Microsoft Dynamics
®AX
Statement of Direction
Product strategy and roadmap for Microsoft Dynamics AX
Date: July 2010
www.microsoft.com/dynamics/ax
© 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. The information and product plans
contained in this document are based on current market conditions and are subject to change at any time. The information in this document should not be assumed to represent a commitment on the part of Microsoft. The products addressed in this document are subject to availability in your country or region. The document will be updated as market conditions and product plans change over time. Monitor PartnerSource or CustomerSource for the latest information about changes in this document. Or contact your local Microsoft country office for local product availability, questions or more information about this document.
You may not use, copy, modify, create derivative works of or otherwise attempt to modify this information, in whole or in part, in any manner or form, for purposes of building a similar or competitive product or service.
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MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION
Contents
Introduction ... 3
Vision: Building for the Dynamic Business ... 4
Key Challenges and Technology Implications ... 7
Overview of Microsoft Dynamics AX ... 8
Embracing the Cloud ... 14
Product Development Roadmap ... 16
Microsoft Dynamics AX Roadmap ... 16
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 ... 17
Welcome to the Future: Microsoft Dynamics AX ‘6’ ... 29
Future releases ... 41
Conclusion ... 41
Appendix ... 42
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009: Business Benefits and Key Features ... 42
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Service Pack 1: Targeted Releases and Industry Solutions ... 44
Customer Support and Maintenance Policies ... 47
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MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION
Introduction
A Message from Kees Hertogh, Director, Microsoft Dynamics AX Global Product Management
Welcome to the Microsoft Dynamics AX Statement of Direction. This document will give you an insight into our Microsoft Dynamics AX development plans through the year 2018. Whether you are a new or existing customer or partner, this information will help you plan your business and IT activities.
In 2008, Microsoft introduced a vision of ―Dynamic Business‖ to describe a business positioned to truly thrive on change, capitalizing on new opportunities to grow stronger in an ever-shifting competitive landscape. Intuitively, business software should be a critical enabler, facilitating decisions to
proactively drive change into practice. Microsoft Dynamics is committed to a vision of software that fulfills this promise, evolving for a changing world to enable the Dynamic Business.
In 2009, Microsoft added rich industry-specific capabilities to Microsoft Dynamics AX through the acquisition of solutions in manufacturing, retail and professional services. Each is designed to drive industry-specific innovation for customers and enable partners to deliver repeatable, vertical solutions. This industry foundation will be enhanced further with the planned release of Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘, introducing a public sector solution and enhanced capabilities for the other focus industries. Today, the Microsoft Dynamics AX product community has grown to over 12,000 customers and 2,000 partners across more than 40 countries. New customers and partners are joining every day. We believe this success is due, in large part, to three main factors:
1. The dedication, industry expertise and solutions of our valued partners
2. The ongoing commitment by Microsoft to protecting the investment of partners and
customers by continuing to optimize Microsoft Dynamics AX for the market we are selling in 3. An industry strategy that enables the ecosystem to create solutions customer need, and
continued investment in industry-specific capabilities
Looking ahead, we will continue to maintain a sharp focus on these three factors by working to innovate, improve, and extend the product in the markets we serve today.
In addition, our work on model-driven development, oriented architecture (SOA) and service-enabling Microsoft Dynamics, and the massive amount of work going into the next release sets a foundation for embracing the next wave of Cloud computing. Building on the Microsoft® platform and
service-enabling Microsoft Dynamics AX puts us in prime position to capitalize on the investments being made in Partner-Hosted Software-as-a-Service deployments, Online Services and the Cloud. On behalf of the entire Microsoft Dynamics AX team, thank you for considering Microsoft Dynamics AX.
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Vision: Building for the Dynamic Business
Change is a fundamental part of business today. People, processes, and ecosystems are the principal drivers in an organization‘s ability to transform change into opportunity, and opportunity into growth. Microsoft has a vision for organizations with the agility to drive sustainable growth—whether growth means new business models, different markets, strategic alliances, growing market share, or reducing costs. This vision is called the Dynamic Business.
The focus for Microsoft Dynamics AX R&D is designed to enable the Dynamic Business with three key elements:
1. Productive People – Organizations excel when they empower their people to drive the business
forward. At Microsoft, we realize that helping your people be more productive is one of the imperatives of a dynamic business. People are at the heart of every organization—they bring the creativity, passion, hard work, and thought leadership that ultimately propel a business forward. A dynamic business empowers its people with the right tools, information, and opportunities they need to succeed. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 represents the latest expression of our long-term strategy to create user experiences that people will love. To achieve this goal, the Microsoft Dynamics User Experience Team conducted extensive research into the requirements that customers have for business management solutions.
This detail-oriented approach includes the following three practices: Research and development methodologies
The Microsoft Dynamics User Experience approach is based primarily on research. By using a variety of different research methods, Microsoft Dynamics User Experience researchers and designers continue to move up the usability pyramid—from delivering what is needed and then providing it in an easily usable format to ultimately delivering something desirable that people actually enjoy using.
The Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model
Microsoft Dynamics User Experience researchers and designers distilled voluminous research results into a framework called the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model—a representation of the people within a typical organization, the departments within which they work, and the actual work that they do. Part of the design strategy to enhance productivity in Microsoft Dynamics AX is based on the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model.
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Figure 1: The Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model describes how people in departments work within and across organizations. The findings are based on interviews with over 1,000 people.
RoleTailored design
RoleTailored design enables people to cut through the clutter by delivering just the information they need, where and when they need it. It offers perspective by providing an overview of the work ahead, so that organizations can plan and prioritize efforts. RoleTailored design is a key component of improving user productivity in Microsoft Dynamics AX. At Microsoft, we believe that the key to helping businesses become more agile and productive in a global economy is to empower individual workers by giving them the tools that improve efficiency and enable them to focus on the highest-value work. Microsoft Dynamics makes a business more dynamic by empowering and enabling the productivity of its people through a RoleTailored experience. We are determined to develop solutions designed for people. 2. Adaptable business processes – We believe solutions should be built to support business
processes in your organization and industry. This means delivering business process output to the right people and making it possible for people to influence the process proactively. For example, to respond quickly to rapidly changing customer demands, market conditions, and partner requirements, customers must be able to make changes to business processes, workflows, policies, and services with ease. Continuing to grow a more complete model of the people and processes in the Dynamic Business organization is a core component of the Microsoft Dynamics roadmap.
We will continue on the model-driven development path and continue our work in service-oriented architecture abstracting the application design from the implementation architecture.
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Establishing a model driven foundation and implementation on the Microsoft .NET Framework sets the stage for taking advantage of the way that business processes will be modeled and composed in the future. Business analysts will be more involved in the process of changing the application by reassembling activities in workflows, independent of where the workflows will run and how the user will interact with those processes.
For example, Microsoft Dynamics AX has taken advantage of two important .NET libraries–the Windows® Workflow Foundation (WF) and the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). We
expose our application model to these libraries and rely on their best practices for implementation. For example, WCF is a foundation to enable SOA implementation.
Using the Windows Communication Foundation, Microsoft Dynamics AX can expose services for other applications to consume, including Microsoft Office or external systems like manufacturing execution systems, for example. WCF provides implementation of how data can be moved around securely between systems. Microsoft Dynamics AX exposes its data model and model metadata for these other applications to consume.
Microsoft took this concept one step further by also providing the ability for Microsoft Dynamics AX to consume services exposed from other applications, either on-premise or in the Cloud. The Windows Workflow Foundation provides an environment for defining, executing, and
orchestrating workflows in Microsoft Dynamics. Surfacing the business process model in Windows Workflow and providing a graphical way to visualize the process further abstracts the need for low-level coding. Instead, the business process implementation consultant becomes more self-sufficient, translating the business requirements of an organization into the system and adapting it. The approach brings simplicity to the initial implementation and future upgrades.
3. A connected ecosystem – The business ecosystem encompasses all the entities that have a relationship to an organization at any point in time. To build relationships that are profitable, organizations need to integrate business processes beyond company walls and be able to share information easily. Organizations must also realize a faster return on investment because relationships with business partners have become fleeting and more dynamic due to shorter product life cycles and changing market needs.
In short, organizations must keep up with changes in the marketplace. Business applications should not be a threshold for change. Whether change is expansion into new markets or new partnerships with strategic vendors, redesigning business processes is unavoidable. For instance, imagine the impact on business processes and supporting business applications when an organization changes its focus from business-to-customer (B2C) to business-to-business (B2B). Customer relations will change from many to a few, the relationships will be more intense and require electronic exchange of information, and production control likely will be make-to-order instead of make-to-stock.
We believe IT is vital to a successful and connected ecosystem and strive to deliver solutions that meet these requirements. Microsoft Dynamics is already delivering broad customer value by linking to customers and suppliers. Together with the powerful Microsoft platform for federation and collaboration, Microsoft Dynamics will continue to evolve on the promise of a truly connected business ecosystem.
For more information about how Microsoft Dynamics business solutions can help you meet your key business needs and enable your organization to become a Dynamic Business visit
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Key Challenges and Technology Implications
Regardless of geography or industry, organizations face several key challenges that will affect the requirements of their ERP system, including:
Pressure from a dynamic, global economic environment – Operating in a global business
environment presents complex challenges that make it difficult to stay competitive. Lower-cost producers force many companies to find new ways to attract and keep customers; there are increased demands from global customers who want customized products and faster delivery; and interconnected supply networks result in an increase in distribution channels, production sites, and warehouse locations. Plus, companies expanding into new markets must manage the increasing demands of global reporting and compliance requirements, combined with the speed of change. Moreover, a changing or uncertain economic climate in one country can affect business in other countries.
A changing workforce – A new workforce is emerging, and organizations must prepare for the
transition from the baby boomer workforce to the next-generation workforce. In an age where skilled workers are more important than ever, organizations must create a working environment that fits the needs of this next generation. The workers are educated and familiar with newer communication technologies like instant messaging and mobile phones; they are used to advanced search capabilities, finding information, and transforming it into quick decisions; and they are mobile and accustomed to working at any place, any time.
Changing regulations for compliance and environmental sustainability – Companies are
under enormous pressure to comply with a growing number and range of complex regulatory requirements and to adopt environmental sustainability initiatives. In recent years, corporate scandals have resulted from poor internal controls, leading to new regulations (such as Sarbanes-Oxley) as well as greater regulatory scrutiny. In addition, the growing demands of doing business in a rapidly changing global environment, the need to provide relevant and timely information, and requirements to report accurately and regularly to authorities, partners, stakeholders, and shareholders has created even more challenges—making compliance adoption more critical than ever.
Key technologies will impact and potentially benefit the deployment and operating costs of ERP applications—and influence the capabilities of future releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX:
1. Hardware performance – The continuous improvement of hardware performance—as delivered through multi-core processors and other technological advancements—continues to raise the bar. As a result, business management software vendors must change their software to leverage these innovations so customers can realize maximum benefits.
2. Software breakthroughs – Model-driven development, service-oriented architectures, Software-as-a-Service (now Cloud computing), Web 2.0, unified communications, social computing, and 64-bit operating systems are software technologies that will have an impact on today‘s business solutions.
3. Virtualization – While hardware is quickly becoming a commodity, the ability to separate
hardware from software enables organizations to optimize hardware utilization. With virtualization software, organizations can reduce server administration costs and enable business agility by responding quickly to the needs for new servers.
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Overview of Microsoft Dynamics AX
Microsoft Dynamics AX is a comprehensive business management solution for midmarket organizations and divisions or larger enterprises, one that includes industry capabilities for
distribution, manufacturing, service industries, retail, and public sector (with Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘). We recognize that Microsoft Dynamics AX may fit well in customer organizations outside of this definition, and we acknowledge that the mid-sized market segment is defined differently from geography to geography. Additionally, Microsoft Dynamics AX can accommodate larger enterprise organizations looking for a two-tier ERP strategy to serve the needs of their different divisions and/or subsidiaries globally.
Microsoft Dynamics AX helps organizations manage business processes in domains such as finance, supply chain management, production, project management, accounting, sales and marketing, human resources management, service management, compliance, business intelligence (BI), and
collaboration.
Microsoft Dynamics AX is built to make it easy to do business across multiple locations and countries/regions by streamlining business processes, providing visibility, and helping to simplify compliance. Through its rich development platform and tools, Microsoft Dynamics AX is fully customizable and extensible. The solution is specifically suited for organizations with the following ERP requirements:
Centralized ERP in multisite organizations
Organizations with multiple operations can replace numerous legacy applications with a single, centralized implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX. Rationalizing on a standard ERP
technology can help lower IT maintenance costs and reduce training time.
With a company-wide integrated ERP solution, organizations can provide flexible access to a wide range of users within the organization. Capabilities to support multiple industries are included in the industry foundation, so that organizations can evolve their business model by extending their role in the supply chain (for example, distribution companies can add a retail function).
Two-tier ERP strategy (“hub and spoke”)
Global enterprise organizations are increasingly considering a two-tier ERP strategy to serve diverse ERP needs across different divisions and subsidiaries. With a two-tier ERP strategy, global enterprises can combine the benefits of a single enterprise ERP solution as a central financial resource that provides financial insights as the backbone for the enterprise, while using a more cost-efficient, agile ERP application to serve the unique needs of different divisions and subsidiaries.
A two-tier ERP strategy also streamlines and extends the supply chain by tightly integrating business processes that would span division and headquarter systems. Microsoft Dynamics AX is ideally suited to provide these standards for global enterprise organizations because of its global capabilities (supporting 38 legislations and 42 languages), the extensible Microsoft service-oriented architecture, and its increasing ability to service different industry requirements on one common ERP platform.
Strong industry foundation
With Microsoft Dynamics AX, our objective is to provide an integrated ERP solution that fits the unique needs of a large community of medium-sized organizations and entities of large organizations. However, often the requirements of each organization are different, based on both specific needs of their ―vertical‖ and unique company needs. The strong industry foundation in Microsoft Dynamics AX
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enables our partners to deliver a variety of vertical solutions in multiple industries on a single platform to match changing customer needs.
Figure 2: Industry strategy for Microsoft Dynamics AX.
The Microsoft Dynamics AX industry strategy is to improve fit by including key capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics AX that are common across multiple verticals within an industry. This industry foundation enables the Microsoft partner ecosystem, which includes independent software vendors (ISVs), value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators, to more efficiently provide repeatable solutions that meet the specific needs of customers across different verticals.
With the industry capabilities included in a single ERP platform, customers can evolve their business model and optimize the role they want to play in their supply chain. For example, an apparel retail customer that fully outsources manufacturing could explore ways to take more control of the manufacturing and procurement process without owning the manufacturing function. Microsoft Dynamics AX includes industry capabilities for five focus industries:
Manufacturing
Wholesale/Distribution Retail
Service industries:
o Professional services
o Architecture, engineering, and construction o Media and entertainment
Public sector (with Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘)
Core ERP Suite
Service Industries Wholesale/ Distribution Manufac-turing Public Sector Retail
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In 2009 we accelerated the execution of the industry strategy by acquiring four industry solutions for professional services, manufacturing, and retail that had already been adopted by many of our customers. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, partners can custom-merge the solutions if a customer wants to benefit from more than one industry solution. The plans for Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘ are for these industry solutions to work smoothly together.
Certified for Microsoft Dynamics business solutions
Microsoft offers a specific ISV program to support partners who provide high-quality solutions1 in the marketplace and to give our customers a way to find these solutions.
The Certified for Microsoft Dynamics designation is given to solutions that have been qualified, refined, and tested by the market, and found to repeatedly add value to customers. Solutions that qualify for this designation have undergone a formal software quality test, and they are also supported by at least 10 customer references.
Read more about Certified for Microsoft Dynamics.
Vertical implementation templates and training
The Microsoft commitment to meet customers‘ vertical needs goes beyond industry solutions. In November 2009 the first implementation methodology for various verticals within manufacturing was released to help partners and customers roll out these solutions faster with lower risk. In 2010 we are scheduled to add implementation templates for service industries (Q3 CY2010). Implementation templates for other industries are planned.
We have also enhanced the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Academy with role-based, industry-specific training content to help partners add to their industry expertise. The new certification program for partners includes an ―Industry Badge‖ to recognize specialized partners with an industry focus and track record.
Microsoft Technology – An investment in the future
Microsoft Dynamics AX can help organizations and partners use their investments in Microsoft technology to provide solutions for business. Our strategy is to continue to evolve the application architecture and standardize on Microsoft technology. In addition, we will continue to look for services and functionality provided by the Microsoft platform, including Windows, the .NET Framework,
Microsoft SQL Server®, Microsoft SharePoint® Server, and Microsoft Office instead of developing new,
proprietary functionality to enhance the capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Modeling concepts
Since its original design, Microsoft Dynamics AX has embraced modeling concepts, separating design from implementation; for example, separating application metadata, data access and storage, and user interface (UI) rendering. Microsoft Dynamics AX continues to take these abstractions further by
enabling business application designers to concentrate on the design of their business process with
1These solutions can be found on Solution Finder, which is a tool to help customers find industry-specific
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the confidence that the architecture will provide non-functional requirements like consistency, reliability, security, performance, scalability, and availability.
Fully embracing model-driven development complements the work we have undertaken in service-oriented architecture in previous releases and aligns Microsoft Dynamics AX with Microsoft developer tools and application development strategy.
Architecture development
Evolving the architecture of Microsoft Dynamics AX in parallel with the Microsoft platform: Provides a roadmap for customers to upgrade and stay current
Delivers enhanced value from new capabilities enabled in the platform
Positions customers to take advantage of technology architecture changes such as Cloud computing
You can see examples of this work in previous versions. Microsoft Dynamics AX uses Microsoft Active Directory® to provide logon authentication for the business application. This enables organizations to
centralize their user account administration and password management within their internal network, eliminating the need to administer passwords in different locations and reducing support costs. By separating the authentication and leaving that up to a Windows service, business application designers know that they can add a security layer to the process without having to think about implementing authentication, because this functionality is provided in the platform. We will continue this approach to development in future versions with improvements in the permission system that enable pluggable authentication mechanisms from providers other than Active Directory. That way, customers can define their own authentication mechanisms and evolve a role-based and task-based system that maintains separation of permissions system design from implementation and
administration.
Business intelligence capabilities
Other examples include taking advantage of the BI capabilities in Microsoft SQL Server. Since the release of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) and Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, we have looked for ways to use this technology for developing transactional business reporting. Future versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX will continue to evolve the reporting capabilities in parallel with SSRS 2008, SSRS 2008 R2, and future versions of this technology.
We will continue to develop around the Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services capabilities to provide OLAP cube storage and processing. With these developments, organizations can optimize their investment in Microsoft Excel® and Microsoft SharePointServer and put analytics tools into the hands
of a broader range of end users, whether they are direct users of Microsoft Dynamics AX or not.
User interface improvements
Providing a UI that is natural and practical for both users and IT administrators is an ongoing mission. We provide client access based on user roles and the work they perform in the business application. Heavy data entry users need access to a flexible, personalized Windows client that can keep pace with their needs. For the casual user, Microsoft Dynamics AX portals, based on SharePoint technology, combine and complement basic SharePoint capabilities with ERP capabilities. The IT department has the flexibility to choose how clients are deployed without being locked into one implementation.
12 MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION 64-bit computing
Microsoft continues to look to hardware advances and ways to leverage the processing capabilities in the servers organizations can purchase or may already have on premise. Microsoft Dynamics AX enables organizations to run in a 64-bit environment and take advantage of the processing and storage capabilities of these new machines. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, organizations can use multi-core machines for scaling out the Microsoft Dynamics AX object server to help support growth. This places Microsoft Dynamics AX in an optimal positional to take advantage of the industry shift to 64-bit-only environments. For example, Windows Server® 2008 R2 is only shipped as a 64-bit machine
along with other software like SharePoint Server 2010. You can be confident that we are monitoring these trends and plan to incorporate these developments into the application.
Model configuration and vertical extensions
The Microsoft Dynamics AX model-driven approach and technology architecture enables customers to adapt the business application to their needs.
The model-driven approach simplifies fully embedding more and more industry functionality into the business application data model and processes—a better approach than bolting the functionality on the side and then integrating it with Microsoft Dynamics AX. The result is a more robust foundation for customers to use for tuning business processes to their unique business needs. This foundation enables ISV developers to take the application to the next level of vertical functionality.
Basic developer tools
Enabling developers has always been a key focus area for Microsoft, and that tradition continues with Microsoft Dynamics AX. Microsoft has a wealth of developer tools in Microsoft Visual Studio® and the
.NET Framework. We will further develop the concepts and simplicity in the Microsoft Dynamics AX MorphX® tools and bring them to Visual Studio, increasing the number of available developers who
are already familiar with these tools.
An example of this approach can be seen in the integration work we did with Reporting Tools in Visual Studio in order to bridge the gap between what the standard tool provided and what was needed to develop reporting for business applications. This work—along with model-driven development work— will continue in upcoming versions to give developers a choice of familiar tools to work with. Also, MorphX integration will give Visual Studio developers the ability to experience the richness and simplicity of the Microsoft Dynamics AX application model within the Visual Studio environment. The design of the .NET Framework provides an abstraction between the programming language and the machine-executed code. This enables developers to choose their language while working with a specific application model.
We are embracing the concept of abstraction in Microsoft Dynamics AX. The X++® programming
language is a domain-specific language unique to Microsoft Dynamics AX. It was developed to abstract the business application developer away from the low-level tasks of programming. By
embracing the .NET Framework, we will enable eventing combined with a fully managed Interop layer. This means developers can choose the language they want to work with to customize Microsoft Dynamics AX business logic at a low level. This approach gives us the ability to consider the implementation of the code runtime without affecting the developer in future releases.
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MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION Customization tools
Customization tools are an important part of Microsoft Dynamics AX, but we believe the true value of Microsoft Dynamics AX can be found in the rich, tried-and-true foundation of functionality that has already been deployed in thousands of customer implementations around the world. Microsoft Dynamics AX provides a rich data model for business applications across industries.
Vertical functionality can be more a matter of configuration than customization, with rich data modeling concepts, security and access control, a workflow framework built on Windows Workflow, integration built on Windows Communication Foundation, and a single application database with Windows and web user interface (UI) frameworks.
Surfacing the business process model in Windows Workflow and providing a graphical way to visualize the process further abstracts the need to do low-level coding. Instead, the business process implementation consultant becomes self-sufficient, translating the business requirements of an organization into the system and bringing simplicity to the initial implementation and future upgrades.
Overall, Microsoft Dynamics AX is a complete environment for developers and ISVs. From tools to frameworks, Microsoft Dynamics AX can help developers and ISVs bring solutions to market that fulfill the unique needs of customers across a broad range of industries and vertical markets by simplifying the work of the business process implementation consultant to interpret and implement customer requirements.
Upgrade philosophy
Our development philosophy is to advance Microsoft Dynamics AX improvements, enhancements, and innovations in a gradual way to limit major disruptions to our customers‘ businesses. Customers can start small and slowly add new users and functionality as their needs change and business grows. Our new releases will include important innovations to help organizations meet future challenges and tools to help customers upgrade without too many obstacles. In fact, one of our focuses in the next release will be to further enhance the upgrade tools so that organizations can benefit from innovation in a controlled way.
Microsoft is committed to a minimum of ten years of support for each major product release. This helps our customers control the timing of when they move to the next release of their product and better align with their business plans. If customers opt to remain on an existing product version, Microsoft will support them through a variety of means and programs. The latest release supports a skip-level upgrade, from Microsoft Business Solutions–Axapta® 3.0 to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.
Business Ready Licensing is designed to help organizations grow their business management solution to meet the changing needs of the business. The pricing model supports growth in terms of more people and users, new business processes and functionality, or new sites and countries.
Customer-centric process to build new solutions
Customer needs are at the center of development at Microsoft. To ensure these needs are met, our R&D teams use a variety of best practices and carefully designed processes to develop high quality products. This includes:
Extensive customer research
Early adoption programs to receive continuous feedback during the development cycle and support early customer deployments
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Review of design and feature specifications Test automation
At Microsoft, customer opinions count. Customers can provide feedback to help improve Microsoft products by submitting suggestions about product features and enhancements online, or they can search existing suggestions and vote on suggestions submitted by others by visiting Connect for Microsoft Dynamics.
But it doesn‘t end here—Microsoft encourages an ongoing dialogue with customers and partners via online communities, blogs, customer and partner boards, and various programs and networking sites.
Embracing the Cloud
More than ever, companies need to build an agile IT environment that can dynamically adapt to changing business and ecosystem needs. Companies can increase business and IT agility by leveraging services from the Cloud. At Microsoft we believe Cloud computing should be on your terms, and we provide you with the choice as to how you deploy your software to fit your organization, processes, and IT requirements. We refer to this as ―Software-plus-Services.‖
Software-plus-Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP is based on two key ideas:
1. Providing customers with choice on how they license and deploy their software through Partner-Hosted Software as a Service
2. Extending Business processes seamlessly to the Cloud with online services that amplify the value of the business software (regardless of how this software is deployed)
We envision some of these services to be built by Microsoft, while others might be built by partners. Many of the services will leverage Microsoft Windows AzureTM services to help ensure scalability and
low cost. With Online Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, customers will be able to easily consume incremental services from a single, trusted source.
Online Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP
Companies are increasingly connecting to the web to conduct business. More specifically, they are turning to the web to attract new customers, sell their products online, collect and remit payments, and complete other business processes that extend their ecosystem. Online Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP combined with Microsoft Dynamics AX will enable these scenarios.
With Online Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, customers can easily extend their business
processes to the Cloud incrementally as their needs change or grow. Many of the online services will leverage the Microsoft Azure platform to deliver the reliability, scalability and economies of scale that help drive down costs.
Online Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP2 – Customers can extend their ERP and retail solutions to the Cloud with specialized online services, including:
Connect – Users can get easy access to Microsoft Dynamics online training, support, and communities from within their ERP solution.
2 These services are available to Microsoft Dynamics customers who have an active Microsoft Dynamics Business Ready
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Payment Services – Enables the acceptance of variety of payment types on-premise and online at lower transaction and change costs. Customers can select from a marketplace of payment providers (FDC, CyberSource, NetGiro, Pensio, and Paypal for all major credit cards) and eliminate multiple payment processing systems. With integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX out of the box, you can capture payment data once, and it flows through a security enhanced layer to your business processes in real-time.
Commerce Services - Customers can dynamically extend sales reach across multiple channels, including online merchandising with Commerce Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP. With easy-to-use tools and ERP integration out of the box, time to market and costs are dramatically improved and customers can build new online catalogues on demand with confidence.
Sites Services (planned with the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘) – Customers can easily build their own microsites that extend business processes to the Cloud and integrate with your
Microsoft Dynamics AX solution. The tools and templates are simple. Customers can set up and provision the web pages on demand, often with no involvement from the IT department or web agency.
Microsoft Dynamics AX Software as a Service delivered by partners
Customers can host part or all of their ERP software online with a Microsoft Dynamics partner for a predictable monthly subscription fee. These offerings help customers incrementally move to a model where particular business processes are supported online.
For the context of this document, ―hosted‖ means to deploy the application in a data center that is not owned by the customer. These situations could be:
Unmanaged data center services or co-location: This is where a customer contracts with a data
center provider, for example a telecommunications company or a dedicated data center services company, for rack space. The host simply provides the data center space and a network
connection to the facility and physical site maintenance. The IT department of the customer places the servers into the data center and remotely manages these machines.
Managed data center services: This is where the customer will contract with a data center
provider to provide rack space for service and provide some server and operational management of the machines. The IT department of the customer will still manage the application and software installed on the machines or some hybrid of this depending on what is negotiated between the two companies.
Application Services Providers: In this situation, a specific application or service is provided by
the data center company. There could be a negotiation between the two partners on the degree of management that is shared between the customer‘s IT department and the company providing the application in the data center.
Depending on their business needs, both long term and short term, customers can assess their IT skills and needs and make Cloud computing a flexible component of their ERP solution—on their terms. Based on a hybrid model of on-premise and off-premise deployment, customers can move as much or as little functionality as they want to the Cloud, making specialized business processes available across the Internet or the company intranet.
That choice extends to licensing models, too. Today, we offer Microsoft Dynamics AX under the traditional perpetual licensing models and under the Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA). Partners can use this to offer customers subscription-based access to the business application.
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Microsoft is deeply committed to the partner model with respect to Software as a Service and will continue to invest in this area. Our partners provide essential added value through implementation, customization, and deep vertical experience.
Learn more about the Microsoft Dynamics Software-plus-Service strategy.
Product Development Roadmap
Microsoft is committed to a release cycle of approximately 24 to 36 months for delivering major releases. A predictable release schedule helps customers adopt and take advantage of the latest innovations at a reasonable pace. Going forward, Microsoft may also offer a minor release between major releases for one or more functional enhancements. This will help customers benefit from product enhancements between releases without the need to install multiple solutions.
Microsoft Dynamics AX Roadmap
The Microsoft Dynamics AX Roadmap shows current product plans through the year 2018. The following sections include detailed information about the current release, functionality for Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘ (planned for release in CY 2011), and the Microsoft Dynamics vision for future releases.
Figure 3: Microsoft Dynamics AX product release timeline (Note: All dates listed in this timeline are speculative and do not constitute a promise to deliver technology or additional functionality at a specified time.)
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Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is a business management solution designed for midmarket organizations and divisions of larger enterprises. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 supports industry-specific, end-to-end functionality that targets the following industries: manufacturing, distribution, retail, service industries, and vertically relevant functionality through partner implementations. In particular, it supports international installations by offering multisite, country-specific functionality, and multiple language capabilities on a central installation.
The types of customers who are currently choosing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 include: Global organizations
Global enterprise organizations that need a two-tier strategy to serve diverse ERP needs across different divisions and subsidiaries
Organizations that struggle with the challenges of managing the total cost of compliance Growing organizations
Organizations with legacy systems
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 contains over 400 enhancements. Please see the Appendix for a high-level overview of the business benefits and key features of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Additional documentation, including training documents and white papers, is available on PartnerSource and CustomerSource.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Roadmap
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We have released Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and several targeted releases. These include capabilities for project time, the Environmental Dashboard, lean manufacturing, process manufacturing, and professional services. For details on these releases, including the additional enhancements to support IT operational efficiency please, refer to the Appendix section of this document.
Additional releases are planned to support our strategies for industry, Software-plus-Services, IT operational efficiency, and the Microsoft platform.
Software-plus-Services
Payment ServicesMicrosoft Dynamics AX 2009 offers retail customers interoperability with online payment processing, enabling the use of credit card, debit card, and PayPal payment processing from within the Microsoft Dynamics AX order processing function. This helps customers reduce transaction and integration costs, save time, and reduce data entry errors. With Payment Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, retail businesses can accept a variety of payment types on-premise and online to better serve their customers. Payment Services for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is currently available in the U.S., with expected availability in Canada in summer 2010. There is planned support for the following payment providers, with additional providers to be added later:
First Data Corp (FDC)
Cybersource
PayPal
NetGiro (Digital River)
Pensio (European focus)Connect
Customers can access resources to help them maximize the effectiveness of their Microsoft Dynamics ERP solution and increase profitability—right from the Microsoft Dynamics AX Role Center. With Connect, customers can ensure that their investments—both in the product and in the Business Ready Enhancement Plan—have the strongest possible value. Connect is designed to help customers adopt new standards based on best practices and market trends, and help develop employee skills to
increase efficiency and job satisfaction. Moreover, the self-service capabilities provide training velocity, reduced downtime and support costs, and increased collaboration with peers in a particular role or industry.
Resources that can be accessed from Connect include: CustomerSource, Microsoft Dynamics Community, news and events, support (Knowledge Base, hot topics), training (Microsoft E-Learning, classroom training, and training materials), and certification.
This service is planned for an early access release in Q3 of CY2010 for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and with the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6.‘
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Figure 5: Connect helps customers access services and tools, as well as the Microsoft Dynamics Community, directly from a Role Center.
Commerce services
With Commerce services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, customers can extend their sales reach across multiple channels, including online. Commerce services provides easy-to-use tools and customizable templates that can help customers create new sales catalogues on demand and drive the sales pipeline. Tight integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX and built-in security features right out of the box mean that time-to-market and costs are dramatically improved. Customers can be confident that online merchandising is secure, available, and highly integrated into sales, order, and payment processes. Commerce services is planned to be available in Q3 of CY2010.
Additional functionality
Connector for Microsoft Dynamics - End-to-End Scenarios with Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM
The Connector for Microsoft Dynamics will enable information flow between front office activities and back office operations, enhancing visibility across the organization and improving process agility. The Connector supports easily configured, lightly extensible, multidirectional interoperability between Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 on-premise and online. The Connector will allow Microsoft Dynamics AX customers to utilize Microsoft Dynamics CRM capabilities, such as offline support and rich interoperability with Microsoft Outlook®. Combined with Microsoft Dynamics
AX sales and marketing capabilities, customers can be tracked in both applications, and orders can flow smoothly between the solutions.
20 MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION Microsoft Dynamics ERP Two-Tier Connector
The Microsoft Dynamics ERP Two-Tier Connector is designed to accelerate two-tier ERP deployments between Microsoft Dynamics AX and SAP Business Suite. It enables IT organizations to use Microsoft Dynamics AX across subsidiaries, divisions, or branch entities to facilitate cost-effective business process integration and connect with SAP installations at the corporate headquarters location. The Microsoft Dynamics ERP Two-Tier Connector is planned to enable common business process scenarios for headquarters and subsidiary locations, including:
Financial consolidation. The sharing and consolidation of detailed financial information from
subsidiaries using Microsoft Dynamics AX can be automated and exposed through a central SAP installation, increasing visibility into financial performance across the organization.
Intercompany supply chain integration. The integration of intercompany procurement and
supply chain processes between local and regional distribution with centralized fulfillment organizations helps facilitate automated order processing.
Plant automation. The integration of decentralized manufacturing operation processes into
centrally orchestrated planning processes enables more accurate and responsive manufacturing planning across the organization.
Integration can be easily customized by using Microsoft BizTalk® Server to provide sample mappings
for electronic data interchange and detailed technical documentation.
The Microsoft Dynamics ERP Two-Tier Connector is planned to be available for electronic download by Microsoft and its partners in Q3 of CY2010, with additional scenarios to follow.
Payroll for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
Payroll for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is designed to properly accrue costs and easily integrate with different areas of the business, such as human resources, accounts payables, projects, and general ledger. Payroll will have localizations for the U.S. and will include the following benefits:
Administration of garnishments, tax levies, and third-party demands Scheduled and unscheduled deductions
Unlimited trial-run payrolls and gross-to-net calculations
Title check printing previews and magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) Easy and fast tax filings for federal and state agencies
Full range of reports, including Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and certified project reports
An integrated tax engine for accurate, easily verifiable payroll taxes Payroll is planned to be released in Q4 of CY2010.
Management Reporter for Microsoft Dynamics ERP
Management Reporter for Microsoft Dynamics ERP is a powerful corporate performance management (CPM) solution that provides real-time financial reporting to help customers achieve greater visibility across the organization. With Management Reporter, customers can create boardroom-quality reports without IT assistance; use enhanced XBRL capabilities to get an updated instance of documents by simply changing a date; and take advantage of secure report distribution and storage through the centralized Report Library. The Management Reporter Feature Pack, including the direct integration
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with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 as well as the integration to Microsoft Forecaster, is planned for Q4 of CY2010 and will be available in selected regions.
Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail
Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail is an end-to-end solution that can help you retain customers and increase market share by connecting people, information, and processes across the organization— from the supply chain to the demand chain. The solution empowers people to improve customer satisfaction, add stores, and expand into new retail channels, and accelerate business success through transparency across the organization. Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail fully integrates three key components: point of sale and store management, headquarters management, and enterprise resource planning (financial, CRM, and supply chain management) for a comprehensive solution that delivers value in every area of the organization
.
Figure 6: An overview of the end-to-end Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail solution.
Unlike competitive offers, Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail helps customers significantly reduce complexity by solving the challenge of integration from the store (both on-premise and online) to the headquarters and supply chain through purpose-built components. This drives control of the retail chain from headquarters, empowering users to be more productive and deliver stronger customer service.
22 MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION
Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail provides: Centralized store management
o Central management of POS terminals, including visual profiles, functional profiles, user interface layouts, and employee permissions.
o Consistent data model and business rules between store and ERP processes for accurate, timely, and consistent data.
o Powerful data replication to help ensure critical updates across the organization: configurable, flexible inventory and financial updates, sales order payments, gift card usage, and issuance and usage of loyalty points.
Flexible POS
o Integrated, purpose-built POS components.
o Capability to continue capturing transactions and serve customers even when store connectivity to headquarters is down with fault-tolerant, resilient POS.
o Role-specific UI customization options, with graphical ―drag and drop‖ designer for improved productivity and customer service.
o Powerful POS capabilities, including on account, global voucher, returns management, info codes, returns/voids/markdowns, and inventory receipt/lookup/counts.
Powerful merchandising
o Ability to optimize for profitability with pricing flexibility, including flexible discounts, group/item/customer discounts, mix and match, and buy-one-get-one scenarios.
o Ability to optimize purchasing and replenishment: Purchase quantities based on size, color, and style; and use replenishment processes, including cross-docking, to suggest item distribution between stores with immediate updates to transfer journals.
o Flexible four-level item hierarchy that drives valuable reporting insight to improve assortment planning and product mix, including special item groups, location-specific pricing, customer-specific pricing, and promotions.
Global reach and scalability
o Quick adaptability to changing business requirements with POS add-ins and extensible headquarters software that can be tailored to meet specific retail needs.
o Scalability to support business growth and add stores and distribution centers to help retailers compete—locally and internationally. Retailers can easily add users and sites with three-tier architecture and integration with other Microsoft technology, such as Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
o Flexibility to operate across geographies and locations with built-in support for 38 countries in 42 language versions.
o Ability to capitalize on new opportunities with a web services framework that makes it faster, easier, and more affordable to build expanded, profitable partner relationships.
Multichannel enablement
o Reduced TCO with out-of-the-box support for critical payment integration, including debit and credit through Payment services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP.
o Enhanced customer experience by managing payments across channels—including mixing and matching payment providers by channel; buying online and returning to a physical store; and leveraging support for shopping carts.
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o Ability to create and publish catalogs and manage offers across multiple channels. Hardware and payment compliance
o Support for retail industry standards, including OLE for retail POS (OPOS), which enables maximum flexibility in POS hardware and peripherals choice.
o Compliance with and ongoing support for payment card industry (PCI) data security standards.
Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail is planned to be rolled out in two waves. The first phase is planned in August CY2010 in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail R2 is planned for January 2011. In addition to the first wave
countries, the R2 release will be made available for Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, India, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Thailand, and Turkey.
Planned enhancements for Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail R2 include: Enterprise and retail store portal support
Gift card enhancements; label printing; and price-embedded barcodes Enhancements to pricing/promotion
Support for additional store inventory scenarios
End-of-day process and retail-specific reporting enhancements
Implementation accelerators for setup and monitoring, as well as enhanced user experience Upgrade from the August release
IT operational efficiency
The Intelligent Data Management Framework and the Oracle-to-Microsoft SQL Server Data Migration Assistant are planned for release to support IT operational efficiency for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.
Intelligent Data Management Framework
The Intelligent Data Management Framework for Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to help administrators optimize the Microsoft Dynamics AX database layout by providing functionality to manage key database layout techniques by way of intuitive archiving and purging capabilities. The framework provides the platform for reducing database size by purging and archiving transactions records from sets of relating entities, while maintaining the consistency and integrity of production data.
The Intelligent Data Management Framework also provides customers and partners the ability to identify and discover related entities based on Microsoft Dynamics AX metadata and to determine the purging or archiving criteria for tables. The framework also analyzes the production database to determine usage patterns and assesses the health of the Microsoft Dynamics AX application. This release is only available in U.S. English; only supports Microsoft SQL Server databases; and is currently available as a beta version. The Intelligent Data Management Framework is planned to be available in H2 of CY2010.
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Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 (latest service pack) on SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 (latest service pack)
Microsoft Business Solutions–Axapta 3.0 (latest service pack)
Figure 7: The Intelligent Data Management Framework will help organizations optimize their database and reduce data storage costs.
Oracle-to-Microsoft SQL Server Data Migration Assistant
Microsoft is planning to release the Oracle-to-Microsoft SQL Server Data Migration Assistant for Microsoft Dynamics AX to help customers switch from an Oracle database to a SQL Server database. The Data Migration Assistant is currently available as a beta version and is planned to release later in H2 of CY2010. The Data Migration Assistant supports the following releases:
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0
Microsoft Business Solutions–Axapta 3.0
Microsoft technology integration
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is certified on Windows Vista®, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008,
Windows Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-VTM virtualization. Virtualization
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footprint and minimize operational support. Organizations that have invested in Microsoft Windows can use their investment in virtualization to manage Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Through the Server Virtualization Validation Program, we will also support our customers‘ investment in other
virtualization technology.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 also supports SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2, and utilizes new capabilities of the release, such as the compression capability.
Other Microsoft Dynamics AX technology integration includes Microsoft Office Communications Server, a line of corporate messaging and collaboration software that can be integrated with voice over IP (VoIP) support. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 includes a connection to Microsoft Office Communicator through the global address book. Now, organizations can view presence information and send an instant message (IM) or email, or call directly from the transaction screen in Microsoft Dynamics AX. This also improves compliance management for corporate contact data and helps workers increase productivity.
For project-based businesses that have invested in Microsoft Project Server, we have provided
interoperability with Microsoft Dynamics AX. This enables better visibility of the project life cycle using the collaboration capabilities of Microsoft Project Server.
System requirements
Depending on the functionality that an organization uses with Microsoft Dynamics AX, the use of additional Microsoft software will be required. For a detailed view of required updates and optional components, please review the system requirements.
Deployment strategies
When political, environmental, or competitive influences change the business landscape, the organization must be able to respond efficiently. This requires a business solution that can scale up and down as needed.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is designed as a three-tier application that delivers the flexibility to scale as a business grows. It also means that there is just one centralized installation that all locations can log on to. In addition, the number of country/region layers has been reduced. Regardless of how many locations an organization has, managers can be confident that all employees are in synch when it comes to planning production cycles and deliveries; viewing inventory, financial and customer data; and so on. The centralized installation also makes it easier to set up the business management solution to support business processes in a new country/region office or location.
Because of the richness of business intelligence tools, we will continue to utilize the capabilities of the SQL Server Reporting Services and Analysis Services.
This architecture has served companies well and will continue to provide flexibility for many versions to come. The architecture enables companies to choose how they need to work—whether centrally, regionally, or decentralized.
In Microsoft Dynamics 2009, we provide a RoleTailored interface built on Windows SharePoint Services to enable end users to access the business application through a web browser wherever they may work. This option enables broader reach and minimizes deployment and maintenance.
Microsoft Dynamics AX will continue to be shaped by the customers who use it. An example of this is our commitment to continually improve performance and scalability. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, we have benchmarked the application in mixed-mode, real world functional scenarios demonstrating
26 MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION
throughput of 322,470+ lines per hour with 2,250 concurrent users. Please visit PartnerSource or
CustomerSource for more details on Microsoft Dynamics AX benchmark reports.
Scale needs to be managed and controlled. With our certification on Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization technology, we provide the ability to support an IT agenda of server consolidation. Microsoft System Center Operations Manager provides a centralized environment to manage and monitor all deployed network and software assets. We also provide a Management Pack that allows administrators to manage Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.
Country/region localizations – regional features for a global economy
Microsoft Dynamics AX provides local and global functionality to meet geographic requirements. Continuously updated as tax and regulatory requirements change, Microsoft Dynamics AX helps customers meet country/region-wide, horizontal governmental (in countries with an official Microsoft Dynamics release), and financial reporting obligations.Our partners focus on providing specific vertical and municipal regulatory enhancements and features. For example, while Microsoft focuses on delivering regulatory enhancements that are required by the majority of customers in a country/region, our partners provide add-ons and customizations for specific state, provincial, or city regulations and vertical markets (such as insurance, real estate, and agriculture).
Figure 8: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 supports 42 languages, including Arabic.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 includes additional country/region-specific functionality for local legal requirements; the local functionality in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 consists of more than 1,000 features and over 1,300 reports. In addition, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 meets the needs of multinational organizations by merging or consolidating the Global Layer (GLS) functionality.
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Unicode and built-in support for a bi-directional user interface enables Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to support 42 languages with 38 countries for localization, including the Hebrew and Arabic
languages, as show above.
Availability by country, region, and language
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is available in the following countries and regions, and can be implemented with any of the languages listed below. For an updated list, please visit
www.microsoft.com/dynamics/en/us/products/ax-availability.aspx.
Available Countries and Regions Available Languages
Australia, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), English (Canada), English (India), English (Ireland), English (Malaysia), English (New Zealand), English (Singapore), English (South Africa), English (UK), English (U.S.), Estonian, Finnish, Flemish, French, French (Belgium), French (Canada), French (Switzerland), German, German (Austria), German (Switzerland), Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Italian (Switzerland), Japanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Mexico), Swedish, Thai, Turkish.
Table 1: Availability of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 in countries/regions and languages.
Support for multi GAAP requirement in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
Microsoft Dynamics AX provides the financial foundation and automated internal controls to enable data processing for the purpose of financial reporting in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 introduced additional enhancements to help facilitate the compliancy process and adherence to compliancy standards. For example, the Compliance Center helps businesses comply with any standard that requires formal documentation of business processes.
28 MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX STATEMENT OF DIRECTION Multi-GAAP in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 using posting layers
Multi GAAP requirements are supported by using different posting layers. Microsoft Dynamics AX supports three different posting layers: Current, Operations and Tax.
IFRS-compliant transactions can be posted either to the current layer or a separate posting layer. Transactions to adjust from local GAAP to any reporting GAAP can be posted to a different posting layer, for example, the operations layer. The financial statements can then be run including or excluding specific posting layers.
Figure 9: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 supports any combination (Current, Operations and Tax) of posting layers to help meet reporting requirements.
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Welcome to the Future: Microsoft Dynamics AX ‘6’
Microsoft is committed to delivering the People-Ready experience to medium-sized organizations and divisions of larger enterprises, which operate in a global economy. With the Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘ release, Microsoft is focusing on helping companies to address the challenges they are facing as described in the section Building for a Dynamic Business.
Microsoft Dynamics AX „6‟ value proposition
For Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘, Microsoft will invest in: Simplifying the entire application life cycle of Microsoft Dynamics AX—from implementation, customization, integration, usability, and maintenance to upgrade and performance—to help lower the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Enhancing financial capabilities to support companies who operate in a global economy. Adding more industry-enabling functionality for target industries.
Providing best practices in areas like supplier relationship management (SRM), human resources management (HRM), customer relationship management, expense management, and compliance and environmental sustainability.
Supporting new online services, such as site services for case management and vendor onboarding to enhance collaborative scenarios.
Target industries
Microsoft Dynamics AX provides a robust industry-enabling solution that can be extended by our partners and ISVs. The target industries for Microsoft Dynamics AX are:
Service Industries Manufacturing
Wholesale/Distribution Retail
Public Sector (new with Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘)
Strengthening global presence
With the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, Microsoft added support for bi-directional languages and the Arabic and Hebrew language, along with the last-added localization for Israel. Today, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 delivers 42 language translations and 38 country localizations. Looking forward, Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘ will expand the global product capabilities and continue sustaining the regulatory compliance for all supported countries. One of the major enhancements planned in Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘ is the merge and consolidation of the existing country layers functionality (GLS layers) toward a worldwide single instance of Microsoft Dynamics AX for all 38 supported countries.
The consolidated GLS layer (aka ‗AX6 OneGLS‘ ) is planned to be available 18 months after the Microsoft Dynamics AX ‗6‘ release and is expected to include all the localizations for 13 GLS countries; Brazil, Czech Republic, China, Estonia, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Turkey.
