Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 on Track for Official Release in Late June
All the tea leaves are pointing toward a late-June release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 (sometimes referred to as AX 5.0).
The release will be accompanied by a national roadshow, much like Microsoft has undertaken in recent months to introduce Dynamics CRM 4.0.
At an AX Users Group session yesterday sponsored by Dynamic Communities, a consultant with Microsoft partner Green Beacon Solutions, Dane Koepke, told attendees that he understood that AX 2009 would be released "at the end of Microsoft's fourth quarter," which is June 30.
Then, he said, Microsoft is due to go on the road to do demonstrations and heighten user interest in the new release.
According to Bill Clough, research program manager for Dynamics AX product planning, "The partner is correct! And we definitely have an entire team dedicated to the launch of this exciting new version."
Microsoft partners have been using pre-release versions of AX 2009 to familiarize themselves with the product, and to begin demonstrations with users who are candidates to upgrade.
As we reported previously, Microsoft demonstrated AX 2009 at the March Convergence conference in Orlando, to generally favorable reviews from companies using pre-release versions. They liked the new Role Centers for role-tailored views of the software, new language support, and other new features. Other aspects, though, like deep integration to CRM Online or "cloud" services, seemed not to be fully realized and may be more evident in other Dynamics products before AX adopts them, users were told.