Focus of Dynamics AX 6, Due Out in 2011 Third Quarter, Will Be on “Simplifying Application Life Cycle"
The upcoming new version of Microsoft Dynamics AX, known now as AX 6, will be announced next spring, and be generally available during the third quarter of 2011.
Pepijn Richter, a Microsoft product marketing manager, said at the AX User Group Summit 2010 that Dynamics AX 6 will add a new vertical specialty--AX for Public Sector--to the four existing verticals, which are services, manufacturing, retail, and wholesale.
The emphasis of Dynamics AX 6 will be "on simplifying the application life cycle," Richter stated. For example, it will upgrade both online and offline, to improve the efficiency of the upgrade process and reduce downtime necessary for testing.
The new version of AX "will take the role-tailored interface further," he stated. And it will feature heavy use of SQL reporting services. "We've moved 700 reports to the SQL server," he said.
His comment about the role-tailored interface is in line with comments by a Microsoft official made last spring about Dynamics AX 6.
"There is a commitment to budgetary lifting of some of the data to a higher level" to allow for easier establishment of new departments and local operations, as well as new legal entities.
Dynamics AX 6 will also allow developers to work more efficiently, based as it is on "a model-driven design enabling" quicker development.