Article

Choose an upgrade path from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 for Operations

by Agnė Pelanienė
Dynamics 365 F&SCM Business Line Manager, Companial

With the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations Spring 2017 release (expected in July 2017), Microsoft plans to deliver highly-anticipated new deployment options and upgrade tools that are essential for improving the quality of upgrades. Furthermore, Microsoft is planning to "hard seal" the standard code around Spring 2018, which means the usual overlayering won't be allowed at design time and/or during implementation. Consequently, it is recommended that customers migrate all customizations into Extensions.

For AX 2012 there are tools that can partially help to move code to Extensions during an automatic code upgrade. But for AX 2009 and earlier versions, code should be migrated manually. Thus, full or partial re-implementation is needed in all Dynamics AX upgrade scenarios.

In this article, I will cover the most beneficial upgrade tactics to move your customers to the newest version of Dynamics 365 for Operations.

Scenario #1: Upgrade through AX 2012 R3 to Dynamics 365 for Operations (full upgrade)

If your customer's solution is lightly customized, the data is consistent, and you want to avoid a total system reimplementation, then you can start with an upgrade from AX 2009 (or earlier versions) to AX 2012 R3 and then leverage Lifecycle Services (LCS) and Visual Studio tools to migrate code and data to Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations. This is a time-tested, proven upgrade path.

Both upgrade steps (from AX 2009 to AX 2012 and from AX 2012 to Dynamics 365 for Operations) have three stages with different tasks:

Upgrading from AX 4.0 through AX 2012 to Dynamics 365 for Operations is also possible. But this path is recommended only if the historic data for your customer is absolutely essential.

Scenario #2: Straight to ...

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About Agnė Pelanienė

Agne Pelaniene is an IT professional who brings more than 18 years of experience of a strong understanding of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystem. Starting her career in 2004 as an accountant and Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation consultant, Agne focused on deepening her knowledge in Microsoft Dynamics AX through taking versatile positions internationally, such as consultant, support, and implementation team lead, senior implementation consultant, project manager, pre-sales consultant, and trainer. Having a wide portfolio helped Agne to build a strong foundation and to understand the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem both from product delivery (implementation) and business (partner-to-customer) perspectives. Accumulated experience from working within end customer and partner companies, and implementing solutions for different businesses worldwide has enabled Agne to evaluate every project-specific situation from different angles, and comprehend and adapt quickly to the needs of all different parties. After effectively managing the team with proven success results, Agne was chosen to take over Dynamics AX/Dynamics 365 F&SCM business line with a responsibility to grow and support engineers in order to deliver the best value through Microsoft Dynamics partners to customers.

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