For Easier Upgrades to New Microsoft Dynamics AX, Upgrade First to AX 2012 R3 CU8

What can you, a Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner, do now to ease your customers’ transition to the new Dynamics AX once all versions of the product (Public Cloud, Private Cloud & On-Premise) are available? Did you know that upgrading your customers to AX 2012 R3 CU8 or later CU provides a direct upgrade path to new AX? Read on article to find out why this approach might be beneficial for you and your customers now. 

After diving deeper into the new Microsoft Dynamics AX, it seems that the new solution is more like Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8 than it is different in terms of the business logic and data model. This leads us to believe that upgrading to AX 2012 R3 CU8 first will make the transition to the new Dynamics AX relatively straightforward later.

Support for AX 2009 has been extended to 2018, which shows that Microsoft wants all customers to be able to upgrade to the new Dynamics AX at their own pace. To add more support to this approach, currently Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services (LCS) requires you to be on AX 2012 as the earliest version that can upgrade to new AX. And, perhaps most importantly, code upgrades from AX 2009 to new Dynamics AX (7) should be performed via AX 2012 R3 CU8, which means that upgrading to new AX through AX 2012 is unavoidable in most cases.

Why Should You Upgrade Your Customers to AX 2012 R3 CU8 (or later CU) in 2016?

Transitioning customers' Dynamics AX solutions to AX 2012 R3 CU8 this year as part of a plan to deploy new Dynamics AX later might become the most secure and cost balancing strategy for Dynamics AX partners. Here are some more specific reasons why ...