Frontline Systems upgrades Analytic Solver for Excel with faster optimization and simulation

Frontline Systems released Analytic Solver V2026 Q2 for Microsoft Excel on July 31, 2026, adding upgraded optimization engines, faster simulation model conversion and quicker cloud report generation. The update aims to help Excel users run more complex decision models in desktop Excel and Excel for the Web, with free upgrades for current subscribers.

Why it matters: - Analytic Solver is used to bring optimization, simulation, data science, machine learning and decision-rule modeling into Microsoft Excel. - The V2026 Q2 release is aimed at faster, larger and more practical decision modeling, especially for users moving between Excel, web tools and custom applications. - Current subscribers get the upgrade at no additional cost.

What happened: - Frontline Systems released Analytic Solver V2026 Q2 on July 31, 2026. - The product works as both a traditional Excel add-in and a modern Office add-in. - That setup makes Analytic Solver usable in desktop Excel and Excel for the Web. - The release adds upgraded optimization engines, improved simulation model conversion, faster web-based report generation and RASON language enhancements.

The details: - Analytic Solver V2026 Q2 includes new versions of four large-scale optimization engines: Gurobi Solver, XPRESS Solver, KNITRO Solver and OptQuest Solver. - The Gurobi Solver now supports a wider range of nonlinear models through automated transformation of Excel formulas and RASON expressions into supported nonlinear primitives. - The update adds artificial variables that capture repeated nonlinear subexpressions and reduce memory and compute time. - Analytic Solver continues to import and convert @RISK for Excel models into Analytic Solver Simulation models. - Those converted models can run 10 to 20 times faster. - V2026 Q2 includes additional refinements to that conversion process for large insurance customers moving models to Analytic Solver Simulation. - In Analytic Solver Cloud, report generation for items such as Answer Report and Feasibility Report is now much faster. - Frontline said some cloud report generation tasks can be sped up by a factor of 50 or more. - The user interface now includes improvements to basic sign-in, marking selected optimization constraints as critical, and saving multiple fitted distributions and parameter sets in simulation and risk analysis. - The License Manager now shows when licenses are acquired and released and when size limits are reached. - RASON, Frontline’s modeling language for optimization, simulation, data science, machine learning and business rules, now adds inline custom functions, a new range operator, two-sided constraints, GROUPBY in data sources, multiple thread handling and Six Sigma optional parameters.

Between the lines: - The release pushes more of the workload outside Excel formulas and into solver-specific and language-level automation, which can reduce manual model rebuilding. - The stronger RASON tooling also signals a push to make Excel models portable to other environments, including Power BI, Microsoft Fabric and custom applications. - The cloud-report speedup suggests Frontline is trying to narrow the gap between desktop Excel workflows and browser-based use.

What's next: - Frontline is steering users toward a workflow where Excel models can be translated into RASON and reused outside Excel. - The company is also continuing to refine both human-driven interfaces and AI-assisted workflows in Analytic Solver. - A free trial is available on Microsoft AppSource and on Frontline’s website solver.com.