The Azure Stack Delay: Partners see implications for Microsoft Dynamics AX

In a July 12 blog post, Mike Neil, Microsoft's corporate vice president, enterprise cloud, stated the company was "targeting the general availability release of Azure Stack, via integrated systems with our partners, starting mid-CY2017." Azure Stack (now in technical preview) is the company's platform for building private clouds. According to earlier reports, the company had planned a 2016 release.

In his post, Neil also indicated Microsoft was working closely with its largest system vendors - to start, Dell, HPE, and Lenovo - to "co-engineer integrated systems for production environments." Over time, Neil added, the company would broaden the ecosystem of supported systems and implementation approaches.

Delaying the release of the Azure stack effectively delays the release of the new Dynamics AX (or AX 7) as an on-premise or privately hosted ERP solution, says Tim Harris, vice president of strategy and solutions with consulting firm Arbela Technologies.

The effect of the delay may be muted, however. Harris notes that the percentage of customers interested in on-premise solutions continues to decline. "It's shrinking every day, and significantly in the last twelve to eighteen months. People I never thought would go to the cloud are asking for it."

"We haven't seen an impact yet," says Drew Vabulas, regional manager with I.B.I.S Inc., a Sonata Software Company. The firm is a Dynamics partner with supply chain expertise in distribution, manufacturing and retail. A range of customers are looking at SaaS models, in order to outsource their ERP systems, he explained. They hope the move will replace fluctuating costs with fixed costs and reduce the need for IT staff, as well as ...