DAX ROI and Azure Dynamics ERP Services

Well as I posted first thing this morning, getting back into the swing of things. In doing so, I have a double post here to get the week off right.

As the title says, the first part of this post is about Dynamics AX ROI, or Return On Investment.

This is why companies implement Dynamics AX over SAP, Oracle, Epicor, etc. It's because of the ROI, and benefits that come from being a part of the Microsoft platform and software stacks.

I saw on twitter a post to a link, to Nucleus Research's post ROI study. Click here for that direct link.

This study covers the spectrum of Microsoft Dynamics Line, and of course that includes Microsoft Dynamics AX. The direct link to the specific Microsoft Dynamics AX published paper can be found here.: The Real ROI of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

In this paper, I found some very interesting information, and specifically out of the customers that agreed to participate, 75% of them have already seen great ROI, while the others are on their way to doing so shortly.

Also from that paper.:
"Companies looking to
maximize returns from Microsoft Dynamics AX and other ERP deployments today should:

• Get IT and business together to define needs and requirements up front and get user buy-in.

• Evaluate products both on real functional requirements and ROI– and build milestones for both into your deployment plans.

• Keep customization limited to ensure you’ll be able to upgrade and adapt in the future without significant rework."

The above is the conluding points of advice. The paper is well worth the read, and just another independant source talking about what make Microsoft Dynamics AX so great.

Now for the second point of this post, Azure Dynamics ERP Services. We have been talking about the cloud on this blog for over two years, knowing that it was coming. PDC just took place and one of the things learned there was a new set of Dynamics ERP Services that will live in the Azure Cloud Platform. Making use, no doubt, of the AppFabric so that is truly lives in the Cloud and not on a hosting VM image, that lives in the cloud.

These cloud services can be found at the following direct link.: Online services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP

The two main services are.:

- Payment Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP
Now you can have a total retail solution. By combining Microsoft Dynamics ERP software with Payment Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP you can accept credit and debit transactions as you ring up sales right in your ERP software. No credit card terminal needed. With Microsoft Dynamics ERP, you can accept credit card payments in real-time. Payment Services is fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) to ensure the security of your credit transactions.

- Connect for Microsoft Dynamics ERP
Connect for Microsoft Dynamics ERP helps you access the resources you need to maximize the effectiveness of your Microsoft Dynamics solution, and increase profitability. With Connect, your employees can access community-driven knowledge, best practices, training, and updates tailored to their specific role directly from their Microsoft Dynamics ERP application.

Both of these are wonderful moves in the right direction. And I know a lot of our retail clients, and possible clients are looking for that PCI DSS compliance. So this is great to see.

Over at MSDynamicsWorld.com, a great article about this actually has been posted by Linda Rosencrance. Microsoft Calls On Azure for New Dynamics ERP Services

From the article.:
"Microsoft said it can best serve its customers by offering a flexible deployment model so they can implement their ERP systems in the environments that are best for them. Microsoft said currently over 150 partners worldwide offer customers this hybrid option.

The online services that can be attached to its Microsoft Dynamics ERP platform including a new Azure-based service called Sites, new Commerce Services, and an expansion of its Payment Service, according to the company."

And...
"The significance of this announcement is about Microsoft Dynamics taking another step into the world of cloud computing, and being one of the early vendors to talk about a hybrid environment of on-premise and cloud and how those scenarios might work and providing the technical support to allow them to work," said Jim Shepherd, an analyst with Boston-based AMR Research Inc. "And there hasn't been a real connection yet between Azure as a public cloud service from Microsoft and the Dynamics product line. So this is the first time we're really seeing the Dynamics business leverage the Azure offering."

There we have it, the first real production level offering of the Azure Cloud Platform with a Hybrid on-premise+cloud approach. This will be the norm for businesses with the cloud, and this is only the very tip of the iceberg.

Well that's all for now, check back later!




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Arch. Journal: Mapping Applications to the Cloud

I cam across a great, very detailed article in the Microsoft Architecture Journal. The direct link to this article, can be found here: Mapping Applications to the Cloud

Here is the articles summary:
"As economic pressure builds globally, many organizations are starting to look at Cloud Computing as a potential choice to reduce the total cost of ownership for IT. In searching for ways to use Cloud Computing technologies, enterprises have to ask what applications make good candidates for moving to the Cloud and which do not, such as "Does the nature of the business itself allow for Cloud Computing to even be considered?"
This article provides a broad overview into what Cloud Computing is and discusses an approach to mapping enterprise applications to Cloud Computing platforms to assist in determining whether your applications or your business model are a good fit for the Cloud."

What a timely article this is. The question that derives from this: "Does the nature of the business itself allow for Cloud Computing to even be considered?"

Let me say this article does a really good job, of trying to give someone some real context in helping answer that question. Several examples are given, with good detail to them, from an architects point of view.

I recommend reading this, as this really helps shape the cloud computing question. Once more, this should be considered, and thought of when looking at custom applications that interact with Dynamics. And services that could live in the cloud that Dynamics make use of.

Take for example the given Photo/Video Processing.


You could see such an application being designed with the cloud in mind, and the retail stores connecting to the cloud and interacting with it. Also at the same time, this same example processing application could itself be connecting back to, say a Dynamics AX ERP platform. Storing customer information, processing credit cards, creating sales orders, etc. etc.

I would like to thank Darryl Chantry, Senior architect in the Platform Architecture Team at Microsoft, for taking the time to write such a great article.

Well check back soon, as I have more great post to come. See you then!




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Lets Learn Azure

I have not mentioned Microsoft Cloud Platform, Azure since the start of the year. Like all things it's covered, and then you move to what is going on and come back to it when the time is right.

Well the time is right to start really learning Azure now. The reason why the time is right, is because we now have some good resources that will take you through Azure.

First I want to share with you the Azure Services Training Kit, published by Microsoft on Feb. 11th. I recommend downloading that and running through all the demo scripts, demo's and so forth to really get up to speed on all that is Azure.

The link to the download can be found here: Azure Service Training kit - Download

Next I want to give you the direct link to the Azure home page found here: Microsoft Azure Portal



It has some really great things on there that can take you deeper and deeper into each services area that makes up the total offering called Azure.

Then I want to send you over to 'The Elder''s blog. Recently he did a post that takes and gives you 5 great videos for learning Azure and doing something with it. I recommend using these after going through the training kit.

The link to that post is here: The Elder: Windows Azure: How Do I Videos

I plan on taking and walking through all of this myself, and talking more in the future about how this will affect and be used with a Dynamics AX implementation.

Check back soon as I add Azure and Dynamics AX to the growing list of topics that I am covering on a regular basis.

See you then!




"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Microsoft Azure Cloud Computing Platform

Microsoft yesterday at PDC talked about it's cloud computing platform, Azure. This was what I was talking about when I posted this post, earlier this month: Microsoft's Cloud Computing Platform (Wed. Oct. 1st 2008)
and here RCPMAG: Microsoft's Cloudy Future (Friday Oct. 3rd 2008)

Well now we have Azure, ready for CTP. This is the coming together of projects, technologies, terms, and the alike. In short Azure is a Cloud Platform, the only true one out there, where you will be able to develop on the cloud, for an Application that will be deployed to the cloud, to run and be ran in the cloud.

What is different about this platform, is it allows for Hybrid application to be developed as well, were half the solution or bits and parts could live and be developed in the cloud while others live hosted elsewhere, and still others live on site at a customer. This Hybride Software+Services+Cloud Approach. And that is how I see this impacting Dynamics AX in the future, until ERPLive.com goes live.

There is a great attempt to really explain this, by Mary Jo over at ZDnet: Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform: A guide for the perplexed

In this Mary Jo takes and: "Here’s my attempt to explain it.

Microsoft layed out its “Azure” foundational infrastructure for the cloud during the keynote kick-off on day one of the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) here in Los Angeles. The goal of Azure is to provide developers who want to write applications that run partially and/or entirely in a remote datacenter with a platform and set of tools."

I recommend you read it, and also read the comments. There is quite a bit of confusion, as well as great questions that is surronding this one blog entry by Mary Jo. There is good reason for that too. This is the next thing. This is the next platform.

Microsoft is a Platform company, and this is the next step for that Platform. Now is the time to understand it, as Dynamics ERP (ERPLive.com) will be heavy in this platform, on this platform, developed with and for this platform.

Look at this:


As you can see Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services is there. What do you think is next? Dynamics ERP Services and ERP Live.

So this is what we have been talking about, and waiting for. We all knew this was coming, and now we need to learn how to embrace it, improve it, develop for it, and do this all for the sake of our clients and customers. To give them the edge, that's why they hire us as Solution Providers. We take the platform from Microsoft and deploy the end solution for our clients. This is no different from that aspect, but very different from almost every way in the technial of the "how".

I for one am very excited about what this means. I know that I said I would be writing about Dynamics AX in economic down turns, and I plan to later this week, but this must have attention from us. This is our future, and it's just on the edge of being here... check back soon!

I leave you with this, the offical Microsoft home page: www.azure.com

Azure means clear blue sky, or implies that from it's word meaning. Funny huh? Microsoft's Clear Blue Sky Cloud Computing Platform. Pun here?

Update: Here is the MSDN Azure link, thought this was handy. It for sure is filled with a lot of information to go through: MSDN: Azure Services Platform




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RCPMAG: Microsoft's Cloudy Future

Over at RCPMag.com Lee Pender asks the question at the end of her Post: 'Does Microsoft get cloud computing?' (from here blog entry found here: Microsoft's Cloudy Future - By Lee Pender)

I left a comment on this blog entry, but I wanted to also answer this question here. See my last post on Wed. (Microsoft's Cloud Computing Platform) I brought up the fact that Microsoft was going to be launching it's cloud computing platform at the PDC event at the end of this month.

I talked about how this is the first true platform. In much respect I got a comment from someone that has a lot of experience in other technologies and platforms, and I respect their thoughts. However I still stick to my statement, this will be the first 'true' platform for cloud computing. The first 'PaaC' or 'Platform as a Cloud' (yes I just TM'ed that!).

So to answer Lee and to the comments, does Microsoft get it? Short answer: Yes. Microsoft gets it, because Microsoft is it.

This will be the first Platform as a Cloud, that will offer to VAR's, Enterprise, Student Developers, Freeware developers, Consumer facing software companies, all a single platform to launch many different solution with, connected to, a part of and from. That will allow distinct and different business models for those different types of developers / architects.

Sure there are integration, data services, private clouds, custom clouds, some based on java, ruby, php and more. Still none of these are a true platform... only bits and peices of one. And yes you can tie several together, when done right... but that might friend is not scalable, and for sure leaves you wondering how secure. (bite back I know on the secure part... It's Microsoft.)

With Microsoft's PaaC or Cloud Computing Platform, now a true single platform will be there. Ready for your development needs, via the technologies you know, trust, and that your users already use. Microsoft one's.

So again, to answer... does Microsoft get cloud computing? Yes.

Check back soon!





"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Microsoft's Cloud Computing Platform

Well late this month, at the Professional Developers Conference, PDC for short Senior Vice President Bob Muglia from Microsoft is set to unveil Microsoft's 'cloud computing platform.'

This is already causing a small uproar with Amazon.com as they announced today that via their EC2, customers will be able to run Windows and SQL Server instances. (See here: Amazon launches pre-emptive strike against Microsoft’s planned cloud platform)

This is very exciting news, as this will be the first cloud computing, true platform that will exist. Others can say I am crazy, look to Salesforce.com, and Amazon... are they not platforms? No. They are services, trying to become a platfom. Microsoft is a platform, offering itself now via the cloud computing buzz word.

Reality, this is a hosted platform, in which Microsoft developers, customer, etc. all can develop solutions that are hosted and live full time in the cloud. These solutions can and will be developed via .Net and Visual Studio. This means that now cloud computing can really start to see an in-road into the enterprise, as enterprise and company developers start to take advantage of these offerings for company level projects, along with Microsoft VAR's, consumer facing products, and niche level solutions.

Just last month, Mary Jo over at ZDNet, wrote this following: Piecing together Microsoft’s cloud-computing vision which can give you some good insights into what will begin to be offered with this.

I am most excited about this, as the possibilities of developing solutions that surrond, make use of, expose and are a part of Dynamics AX solutions for customers. You could actually see VAR level offerings of solutions that enter the cloud before core Dynamics AX modules do. And that's a good thing, for customers, VAR's and client's a like.

All in all, I am ready to start designing solutions that involve cloud computing as part of them. This is an exciting new era, and possible solution offerings for customers. If your not looking into this, now is the time.

Check back soon!




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