We’ve already discussed that the financial reporting tool used by MAS 90 and MAS 200, Microsoft’s FRX, is reaching the end of it’s life in 2012. Sales of the product will stop in December 2010 and support ceases two years later.
The replacement for FRX is Sage MAS Intelligence. It’s a private labeled version of a spreadsheet based solution from a company named Alchemex which is already in use with Sage’s Accpac product line.>/p>
We had an opportunity in March to take a first look at what was then termed Sage Insights Intelligence (since re-branded Sage MAS Intelligence).
One of the questions at the time was about how FRX reports would be converted. Many customers who are using FRX have created elaborate FRX layouts for their financial reporting. Understandably many users have been concerned about whether all of this data would transfer to the new Sage MAS Intelligence.
While we don’t know exactly what data will be converted (for example it’s unclear whether reporting tree structures will convert), we can report that last night Alchemex shared the following welcome news:
..nothing new other than we most definitely will release a utility that will convert FRx reports in MAS Intelligence format, but are in discussions with Microsoft regarding the password for the FRx database and using this, so may have some delays, but realize how critical this process/function will be and are paying attention to it.
So it looks as if at least some older FRX layout formats have a chance for automatic conversion to the new Sage MAS Intelligence layout. It’s still too early to tell exactly what will convert (and how accurately) however it’s comforting to know that a conversion option remains under active development.
