FIVE SUCCESSFUL DATA
MIGRATION AND
INTEGRATION STRATEGIES,
FOR MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX
EXPERT ADVICE, PROVEN TOOLS AND
CASE SCENARIOS FOR REDUCING
RISK AND MAXIMIZING RESOURCES
DURING AN ERP IMPLEMENTATION
Reduce Risk in Your ERP Project ... 3
The Critical Role of Data Migration and Systems Integration ... 4
Enterprise Migration and Integration Usage Scenarios ... 6
The Right Tools for the Job To-Increase Business Integration Solutions for Microsoft Dynamics AX ...14
Learn More ...16
CONTENTS
I
f your company is considering upgrading or switching to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012,thorough planning and preparation are paramount for the ERP implementation to succeed. Too many businesses have experienced ERP rollouts that did not fulfill expectations for productivity, efficiency, manageability, and user adoption. Here are five critical considerations to keep in mind as you prepare for a low-risk, successful Microsoft AX 2012 deployment.
Reduce Risk
Don’t short-change your ERP implementation by marginalizing
data migration and integration.
Too often, companies reduce costs (hours, software, etc.) associated with data migration and integrations during project negotiations in an attempt to lower the overall implementation proposal. These are essential tasks within a Microsoft Dynamics AX upgrade or deployment and as strategic to the success of your ERP deployment as the ERP project is to your business. You have to plan and budget for data migrations and system integrations with that in mind. If you don’t, you jeopardize your ERP project. You also expose the integrity of your business data—one of your most valuable assets—and the value of information and existing technology investments to substantial risk.Use proven tools and resources instead of in-house skills when it
comes to complex integrations and data migrations.
Your IT managers can perform migrations and integrations by writing custom code and managing all project components one by one. This tends to be costly and supporting it can become a burden to your internal IT department over time. Instead, take advantage of more versatile, standardized tools that have already proven their worth in many customer projects. A proven, repeatable approach lowers your risk and can generate significant time and cost savings. The success of your ERP implementation becomes that much more likely.Be ready for the integrations you didn’t see coming.
Evolving integration requirements driven by process improvements, software updates, BI requirements and business changes occur often during the implementation and throughout the lifecycle of your ERP solution. An enterprise strategy and tool set for performing additional integrations keeps costs and management complexities under control without hampering innovation.Don’t underestimate the impact of a formal business process
management solution (BPM)
to guide your implementation and align the ERP solution with business goals throughout its lifecycle. To achieve a sustainably successful ERP deployment, it is critical that you incorporate BPM to realize the best possible alignment between your business strategy, processes, and technologies. Visit www.axbpm.com to download a whitepaper that highlights the advantages of value-driven BPM by means of To-Increase RapidValue 2014.Maximize the pool of experts focused on making your
implementation a success.
Implementing a new ERP solution requires your in-house team and implementation partner to cover a lot of ground. Even the most experienced professionals are likely to face issues that require the help of a specialist when it comes to integrating disparate systems and migrating years of complex data. Taking advantage of technologies like Business Integration Solutions or RapidValue provides access to our team of specialists as well.4
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any business leaders are considering or already planning a deployment of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, a powerful, flexible ERP solution that enterprises across many industries and all over the globe have im-plemented successfully. For most companies, implementing an ERP system such as Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is a complex undertaking that requires careful planning and advanced project management.DATA MIGRATION
IS STRATEGIC
In any ERP implementation, data migration is a critical concern, no matter whether you replace an older version of Microsoft Dynamics AX, a legacy software product, or a variety of processes and practices. Most companies own a number of business systems and a wealth of data related to such key areas of the business as customers, products, vendors, finance, operations, and more. That data, often residing in
several systems and databases, is one of the most valuable assets an organization owns. For the new ERP solution to be fully effective in enabling the business’ strategy, it needs to draw on that informa-tion. Companies therefore have to migrate their data from the sources into the new infrastructure.
Data migration in itself is a complex effort that requires diligent planning, documentation, testing, and valida-tion in line with business objectives. When companies do not treat data migration strategically and perform
The Critical Role of
Data Migration and
Systems Integration
their due diligence in managing it, they expose their ERP implementation to substantial risk. The ERP solution may never fully replace legacy systems, may not be adopted well by the people it’s meant to empower, and may never or only very late generate the ROI the company hopes for. A poorly managed data migration can also threaten the integrity of information.
CONNECTING
SYSTEMS AND
RESOURCES
In addition to data, you need to think about the systems and resources the company relies on in its operations. These could be product design systems, product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, logistics tools, customer rela-tionship management (CRM) software, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and others. The ERP solution needs to connect with these important business tools, so
your teams can work within a unified business management environment as opposed to running disparate, typi-cally inefficient and partly redundant processes. Finally, in implementing an ERP system, you would be amiss not to take advantage of the opportunity to simplify communications and document exchanges with your suppliers, trading partners, and customers.
SOUND,
RESOURCE-EFFICIENT
TECHNOLOGIES AND
RICH EXPERTISE
Proven, widely adopted software tools from To-Increase enable you bring your data into the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 environment, connect your busi-ness systems to the new ERP solution, and streamline the interactions within business relationships. By using our Business Integration Solutions for
Mi-crosoft Dynamics AX, you can complete a successful, efficient implementation that augments the value of your data, systems, and relationships. Customers’ experience shows that by using our solutions you can complete your ERP project in a shorter time and at a lower cost than by devising and scripting your own data migrations and system integrations. You gain the agility to adjust with ease to changing business requirements and avoid the challenges related to developing and managing custom code, especially when there are changes in your project team.
Be aware that To-Increase brings much more to your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 project than data migration and systems integration solutions. Our deep industry expertise and business process management resources help you opti-mize your ERP deployment to fully align with your strategy and ensure that all processes and technologies effectively support the company’s goals.
W
hile enterprises making the transition to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 range widely across industries and the world’s regions, they often face similar issues when it comes to connecting their existing data, systems, and resources to the ERP system. These customer scenarios are based on composites and represent the most typical aspects of how companies address their business challenges by using To-Increase solutions.Enterprise Migration
and Integration Usage
A global food manufacturer has upgraded to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 from version 4 to take advan-tage of the solution’s role-specific capabilities. Employees at headquar-ters have embraced the new ERP system and work with it every day. However, a gigantic task still waits to be performed: Microsoft Dyna-mics AX 2012 is the enterprise-wide standard for business management. Almost fifty fully-owned subsidiaries around the world still need to come onto the company’s ERP platform. Some of them will upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4, while others are making the move from a variety of legacy systems. The com-pany needs to perform all of these deployments and the associated data migrations without compromising the integrity of many years of business information. If the data migrations are not well-controlled and efficient, they might turn into a lengthy and extremely costly process that could delay by many months the global
company’s ability to operate within the same ERP environment.
In the past, IT managers at company headquarters and in the subsidiaries have collaborated on data migra-tions, scripting their own code and manually performing each process. Migration typically was a lengthy process and ran overnight. When people came in the next day, some-times the migration had generated conflicting records or transferred data in formats that did not really fit the new software or users’ require-ments. Given the complex data mo-del in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, IT goes a different route this time. Working with their technology provi-der and a consultant from To-Incre-ase, IT administrators diligently plan the first data migration and obtain buy-in from the business stakehol-ders in defining the result. Engaging with the consultant also helps them understand the importance of data cleansing before a migration. When
it comes to performing the actual migrations, they use To-Increase Data Migration Studio to automate and streamline the process. The so-lution’s performance is a far cry from what IT managers have seen in the past. Within minutes, Data Migration Studio completes a migration that would have taken many hours be-fore. Following the migration, busi-ness stakeholders quickly validate the results and resolve with IT any data discrepancies after reviewing them in an Excel spreadsheet.
Each subsidiary of the food manu-facturing enterprise migrates to the new ERP system very quickly and by maintaining full data integrity. Employees everywhere work with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 sooner than expected, and the IT group moves on to other tasks. The global enterprise gains the ability to run all processes within the same, connec-ted ERP environment.
Repeatable, Reliable Data Migration
Simplifies Global ERP Deployment
Within minutes, Data
Migration Studio completes
a migration that would have
taken many hours before.
Data Migration Studio Dynamics AX Cleansing LIVE ERP SQL Tools BI Tool Vendors Customers
Orders Open Posts
SCENARIO 2
The large retailer’s many stores are in widely dispersed geographic regions. The product line-up chan-ges frequently when the company enhances existing offerings, creates new products or product lines, makes acquisitions, and adjusts its portfolio to seasons and holidays. Whenever product details change, the company has to make sure the stores have the most current pro-duct descriptions and pricing along with promotions, product codes, images, order detail, and other in-formation. Most often, this happens through a combination of email messages and printed materials, sometimes backed by phone calls when timeliness is critical. Given that product-related changes happen very often, the communications effort is unending and demands constant watchfulness. From time to time, there are gaps in the process. For example, some store managers are not aware of the dates and details of an important promotion.
At another occasion, many stores already offered a high-visibility new product when a few of them were telling customers they were not sure of its availability.
By using To-Increase Connectivity Studio, the company creates an integration between Microsoft Dynamics AX and the POS systems in all the retail stores. The product descriptions, pricing, and other information created and maintained within the ERP system at headquar-ters are visible to store managers
and their teams directly through the POS terminals. The company also decides to no longer communicate multiple changes individually, which is inefficient—it takes too much time and attention and can lead to errors and omissions. Instead, busi-ness managers establish a rhythm of broadcasting product changes in weekly batches. Connectivity Studio treats each wave of updates as a single change that it copies to each retail location.
As a result, the retailer can rely on all store employees always making use of the most current product information. The company minimi-zes the effort and cost of broadcas-ting product detail to its far-flung retail locations while increasing its reliability and timeliness. It also sees increased sales because retail em-ployees can rely on accurate, com-plete information about new and enhanced products and promotions when they serve customers.
The company minimizes the effort and costs of broadcasting product
detail to its far-flung retail locations while increasing its reliability and
timeliness. It also sees increased sales because retail employees can rely
on accurate, complete information about new and enhanced products
and promotions when they serve customers.
POS Integration Lets Retail
Operations Follow the Company
Playbook
SCENARIO 3
A worldwide construction, con-sulting, and project management enterprise comprises a corpo-rate business organization and a handful of regional companies that transact business together, selling and purchasing pre-cast building components and other architectural elements. The main corporate entity already uses Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The regional businesses are still on Microsoft Dynamics AX 4. Microsoft BizTalk Server connects the different instances of Microsoft Dynamics AX, so they can exchange financial, project-related, and other information. Within the company’s technology roadmap, all of the regional companies will upgrade to the newest version of the ERP sy-stem, but for now they need to be able to exchange information and documents efficiently and reliably
within the differently versioned ERP environment.
The enterprise’s owner is one of the world’s largest steel manufac-turers. It acquires structural beams and other steel products from the parent company and uses them in construction projects around the world. Doing so necessitates effective communications. The steel manufacturer’s ERP system is SAP; there are no plans to switch to Microsoft Dynamics AX. Some of the construction company’s custo-mers, which include several leading developers and hotel chains, also use SAP.
By using To-Increase EDI Studio, the company can support both external and internal communi-cations in its supply chain. Within the comfortable Microsoft
Dyna-mics AX interface, administrators configure and model interchanges that need to take place. They also export these interchanges to other business groups and entities within the company. EDI Studio thus facilitates efficient exchanges within the company and its entities using an older version of Microsoft Dynamics AX as well as with outside customers and vendors, and with the parent corporation. Sales and purchase orders, invoices, accounts payable and accounts receivable statements, packing slips, and order receipt confirmations are the most common documents in the busy traffic between the company and the organizations it does business with.
Transactions that rely on the smooth transmission of documents become faster and more reliable. Using a standardized, fully configu-rable tool, the construction enter-prise saves the considerable costs and time that IT administrators would have to spend on custom development of interchanges within the supply chain.
Electronic Data Interchange
Streamlines Intercompany
Communications
Even with a great amount of product changes, engineers and operations managers
remain in control and can always easily verify the status of design changes to be
implemented in the manufacturing process. As a result of the ERP and PLM integration,
the manufacturer reduces the risk and complexity of managing engineering changes
and shortens manufacturing cycles.
A leading manufacturer of airport gangways and complex entrance control systems uses Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 in integration with To-Increase Advanced Discrete Manufacturing to manage ma-nufacturing operations and core business processes. All information to do with engineering, materials planning, financials, and procure-ment lives in the integrated ERP system. This enterprise also uses Siemens Teamcenter, a leading PLM system, to design products, revise existing designs for specific custo-mers’ requirements, and establish
bills-of-materials (BOM). At the end of the design process, the informa-tion from the PLM system needs to be transferred into the ERP solution, where production takes place. When the company serves customers in the BRIC countries and other fast-growing regions, the work happens very quickly; engineers often make revisions to a product in Teamcenter that has already been sent to production. Without integration between ERP and PLM, it would be a cumberso-me, error-prone task to ensure that
information moves from one to the other correctly and in a timely manner. However, the manufactu-ring company is taking advantage of To-Increase’s PLM Integration for Siemens Teamcenter. Design, product specification, BOM, and other data from the PLM system flow seamlessly into Advanced Discrete Manufacturing without requiring rekeying or re-creating the information. Design engineers, manufacturing engineers, and busi-ness managers work on the basis of the same information. Engineers configure new customer require-ments in the PLM system and send the updates directly to the ERP so-lution to go into production. Even with a great amount of product changes, engineers and operations managers remain in control and can always easily verify the status of design changes to be implemented in the manufacturing process. As a result of the ERP and PLM integra-tion, the manufacturer reduces the risk and complexity of managing engineering changes and shortens manufacturing cycles.
PLM Integration Accelerates
Production
By using a standardized, fully configurable tool, the construction
enterprise saves the considerable costs and time that IT
administrators would have to spend on custom development of
interchanges within the supply chain.
Master Data Management
Ensures Consistent Information
Enterprise-Wide
A worldwide provider of espresso machines, grinders, and other equi-pment used in coffee shops and restaurants has recently upgraded to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Shortly after the deployment, a long-standing customer in Istanbul orders five large espresso machi-nes for new cafés his company is opening. The company confirms the order, commits to a delivery date, and ships the equipment on time to arrive for the opening date. The customer emails and calls frantically on the day before, because he has not yet received his machines. The company cannot ship that quickly. The customer has to make do with older machines and rented
equip-ment until the new delivery arrives. When the company investigates why the shipment did not arrive, it finds out that it went to an old address. The customer has provided the new address and a sales as-sociate noted it in the ERP system. However, the business entity serving Turkey is still using an older copy of the company’s customer data, and has shipped from its warehouse to the old address. After managers apologize, the company expedites the equipment to the new address and barely retains this customer. ERP managers discuss the ma-nagement of master data—all the information about people, places,
items, and concepts at the core of the business. The company is already using To-Increase Con-nectivity Studio to link Microsoft Dynamics AX with purchasing and payroll systems. The solution’s newest release includes master data management capabilities. To prevent any more customer dissatis-faction, the team takes advantage of Connectivity Studio to export the same set of master data quickly to all subsidiaries around the world. The steps required to perform this task are uncomplicated and involve connectors, messages, and simple tasks that are already familiar to the system administrators.
Once that task is complete, the IT team begins formulating a detailed master data management strategy, which the company has lacked so far. Because it has been demonstra-ted that Connectivity Studio makes it easy to maintain consistent master data throughout the organization, the solution is part of the founda-tion of the company’s master data management efforts.
To prevent any more customer dissatisfaction, the
team takes advantage of Connectivity Studio to export
the same set of master data quickly to all subsidiaries
around the world.
A manufacturer and distributor of 3D-printers delivers printers to several countries in Europe and Asia. In each country, field representatives regularly visit the company’s custo-mers to make sure they are happy with the printers’ performance, understand their evolving usage scenarios, and provide them with all the supplies they might need. Several warehouses in the compa-ny’s business regions stock and ship printers, parts, and raw materials. The roaming representatives are not able to access Microsoft Dynamics AX to check on customers’ out-standing orders, open invoices, and transaction history. Sometimes, that results in them being blindsided by a customer’s problem or in not being able to verify account infor-mation when they need it. When the regional warehouses manage their inventory locally, they make updates as promptly as they can, but they don’t happen in real time. That sometimes means inside sales promises a customer raw ma-terials that still appear in inventory
but have already been committed to delivery for another customer. By the time customers understand that an error happened and they will receive their supplies later than ex-pected, they may run into problems with their own customers because they cannot print on time. The company’s systems managers make use of To-Increase Web Service Studio to create a simple app that exposes real-time ERP data to the field. Representatives can
easily see customers’ up-to-date account histories including their invoices, orders, projections, and contracts with the company. They can also keep customer information current and accurate by updating it, for example, with new or canceled orders. As a result, they are less dependent on their colleagues at headquarters and can often resolve a customer concern on the spot. To eliminate discrepancies in the company’s inventory management, the ERP managers take advantage of Web Service Studio to sync inventory data in real time between company headquarters and the regional warehouses. Everybody in the global organization now uses the same, current inventory levels, which helps greatly in companywide inventory management and timely purchasing. By avoiding painful outages, especially when it comes to raw materials, the company has found another way to improve the support it provides its customers.
Orders
Mobile Website
Web Services Improve
Responsiveness to Customer Needs
“Representatives can easily see customers’ up-to-date account histories including
their invoices, orders, projections, and contracts with the company and keep customer
information current by updating it with new or canceled orders.”
W
hat is unique about To-Increase is our combination of powerful solutions, deep familiarity with Microsoft Dynamics AX, industry expertise, business process management capabilities, and global reach. To-Increase business and technology specialists collaborate with enterprise customers and their technology providers to ensure that our technology and experience translates into practical business advantages that advance companies’ strategies. Many software providers and consultants offer integration and data migration products and services. To-Increase follows an end-to-end approach that incorporates technology as well as resources and a clear vision for organizations and industries.To-Increase Business Integration Solutions are designed to be cost-efficient and easy to acquire, deploy, learn, and use. In our design and guidance, we surface the business concerns you want to address and move technicalities into the background. Here are some highlights of the software tools in the To-Increase Business Integration Solutions suite for Microsoft Dynamics AX.
The Right Tools
for the Job
Data Migration Studio enables efficient, reliable, fast, and cost-effective data migrations. No matter whether companies move to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 from an earlier version, another ERP system, or are preparing their first ERP deployment ever, Data Migration Studio offers excellent performance and maintains the complete integrity of business data. The solution supports all common migration scenarios, offers tutorials to help systems managers understand best migration practices given the data structure of Microsoft Dynamics AX, and provides sound testing tools to validate migrations. Data Migration Studio automatically includes data dependencies in migrations.
Connectivity Studio lets you create and manage connections between Microsoft Dynamics AX and other systems, which may be financial, other ERP, POS, enterprise application integration tools, and other software resources. By using Connectivity Studio, you increase the business value of your existing technology investments and greatly increase ERP usability for employees, who can do their jobs within a single, unified business management environment. You also eliminate the inefficiencies associated with redundancies and data entry errors in your business processes and information management.
EDI Studio extends Microsoft Dynamics AX with electronic data interchange capabilities that are not part of the ERP system. Using templates and solution help, system managers can efficiently configure, map, and model interchanges, and export defined interchanges to support EDI requirements in subsidiaries or other business groups. Companies save the time and effort involved in developing, maintaining, and trouble-shooting EDI processes. Users of Microsoft Dynamics AX access purchase and sales orders, invoices, and other documents within their preferred ERP environment. EDI Studio supports most common message formats and keeps a full history of documents.
Web Service Studio provides a simple alternative to the Microsoft Application Integration Framework. It enables ERP managers to create web services that access Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 by means of efficient configurations that obviate the need for custom-coding or deep familiarity with the Microsoft Dynamics AX data model. By retrieving data from or posting them to the ERP system, company-specific apps based on web services enable mobile and remote users to access, review, and update Microsoft Dynamics AX data in real time. For example, you could use web services to enable field sales associates to review the invoices, orders, and account history of the customers they visit. Or, supply chain managers could gain the ability to monitor the receipt and storage location of goods in distributed warehouse or retail locations. Web Service Studio ships with pre-built Microsoft BizTalk integration and practical tutorials.
TO-INCREASE BUSINESS
INTEGRATION SOLUTIONS FOR
MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX
Microsoft Dynamics™ AX is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation The To-Increase Logo is a registered trademark of To-Increase BV.
The information contained in this document represents the current view of To-Increase B.V. on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because To-Increase must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of To-Increase B.V, To-Increase B.V. cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This document is for informational purposed only. To-Increase B.V. makes no warrantees, express, implied or statutory, as to the information in this document. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without the limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of To-Increase B.V.
Contact
e-mail address
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To-Increase Plot No. 564/A39 Road No. 92, Jubilee Hills Hyderabad - 500033 IndiaCONNECTION STRING
• Speak with an expert: Our best resources are business integration experts will be happy to discuss your data migration, system integration, and other business technology needs with you. These are the people who train our customers, provide demos, and hold webcasts about Business Integration Solutions and other topics. Contact To-Increase.
• Access other research published by To-Increase: Read ourblog, updated frequently, and connect with us on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn,
and Twitter.
• Learn about value-driven BPM: Include value-driven BPM in your ERP planning. Read our white paper at www.axbpm.comand learn about To-Increase RapidValue 2014, our BPM solution.
