Is It 'Big Data' Or Lots Of Smaller Data?

For many readers of this article, business intelligence (BI) will not be a core experience, and, in many cases, it has likely become a confusing, costly, and risky business exercise during or after the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

With a market that is red hot in BI, supported by analysts saying it is currently a CIO's greatest focus (as surveyed), it becomes so easy for the BI industry to find ways to differentiate offerings. However, in doing so, some BI companies can sell capabilities that might not have any business value at all to users and the issues they currently face. As with all discussions around a market, there will be exceptions to the rule, but I am hoping to provide a little  focus and some direction as to what is important in most cases for organizations running Dynamics AX and what to look out for.

One of the incredibly strong characteristics of Microsoft Dynamics AX as a solution is its flexibility. It is designed to support not only smaller businesses that have fairly discrete business practices, but also the largest of global organizations to manage across countries, currencies, and a multitude of business practices.

Dynamics AX will soon become widely available in the cloud on Microsoft Azure with the upcoming release of AX 7. Although comprehensive Azure compatibility will ensure Dynamics AX continues to grow and dominate, it has also allowed a tide of BI vendors from every walk of life to claim capability in this ecosystem and to market their products as capable of supplying and supporting a consistent, continuous, and economically-viable solution.

What I intend to do through this article is simply provide a perspective to those who have (...