Here's One Way to Get a Head Start on the Next Dynamics Upgrade

There is a practical way to deal with nervousness you may have moving your organization to a major new Microsoft Dynamics upgrade like AX 2009: join a Technology Adoption Program (TAP).

Participants essentially serve as testers of beta versions of Dynamics products to help the development team work out bugs and improve user friendliness of the final product. But in the process, users not only help shape software for themselves, but also help prepare their organizations for upgrades. Users gain direct access to Microsoft developers, who guide the users through the challenges of an upgrade, and actually listen to many of their suggestions.

That has been the experience of CMC Group, a $50 million maker of specialized labels, based in Bowling Green, OH, according to Alan Stiles, IT Systems Manager. His company has been using AX 2009 in test mode since last October, as part of his involvement in TAP (even though AX 2009 isn't due out officially yet for a few months). As a result of the experience, upgrading CMC two steps, from AX 3.0 to AX 2009, is going to be easier than it was taking the company from Version 2.5 to 3.0 several years back.

Stiles is so happy about what he's learned via TAP that he was at Convergence speaking with media people about his company's experiences.

"I can understand why people have concerns" about upgrading. "But this is one of the best releases they are going to have."

He figures that "because of the integration opportunities, we're going to be able to double or triple our business over the next two to three years."

So how does a user become involved in TAP? Unfortunately, you ...