Interview with Amber Kirkman, Director of Marketing - Sunrise Technologies

Recently I blogged about A lot of Dynamics Mojo going on.

In that, I highlighted some upocoming Dynamics AX related events. Well to help dive a little deeper into some of these events, from a Parents point of view, I took some time to, virtually, sit down with Amber Kirkman, Director of Marketing - Sunrise Technologies.

The point of this interview was to get insight from Amber on Sunrise's point of view for some of these upcoming events, what is means to Sunrise, and the value these bring.

The following is the result of that interview.:



1. Amber, as Director of Marketing at Sunrise, can you give some insights into the importance that Sunrise places on such events as the AXUG and others like the ERP Vendor shootout?

"Events such as AXUG Summit, ERP Vendor Shootout, and our Lunch n’ Learn for textile, apparel, and footwear, as great ways for Sunrise to meet and interact with our Microsoft Dynamics AX prospective and current customers. They are also great opportunities for current and prospective customers to network and learn from one another.

AXUG summit is a very important event for us. Summit is our opportunity to thank our customers for their support, engage in their discussions with other users to hear their questions and suggestions for the future of Microsoft Dynamics AX, and educate them on our additional solutions and services related to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

ERP Shootout is an exciting event where we have the opportunity to demonstrate Microsoft Dynamics AX for manufacturing and distribution up against other ERP vendors. Each vendor uses the same script so an attendee really gets an unbiased apples-to-apples comparison of potential ERP products.

The Lunch n’ Learn for textile, apparel, and footwear is a new event for Sunrise in the New York area. We decided to do something different for our prospective clients located in the NY metro area where they could come together for a lunch to network, hear customer success stories, and really see firsthand how Microsoft Dynamics AX is a great fit for their industry."

2. Can you give us some details about the upcoming Dynamics Community AXUG Summit, and Sunrise's role in this event?

"Presented by the Dynamics AX User Group (AXUG), the AXUG Summit is the premier annual conference for Microsoft Dynamics AX users, AXUG Partners and key Microsoft Dynamics AX personnel. Summit 2010 will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Orlando from October 18 - 22. Optional training is held on Monday, October 18th and Friday, October 22nd.

The AXUG Summit features a wealth of information-packed Educational Sessions and Role-Based Tracks that deliver Microsoft Dynamics AX knowledge and experience designed to help organizations optimize the functionality, flexibility, performance and return on investment benefit offered by Microsoft Dynamics AX. Sunrise will be participating in the Summit and exhibiting during the expo, booth # 413. We are encouraging all of our Microsoft Dynamics AX customers to attend. It’s such a great event for our customers to network with other Microsoft Dynamics AX users and to learn more about the future of Microsoft Dynamics AX."

3. How do you think such events as the Lunch 'n Learn help current or possible customers?

"The Lunch n’ Learn will give prospective customers the opportunity to learn more about key functionality that is inherent in Microsoft Dynamics AX for their industry. Attendees will also have an opportunity to hear more about how our textile, apparel, and footwear customers have successfully implemented Microsoft Dynamics AX with Sunrise and some key value points that an integrated ERP solution provides their industry. Attendees will walk away with a customer case study from a leading apparel company using Microsoft Dynamics AX today and the information that they need to champion a project of their own."

4. What is the most exciting parts of these different events for you and why?

"Meeting people from the different companies and learning more about what makes them successful is the most exciting part of these events for me. I really enjoy hearing from the attendees about their product lines and the direction that they are taking their business. It’s also exciting to discuss the challenges and give suggestions of ways to improve business processes when using Microsoft Dynamics AX."

"It’s exciting to be able to offer so many opportunities for companies to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics AX and Sunrise Technologies. I encourage each and every business decision maker, if you are thinking about making some investments in your business in the next 12-24 months; join us for one of our events. I think that the information that you receive will make the investment to attend, worth it."

The following is a short Bio of Amber Kirkman, to give you an idea of her background and position with Sunrise.:
Amber has spent the last 6 years marketing Microsoft Dynamics AX for manufacturing, distribution, and retail for Sunrise Technologies. Before Sunrise, Amber was a marketing manager for retail property management company and a community director for a leading non-profit organization. Amber holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, with Departmental Honors, from Lenoir-Rhyne University. Amber is married and has one child. Amber enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, volunteering in the local community, and golf.

I would like to thank Amber for taking the time out of her busy schedule to do this interview. I think it really shows the value a Nationally Manager Partner like Sunrise puts on such events. Mix this, with my interview with Sunrise's own John Pence (Interview with John Pence on the AXUG Summit) about the AXUG summit, and I think you can get a good idea of the value Sunrise puts on these events.

I think its important to understand the value of these events from a customer and partner point of view. That is the Dynamics Ecosystem, Customers, Partners and Microsoft. These events, along with other resources, help foster and grow the Dynamics Community. Help keep it being, excuse the pun, Dynamic in nature!

That's all for now, it seems as though a lot of interviews are taking place right now. I believe this should be a good sign as to the amount of events that will be taking place for Dynamics and Dynamics AX over the next 6-8 months.

Check back soon as more to come!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference, session details released!

Recently I did an interview with Microsoft's, Lachlan Cash. (Interview Here)

Well today the Dynamics AX team, including Lachlan himself, has released the details of what all sessions will be going on at the upomcing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference.

You can see his write up here.: Session content for the Technical Conference 2011

You can also get directly to the list of sessions here.: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Coference - Session List

This is great news, and I am excited about this Technical Conference. Never before has Microsoft had a sort of PDC event, specifically for Dynamics AX. I think the move shows the amount of Technical changes that will exists with Dynamics AX '6' is released.

Lachlan talked about a few in the interview. With that said, I wanted to list a few sessions I will most likely be attending. This is not a complete list, but a list to start with.:

• A Domain Modeling Approach to Defining System Functionality and Interactions in AX - In AX6, Dynamics AX engineering teams have begun using Domain Modeling to define the key business entities within the ERP space and the interactions between those entities. This presentation will explain how we are leveraging that modeling to guide our functional coverage planning in test as well how we are using this information to facilitate communication about the functional areas and the interactions between business entities.
  
  This presentation will provide an overview of the process we have used to collect this information and an overview of the increases in efficiency and completeness that we have seen in our test planning activities. Finally, we will demonstrate how this process can be leveraged by partners to analyze the possible scope of effort required to integrate custom solutions into the standard product.



• SQL-based Model Store - In Microsoft Dynamics AX the AOD files are replaced with a SQL database. Come and hear about the challenges, the solution and the new opportunities. You will learn the model store schema, and how to write SQL queries against model artifacts.



• Services and Application Integration Framework Enhancements in Microsoft Dynamics AX - We will provide an overview of the Evolution of Services as a first-class programming model to the Microsoft Dynamics AX system including developer oriented features that make it easy to develop services from X++ business logic and consume externally hosted services.
  
  Also covered in the session will be an overview of all B2B and A2A integration specific features and the simplified configuration and management of AIF artifacts.

These are just a few that I want to highlight. Looking at the list, I am excited about a lot of sessions actually. There is going to be a lot covered, and I think is most valuable for any customer of partner in the AX ecosystem to attend this.

I recommend taking the time to review the list of sessions, and start planning what you want to attend. This is just not for Technical based consultants either. Functional consultants can really benefit as well.

That's all for now, but check back soon as more to come as we approach AXUG summit, the Decisions Fall 2010 VC, More interviews, examples, and topics!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Interview with Microsoft's Lachlan Cash about Dynamics AX Technical Conference

I hope this blog post finds everyone having a good day! This is the start of a series of blog post, where Microsoft's own Lachlan Cash and I talk about the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical conference.

This series of post will be monthly, building up to the Technical Conference, being held start of 2011, at the Redmond campus.



So give a warm welcome to Lachlan, as we kick off this series.:



1. Lachlan, with the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX Technical Conference, being held on the Redmond campus in January., can you give us an idea of what people can expect when attending?

"With the new version on its way next year, we looked at what we could do to get partners and customers ready to adopt this latest version. We decided that we would provide broader pre-release access to the product. So that is how the Microsoft Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011 came about.

That gives you some background to why we are hosting the event. What can attendees expect? We are working on a great lineup of content focused on the next release. There will be over 65 sessions that will completely cover the product. We'll have time set aside to collaborate with the development team in Chalk and Talk and Ask the Experts sessions and also we are teaming up with Microsoft Dynamics AX Certified Trainers to host instructor-led labs.

We are hosting this on the Microsoft campus so that our partners and customers can network with the development team, not only from Microsoft Dynamics AX, but with others that work on the core technologies that AX builds on. We are making sure you get the full picture."


2. For the different sessions, will there be set tracks for say Architects, vs. Developers, vs. Admins, etc? And also will people have the ability to cross track if desired?

"Because this event is pre-release and dedicated to the next release we decided to focus the content for a few key roles what would typically need this information to plan to upgrade solutions. The roles we focused on are architects, developers, IT Infrastructure consultants and functional consultants working with developers on solutions.

We have simplified the deployment footprint of the application so IT consultants will be impressed with less management and expansion of new integrations to the Microsoft Office suite of products. Developers will get to see the innovation in the developer tools and programming experience. More importantly they will get to experience the work that we have been driving in the area of model-driven development. These technology innovations flow across to the application foundation For the functional consultant, there are some important application modeling concepts that we have been working on to help a broader range of customers that are adopting Microsoft Dynamics AX.

In short they will see topics on developer tools, database modeling, application component design, business intelligences tools, office integration around Microsoft SharePoint and the core office products, services integration, IT management, performance, and application lifecycle management.

People can pick and choose what they go and listen to. They don't have to stay in the same track. We know a lot of the people in the channel wear multiple hats so we want to provide great content that can get people inspired.

There is a lot of great innovation to see."


3. Can you pick two sessions, for this first interview, that you can highlight and give a little detail about? Give a sneak peak of sorts?

"Well, we are posting a draft of some of the sessions to the conference Web site soon so that will give you a better perspective of the type of content. But to give you two examples: The sessions on models will be interesting for pretty much everyone. We have simplified how the application is stored, managed, and the approach to storing the application code in the DB has changed and will help simplify the management of an AX implementation.

If you have been working with Microsoft Dynamics AX for a while, then you know we have been working on the implementation of the SSRS reporting engine. SSRS becomes the primary engine in the next release and so developers have some great tools to provide reporting solutions for customers. Likewise customers will benefit from this work because of the integration with Office. So there will be a number of sessions covering not only the SSRS work but across the board from a BI point of view."


4. In regards to the new Microsoft Dynamics AX, what kind of architectural changes will be taking place that you are at liberty to discuss at this time?

"Yes, there are things we want to keep under wraps until the conference. There are two areas of architectural change that you will see. The first is related to the simplification of the IT Architecture and the second to the application and the model-driven architecture.

I'll be a little vague here, :-) but for the IT infrastructure consultant what this means is simplification. Less components to deploy, fewer infrastructures needed to do more, less components to manage. For example, the way we do services integration and where we host the Windows Workflow runtime will change. The AOS is the end point and the workflow runtime is hosted under the AOS. Just less pieces to deploy and manage, which is important for customers small and large because there is just one piece of software to manage."


5. What new development for Microsoft Dynamics AX are you most excited about?

"Yeah, it’s hard one to pin down to just one as there is so much innovation across the board. While this is not a specific feature, I'll have to point to more of a theme across the release, and that’s simplification. The footprint of the functionality is growing because of our industry focus. Even the core horizontal functionally expands significantly. So at the same time as this expansion the software is getting smaller, there are fewer pieces to manage.

Along the same theme for developers, there is simplification in the MorphX development tools and programming as well as choice. If the tool you are familiar with is Visual Studio, and you are building managed code solutions, that is, you develop with the .NET Framework and use C#, VB, or any managed language for that matter, then you will appreciate the work the R&D team have done with evolving the .NET business connector to a new generation of typed managed interop. This time, because we can leverage the work that has been done around models and how we are now storing the Meta data of the application, we can provide access to the business application objects in Visual Studio. Actually we did a small demo of this at WPC2010back in July this year but of course you will see a lot more in-depth at the Technical Conference."


"If I could just finish with saying it will be great to see a lot of familiar faces, as well as new faces at the event in January. We are excited to be able to put this event on, we think it is our little version of PDC for developers or TechEd for the IT folks but just focused on Microsoft Dynamics AX and specifically the next release. We think it's important that our community gets the information early. We are happy that with this version we are providing much earlier access to the product before it is released, something we haven't done before.

So go and register at Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011. And be sure to check out a sample of the session content that should be published by the time this blog is posted. We plan to have a full catalog by the end of October."

Here a little bit of info on Lachlan, just in case you don't know what is role is at Microsoft at the bigger Dynamics Ecosystem.:

Lachlan is a Senior Product Manager with the Microsoft Dynamics product management team. His current role with Dynamics is to provide programs and tools that support the Dynamics AX channel to work with and demo Microsoft Dynamics AX. He has worked in Microsoft for 8 years across various roles in APAC, EMEA and Corp. He previously worked for Navision and has spent 17 years working with mid-range and enterprise business application software. You’ve probably seen him at Convergence presenting in the keynotes.

I would like to thank the Microsoft Dynamics AX product team, and specifically Lachlan Cash for taking the time to kick this series of blog post off. I hope that you find them interesting, and that it helps give some insight into the Technical Conference and next years release of Microsoft Dynamics AX '6'.

That's all for now, but check back soon as more to come!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

A lot of Dynamics Mojo going on

The past few weeks, information about Dynamics License, about Dynamics vs. other ERP platforms, and exciting new developments on vertical offerings, ISV's, and cloud based focuses has been taking place.

Mix this with the upcoming AXUG Summit in Orlando, and also the MSDynamicsWorld.com, Decisions Fall 2010, Virtaul Conference, as well with the offical Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical conference coming in Jan., what do you get?

A lot of Dynamics Mojo going on!

Interest level in Dynamics AX has never been higher, with searches continued to increase around not just core Dynamics AX information, but also vertical solutions like PDM / PLM, Cloud, and more.

So to help centralize and bring the mojo together in one place, the following is a list of good information that I think everyone needs to review.:

• Microsoft Executive Suggests an Alternative to Oracle's Fusion Applications


• Microsoft seeks to unify its coming Microsoft 'Union' Services, ERP and CRM wares


• Microsoft Dynamics ERP Licensing Guidelines - Customer Edition Aug 2010 (PartnerSource or CustomerSource access required)


• Microsoft Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011


• Dynamics AX Day at Decisions Fall 2010 is November 1


• AXUG Summit 2010 - home page

So, as I said, I am calling this the Dynamics Mojo, and for good reason. With all the interest, information, portals, groups, conferences, and more. There is plenty of places and ways for a company to help decide if Dynamics ERP is the right choice for them. There is also plenty for customers who have already made that right choice, to have access too, to help extend their Dynamics investment.

It's a very exciting time that we are in, and the excitment will only continue as we close out 2010 with a bang, and kick off 2011 with even more Dynamics Mojo!

I have a special treat starting soon, that will be a series of post with Microsoft's own Lachlan Cash, focused around Dynamics AX '6' and the Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011. Also expect coverage of the AXUG Summit and Decisions Fall VC on this blog, plus much much more!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Interview with John Pence on the AXUG Summit

Recently, I had the chance to virtually sit down with John Pence, President of Sunrise Technologes, Inc. (www.sunriseconsult.com) to talk about the upcoming AXUG summit.



The following is the result of that interview.:



1. John, with AXUG Summit 2010 just around the corner, what can of value does this conference bring to the Dynamics AX community?

"I think this is a big year for Dynamics AX and the user group. With the release of AX 6.0 due late next Spring AXUG Summit is a great chance to network with peers & Microsoft about their plans for the new release, what type of improvements have others seen in previous upgrades, and in general what’s working out there. I think the Town Hall session will be huge this year."

2. John looking at this from an attendee point of view, what are some sessions you are interested in and why?

"I always look forward to the Town Hall session. The interaction between a room full of knowledgeable Dynamics AX users, and the equally knowledgeable Microsoft executives, is always a great learning experience. In addition I am going to be attending as many of the BI sessions as I can. That is an area where many of the newer Microsoft technologies are converging and providing a lot of value to our AX clients."

3. Looking at this from a Partners point of view, what are some of the highlights and take aways you have from attending AXUG summits from years past?

"First and foremost, it provides an opportunity to network with our existing customer base. Every year we get great feedback on how things are going, what can be improved upon, and interesting best practice tips. Also important is networking with the Microsoft resources that are at the Summit."

4. Being a partner that will showcase this year during the AXUG summit, what will Sunirse be talking about?

"I am thrilled you brought this up. We are focusing on an important new technology, the iPad, and how it can compliment Dynamics AX in a really exciting way. I believe the iPad is an outstanding Mobile Application platform that is being adopted at light speed in the business world. Sunrise will be demoing how Dynamics AX can run on an iPad via a RDP connection, and a native iPad application directly interacting with a Dynamics AX instance."

John's closing statement.:

"I feel that every year AXUG Summit really delivers a tremendous value to its attendees. The networking opportunities with peers and Microsoft executives is always worth the price of the conference. The breakout sessions are almost always useful and based on real world experience, and the Town Hall session is not to be missed."



I would like to take the time to thank John for his thoughts. I know I am really looking forward to this years AXUG summit. I will be on-hand myself, and am scheduled to help with the above mentioned iPad demo, along with two other sessions on the Cloud.

That's all for now, but check back soon as more to come!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Goodbye Stephen Elop... whats next?

I sat back this morning, a little shocked as the news rolled in about Microsoft Business Divsion - President, Stephen Elop, let the world know he was leaving Microsoft, to become CEO of Nokia.



While at Microsoft, for the past four years, he has helped oversee Office 2010 rollout, and the Dynamics ERP and CRM business increase at great rates. He was always great to listen too at Convergence every year.

Now he will no longer be with Microsoft, and as of Sept. 21 he will be the CEO of Nokia.

ZDNet has covered this well, including asking some tough questions if Stephen is the right man for the Nokia Chief position. That article can be found here.: Can a Microsoft man fix Nokia? Here are 6 things that have to happen

I don't personally know Stephen, however the past four years working in the Dynamics Ecosystem, through a tough recession, and through new major releases, all-in-all, has been a great four years for Microsoft.

Being the leader of the Business Divison, Stephen has to be given credit, in part, to this success. There are of course many different reasons for the success, including great partners like Sunrise Technologies, Inc., the amazing VAR I am a part of.

So for Stephen and Nokia, I think we all wish him the best and hope he does well while at Nokia.

Now taking a step back, and looking at the bigger moving parts going on in the enterprise and Nokia's current position world wide and in the U.S. They have the top market share in Mobile OS actually, yet hardly exist in the U.S.

Now, lets take my blog post from yesterday.: Tech execs betting on enterprise mobility and look at what Stephen Elop was for Microsoft and is now going to be for Nokia.

For me at least, it has me thinking. Nokia is a big partner of Microsoft actually, believe it or not, and is fast losing share to iOS and Andriod for world wide marketshare.

There is a huge shift to the computing device most people use is a smart phone or tablet / slate based device. This will only continue to grow, and even more so in the Enterprise.

Now take the big focus for next year, Mobile Line of Business Applications. That is, stand alone, and connecting Mobile solutions that extend a customers enterprise investments to the mobile devices, smart phones, slates, tablets, etc.

Could Stephen Elop take Nokia, and revive it, bringing the giant into the U.S. Markets, continue to grow in developing markets, and offer a platform that enterprise swarm to for Mobile LOB applications?

Right now, hard to say. However do I think this will be a top priority for Stephen Elop, bringing Nokia into the US and a focus on the Enterprise? I do!

It will not be his only focus, but a big one. How big of a success he is, will be determined by how Nokia engages the market, if they beef up Mobile LOB app creation ability on their platform (either with Symbian OS or another one), and how he involves Partners.

If Stephen believed anything about what he preached, around the Microsoft Partner Ecosystem, to help drive Dynamics, then I would be willing to bet that this will be an early on project to enable Nokia's push for being a viable mobile LOB platform for enterprise in the U.S. and the world.

So, that's my two cents... trying to tie a bigger picture together here. For me, still will be focusing on Dynamics AX, as well as Windows Phone, Apple iOS and Andriod for devices. If Nokia has a valid push, and it's a great value to enterprises, and can bring value to my customers... then it will be added to the list. Time will tell!

That's all for now, check back soon and have a blessed and wonderful weekend!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Tech execs betting on enterprise mobility

Today ZDNet is reporting in a new article that more and more Tech Executives are betting on enterprise mobility for the upcoming year. The full article can be read here.: Tech execs betting on enterprise mobility; Apple's iOS, Android ride along

Looking at this article we see the following two graphs, with the first being (currently) supported mobile devices.:


And application planned adoption.:


What very intersting in this is what we see for offical support, based on the respondants to ZDnet. We still see Blackberry and Windows Mobile being the top two for Enterprise Apps, while Apple's iOS is listed third.

Moving foward looking at the applications that will be adopted, and based on the ZDNet article, we see that mobile LOB (Line Of Business) apps are targeted as the next big opportunity for the mobile enterprise.

Recently, I have posted about how a cusotmer can extend their Dynamics AX investment to the Apple iOS platform with the iPhone and iPad. This is still true, and also true for the Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms as well.

Dynamics ax on the iPad and iphone
More on Dynamics AX and the iPad

What I am seeing however, with more and more push of the Apple iOS platform into the enterprise is that Apple's iOS platform will become more and more offically supported by enterprise Technology Depts.

The article does not show what depts plan to offically support, but I would be willing to bet that the Apple iOS would be one of the top platforms, if that was one of the metrics of this report.

I agree with ZDnet in their article, that mobile LOB applications are the next thing for enterprise, and this goes well beyond email and contacts, as pointed out in the article itself.

Your talking more and more productive applications, that do more than offer consumption. That actually extend a customers enterprise investments, beyond their walls, into the cloud, and on into the mobile land scape.

With the Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Apple iOS and Andriod OS as choices, along with numerous ways to cloud enable or on-presise host integrations to mobile LOB applications to a customers backend investments, how does a company make the right choice for moving forward with this? For moving forward with mobile LOB application planning, development, build vs. buy vs. customize?

I think that with the cloud, and integration options, along with the four mentioned mobile / device platforms, it's easy to see that could be a mixed bag actually. And why not right? No need for a device vendor lock in.

If you take Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP platform, in how flexible and open it is. Then mix in Windows Azure, Google's AppEngine, or even on-premise services, then the device becomes a light or mid sized client, depending on the need of the LOB application.

A mid-sized companies, with today's options, does not have to have an IT staff that knows everything about all platforms. They also don't have to have a vendor lock in either.

Being flexible, and with a little research, IT depts' can remain open minded to the LOB application needs of their companies, and use that to drive the choice. So if you have a Dynamics AX ERP investment, and in turn have a hyrbid mix of services in the cloud and on-premise, Windows Mobile could be your phone and the Apple iPad could be the tablet / slate device. And both can work with these services that help create mobile LOB applications that extend your enterprises reach.

I hope this continues to help drive thought around not being locked in, but looking at the needs of the business, and the needs of the LOB apps, to drive how this will get done for your company. From there is could also be a mixed bag of inhouse development, VAR based development, and purchased third party mobile Apps that complete a total mobile LOB solution for a companies needs.

That's all for now on the topic, however check back soon as this will continue to be a hot topic for the remainder of the year and well into next year. I have some interesting things coming out soon actually just on the mobile enterprise LOB topic, including extending Dynamics AX!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Managing Process Manufacturing using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 by Dr. Scott Hamilton

On Sept. 1st of this year, Dr. Scott Hamilton's new book, Managing Process Manufacturing using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 came out.



This is the next book, in a line of Dynamics AX focused books that Dr. Hamilton has been writing about for years. The focus for this book is the Process Manufacturing Vertical.

Past books have always gotten high marks, and this one is no exception. Dr. Hamilton once again takes his knowledge of AX, and dives into deep functional dive with Dynamics AX and the Process Vertical.

The Process Vertical is one of the key core verticals that Microsoft now develops for 'out of the box'.

If you are in a process vertical company, using the process vertical solution for Dynamics AX 2009, or thinking about doing so I would recommend this book. It targets the area's specific to process industries like Formula's vs. BOM's, Shelf Life, and many other concepts that such companies need from an ERP package.

I 100% recommend this book for those looking for outside help, and functional knowledge about Dynamics AX 2009 and the Process Vertical Solution it offers. Thanks Dr. Scott for another great title!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Dynamics AX 2009 Security Profiler tool

Not sure how many people have had the chance yet to really use the Dynamics AX 2009 Security Profiler tool. If you have, and have worked with Dynamics AX for some years, you can really see the value in such a tool. If you have not, and are working with security in AX 2009, then you need to get this tool.

A great write up was done back at the end of April on this tool, located here.: Dynamics AX 2009 – User group security Profiler



Basically it's an XPO that you import, and execute as a user with Admin rights to a given Dynamics AX instance. With this, you start a profile session, click on the forms, menu's items, etc. that a given user type would need, and the profiler logs the security keys touched during this session.

It's actually a simple enough idea, I can't believe it was not done before this! However I am very thankful this tool exists. So I wanted to bump this tool back into the spotlight for those that have not seen it, have not had a chance to use it, or maybe did not know that it existed.

That's all for now, getting back from a great long labor day weekend. Check back soon though, as some great post are coming out about AX and the future, the cloud, AXUG and more!



Visit Hillstar Business Intelligence (www.HillstarBI.com) in order to truly unlock your data trapped in your Microsoft Dynamics investment. With our value driven business intelligence strategy Hillstar help you transform into a data informed company.


"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Sunrise awarded, and new post from Kees Hertogh

I hope that everyone has been doing great, myself with school back in action, I was taking out of action --- first bug from school came rampaging through our home. Seems that everything is mostly back to normal now.

With that, it's been a week since my last last post, and a lot is going on. So let me start off by saying congrats to my fellow Sunrisers for another year of being awarded in the Accounting Technology's 2010 VAR 100 list!



You can see the full press release, at the following location.: Sunrise selected to Accounting Technology's 2010 VAR 100 list

From the PR.:
“The Accounting Today VAR 100 list is comprised of top accounting and ERP software resellers throughout the country, ranked by revenue,” says Seth Fineberg, Technology Editor of Accounting Today. “This select group represents those in the world of accounting software resellers that are truly ahead of the pack and we are pleased to honor them in this special report.”

And...
"We are very pleased to be recognized as one of Accounting Technology's VAR 100 list," states John Pence, President of Sunrise Technologies. "Our continued commitment to Microsoft Dynamics AX, customer service, and technical excellence is proving to be a winning combination in the marketplace."

Again a big congrats to my fellow Sunrisers on another award!

Now moving forward, Microsoft's owns Kees Hertogh, from the Microsoft Dynamics AX Product Group blog, just recently posted about how Making complex things simple is rewarding.

From his recent post.:
"The classic pitfall for a ‘one solution’ approach is the danger of complexity or disparate software often accompanied with a horrendous cost of ownership experiences. However, there are some things we fundamentally do different then our competitors:

- We have a continued focus on something what we often to refer to internally as “innovation from within.” Due to the unique transparent architecture of Microsoft Dynamics AX, we’re able to make fundamental changes or improvements in the application without sacrificing on upgradeability or maintainability. However, you’ll find applications out there which build a lot of redundancy in their data models because they’ve grown over time and the new functionality was literally bolted on.

- We extensively use the application platform capabilities built in the Microsoft application platform and closely work with these teams to continue to improve these offerings for ERP scenarios. Some examples: the Microsoft server OS offers a built-in workflow engine (the Windows Workflow Foundation). Competitors offer their own workflow/BPM stack capabilities that ride on top an OS, adding to integration complexity and cost. Microsoft SQL Server offers great BI and Reporting technology built in to the database, which means there’s no need to attach a separate BI environment to your transactional ERP system.

- Balance on what should be covered in core AX and what should be available in a vertical solution, is determined by us together with our partners and customers. Through different forums like industry advisory boards, we’re continuously working with our partners and customers to ensure we find the right balance between providing ‘business processes integrity’ across common processes, industries and vertical specific features that service unique needs.

“Making complex things simple“ for our customers and partners is hard work… and incredibly rewarding. We are honored by this recognition from Forrester."

You can read the full post here.: Making complex things simple will be rewarded..

Kees is speaking directly about the vision that drives Microsoft innovation with Dynamics ERP product line, and specifically to Dynamics AX. His words are right in line with the thought paths of what we have been talking about for the past few years with Dynamics AX and topics like BI, the Cloud, Extending Dynamics AX to other LOB Applications, etc. etc. Fits right in with my last post, covering this Forrester award, found here.: Microsoft Dynamics Cited as an Order Management Hub Solutions Leader

Well that's all for now! I would like to thank Kees for sharing his thoughts on the recent award for Dynamics AX, and how the work his team has done, and their focus, is what made the Forrester award the reality in which Dynamics AX lives in.

I am also going to take the time here to wish everyone a safe and fun labor day weekend in the U.S. This is College kick off week as well, so I have to say Roll Tide! I will be taking some time off, but be back post second half of next week. There is a lot to talk about over the next 12 months, and I will be covering as much of it all as I possible can. Till next time!

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