Users Overcoming Skepticism About Microsoft Dynamics AX, Seeking Ever More Sophisticated Solutions

Users of Microsoft Dynamics AX are testing the software with increasingly sophisticated applications.

“People are getting serious about Dynamics AX,” says Andy Hafer, head of Dynamic Communities Inc., and its AX User Group. “They are challenging it to do deeper things than before,” he adds.

In the first in a series of interviews, Hafer sat down with MSDynamicsWorld.com to provide an overview of recent trends affecting users of Dynamics AX.

As one example of how users are seeking more sophisticated applications incorporating AX, he points to increasing user adoption of eBECS Lean Enterprise, which enables users to integrate their supply chains with vendors and partners. As another, he cites the use of AX in entertainment, such as the announcement last week of a new hosted solution for the entertainment industry based on Dynamics AX that seeks to streamline the value chain for digital products from media and entertainment companies.

This represents a sea change from two years ago, when many users complained about problems with performance. Not long after that, there was uneasiness “about partner readiness,” he says.

“The partner channel was not ready for the kind of demand in AX that developed. But Microsoft invested a lot of money in partner readiness, and the partners have caught up.” Microsoft’s acquisition of the eBECS code last year is just one example, says Hafer. “For Microsoft to compete with SAP and the bigger ERPs, it is having to make Dynamics ...