At What Point Does Microsoft Dynamics AX Become Overloaded for Enterprise Users?

Enterprise users of Microsoft Dynamics AX are increasingly adapting the software for heavy-duty tasks--mass scanning of manufacturing and AP documents, clustering AOS (automated office system) servers, and running half a dozen or more businesses scattered around the globe.

Based on a discussion at a recent AX User Group SIG on Enterprise AX Installations, some of these users are becoming concerned that they may be over-stressing their AX programs.

Several users are worried that their document handling systems could be reaching a point that their systems slow significantly. One large organization that has decided to save all its manufacturing documents figures it now has 15,000 documents stored using AX, and will see the number double very shortly once it puts the new policy on manufacturing documents into practice.

"We have the challenge of having AX handling so many documents," said a company official. "How much can it handle before we see performance problems?"

An official of a second company said she has a similar concern now that the company is beginning to scan all its accounts payable documents. "We are concerned about the same thing," she said.

Similarly, in the area of AOS, one company representative whose company uses three AOS servers and a cluster manager, noted, "We're going to do a load test in a few weeks" to determine if the company has reached its limits.

As for AX's performance managing multiple companies, users said they are attracted to the benefit of data and information being pooled in one place, but expressed worries about having everything tied in to a few servers. "If one company goes down, everyone is down," said one representative. Another official worried about one or two companies ...