Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 in the spotlight at AX Technical Conference 2014

The Microsoft Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2014 begins on February 3^rd in Bellevue, Washington.  It is the biggest readiness event for the upcoming Dynamics AX 2012 R3 release, due in April, and a unique get together that includes Microsoft, partners, and even customers.

This year's event will take on the upcoming AX 2012 R3 release, which will introduce a wide range of features, including industry-specific and horizontal enhancements. And beyond the new release, the event also offers an opportunity for Microsoft to educate the community on mobile apps, Lifecycle Services, and platform support updates. 

AX 2012 R3 emphasizes functional enhancements

This year's event may lean more toward the functional topics than past events.  The R3 release introduces a wide range of new capabilities to the relatively unchanged AX 2012 platform.  But Pepijn Richter, director of ERP product marketing at Microsoft, says that the event is still full of 300-level technical content and deep dives.

"If you look at the R3 release, many of the enhancements are on the functional [side]," says Richter. "We've tried to keep the platform pretty stable. If you look at Lifecycle Services, Master Data Management, import/export, archiving of data, and other areas, there are [technical changes], but you can [also] see this as a big functional release.  "

Sessions this year will explore new features from industry perspectives (retail, manufacturing, distribution, service industries, ...