Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference Next Week!

Well, we are finally at the point to where Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' information will be flowing like crazy soon. A lot of information, deep dives, talk & chalk, Q&A will be taking place next week at Redmond.

I am talking about the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference. Kees Hertogh, which I interviewed here: Official Details about Dynamics AX '6' released, including comments from Microsofts Kees Hertogh this past Monday, just posted recently a nice resource for the session content, travel, etc. You can find his post here.: Preparing for the Dynamics AX Technical Conference next week…

This has been a real build up, and a lot of people are ready to get their collective hands on AX '6' and all that it brings. We have had some previews of what to expect, and it should be a great event.

Like I have stated earlier, I will be covering this event live from my twitter account.: DynamicsERP @ Twitter (Has tagged: #DAXCONF).

I will also have plenty to write and post about as well. I hope to see some of you there, and if not, keep an eye here for information about AX '6'!

See you next week!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Expert SSRS with AX Tip from Michael Stashwick

One of the things I like to do, from time to time, is have guest bloggers appear here. This is to help bring more and more relevant content to you, the readers of this blog.

A new person, to the blogging ring this time is a fellow peer at Sunrise Technologies, that goes by the name of Michael Stashwick. He is a Senior Technical Architect, like myself, and have a lot of passion for AX and Technology.

One area that Michael seems to focus on a lot is BI and AX. I have wrote a lot over the years about BI, from concepts, to specific technical howto's. Today falls into that howto or technical tip area.

Without getting to much into the debate of how SSRS should be used with Dynamics AX, Michael choose for his first guest post to focus on using native SSRS reports with AX.

This is not the Dynamics AX SSRS Visual Studio focused reports, but rather trying to take and offer best of both worlds. So with that, I will give the "blogging stick" over to Michael.:
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A common debate in every Dynamics AX implementation is, “What tool should I use for custom reporting?” For many years, the battle was between using native MorphX reporting, and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), a widely used tool that can be used against any SQL database. In AX 2009, another contender emerged, AX 2009 SRS, which is a hybrid of the previous two choices.

AX 2009 SRS reports is a SQL reporting option that can access Dynamics AX business logic, as well as inherit AX security--and run natively in Dynamics AX, which is one of the best arguments as this reduces end user confusion in their search for data. Unfortunately, AX 2009 SRS reports void the great functionality found in Report Manager (report subscriptions, caching, file share, e-mailing, et al), which is one of the reasons to go down the road of SQL reporting in the first place.

With a little ingenuity, SSRS reports can appear to run natively in a Dynamics AX 2009 environment, which not only provides the most professional, native aesthetic, but in my opinion, make SSRS the best reporting option available.

First, open Visual Studio and create a new Dynamics AX Reporting project. Give the project a meaningful name, one that will ultimately be the same file name as the SSRS report.



Next, deploy the blank project to Dynamics. This will create an AX 2009 Report Library in the AOT.





This is the aforementioned ingenuity. Report Libraries reference files [only] in the Dynamics folder in Report Manager. The file name is the only connection between the deployed report and library.

Now all we have to do is create a SSRS report in Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) with the same Report Definition Language (RDL) filename as the Report Library, which is ExampleSSRS in this case.

Create a new SSRS report in BIDS, or preferred application. Remember that the SSRS report project can be any meaningful name, but the report file itself must match the name of the Report Library.



Upload the RDL to the Dynamics folder in Report Manager. If the proper target server URL is setup in the Report Server Project in BIDS, it can also be deployed to Report Manager from there.



Next, in AX, create an output menu object. Make sure that the object type is SQLReportLibraryReport, and that the object is the name of the Report Library.



Now, the menu object can be placed in an AX menu, or called via x++. Parameters can still be passed through the URL in an Args object, albeit rendering format, report values, or command parameters (refer to URL Access on MSDN MSDN - SSRS URL Access), just disclude the portion of the report server and name.

The following example runs the report, renders it in HTML, leaves the toolbar visible, but hides any parameters:



When the report is run, it will appear natively in an AX 2009 window, and no one will know the report was actually written in SQL.



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Well I would like to thank Michael for taking the time and sharing this nice tip. I hope that this is just the first from Michael, and we hear about many more tips and tricks when it comes to BI / Reporting related topics for Dynamics AX.

Here is Michael's Bio:
Michael Stashwick is a Senior Technical Architect at Sunrise Technologies. He has been working with Dynamics AX since version 3.0 in tandem with many Business Intelligence projects focusing on SSRS and SSAS for Dynamics AX.

Michael has a bachelor's degree in Business Information Technology with focuses on Decision Support Systems and Operations Management from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is also a Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Professional.

That's it for now. Make sure to follow me on twitter.: DynamicsERP on Twitter For next week, as I bring you live coverage of the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference. (#DAXCONF). I will also be creating a lot of new blog post, and guest columns throughout the Dynamics Community sites, based on the contect from next week. See you then!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Official Details about Dynamics AX '6' released, including comments from Microsofts Kees Hertogh

Here we are, kicking off 2011 with a bang for Microsoft Dynamics AX! Next week in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference, in which the primary focus in on Microsoft Dynamics AX '6'.

To kick things off, Microsoft today did a press release, in which official details about the Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' product was released. A direct link to the Press Release can be found here.: Microsoft Previews Next-Generation ERP

This press release was well covered by both MSDynamicsWorld.com, here: Microsoft Confirms Details of Upcoming Dynamics AX "6" Version, as well as MaryJo Over at ZDNet, on her 'All About Microsoft' blog, found here.: 2011 to be a big year for Microsoft in ERP


In reading the press release, and extra coverage, I had to many questions that I wanted to get more details about, for the AX '6' news that was released today. So Kees Hertogh, Director, Product Management, Microsoft Dynamics AX agreed to do a phone interview with me.

Below is the result of that interview.:



Q: Kees, one of the highlighted features of AX '6' is the unique model-driven, layered architecture. However this already exists in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Can you share more details about how Dynamics AX '6' improves this area?

Kees: It is true that the layered concept already exists in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. However there have been a lot of improvements in this area for AX '6'.

One of the biggest improvements, is around enabling ISV solutions to be installed into the same layer, without issue. Before, even with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, one would have to manually compare the code from two ISV solutions, then import, 'fixing' the objects so they could work together in the same layer. Now with Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' that is no longer a need.

The model-driven development aspect somewhat exist in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, however we have really improved on this, as you and I have talked before. (see: Interview with Microsoft's Kees Hertogh)

With moving the application code, and meta-data of the objects to a SQL Server Database, this opens a whole new world for developers and customers with Dynamics AX '6' around model driven development.

For example, now with a single click, web forms can be generated from rich client forms, with no extra coding needed. This, along with other things will be shown during the keynote of next weeks Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference.


Q: Kees, the second listed bullet in the press release, focuses around Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' Pre-built interoperability with products like Office 2010, SharePoint 2010 & Visual 2010. This too though, actually exists 'technically' with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Can you shed some light on how Dynamics AX '6' improves or offers more in this area?


Kees: For us this is a big area of improvement actually. It is true, that at the server level, and some at the client level, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 has interoperability with the above mentioned products. However, not at the level you are going to see next week at the Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference.

You see a lot of our compotiers, for example, need middleware to ineract with products like Microsoft Office 2010. This is true at the server and client level. What we have done with Microsoft Dynamics AX '6', is get rid of the need for any such middleware, ineractions through COM, etc.

So for the client interop, we are blurring the lines between Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' client, and Office 2010. By this, I mean for the user experience level. Making the UI's more similar, having functionality within Office, that can more natively interact with Dynamics AX '6' out of the box. This does not mean that Office 2010 can replace the Rich Client of Dynamics AX '6'. However it does mean, that for the user, that loves to Excel - which happens to be the most widely used piece of software in the world - then that seemless experience will now exists, with having to do nothing more than install Dynamics AX '6' and Office 2010.

For developers, a lot of time is typically spent on getting the right hooks, and defined interactions to take place, in order to have this kind of interop we will now be offering with Dynamics AX '6' and Microsoft Office 2010. These kinds of efforts will save developers a lot of time, when customizing and developing solutions for Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' that include Office 2010 and the other Microsoft product stack offerings.

There are also big improvements, for example around Dynamcis AX and SSRS. For more native development, and features that come as part of SSRS, to work more natively, with less headache and setup issues that we have seen before.

These are just two examples, that you will see, along with others at the Tech Conference next week. It's important to note, that this is how we look at interoperability. Both Server and Client. As well as End User and Developer.


Q: Kees, you have mentioned several times in the interview about next weeks Tech Conference, and I know I have been talking about it since last Sept. What do you see as the 'big picture' take away for next week?


Kees: Next weeks Technical Conference should not be seen as a goal, or an end point. It should not be a conference you go to, and then just walk away. It just be viewed as a jump start to you and your companies ramp up plan for Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' release in Q3.

There will be a lot of coverage, with all kinds of great sessions, topics, etc. However, one should walk away and have viewed the conference as the starting point to build their own ramp up for AX '6' with.

This goes for the developer, the implementer and the customer. It's very important that everyone who attends, and is serious about Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' do their homework, and walk away from the conference with a sense of direction for creating their own plans for training, and knowledge sharing within their own companies.


Well once again, I would like to thank Microsoft, and Kees for taking the time to allow me to virtually sit down and pick his brain. I will be attending next weeks, conference - as long as the 7 inches of ice and snow melts away that is currently around me. (Yes that much in Alabama! Roll Ice Roll I guess?)

We have a lot to look forward too next week, and I will be covering the event from my twitter account and this blog.

That's all for now, check back soon as I have a new guest blogger, with his first column appearing at the end of this week. See you then!

Also, for those who are not familiar with Kees Hertogh, below is his bio.:
Kees Hertogh is a director for Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS). He leads the Microsoft Dynamics AX Global Product Management team. In his current role, Hertogh is responsible for developing and driving global product strategy for Microsoft Dynamics AX.

In 1999, Hertogh joined Navision a/s, which was later acquired by Microsoft Corp. Before leading the product management for Microsoft Dynamics AX, he worked in the Microsoft Business Solutions marketing strategy group as director of the group’s competitive strategy, and before that he was a group product manager on Project Green. Before joining Microsoft, he held the position of product director on the MBS management team at Microsoft Netherlands, and was responsible for local product strategy and the local product management and development teams.

Hertogh has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus on management accounting from Haarlem Business School in the Netherlands. He also achieved Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) status from the Association for Operations Management (APICS).

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Merry (late) Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Well I am sure that most of you took some vacation, as did I last week. I realized I did not post a Merry Christmas entry, so here is a Late Merry Christmas! :-) Better late than never right?

Also I hope that it was a blessed Christmas for each of you, and that 2011 is the best year yet!

I have a good bit in store and a lot to do coming up. With a year end closing post, reflecting on a recent blog post on Dynamics and the cloud. Will hope close the year on a topic that we started it, 2010 being called the Year of the Cloud!

I also have some guest blog post coming soon, as well as coverage of the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 - Technical Conference. This is being hosted at the campus in Redmond. A LOT of great tracks!

So here to closing out 2010 with a bang, and welcoming the new year of 2011!

"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!"

Microsoft Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011

While at Converegence I was told by the AX team, that they were working on putting together a Technical Conference for the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX 6.0.

Well the news came out at WPC yesterday, and it's offical the 'Microsoft Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011' is set. The following is the direct link to that web site.: The future of Dynamics ERP - Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011

From the site.:
"See the future of Microsoft Dynamics ERP. The Microsoft Dynamics AX team has been hard at work developing the most sophisticated, innovative release to date.

The next version of Microsoft Dynamics AX will be launched in 2011. But you can jumpstart your product and technology learning and planning by attending three days of deep technical content delivered by Microsoft leaders and technology experts. This is your chance to learn, get inspired, and see how Microsoft Dynamics AX can help you provide innovative solutions for your business.

Whether you’re a customer or a partner, you will find content to help you develop and implement on the next release of Microsoft Dynamics AX."

This technical conference is set to be held on the Redmond campus, Jan. 17-20th 2011, and list Customers, Developers, Implementation Consultants as the target audience.

This for sure will be well worth the investment in going, and I highly recommend anyway that fits into this area seriously consider going.

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

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

ProISV talks about AX.NET offering compared to Future DAX .Net offerings

Recently, I wrote a write up and interview about the recent ProISV release of version 1.0 of their AX.NET offering. That post can be found here.: ProISV Launches Version 1.0 of AX.NET

When I posted this, there was some questions from some of my readers around being a little confused actually about what AX.NET is offering, compared specifically to the work that Microsoft is doing for Dynamics AX '6', with the AX Visual Studio tools. (AXTools Blog latest on AX Explorer for VS)

I asked ProISV Partner's and Co-founder's Niels Skjoldager and Kaspar Bomholtz to answer this line of questioning. To shed some light on what ProISV offers now, how it alings with Microsoft's vision for the future, and specifically to the released information about the AX Tools for Visual Studio. Bellow is the response I got back from them.:

"AX.NET does already, today, add significant value to the investments AX customers have already made. Many AX customers are not necessarily on the most current AX version as well, or do not upgrade immediately after Microsoft releases a new AX version, so AX.NET is also highly relevant for all of those customers, who chose to stay on their existing AX version “for some time”. However, we will urge all AX customers to always migrate to the newest AX version, thereby yielding continuous advantages as Microsoft moves down the road of bringing further innovation to market.

AX.NET will continue, also in the future, to add significant value, even after Microsoft releases the much anticipated (and delayed) AX 6.0. ProISV is already in higher gear in terms of having the ability to make even more out of the new exciting features in AX 6.0, when those eventually are released of course. However, ProISV will not sit back and wait for AX 6.0 to hit the streets, which is why we releasing technology now, which can be used by existing AX customers as well as future customers on AX 6.0.

AX.NET Server will fully cloud enable AX2009 and newer versions, obviously including AX 6.0, and this product will be released before the summer of 2010. This means that AX.NET can already be used today to write exciting applications in .NET, as it is already fully integrated with AX, and be ready to deploy those solutions in the Cloud. In other words, while Microsoft is continuing with their great innovations, ProISV expands the opportunities for all AX customers and beyond, following Microsoft’s roadmap for AX for “eternity”. Since we are so focused on this particular technology, we will always make the most out of what Microsoft offers out of the box and add significant value on top of that, as is the case with AX.NET today. Our licensing model also fully protects our customers’ investments.

We of course expect Microsoft to also direct their investment in AX towards cloud enablement, as is already announced on several occasions by Microsoft executive leadership. It is also very clear to us that the AX.NET Server ambitions go way above and beyond what Microsoft will offer anytime soon in regards to both moving the entire AX into .NET and moving AX into the Cloud. Microsoft will soon offer that certain web services and AIF can be hosted in the AX AOS itself as well as Cloud services, such as payroll and better integration with external sites. AX still remains a deployment choice between “on premise” and “partner hosted”. AX.NET Server gives the choice of moving the entire AX into the Cloud.

We offer choice as well, so that AX.Net customers can design their own strategy for Microsoft Dynamics AX cloud deployment. Windows Azure is one of the natural options, but far from the only viable option to choose from. This level of freedom of choice is something we know from our long and diverse experience in the world of Microsoft Dynamics AX is “a must”, so the fulfillment of that core requirement is already built into our technology. AX.NET will support everything Microsoft chooses to ship and expand on that, also when it comes to Cloud computing.

We expect as well that Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX will be an addition to the Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX. We also expect that Visual Studio Tools for AX will continue to primarily focus on the Microsoft product portfolio, which essentially means Sharepoint and SQL Server Reporting Services (SRS). AX.NET fully supports that strategy, but as mentioned before provides the ultimate .NET integration with AX as well as flexible Cloud enablement in any size and shape. Our Code Protection System adds significant IP protection as well on top of that, something we know is high in demand.

So, all in all, we are very excited as well about the Microsoft innovations, because we are completely aligned in our product strategies. In fact, we are complementary to each other and we continuously expand to the Microsoft technology stack."

To help give a face to those behind this, and since I was not able to post this last time, the following are Niels and Kaspars pics and Bio's. They are open to any direct questions you might have for them, and as always feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email! Thanks!


Niels Skjoldager, Co-founder/Partner

Niels is a visionary, passionate, multi-lingual, entrepreneurial business leader, with 14 years of proven international track-record in various executive roles and entrepreneurship. Niels has 10 years of executive leadership experience in various software developing companies, being the leader of strategy, partners channels, sales, development, sustained engineering and support teams.

Niels is highly goal and result oriented, a team builder, strong ethics, strong financial and people management background as well as highly educated with a M.Sc. degree in Supply Chain Management with focus on the application of solving complex business problems through the means of technology and software solutions in particular. Key focus has been supply chain integration and the use of ERP, such as Microsoft Dynamics AX, as the core application.

Niels also has 10 years of direct experience in working with Microsoft Dynamics AX: Development, deployment, business process analysis, support, training, development of ISV solutions and Microsoft product certifications, as well as developing strong relationships with Microsoft.

Niels is a co-founder of ProISV, having the overall responsibility for strategy, business development, partner channel development, sales and support.


Kaspar Bomholtz, Co-founder/Partner

Kaspar is a visionary, passionate and driven software developer, with an outstanding ability to very efficiently develop a vision for a software solution to product, while always producing high quality products.

Kaspar has extensive experience with designing and implementing complex software solution in .NET C# and VB.NET since the first version in 2002 and in total more than a decade of development experience.

Kaspar also has vast knowledge in working with Microsoft ISV’s and partners as well as understanding their business problems relating to the development and deployment of Microsoft Dynamics AX, as well as industry leading expertise of the technical architecture of Microsoft Dynamics AX and the utilization of the newest versions of X++ and .NET C#.

Kaspar has been through the vigorous and extensive Certified for Microsoft Dynamics AX as well as Industry Builder certifications as well, and thereby has deep knowledge of the Microsoft standards and requirement for quality, trustworthy computing and thread modeling.

Kaspar is not only a developer, he is also a strategist when it relates to planning of products and development as well as translating complex business problems to elegant software solutions, in close collaboration with project stakeholders, design and implementation teams.

Kaspar is a Co-founder of ProISV, having the overall responsibility for product development.

That's all for now, but check back soon as more great post to come, including WCF, Cloud, Top 100 voiting, Convergence and much much more!




"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

SQL Server Modeling - Coming to a Dynamics AX near you!

Last week, I ended my post with an interview with Microsoft DE, Mike Ehrenberg. A direct link to that post can be found here.: Interview with Microsoft Distinguished Engineer - Mike Ehrenberg

There was a lot covered in this interview, and I plan on diving deeper into each section with details, that help fill in the vision and path that was laid out by Mike during that interview.

So with this in mind, I wanted to jump right into the "Oslo", or now know as SQL Server Modeling. I wrote about this topic actually before I had the interview with Mike. I made an educated guess, after reading Mike org. executive insight blog post that SQL Server Modeling would have an impact on Dynamics AX vNext versions to come.

Just to back up a little bit, I first starting writing about, then, Olso in Feb. of 2009. In the following post, Dynamics AX, SOA and Oslo on the mind... , I wrote.:

"In the next release of Dynamics AX (based on current road map) Oslo + Dublin, along with the modeling language "M", yes a new language that we will explore here, will be used by normal super users to create, manage and maintain business work flows and processes, without the need of much coding in X++ or C#."

Now lets fast forward to my next post about Olso, now SQL Server Modelings, SQL Server Modeling - Formely Code name "Oslo"

In that post I list a good amount of helpful links, to help you dig into SQL Server Modeling (SSM), and also stated the following.:

"My educated guess, is that SQL Server Modeling will be a base technology, along with .Net 4.0 Workflow Engine, .Net 4.0, the .Net SQL Server Modeling Class Libraries, etc. Now a full own use of SQL Server Modeling within Dynamics AX might not exist in the next release, but it for sure will be in Dynamics AX 7.0. However 6.0 will have something of these technologies to enable what I was talking about... ...I am willing to bet we will hear about this at Convergence."

So the past post I have been doing for over a year, talking about Oslo / SQL Server Modeling, has been correct and verified, as seen in the recent interview with Mike.:

"Yes, definitely. Dynamics AX has always made a big bet on modeling. The metadata accessed through the AOT is a core part of what makes Dynamics AX development highly productive. Our evolution points to more and more done through declarative modeling instead of code – making it both more efficient and more resilient through upgrades over time. In Dynamics AX ‘6’, all of this metadata moves from the file system to the SQL Server database. This is a deployment simplification and one that moves towards the capabilities of SQL Server Modeling – our roadmap and the result of what was “Oslo”."

It makes sense now why one of the reason's MFP's post highlighting the move of the Application Files, to be stored in the database, is taking place.

Like I said, above, this helps verify my educated guesses, and also helps give us direction that SQL Server Modeling is on it's way to Dynamics AX.

So here we are, Convergence just around the cornor, deep into Dynamics AX 2009 and Dynamics AX 2011 set for Q1 release of next year. This means we have roughly 6-8 months to really start looking into what SQL Server Modeling will bring to the Dynamics AX table.

Microsoft's vision for this is it will allow for Domain Specific Languages to be created, and used by Functional Consultants and Business Users to create their processes with. Allowing for a Model Driven approach to the business system development, that would cut out 80-90% of the code that is currently created today.

Does this mean C# or even X++ is going away? No! It's and impossible task to have software, in which zero development takes place. However, with Model Driven development, the business process can be defined, in a Domain Specific Language, that shapes the process and workflows, where the remaining needs are filled in with code at given points in those processes and workflows.

Quote from Mike's responses.:
"Our evolution points to more and more done through declarative modeling instead of code"

To me that statement says a lot. Declarative Modeling instead, or in place of code. This is the direction, and if Dynamics AX is in your future, then Declarative Modeling is in your future with SQL Server Modeling.

I plan on doing a deep dive into all of this. Getting into Domain Specific Languages, M, what SQL Server Modeling will look like, along with the rest of the topics covered in the interview.

That's all for now, but check back soon!




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AX Tools Blog: Navigating the AX Application Explorer in Visual Studio

Sometime ago, I posted about a brand new blog ran by part of the Dynamics AX Microsoft team. This blog is focused on 'Microsoft Dynamics AX Tools'

With this, there was a teaser post given by the authors of that blog, talking about the 'AX Application Explorer in Visual Studio'.

Well now the authors of the AX Tool Blog has taking this a step further with a new post.: Navigating the AX Application Explorer in Visual Studio

From the post.:
"In the last post we introduced the AX Application Explorer in Visual Studio, as the central hub for all AX development in Visual Studio. Now we will take a quick look at the navigation in the AX Application Explorer.

Since the AOT is the AX developers home, we preserved the same UI look and feel, as well as the gestures commonly used by AX developers. You can navigate the AX Application Explorer using the keyboard just the same way you use the keyboard in the AOT. You can use type-ahead to search for elements, just like in the example below, where you see the selection on InventCostList after “inventcost” was typed in (in the status bar the type-ahead text is displayed)."



One highlight from this blog post I think everyone should take away from it, is the following.:
"An important thing to understand about the AX Application Explorer is that it is not a superficial tool in Visual Studio. It integrates deep in the guts of Visual Studio and enables the presence of AX metadata in many of the existing Visual Studio components."

This is really important to understand, and help put context to the depth Microsoft is going to making Dynamics AX vNext and beyond deeply rooted in .Net, .Net technologies and the rest of the Microsoft stack!

Thanks AX Tools Blog Authors for sharing! Great post, and has me wanting to see more!




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Microsoft .Net 4.0 - Parrellel Computing Platform

Recently Microsoft released .Net 4.0 RC, along with Visual Studio 2010 RC. With .Net 4.0, there is a lot of improvements. One of the things I have found very interesting is the move for more native support in managed code to create and make use of parallel computing.

With .Net 4.0, Microsoft has released it's "Parrellel Computing Platform (PCP)".



With this, some very interesting new developments exists, including PLINQ or Parallel LINQ. The following link, is a MSDN resource for samples that can be downloaded and studied for how to make use of the new PCP.: Samples for Parallel Programming with the .NET Framework 4

From the link.:
"The .NET Framework 4 RC (Release Candidate) has been released and is available for download at Microsoft .Net 4.0 Framework Download. .NET 4 includes significant advancements for developers writing parallel and concurrent applications, including Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), the Task Parallel Library (TPL), new thread-safe collections, and a variety of new coordination and synchronization data structures."

Now lets put this into some meaningful scope for Dynamics AX. With Dynamics AX 2009, LINQ was really first being used and introduced, through the use of .Net 3.5 framework with Dynamics AX. This includes the enablement of Reporting Services reports, accessing Dynamics AX data and usage of the .Net BC.

The next release of Dynamics AX 6.0 or Dynamics AX 2011, set to be released now in the Q1 of 2011, will be more and more .Net native and enabled. And in actual it will be .Net native because the kernel of Dynamics AX 6.0 is being recompiled to IL or MSIL, which is what all .Net laungages are compiled down to and executed via the CLR.

With the upcoming Dynamics AX 2011, .Net 4.0 is going to be the .Net Framework of focus and use, and the ability to do Parrellel development in Dynamics AX, custom at that, is going to become more and more a need.

Just go back to a recent post of mine, focusing on Threads in Dynamics AX 2009.: Dynamics AX 2009 - X++ Thread Development

In that post I talk about how Threads can be used in Dynamics AX 2009 today, and give example of how, and what to look for in developing such threads. As we push further and further in Dynamics AX vNext versions, including Dynamics AX 2011, such technologies as .Net 4.0 and the Microsoft Parrellel Computing Platform (PCP), will become ready for use.

This means that the Entity Data Frameworks, LINQ, now PLINQ, and the alike will be possible for use with your given Dynamics AX solutions.

Now lets think about some examples in Parrellel needs? MRP? Forecasting? Data Imports? MDM? CPU, Disk and RAM heavy processes that could be developed with Parrellel Processing at the heart to take full advantage of the hardware of given Dynamics AX instance is on.

Of course this is just scratching the surface of the ability such a platform is going to offer Dynamics AX customers as we move closer and closer to Dynamics AX 6.0 and beyond.

Business needs and processes across multi-sites, locations, timeszones, all the processes that make a business run, will have a new tool to help make those processes possibly run faster, connect faster, interact faster, and overall be faster. (I think I said faster right? ;-) )

I will note that this Parrellel Computing Platform was first really spotted in the Microsoft Robitcs SDK, and that was one of the reasons that SDK got so much attention. Now we have this, and I recommend checking it out, and start thinking in terms of what this will and can offer for Dynamics AX business needs.

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

Update:
I wanted to give a quick update. After looking at some of the sample applications, I was able to see, that for the babies example, if you have a quad core machine, executing the standard seq. LINQ query, and run a query that takes 5 seconds for example to return.

If you notice only a single core is used for this processing. Now if you run the same query, except it uses PLINQ for example, the same query takes only 1.5 seconds. That's a 70% improvement! And guess what? The code is nearly the same, and same amount of lines.

This is an amazing ability for code performance, and I can't wait to see how this might can be used and affect Dynamics AX 6.0!




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Dynamics AX X++ Team looking for input

Last week, the Microsoft Dynamics AX, X++ Team posted on their blog that they are looking for community input. Being out last week, I did not pick up this, and just saw it today.

If you have seen this, and already left your thoughts great! However if not, please visit the following direct link.: More help needed from community: Do you rely on string truncation?

From the post.:
"Previously the X++ language allowed the LEFT and RIGHT keywords on definitions of string variables. That is no longer valid X++. However, we still allow specifying an explicit string length. The X++ language runtime implicitly does string truncation on assignment, both directly and when passing parameters. Consider the following example:

{
str 5 s;
s = ‘124567890";
}

The resulting string will only contain the first 5 characters, i.e. ‘12345'. Normally the user would not explicitly provide the length of the string in this way, but the behavior is exactly the same when using an extended type that has a particular length. One example is the SysGroup type, that is defined as having length 10 in the properties for the extended data type. If you run

{
SysGroup g = ‘1234567890ABCDEFGHIJ";
print g;
}

You will only get the first 10 characters printed. The remaining ones are lost to truncation."

Finally.:
"The question for you to answer is: Do you rely on these semantics in your code? Would your code run well if all string types were equal and unbound? Do we need to muddy the waters for IL by introducing the same behavior in IL?"

My answer to this is that the IL code should not be made to operate like the current Interpreter does. Don't make the generated MSIL code operate against the nature of how the MSIL code works in every other .Net langauge.

Truncation should only happen at the database level, and if true truncation is needed for some kind of validation, then it should be performed with strlen() and substr() calls.

That's my two cents, what's yours? Make sure to let the X++ team know!




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X++ Team: Removal of legacy functions

This past Tuesday, the X++ team blog has a new entry on it. There they list legacy functions that are slated to be removed with AX 6.0 and going forward. It is stated they wish to not continue these into the new IL runtime stack.

The blog post can be found here.: X++ Team Blog: Removal of legacy functions

The team is asking for comments, concerns, etc. in this list of functions that will be removed. If you have any, please go to the post and leaves comments.

If the list is left in tack, then these will be removed and any AX 6.0 or beyond code that tries to implement these functions will fail to compile.

I also think that is helps firm the fact, that the IL runtime stack is mentioned. This is the MSIL, or what the CLR, Common Langauge Runtime, compiles C#, VB.Net, etc. code to. So this is one more confirming statement that the C code that AX's current kernel is compiled in, is moving to MSIL.

That's all for now, thanks X++ team for the post!




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Dynamics AX 6.0 (2011) and 500th Post!

Well I thought I would celebrate the 500th post for this blog, by talking about the future.

And why not right? I mean we all want to know what the future has waiting for us righr? Well we can't really say what all the future holds, but we can be sure that as far as Dynamics AX goes, it seems to be a pretty bright future.

There will be continued growth in the functional depth that Dynamics AX 6.0 brings, however for this post I want to focus on the technical side of things.

1.) Dynamics AX 6.0 will bring a whole new ball game to X++ code development and the IDE in which X++ is developed in. Through the use of WPF, the editor will get some much needed boost.

2.) Dynamics AX 6.0 Application files are moving to the SQL Server database. There will also be a brand new approach for promoting code, and merging layer objects, and working with the AOD elements all together.

3.) More and more reports will be delivered in SSRS form, and from what I understand a good bit of improvements will be made with the Visual Studio Report Development Tool Project Template. Bringing Old School SSRS development closer to the X++ business logic.

4.) Dynamics AX 6.0 is set to be the most focused, and well suited for WCF services allowing for more SOA focused integration and interchanges between AX modules and outside of AX systems. The WCF services or service references in AX 2009 is a good first start. There are plenty of issues though as I am sure anyone who has used this in mass has seen. Any major change to the underlying WCF service, and you might as well restart the AOS. The regenerate will work half the time, if you hold your mouth write, hold a pen in your left hand and it's Tuesday at midnight.

Seriouly, that process does need some improvement, and from what I understand, it is getting the attention it needs.

5.) Workflows will enter into a more true .Net state. Workflows for AX 2009 are a good start, but like service references, they also need work. Any real complex works flows, and your better off creating these in .Net 3.5 natively, and wrapping those workflows in WCF services. Then true complex workflows can be made use of in AX 2009.

From what I understand in workflows with Dynamics AX 6.0, a designer will exist that is targeted for functional consultants to build workflows with. This means, if it's true, life becomes easier for everyone.

Also while on this topic, the workflows will become like the rest of WCF, and not have to be hosted in IIS. This is suppose to mean less security headaches. We will see because AX 2009 has it share of security headaches. (Oh how I loath SPN's and Kerberos security with Windows Server 2008)

6.) The Cloud will rule in 2010, and Dynamics AX landscape will become forever changed from service offered by Microsoft, Partners, and custom developed Azure sevices and the customer level.

So with that said, Dynamics AX 6.0 seems like it's going to have a lot of great new and improvement features to offer. Still Dynamics AX 6.0 is sometime off, and Dynamics AX 2009, though some area's take some extra elbow grease with getting all the technical t's and i's crossed and dotted, is still the most advanced and amazing ERP package out there.

Well that's all for now! This is the 500th post, maybe if I get the chance to hit 1000 posts, you can share in the fun. Check back soon as more great post are coming!



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Dynamics AX for Retail: Connected Experiences for Retail at the NRF 99th Annual Convention and EXPO

Microsoft will be presenting a slew of technologies that will showcase it's push and focus on retail at the NRF 99th Annual Convention and EXPO in New York on Jan 10th-13th.

This will show case a bunch of technologies, including Windows 7 embedded technologies, Microsoft Surface for touch interface, Dynamics AX for Retail, BI, and much more.

The press release from Microsoft can be found here.:
MS Event: Connected Experiences for Retail at the NRF 99th Annual Convention and EXPO - Retail's Big Show 2010


From the article.:
"Connecting Microsoft Dynamics: The Microsoft Dynamics vision for retail is focused on simplifying the user experience, bringing forth new innovations, and offering choices to retailers in how they use business management solutions to help their people be more productive, get better insight and control of key business processes, and create lasting connections with customers and suppliers. We deliver this vision for the Retail industry by connecting consumer retail experiences with stores, the retail enterprise and e-commerce enabling the retailers' employees to gain insight into customer behavior and apply it to optimize the whole chain of operations - from sales to supply. This creates what we call the 'Connected Retail Experience'. In this part of the booth, the Microsoft Dynamics team will showcase the Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail end-to-end capabilities that can help retailers achieve this 'Connected Retail Experience'."

For 2010, Dynamics AX for Retail will really be taking shape, and is part of the major goal and vision for Microsoft and retail companies.

That's all for now, back check back soon!




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New Exam - MB5-858: Managing Microsoft Dynamics Implementations

Microsoft recently posted that for a Partner to maintain their SPA, all Dynamics Partners will be required to have someone pass a new exam, the MB5-858: Managing Microsoft Dynamics Implementations.

There are not a lot of details as of yet on this exam, but it is suppose to be released on April 15th, 2010.

There is a little more information about what all is changed for the new SPA, which can be found on the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), here.: MPN - SPA Post

As I get more information, I will make sure and post about this exam. There should be courseware coming out in March-April timeframe, from what I udnerstand as well about this new requirement.

That's all for now, check back soon!




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Dynamics AX 6.0 - aka 2011 - X++ Editor

I saw on twitter today, a link to a blog post done in October of last year now, about some screen shots of the Dynamics AX 6.0, aka Dynamics AX 2011, X++ editor.

Here is the direct link to that blog post.:
Vincent's Blog - Dynamics AX6 – The new X++ editor



From the post.:
"This editor is based on the same framework than the Visual Studio editor... ...The line numbering and the gradient marking are the first visible signs of a new UI. The rendering is WPF based, so that gives some opportunities for cool graphics."



And...
"Things to notice, that are new relatively to the existing editor are:

-Support for multiple fonts and styles (comments are in a different font in italic).
-Differentiated coloring of strings and numbers.
-Operators coloring (in pink here, but don’t worry I’ll most likely change it before we release !).
-Change tacking margin."

So it looks like we have some good updates coming to the X++ editor, including being based on WPF rendering. This means, a move more and more to Visual Studio?? Possibly having X++ editor, be a part of Visual Studio in the next couple of releases?

I thought this was a good post, and though it's from October, I have not seen these anywhere else yet, so good stuff to note.

It also seems that the following.: multiple methods in the same window, outlining, screen split, comment away multiple lines, snippets, Ctrl+Space to complete partly written code.. etc.

Are in the works as well, which makes X++ editor more and more like Visual Studio.

That's all for now, thanks Vincent for sharing!




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MSDW: The AX User Group Sees Big Benefits in Year Ahead

Over at MSDynamicsWorld.com, a new article has been posted about the upcoming year and AXUG.

Here is the direct link to that article.: MSDW - The AX User Group Sees Big Benefits in Year Ahead from New Web Site, Use of Dynamics CRM

From the article.:
"[The upcoming year] will bring significant expansions for the Dynamics user communities," said Dynamic Communities CEO Andy Hafer in a later interview. "The key leadership among the members has expanded to have a great cross-section of each community, including users from companies across industries, sizes, geographies, etc. This has allowed us to really hone the programming for each constituent. You will see expanded training courses, deeper content, more special interest groups and stronger collaboration with other communities, including Microsoft's Online Dynamics Community."

And...
"One of the biggest surprises within the membership was the interest and adoption of AX 2009," he said. "The AX 2009 Upgrade and Data Migration special interest groups were filled by webinar attendees with lots of good stories to share. Compared to the launch of AX 4.0, there seems to be a greater push from the membership to move to AX 2009."

Its a really good article. It also highlights that AXUG has implemented Dynamics CRM to manage the behind the scenes LOB needs for AXUG, inlcuding membership that will allow users to make use of their windows live id for login.

Also there will be plenty of focus on webinars this year, getting ready ofr AX 6.0, aka Dynamics AX 2011.

That's all for now, but check back soon, as next week brings a how host of new post, including my review of a recently released Dynamics AX development book from PackT publishing! See you then!




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Microsoft's next wave of releases

Alright, so in this post, I plan on touching on a few points. The plan is to take us through Microsoft's next wave of product releases, and how that will enable and touch Dynamics AX.

First let's start with the following post.:
Microsoft updates its enterprise ABC (Active Directory, BizTalk and Communications Server) roadmaps



So in the above post Mary Jo covers Microsoft's roadmap for ABC, or Active Directory, BizTalk and Communcations Server. Why is this important for Dynamics AX? These technologies will be the foundation for future enabling technologies that allow true Hyrbid Clouds, custom, third party, and Microsoft based to exists for Microsoft Dynamics AX Customers.

Now lets move forward a little.
Microsoft Dynamics AX statement of direction



Notice the vNext release, and road map for Dynamics AX includes heavy Functional growth and Software+Services.

This is the key. The next release, or wave of Microsoft products will enable more and more solutions to actually be true Hyrbid clouds. This means customers of AX now, and in the future will need this, request this, want to understand this... as part of their solution design.

The Cloud, something I have been talking about for years now, is here. The next wave is just the very first part of this. Microsoft Dynamics AX is the business platform, that the rest of the platform makes use of to offer a total, single, hyrbid platform for customers world wide.

For partners, check out the following PartnerSource resource.:
Microsoft Dynamics & the Wave ”14” Launch – Helping our Customers Become Dynamic Businesses

"
The “Dynamic Business” is Microsoft’s vision of companies who are able to continuously evolve and transform themselves to face changes and challenges in their business environment. Some of these challenges will be economic, others may be organizational, or require changes to the ways companies operate, or interact within a wider value chain. Such challenges will require companies to use software to optimize their people, their processes, and their ecosystem.



Microsoft Dynamics’® goal is to help our customers become dynamic businesses through empowering their people to be more productive, simplifying their business processes so they can be more agile, and through enabling seamless connections with their ecosystem. Achieving this goal requires more than just a Dynamics business application - it also requires a business productivity infrastructure that works hand-in-hand with the business application, and provides many of the capabilities on which the business application relies."

And...
"The latest version of Microsoft’s business productivity infrastructure - and the two key components of the Wave “14” Launch - are Microsoft Office® 2010 and SharePoint® Server 2010. Both are currently in public beta, and are planned for release in the first half of 2010, at which time all Microsoft Dynamics® ERP and Microsoft Dynamics® CRM products will be certified to run on them."

So everything, more than ever, is has a tie into the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP offering. And Microsoft Dynamics AX, can more than ever, make use of the rest of the Microsoft platform. From the Desktop to the Cloud. Threee screen and a cloud!

For customers, this means more flexibility, more options, and a more Dynamic business for sure.

For Partners, we must learn, know and be experts in understanding what is best for a given customers needs. That other options exists, other than on-premise software.

Finally, check out Microsoft's vision for Dynamics ERP and Software+Services.:
Software-plus-Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP

"Microsoft Corp. announced a collection of online services that can be attached to its Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, including a new Sites Service built on the Windows Azure platform, a new Commerce Service, and an expansion of its Payment Service.

In addition, the company revealed that its Microsoft Dynamics ERP hosting business has more than doubled in the past year, demonstrating strong uptake by partners to deliver Microsoft Dynamics ERP via on-demand and subscription-based hosting models as well as complementary services.

“Our customers increasingly appreciate the option of moving certain applications and services into the cloud while maintaining an on-premise option for their ERP solution,” said Crispin Read, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics ERP. “Providing this choice and flexibility is a competitive advantage for us and our partners around the world.”"

So, the cloud is merging with the Dynamics ERP. Dynamics AX, can take advantage now, of what the Microsoft Cloud Platform has to offer. And not just with the offerings from Microsoft itself. But offerings from third party vendors, and also custom services as well.

This has to be, in any stratgey, and planning for any customer that is using, or considering to use Microsoft, and Microsoft Dynamics AX.

If you have questions about Dynamics AX, Microsoft, and the Microsoft Cloud Platform, feel free to ask here by either emailing me or leaving a comment. Also check back soon, as I have more great post coming!




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Dynamics AX 6.0: A look at MFP's write up on the AXModel concept

Recent, MFP has been doing some great post about Dynamics AX 6.0, also currently known as Dynamics AX 2011. This next version is set to be released sometime in Q3 of next year, 2010.



MFP has done a series of post, talking about a new concept, called AXModels. This comes, as part of moving the Application files into SQL server, instead of being a flat file set of information.

Some of he highlighted benefits from this move to the SQL database, and also the introduction of axmodel concept are.:

• You can have as many models per layer as you want.


• You can deploy models from several sources into the same layer.


• Strong Name Signing


• Authenticode Signing

A few examples of uses for axmodels, specifically for development are.:

• If you deliver more than one solution to a layer or across layers


• If your solution is getting too big


• If you write unit testing code and scripts

MFP has done a great job diving into this model concept, and it starts really with the move of the application files to SQL Server database.

So for the full details, check out the following, in order.:
-AX6 sneak preview - SQL AOD
-Introducing AX models - Part 1
-Introducing AX models - Part 2
-Introducing AX models - Part 3

I want to thank MFP for really diving into this topic. This will have a possible huge impact on the development of solutions and code, from a customer, VAR and ISV level.

MFP is planning on diving deeper still into axmodels, and so I recommend that you keep a close eye on his blog.

That's all for now, check back later as I have some great post planned. See you then!




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