Microsoft pushing for trust and adoption of Dynamics AX Lifecycle Services

Microsoft wants Dynamics AX Lifecycle Services (LCS) to stop being known as AX's best kept secret. There are some simple ways that customers can start familiarizing themselves with the product, its intentions, and some of the most basic ways to get value out of it.

Sharing an AX production system with Microsoft over a network presents some thorny questions about data access and usage, but they are questions Microsoft officials say they are comfortable addressing.  As a Windows Azure-based service that can connect deeply with Dynamics AX 2012 for a long and growing list of needs like system monitoring, updates, documentation, architecture planning and more, trust and privacy still sit as potential hurdles LCS adoption.

Showing Lifecycle Services to Bill Gates

"There are interesting technical challenges, but what we've been thoughtful about is the privacy of the data," says Microsoft Technical Fellow Mike Ehrenberg. "As a customer workspace, we can't see their data. The customer can invite their partner or invite Microsoft to participate in a workspace."

To illustrate Microsoft's commitment to system-level privacy, Ehrenberg related the story of how he demonstrated LCS to Bill Gates as part of the Dynamics AX project that is ongoing for the Gates Foundation. The security and permission mechanisms were no less strict in opening up the system for Ehrenberg and Gates than it would have been for any other customer.  

"I had a situation where we were going to meet with Bill. And the Gates Foundation is a project we're working on. So I thought it would be great to show Bill the project in Lifecycle Services.  And I actually had to call the administrator at the Gates Foundation and ask him to admit me to the project so I could show it ...