FRx Software can be obtained by calling (800) 379-8733 or +1 (303) 741-8000, or by visiting the company Web site at http://www.frxsoftware.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft and FRx are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp., FRx Software Corp. or their affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.
FRx Software Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
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