Microsoft Dynamics AX Diagnostic Framework (Beta)

I hope everyone is having a great and productive Dynamics week thus far! I wanted to write about something brand new Microsoft just released on InformatioSource.



What I'm talking about is the recently released Diagnostic Framework for Microsoft Dynamics AX. This new framework, targets Dynamics AX 2009 & Dynamics AX 2012. You can find more about this framework, from the following resource.: Diagnostic Framework for Microsoft Dynamics AX User Guide [AX 2012].



From the User's guide.:
"The Diagnostic Framework for Microsoft Dynamics AX, beta version, helps administrators diagnose the health of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. The framework assesses the health of Microsoft Dynamics AX and its components, such as Application Object Server (AOS), Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, and Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services."



I'm actually in the process of looking into this today, and getting use from it already for a client. Keep in mind, this is a pre-release, so expect some issues. However Microsoft talked this framework up a good bit for the past few months, and I expect it to be a great tool. After working with it, I will review the process for setting this up, and talk to it's use cases.



I really think this shows that Microsoft is serious about its commitment to the Dynamics Ecosystem. Providing needed tool sets for customers & partners alike. For this framework, beyond the referenced user guide, there is a nice video that walks through the setup and use of this tool on InformationSource.

Well that's all for today's post, check back soon as more to come! Till Next Time!
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Roll on Role Centers & the AX 2012 R2 Content Wagon Arrives

Today I wanted to bring focus to a few topics that need some spotlight. First off, is the Roll on Role Centers focus, for the title of this post. Specifically, MSDynamicsWorld.com recently posted a piece specifically on how to make Role Centers work for your business.: 5 Ways to Make Microsoft Dynamics AX Role Centers Work for Your Business



From the post.:
"'The improvements in AX 2012 should help partners [guide more customers to use role centers], but there is a mindset [with some partners] that BI is still not the focus, that AX implementations are still all about the transactional aspects of the solution,' according to Brandon George, a Microsoft MVP

'Too many implementations never bring Role Centers into full focus," says George. "Understanding the goal, and purpose - creating a System of Engagement, is a new generational shift for ERP and SCM software. That is the ultimate goal and point of Role Centers. Like all such shifts, it takes thinking about this from the start, proper gap analysis, design, development, and finally execution.'"

Jason and the team at MSDynamicsWorld.com quoted me well, and without a doubt I do believe thoroughly in this focus of creating Systems of Engagement for Microsoft Dynamics AX clients. Further I do believe that even those clients that are fresh on an AX 2009 implementation, has so much to gain from Role Centers, and this focus around engagement of their user base, by role.

I admit I'm thrilled to see more people take up the banner, for the term System of Engagement, and further explaining what that really means. How this should be the focus for what we do within the ecosystem. The ultimate end result actually, that continues to add value. The idea, is we can help enable customers to turn their data into a value stream for them. Creating learning loops with lead & lag data elements, that helps take information, and drive strategic planning for a company. Helping them meet, and exceed their goals!

The next spot light, and something that I'm really glad to see, is Microsoft continuing stepping up the documentation and information effort around Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. A great summary post by Becky, from the support team highlights some great sources on TechNet & MSDN.: Preliminary Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 content now on TechNet and MSDN!

Further adding to this, is the release of the recent tech conference on AX 2012 R2 video and other content to InformationSource.

Again, it's refreshing to see Microsoft have content at the forefront of the planning. This only helps further build the body of knowledge around Microsoft Dynamics AX, that the ecosystem so desires. Having valid, good content from Microsoft, makes it possible for the pundits of the Dynamics Product line to have cornerstone points and themes in which to work from - spreading in our own voice the value we perceive in each topic we dare tackle.

That's all for this update, check back soon as I have some really interesting topics to talk on. Windows Surface RT use case with Dynamics AX, BigData, BI and more! Till Next Time!
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Freaky Tech Friday - Attack of the Resource Vampires

Welcome back Ghouls & Ghost, for this year's Shock-tober final fray into Freaky Tech Friday's! For those are still with us, you are the lucky souls who have traveled along the dark and twisted path. I end this years haunting season with a tale that strikes at the heart of many Microsoft Dynamics AX implementations. What I speak too is Attack of the Resource Vampires!



These resource sucking entities creep into existence, sometimes slowly, and sometimes right away in an instance of AX. They start with a focus around performance degrading as more and more processes are spun up for a customer. Those unknowing, slowly loose their ability to respond fast to process needs. Reports start to creep with on-set of early aging - as it would appear at least.

The major attack for these creepy creatures is typically a customers Microsoft SQL Server Database. This is the heart of performance, and like any good vampire, resource vampires always go for the heart. It's where the life blood flows...



Fear not though, young AX travelers as there is remedy for this lifeless state one might find their instance of AX in. There is hope for battling back the waves and waves of complaints from end users, as the processes & reports they so dearly need, dwindle into performance nightmares.

In order to fight back the unholy horde of resource sucking vampires, one must be armed with the right knowledge and correct tools. The sacred text tells us that the focus must first be on your SQL Server for getting the most out of your AX Investment from a performance perspective. There is a guide to this, once that applies to AX 2009 as well as AX 2012. You may find access to this guide, to the first step into performance enlightenment here.: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 White Paper: Planning Database Configuration. Keep in mind this applies, the same level of needs, no matter virtual or physical.

The idea is to attack the resource vampires foothold, with correct TempDB file settings, having create Disk I/O for Transaction Log commits, and enough RAM to load your entire DB - if possible. Further and beyond that is a focus on indexes. After having your SQL Server set in order, ready to fight, the next level the resource vampires move into is the indexes. They latch onto queries that execute and cause either full table scans or Clustered Index Scans. Both are costly and both can be addressed with equal levels of success. The focus here is around having the concept of "coverage indexes", that is an index that covers the where clause of your queries for the business logic and reports that execute them.

After this the resource vampires start to feel the pressure as your performance story starts to take a turn for the better, instead of one for the worse. Here is where those ugly resource sucking creatures dig in, and latch themselves onto poorly wrote code. We all have sinned in such ways, creating nested while selects that make multiple trips to the database.

The way out from this painful plight is to endure an analysis of the processes being reported as slow, and trace through the code that represents said processes. Find the resource vampires hiding in those nested while selects, or where clauses that have no coverage index. Then address them head on! Take them out, by changing the nested while selects to more complex joins, that reduce the result set being sent from the SQL Server to the end user.

There are other area's that one can look to totally eradicate the evil entities, but the above should be the majority focus for gaining ground and taking control of your instance of AX. Beyond the Server, Database, Indexes and code - sometimes the process has to be reconsidered for desired speed.

Well Ghouls & Ghost, take this warning about resource vampires to heart, and arm yourself's with the knowledge found above to fight back! Further you can download from InformationSource the IDMF tool, that helps with the on-going fight of battling these monters. Further a final warning on this, always stay vigilent in your efforts as performance tuning is a dynamic, on-going process. Let it slip, and before long your knee deep back into resource sucking vampires everywhere you turn!

I hop you have enjoyed this season's gruesome tales of Freaky Tech Friday's! I will leave you with what I looked like after have falling, and becoming a conference zombie. Be warned, the following picture shows the shadow of the man I once was, just before departing for Seattle.




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Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 - VM CTP Released

Welcome everyone to another great day in the Dynamics Ecosystem. Either your starting your day, half way through, or well into wrapping it up! Either way I hope it's filled with value added specifics around Microsoft Dynamics!

For those of you who where not able to attend the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Technical Conference you maybe wondering where you can get your hands on this soon to be released on Dec 1st version of AX? Where can you experience all the great things being discussed, like I pointed to a few items in my highlight post here.: AX 2012 R2 & Data Migration Framework Updates.



Well now if you have access to InformationSource then you now have access to a VM image of AX 2012 R2!



This VM of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 containes SQL Server 2012, SharePoint 2010, Office 2010, and has retail turned on and ready for use. With it you can experience and work with some of the items being highlighted, like PowerView native web parts that can mash together internal to AX and external to AX datasources. Further, you can take the new AX 2012 R2 LINQ provider for a spin and see it's value and use with your own specific needs.

I highly recommend downloading this. It's the first option under Services when you launch into InformationSource.

Well that is all for this highlight. Make sure to check back soon, including tomorrow, as well step back into Freaky Tech Friday!Till Next Time!
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Microsoft Dynamics Help & Resources Spotlight

While at AXUG Summit this year, one of the more interesting fact that I realized was the lack of knowledge about resources like InformationSource. Further I meet with the Dynamics Content team, including Mark & Margo from Microsoft. In visiting with them a very handy guide was presented, and I understand now Margo presented at the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Technical Conference that is taking place right now.

I wanted to make sure and get this information about, and to help with this the content team put together a great white paper that helps guide one through the resources that are available. You can access the great white paper from the following location.: Help and Resources Datasheet for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012



We can see that the sites published and coming together from the content team, are split into different phase's, and use's. How each is meant to enable the total spectrum of needed content, how-to's, help and more.

Being a long standing contributor to the body knowledge that is represented in the Dynamics Ecosystem,it's a night & day difference from Microsoft on valid, valuable content. When I first started writing about Microsoft Dynamics AX (Axapta) there was not a lot out there. Now we have a very dynamic, excuse the pun, set of resources that truly help us enable value added, and timely answers to those burning project questions.

Make sure to check out each site, noting their purpose and expected level of content. If you have never, for example visited InformationSource, add it to your to do list for today! Well that's all I have for this post, check back soon as we continue to focus on BI - creating Systems of Engagement with Microsoft Dynamics AX, AX 2012 R2 and more! Till Next Time!
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AX 2012 - Data Migration Framework - Recap

I hope everyone is off to a great start for this new work week. To help kicks things off this afternoon, I wanted to create a recap post focused around the recently released Data Migration Framework for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.



I covered the release of this new framework, released via InformationSource, from Microsoft. The following list the post in which contains my full coverage of this topic, to date.:

• AX 2012 - Data Migration Framework (Beta) Released
• AX 2012 – Data Migration Framework: Step-by-step setup
• AX 2012 – Data Migration Framework: Usability to date

From the above I dove into the specifics around the release, a step-by-step setup as well as a usability report on the framework. There were some great questions, and issues that people ran into - which were captured as part of these series of post.

The following are some critical points, that need to be made in relation to the above series of post.:

• AX 2012 R2 & MDS Support - A question was posed to me about integrating Master Data Services with this framework. Though it's technically possible, Microsoft has made it clear that the upcoming release of AX 2012 R2 will have native support for MDS.
• SSIS 2008 Installed on AOS - We learned through the community testing that SSIS 2008 is required. Further this requirement is for having this installed on the AOS that will execute the code.
• SQL Server 2012 No Supported - Further around SQL Server technology, it was stated that SQL Server 2012 has not been targeted or tested for use with DMF.
• Microsoft is listening! - Microsoft is paying attention to anyone trying to successfully use this new framework. Please make sure to use InformationSource to submit any suggestions, or official feedback around the DMF.

Further, the following is a recent post from Munib that covers the topic Creating a custom entity for migration. Resource link.: Create a custom entity mapping using the Data Migration Framework [AX 2012]

It's a high level coverage of the topic, but still valuable to have, in order to help complete the current picture, understanding and use of the Data Migration Framework.

As previously stated, I will circle back around on this topic as we have new information, news or releases that relate. Further, I invite anyone to a leave a comment here on any other resources you find useful for this topic and I will review / include them. That's all for today! Till Next Time!
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InformationSource: A wealth of Management Reporter Knowledge

I hope everyone is doing great today! I wanted to kick this morning off with a highlight around InformationSource and how it has a wealth of knowledge around Management Reporter 2012!



You can access InformationSource, with your CustomerSource or PartnerSource access, from the following location.: InformationSource.Dynamics.com

As you can see from the image above, there is a number of topics covered around Management reporter. Each with video's, walk through's and more to help you truly get the most out of your Dynamics investment around this area.



Management Reporter 2012 comes with a great new user interface, several updates, including the ability to connect it's output of reports to Microsoft Office SharePoint 2010.



InformationSource truly is becoming a most useful tool for learning, understanding best practices as well as the delivery vehicle for such value added services as the previously covered Data Migration Framework.

InformationSource is still listed as being in beta at this time, however since it's launch, and admitted improved UX I would say the term beta is long over due to be removed from the description of this service. Further, you can see Microsoft is committed to this approach, in that they are adding more and more content topics, including Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, Microsoft Dynamics CRM & Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.

That's all for this morning's highlight, I hope you find it useful and get some time to learn a little bit more about Management Reporter 2012, as well as other topics, with your morning cup of Joe! Till Next Time!

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