How AX.NET Extends a CIO's Integration Options

Recently I did an interview and technology preview on my blog about AX.NET, a new Microsoft Dynamics AX add-on offering. I was impressed with its capabilities for working with Dynamics AX business logic and objects from .NET and the possibilities it will offer to application developers who need to integrate with Dynamics AX.

In this post, I focused on the technical aspects of what AX.NET will offer customers and Microsoft partners. Here I want to raise the issue of how such possible offerings affect a CIO's decision-making process when considering Microsoft Dynamics AX, as well as the options that exist to help a given customer implement and extend its Dynamics AX investment.

So what does the AX.NET offering mean for a CIO who is considering Dynamics AX vs another ERP platform? Most important, this offering focuses in on the integration aspects of Dynamics AX. It is an enabling technology, which could be developed rather than purchased. However, the cost would be far more than allowing ProISV to offer its expert knowledge in this build vs. buy possibility....