Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 enables data isolation by using data partitions. For example, an organization has several subsidiaries. If the management of the organization does not want the employees of one subsidiary to have access to the data for other subsidiaries, data partitions can provide the boundaries that are required for data isolation.
Data partitions provide a logical separation of data in the Microsoft Dynamics AX database. To achieve this separation, Microsoft Dynamics AX adds a column to each table that contains data that must be isolated. This column contains a partition ID, which is the RecId of an entry in the Partitions table. In a partitioned table, rows that contain the same partition ID value belong to the same partition. The partition ID is also added to relevant indexes.
Partitions are defined in the Partitions form, where the system administrator creates the partition and provides a partition key. A partition key identifies a partition by using a unique string value that the system administrator specifies. When Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 is installed, the setup always creates a single, default partition. This partition is identified by the partition key "Initial." The partition key is displayed in the title bar of the client application. Additional partitions can also be defined during installation and upgrade.
Each partition contains its own organizational hierarchy, which includes one or more legal entities. Like a new deployment of Microsoft Dynamics AX, each new partition that is created contains the DAT company as a default legal entity. System administrators can add legal entities to each partition. Legal entities are never shared between partitions, even if the legal entities have the same name.
Overview
Item Description
Required One data partition is required by default. Additional data partitions are optional.
Feature areas affected All
Stakeholders Business decision makers
Technical decision makers Implementation team members ISVs/developers
Partners
New functionality
The data partitioning feature is new for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. Special considerations
It is important to understand that data partitions do not create separate installations of Microsoft Dynamics AX. Partitioned systems share Application Object Server (AOS), databases, Application Object Tree (AOT), administration functionality, Application Integration Framework (AIF), and batch framework. Partitioned systems maintain separate application data, organizational hierarchies, and user configurations.
To upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, it is especially important that you first understand how companies map to partitions. You must explicitly map companies in the source system to partitions in the target system. You must plan for this mapping carefully. Changes
that are made to the partitioning arrangement after the upgrade process has been completed may be costly.
If you do not have to isolate data between companies, you do not have to create additional partitions. The initial partition is sufficient for your requirements.
Comparison with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 enabled data isolation by using companies. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 or later, some data is shared between companies. For example, products and parties are shared across all companies in a partition. If you do not want this kind of data to be shared, you must create additional partitions and then create companies in the partitions (or map companies to partitions during the upgrade process).
E-commerce investments for omni-channel retail
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 introduces a new suite of features that help you deploy, manage, and customize an online sales channel that is fully integrated with Microsoft Dynamics AX. E-commerce investments include a starter online store that is built on Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products Preview, developer tools, and administrative and runtime components that integrate the online channel with Microsoft Dynamics AX.
By using this new suite of e-commerce features, you can centrally manage products, merchandising, and order fulfillment for all aspects of your online sales channel directly in Microsoft Dynamics AX. The runtime component ensures that content and retail services can be delivered in a scalable way. A new starter online store accelerates the development of a highly customized online channel. The starter online store includes the patterns and best practices that are needed to support production-ready deployments, including powerful, search-driven, adaptive experiences offered by the Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Preview for Internet Sites (FIS) platform.
Overview
Item Description
Optional You may or may not use these features,
depending on how you run your business. Other product areas affected Retail
Stakeholders ISVs and developers
IT professionals
Marketing and other business-decision makers who are interested in extending a brand online Special considerations
E-commerce investments in this release use the advanced extranet capabilities in SharePoint 2013 Products Preview. For more information, see the SharePoint 2013 documentation on Microsoft TechNet.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 includes project templates for the starter online store. By using these project templates, you can quickly customize and repackage an online store for third-party
E-commerce investments
This section describes the specific e-commerce features and capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. These features and capabilities are grouped in the following categories: E-commerce centralized management, commerce runtime, starter online store, and deployment models.
E-commerce centralized management
The following table shows the features in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 that can help you manage your online channel.
Item Description
Channel management
and publishing Channel management enables you to define an organizational entity in Microsoft Dynamics AX and associate it with an online website. This means that you can manage catalogs, prices, promotions, and other content for a brick-and-mortar channel and an online channel in one place. Channel management also enables you to define default properties for a channel, such as a default profile of an anonymous shopper, the navigation hierarchy, and payment processing
configurations.
Channel publishing enables you to publish data and properties for a channel, including the navigation hierarchy, to a website, regardless of where that website is hosted. For example, if all Microsoft Dynamics AX administration for a Contoso channel is performed in offices located in Seattle, but the data center that hosts Contoso.com is located in Chicago, administrators can seamlessly manage and publish data from Microsoft Dynamics AX to the data center.
Catalog management and publishing, and attribute
enhancement
Catalog management in this version of Microsoft Dynamics AX enables you to create product collections, and to target those collections toward a specific channel or a promotion within a channel. For example, Contoso.com can create a base catalog for all the electronics sold through its online channel. The catalog manager could also create a subcatalog for 60 items that will go on sale during a special promotion during the month of June. Multiple catalogs can exist for a single channel. Likewise, one product can exist in multiple catalogs, and product details such as a promotion price can be determined by date. Catalog publishing enables a catalog manager to publish all catalog data, including rich attributes and merchandising content, to a specific
endpoint that was defined through the channel management process described earlier.
Attribute enhancement enables you to create attributes and rich content, including images, extended descriptions, features, and specifications, to market products in the context of the intended sales channel.
Navigation hierarchies and category
attributes
Navigation hierarchies provide a logical taxonomy of categories and subcategories for grouping products in a way that promotes
discoverability for users who are browsing your online store. For example, Contoso.com, an electronics retailer, might create a Products category that includes Televisions, Computers & Tablets, Mobile Phones, and Video Games. Navigation hierarchies add an organizing structure to an already rich set of retail categories that are optimized for
administrative and reporting purposes.
Category attributes provide a schema for logically describing products within a category. Category attributes enhance product refinement, filtering, and search optimization. For example, if Contoso.com offers 40
different televisions, the catalog manager might assign category
attributes such as LCD, Plasma, and Rear Projection to further refine the category groupings, and to reduce duplication of effort and
administrative overheard when the catalog is updated. Category
attributes can also be configured to provide the automatic product-filter groups (refinements) on the landing page of each category. For
example, the catalog manager can configure refinement groups such as television price, television brand, and screen size. These refinements can then be displayed on the website as a filter or search-refinement option for shoppers.
Deployment checklist Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 includes a setup checklist for online stores to guide you through the process of setting up and configuring services and features for an online store. You can view the checklist in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 client from the following menu item:
Retail > Setup > Online store setup checklist.
Commerce runtime
The commerce runtime is a significant new feature of Retail in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. The commerce runtime was engineered to support the integration of remote sales channels with Microsoft Dynamics AX in a scalable way in near real time. The following table shows the
components that are included in the commerce runtime.
Item Description
Retail services Retail services are the suite of services that perform consistent, real- time business computations for your online store, such as product pricing, promotions, discounts, shipping rates, product availability, and sales tax. Retail services also provide a shopping cart object model that includes order details, order lines, and methods to manage the content of the shopping cart.
Retail Transaction Engine
The Retail Transaction Engine is an asynchronous connector between the Microsoft Dynamics AX data and retail services. The Retail Transaction Engine pushes and pulls data, so that retail services can perform business computations quickly, with timely data and business rules, regardless of the physical distance between your Microsoft Dynamics AX environment and your web data center.
Data adapter The data adapter in this release of Microsoft Dynamics AX is specific to SharePoint 2013 Products Preview. The data adapter facilitates the pushing of products to an endpoint such as an online channel.
Starter online store
The starter online store accelerates implementation of an online channel by providing the code, services, forms, and best practices from which to develop a highly customized and branded online store. The starter online store provides, out of the box, the major features and functionality typically required for an online channel. These starter features can be readily customized and adapted to specific needs.
Item Description
Major features of the starter online store
Homepage framework to help you develop a professional online presence
Website navigation scheme that is linked to the navigation hierarchy in Microsoft Dynamics AX
Default category landing page to support displaying products in response to navigation actions
Automatic product refinement on category landing pages that are linked to category attributes that are managed in Microsoft Dynamics AX
Local search service for searching the site
Search engine optimization for searching the web
A product details page that displays product enhancements that are managed in Microsoft Dynamics AX, such as images, extended descriptions, features, and specifications
Store locator service with “pick-up-in-store” functionality that is integrated with Bing maps
Order shipping and line-by-line shipping controls
Payment processing that is integrated with the Microsoft Dynamics AX online payment service (available only in the U.S.)
Complete shopping cart interface with mini-cart, full cart, and order summary views
Default order confirmation page
Online account management, including Facebook integration, order history, and address management
Deployment models
E-commerce in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 was designed according to different deployment models. These models are intended to optimize adoption of e-commerce features for sales
activities, evaluation, training, custom development, preproduction, and production deployments.
Item Description
Virtual machine
images These prebuilt virtual machine images are designed to help sales representatives and business-decision makers demonstrate the e- commerce capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. These images enable a single user to quickly demonstrate the full range of features and services in an online channel.
Lightweight
deployment package By using this deployment package, you can quickly implement a nonproduction, multiuser storefront to support demonstration, evaluation, and training scenarios. This package addresses a broader range of e-commerce scenarios than the stand-alone virtual machine images, including capabilities for development and customization.
ISV deployment
package This deployment package enables independent software vendors (ISVs) to customize and develop a professional e-commerce presence for their customers. This package includes Visual Studio projects that developers can customize extensively, recompile, and repackage either for
customers or for an in-house production deployment. The Visual Studio projects are included on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 DVD. Preproduction and
production
deployment package
This package is the output of the ISV deployment package combined with documentation on Microsoft Developer Network and Microsoft TechNet. The package includes checklists, and describes the steps for deploying a preproduction or production-ready online store.