After early pain, Dynamics AX 2012 R2 has put channel back on track with key wins, Microsoft believes

Microsoft execs have acknowledged this week in various Dynamics-focused sessions that partners felt more than a little pain in the early days of AX 2012 caused by "product challenges" related to the initial release .

"We had [challenges] in readiness and had a perfect storm of different things," Dynamics AX general manager Christian Pedersen told a WPC audience today.  "Now with the R2 version that came out in late 2012, we're hearing that we've worked through these issues."

The AX 2012 R2 release has allowed partners and Microsoft to overcome those early setbacks and gather momentum with big head-to-head wins, and penetration of legacy ERP customers, often by taking on subsidiary's line of business needs that work together with a legacy core financials system.

Microsoft called out two major wins in particular today at WPC.  Nestle, which Pedersen characterized as a "dedicated SAP customer," has decided to complement their core SAP solution with Dynamics AX in new line of business initiatives for subsidiaries where "they can't move fast enough with SAP," he claimed.

And in what is set to become the second biggest Dynamics AX deal ever, Microsoft vice president Neil Holloway told the story today of the recent and unexpected win at Jean Coutu, a Canadian pharmacy chain with five hundred retail locations.

Twelve months ago, the chain was searching for a single new retail solution for store management and point of sale but hadn't even considered sending Microsoft an RFI, Holloway said. After eight months of evaluation that didn't include Dynamics AX for Retail or any Microsoft involvement, a Microsoft Canada account manager got wind of the opportunity that was being led by SAP in-store ...