Happy New Year - The Force is Strong with Dynamics AX

Happy New Year Everyone! Wow, what a year 2012 was and already it's come and gone. It was a year filled with all kinds of important releases for the Microsoft Dynamics Ecosystem, including closing out the year with the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2!



Now the above is just great, Hal Howard, Fred Studer & Jedi Master Mike Ehrenberg. "The Force is strong with Microsoft Dynamics AX".

I thought having this highlight as the kick off post for 2013 would be just perfect. It's time to close out the old, complex ways of the dark side. It's time to focus on powerfully simple software - It's time for Microsoft Dynamics AX!

Check back here, as I continue my specific focuses around Dynamics AX, including a heavy focus on true BI, and more ways to battle the forces of evil! Happy New Year --- and Till Next Time!
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Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, OData and EDM

Well as promised in my last post, this next post is going to focus on the move for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to focus integration and access to data contained within an AX 2012 instance through OData feeds, and EDM. (Entity Data Model Framework).

Mike Ehrenberg, a Microsoft Technical Fellow for Microsoft Dynamics had to say:
"Consistent with that, Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' does provide its own model store -- and per the announcement, a very sophisticated one," Ehrenberg stated in an e-mailed response. "First, the model store has moved from the file system to SQL Server in this release, improving scalability, model reporting, and deployment. Layering in the model store allows efficient support of a base model, extended for localization, industry specialization, and on top of that, ISV vertical specialization, reseller and customer specialization, with the ability to model very granular changes and effectively manage the application deployment lifecycle from ISV through to customer and the upgrade process. We provide a service interface to the model store, and it is possible to layer ODATA or EDM on that service."

One of the things that I saw while at #DAXCONF11 was this concept in full working demo.

I saw a given Query Object be published as a service, and then having that service once published consumed as an OData feed, from within Microsoft PowerPivot, and easily working with the content and layout of the given Query.

To give a little more about OData, check out the following.: OData Home on the web



"The Open Data Protocol (OData) is a Web protocol for querying and updating data that provides a way to unlock your data and free it from silos that exist in applications today. OData does this by applying and building upon Web technologies such as HTTP, Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub) and JSON to provide access to information from a variety of applications, services, and stores. The protocol emerged from experiences implementing AtomPub clients and servers in a variety of products over the past several years. OData is being used to expose and access information from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, relational databases, file systems, content management systems and traditional Web sites."

Looking at PowerPivot, one needs simply open up Microsoft Office 2010, and make use of it's native support for OData feeds as a source for data for a given workbook.:



In doing this, we see the power of Office 2010 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. To transform the complex integration needs, into a more simplified approach for creating a service, having it hosted within the AOS and WCF itself, which in turns allows for consumption of the service as an OData feed within Microsoft PowerPivot.

You can take now, and think a little further of having an employee self service page within Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 EP, that would list possible feeds ready for consumption by users, and filtered by the users security context!

This is very powerful, and will change the way integrations are done within Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and the outside world!

Other area', that I will highlight is the EDM. You can find out more about the purpose and point of EDM here.: MSDN - Entity Data Model

"The Entity Data Model (EDM) is a specification for defining the data used by applications built on the Entity Framework. Applications using the EDM define entities and relationships in the domain of the application in a design schema. The design schema is used to build programmable classes used by application code. Storage structures that persist data for applications in this model are represented in another schema called the storage schema. A mapping specification connects the design schema and the storage schema."

The key here: define[s] entity and relationships in the domain of the application.

This would allow for more structured, domain specific data access within an more complex external service, and allow for more complex and "smarter" integrations with other LOB applications.

If you can take this in a pratical look, having a given external LOB application that can use EDM in such a way that would allow it to better understand the data model that it needs to understand for working with it's part of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

This equals more robust integrations, with less code, and less time!

Well that's all for now, check back soon as I continue the deeper dive of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Next on the block is a deeper look at eventing!

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Decisions 2010 - Next week!

Well, now that AXUG Summit is over, as well as Convergence EMEA is wrapping up - its time to look to Nov 1st and Decisions 2010 - Dynamics AX - virtual conference by MSDynamicsWorld.com

This has become a great event, and one of the best things is you can attend right from your desktop. No need to fly, leave. You can develop, or work your job for a couple of hours, then attend specific sessions, and chat with others focused in the Dyanmics AX Ecosystem.

Sunrise Technologies, Inc. is a sponsor once again, and is also well represent by Robert Boone, Senior Technical Architect.



Robert is a peer of my at Sunrise, and also a counted Alabama football fan, here is a little bio about Robert.:
"Robert Boone is a Senior Technical Architect with Sunrise Technologies focused on Microsoft Dynamics AX. Robert has over 15 years of IT experience in Supply Chain Management (SCM), Business Intelligence Systems (BI), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and transactional systems. He has hands-on implementation and customization experience in Software Development, Database Design, and SQL Server. His extensive experience in programming, systems analysis, systems design, and configuration, allows him to interact with people from various business areas and levels. Robert has successfully lead the technical implementation aspects of several Microsoft Dynamics AX implementations."

He will be focusing on deliverying a great session, titled: Microsoft Dynamics AX Batch Processing Deep Dive. (Session Link)

I think this is most likely the least understood technical area with Dynamics AX 2009. This is not just about batch processing in AX 2009, but what all the Batch Processing Framework has to offer. Think worker processes and thread safe processes.

There are also some other big names that will be speaking at Decisions 2010 - AX:

• Dr. Scott Hamilton - Consultant and Author - Session: Managing Process Manufacturing Using AX


• Guy Weismantel, Microsoft, Global Marketing Director, Microsoft Dynamics ERP - Session: Microsoft Dynamics ERP: The Case for Application Overhaul


• Mike Ehrenberg, Microsoft, Dynamics Distinguished Engineer - Session: Microsoft Dynamics: The right choice for today and tomorrow

There are actually some other great sessions, and it's going to be hard to attend them all. To see a full list, you can check them out here.: Decisions Fall 2010 - Speakers

This is really a great event, and a great way to wrap up / extend what was covered in AXUG Summit as well as Convergence EMEA 2010. This is also just two months before the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2011 Technical Conference, in which a lot more information about AX 6 will become public.

That's all for now, check out Decisions 2010 and get registered, as well as Roberts Session. Till next time!

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Highlighted on Dynamics Community Site

Today, I was highlighted on the Dynamics Community Site, Community.Dynamics.com, for the interview I did with Microsoft's Mike Ehrenberg.



I feel very honored to have some of my work highlighted on the home page of the Microsoft Dynamics Community site.

The team behind this site puts in a lot of effort into trying to foster and grow the Dynamics community. This includes AX, GP, CRM, SL, NAV, and more! Shane, Nick and the gain do a great job, and I am honored to a part of the community.

The Dynamics Community site has all kinds of information, technical and functional, and is very useful. The forums, blog feeds, articles, Microsoft team members. It's all about fostering growth, sharing information, and giving the ability for someone to find what they are looking for, and learn something they did not know.

I want to say thanks to the whole Dynamics Community team! Thank You!

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Master Data Management with Dynamics AX and MDS (Future)

Recently I interviewed Mike Ehrenberg, Microsoft Dynamics Distinguished Engineer. That interview can be found at the following post.: Interview with Microsoft Distinguished Engineer - Mike Ehrenberg

As promised, I am taking different aspects of that interview and diving into the different topics that were talked about. In one section of the interview, Mike talks about.:

"[T]he ability to drive our innovation in this area together with innovation across Microsoft in areas like Master Data Management enables to drive great solutions through Microsoft Dynamics."

So the 'this' part, that Mike is talking about was from a question I asked around SOA, AIF, and the Vision laid out by Lachlan Cash, in an interview I did last year. (Microsoft's strategy and vision for Dynamics AX and SOA)

This is the only section, during that interview, in which Master Data Services is mentioned. However, this I believe is going to be a big item, that more and more companies, of varing sizes, will focus on.

So we can rewind a little bit, and look at a post I did, nearly a year ago, talking about SQL Server Master Data Services, which was project 'BullDog' for Microsoft, that is the enabling technology that Microsoft will soon be releasing to manufacturing as part of SQL Server 2008 R2. That post can be found here.:
SQL Server 2008 R2 Master Data Services - Aka: Microsoft MDM, Project BullDog

In that post, I go into the need and why for MDM, and what SQL Server MDS will bring to the table. I actually referenced a good bit of information from different Microsoft sources, that hopefully helps bring to light what could be possible with MDS and why.



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So now, here we are, a few days from Convergence 2010 in Atlanta, and mid-summer set for SQL Server 2008 R2 release, that will include SQL Server MDS. What does this means for Dynamics AX?

In the simplest terms MDM is meant to enable "One source of the truth." Now lets think about the role that Dynamics AX plays in a customers overall enterprise solution.

Some customers, Dynamics AX is the end all, be all business package. Older systems are migrated away from, and placed those processes and data inside Dynamics AX. When this is the case, there are still some need for MDM, and so MDS will have relevance. And how is that? Well if that given client has one or more websites / portals? What about CRM? What about a small cloud application?

In this Dynamics AX is the hub, and these other applications are the spokes systems. Now could be that an arguement could be made that CRM is the hub for certain information right?

And that is true, so depending on the data need, and where the true hub, or owenership of data should really live, will depend on how your data mapping of hub and spoke will exists.

Lets also add another possibility, what about the recent Marketing that Microsoft is doing, where Dynamics ERP can be used in a two tier level? Where Dynamics AX is positioned to be the spoke for Divisons of large corp? Also what about Dynamics AX instance that span the world? If for example there is a Dynamics AX production system in China, one in Latin America and then one in the U.S.?

In the past, for enabling integration, a lot of this was code driven. You could / can use BizTalk, along with AIF, X++, .Net, MSMQ, and any number of paths to help manage, not just the transactional data, in which these are designed to enable, but the Master data. There was not a seperation of these two, and is not, in regard to how they flow from one system to the next.

The vision, as I am seeing it, for MDS is enabling the seperation of how the Master data, true Master data elements, flow through a companies enterprise. This includes on-premise and cloud based.

So the transactional integration, now is different than the Master Data flow through a given company.

With MDS, a whole new world will open up for Master Data Management. I mean, look at the list of possibility, with versioning, workflows, business rules, role based access and listed control. Such things, in the past, where developed and not configured.

And this is the overall big move we are seeing, look back at a recent post I did, SQL Server Modeling - Coming to a Dynamics AX near you! , in that we see that SQL Server Modeling is coming to Dynamics AX, and the goal is to reduce the need for custom code, enable model driven application development, and allow for Domain Specific Languages to address problem domains for business.

Similar, we are seeing with the MDS offering, that Dynamics AX will be a point in which MDS can connect to and allow proper flow of Master data elements in and out of Dynamics AX. Some where Dynamics AX is the Hub, and some where Dynamics AX is the spoke.

A lot is coming to Dynamics AX, and very soon. Master Data Management, through SQL Server Master Data Services is one of them. For this reason, I did create a new LinkedIn group.:


LinkedIn group: SQL Server Master Data Services Group

Feel free to join if you like, and help foster the growth and knowledge of SQL Server Master Data Services. This group is not limited to Dynamics AX focus, but is meant to focus on all aspects of SQL Server MDS. However I am sure plenty will revolve around Dynamics AX, CRM, the Cloud, and beyond!

I expect that people will be talking about MDM, and you will hear about some of this at Convergence. After SQL Server 2008 R2 is released this summer, and we get closer to Dynamics AX 6, we will start to see some offical information from Microsoft, getting into more details on exactly how MDS and also SQL Server Modeling will be used with Dynamics AX.

That's all for now, but I invite you to leave comments, send me an email, and of course join the LinkedIn group and start good discussions, news, etc. See you next time!



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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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Interview with Microsoft Distinguished Engineer - Mike Ehrenberg

Recently Mike Ehrenberg, Microsoft Dynamics Distinguished Engineer, did a blog post on the Dynamics Executive insight blog. That post can be found here.:
Advancing the Vision of Software for the Dynamic Business

This was a great blog entry, and really got my wheels spinning. So much in fact that I invited Mike for a (virtual) sit down and interview. Below is the result of that interview.:



1.) In your recent blog post, on the Executive Insight blog, you mentioned as one of the focus areas for the continued push into the dynamic business vision is User Experience. With Dynamics AX 2009, and the Dynamics line in general, we saw UX, or user experiences focused with Role Tailored experiences. Now you have mentioned three new UX focuses: Context Aware UX, Task Specific UX and UX for the new generation. Can you give more insight into how these three focuses are helping shape the future of Dynamics AX, and beyond, and also how these will work together with the Role Tailored UX that exists now with current releases of Dynamics line?

We think about Context Aware UX as a refinement of RoleTailored – not something different. Role is a dimension of context. By understanding a user’s role, Dynamics AX has context that allows it to shape a better, more productive experience – bringing that user to navigation, tasks, content and rich embedded BI centered on their role to enable better productivity and to inform better decisions. Evolving to context aware means adding dimensions beyond role, for example, understanding what device a user is on or where we are on the calendar. Consider the impact of a system that could alter what BI and navigation a user saw during the closing days of a fiscal quarter, or that could adapt what a Production Planner saw when they were in a room with a display wall instead of at their desktop PC monitor. Understanding context, together with an increasing adaptability drawn from being increasing model driven, will enable the next jump forward on the path started by our RoleTailored experience.

Task Pages are already a concept in the RoleTailored experience. Today, they are highly consistent to drive the benefits of user familiarity. The concept in the white paper focuses on the development of highly visual task pages defined for specific tasks – the particular example shows the power of a heat map display of warehouse activity laid out to show activity based on physical location in a warehouse. The visualization designed specifically for this task immediately highlights for the warehouse manager where the placement of specific items can be changed to drive efficiency. This is a prototype that we’ve already built. The right visualization takes data that ERP systems have had for years and turns it into actionable information. Combined with natural UI techniques – “touch” in the case of the prototype – the user is able to immediately move from what they see to the right actions to optimally address their task. We are very excited about we are working on here, and expect to deliver great things in future releases.

Again, we also think about the work we’re doing to drive user experience for a new generation of users as an evolution of our RoleTailored concepts. Think about things like more visual cues related to those I collaborate with, search emerging as an alternative to reports for finding things, and visualization of information related to multiple tasks concurrently as all shaping the future of RoleTailored UX to increase productivity and delight a new generation of users, and as I’m frequently reminded, some of us old users too.

2.) The second area in your post talks about system architecture. The three major pieces in this area of focus are listed as: Cloud, Service orientation and Model Driven development. These could seem wide spread areas, but actually cross domains in relation to one another. So for this area, can you give some details examples of how you see the Cloud playing a role in enabling customers, and allowing for hybrid clouds to exist? Also why the cloud matters for customers in solving real business problems, vs. just being a new platform?

For many, the first thought of the cloud is simply focused on cost. Moving applications to the cloud in this context is essentially just a different style of IT outsourcing. For Dynamics, as part of an enormous all-up Microsoft commitment to the cloud, this is certainly true, but it is far from the whole story. We definitely believe that, over time, our datacenters, emerging cloud platform, and an evolved Dynamics family will offer the ability to deliver great business application experiences at the lowest possible cost and with outstanding security, privacy, backup and disaster recovery options that exceed what the majority of businesses are able to provide internally today. The cloud also offers more flexibility to scale a solution up and down for businesses with dynamic user populations during the year. We already have great results today with our Dynamics CRM On-line and with a number of our partners hosting Dynamics ERP. But again, low cost, scale flexibility and great backup and disaster recovery options are only the beginning.

In Dynamics, and across Microsoft, we are focused on the ability to combine software plus services – on-premise assets with the cloud – using each to their maximum advantage to deliver the best capabilities to our customers. We are doing that today, extending our on-premise and on-line products with cloud-based services – in some cases developed by us, and increasingly working with others developed by partners. We are really focused on three types of solutions where the cloud simply is better:

• Connection of the business system to the public internet – making one connection from the business system to Windows Azure in the cloud, and providing solutions there that drive the scenarios related to connection to the public internet, allows us to deliver a strong and uniform solution to availability, security and privacy with maximum reach. Examples include collecting information from new potential vendors, employment candidates, or customers registering a product.


• Large volumes of shared data that is frequently changing – consider solutions like product compliance that have rules reflecting regulations, restrictions and requirements for shipping products containing particular components to a specific geography. The cloud offers the ability to have this information maintained once by an expert partner dedicated to this domain, with a connection to Dynamics applications that may be running on-premise or hosted by another partner. Maintaining the data in one place – the cloud – simplifies provides a more efficient solution.


• Connected supply chains – there is both great value and great complexity in connecting supply chains digitally. It is dramatically easier to connect many partners to a single hub in the cloud than to make all of the point connections between them. Beyond the connection, which is immensely valuable in itself, with proper design of security and privacy cascading over the members, having all of the data together in a cloud hub enables analysis that simply can’t be done any other way. That analysis can lead to insights which can be shared by the participants to achieve dramatic new efficiencies.

2a.) Focuses on service orientation, a move to this was seen with the release of Dynamics AX 2009, and more focus on AIF, Service References, and the alike. In talking with Lachlan Cash from Microsoft last year, Microsoft's strategy and vision for Dynamics AX and SOA, Lachlan mentions the move toward SOA, and even between Dynamics AX modules themselves. Is this the service orientation that in included in your post? Can you give some more insight into this area, and why this makes sense?

Yes – this is exactly the same progression of our investment in service orientation. Starting with Dynamics AX 2009 – in fact, with AX ‘4’ – we brought out web service interfaces to Dynamics AX. These interfaces, around the outer edge of Dynamics, have enabled stronger, simpler integration between Dynamics and other systems.

The Dynamic Business vision reflected in the blog post points beyond this to the evolution of service orientation between Dynamics AX modules. This evolution will simplify the creation of robust connections between systems at finer granularity. From a business perspective, this technology change will provide a stronger base for shared services in the business deployed across hub and spoke configurations, better software solutions over outsourced processes, and better models for multi-instance deployments. Again, the ability to drive our innovation in this area together with innovation across Microsoft in areas like Master Data Management enables to drive great solutions through Microsoft Dynamics.

2b.) Model driven development is not a new concept really, but for Microsoft and traditional technology developers it can be a different mindset in thinking. Does this mean the former code named Microsoft "Oslo", now known as SQL Server Modeling CTP, will have a big impact on how process are developed? Is there a new technology and approach that will make use of SQL Server Modeling, Workflow and a new Designer to enable process development by functional / business analyst? Can you give more insight into this area?

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 the next major version of Dynamics AX, we’ll move this metadata 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”.

We are very excited about this work. The potential is enormous based on providing a model store that many Microsoft product use, along with tools innovation to provide great richness around model lifecycle – eg., tools that allow model content to be explicitly versioned and promoted in an automated way from development to test and then production in the partner and customer environment. The alignment between the innovation in the platform and tools and our priorities for continued innovation in model driven development is truly exciting.

Workflow, based on the innovation in the Windows Workflow Foundation, is one aspect of Dynamics AX 2009 that we are very excited about. Starting to provide the system with declarative models of process enables greater control, while at the same time helps the system make users more productive by prioritizing the tasks that have been assigned to them.

3.) For the BI section of your Application evolvement section, you talk about making BI easier and easier for users to define and make use of. Is this core of this enablement, based on the technologies now known as Microsoft PowerPivot? This includes SharePoint 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2 and Office 2010 to enable?

Absolutely. This is one dimension (sorry, BI pun) that really highlights the ability of Dynamics to bring together the innovation from multiple parts of Microsoft into a strong value proposition for our customers and partners. As you highlight, these capabilities build on work in SQL Server, SharePoint, Office and Dynamics.

There are three areas where we will really drive our innovation in this context. The first is deeply embedding BI in the application, not treating it as something separate and external. We see this today in the RoleTailored experience, with cubes, KPI”s and analytics deeply integrated in the application experience. Next, simplifying what it takes to deploy and implement the BI aspects of the solution. This starts with concepts like making sure that the security model defined in Dynamics also governs BI visibility. Finally, we will continue to build on our models and user experience to make it easier and easier for end users to create the reports and analytics that they need.

4.) Out of everything you talked about in your executive insight blog post. What do you think will be the one or two most game changing parts for Microsoft Dynamics Customers and Partners?

Wow – you’re asking me to choose between our work on UX, SOA, Model-driven development and embedded BI? I am not sure that I can. Instead, how about I suggest one of the other blog points?

In our Dynamic Business vision, and in the blog post, we talk about Dynamics enabling an increasing connected ecosystem. We are already seeing the business application move from a small number of accounting users to cover a very broad set of roles in the business, touching more users and enabling greater productivity. You will see this trend continue as we drive to bring capability in future product releases – both directly through Dynamics and through the reach enabled by our work with SharePoint – to every user in the business, and beyond by increasing the connection to external customers, vendors and partners. With our connected cloud services, this goes even further to the public internet.

Finally – at least for now – we are looking at exciting new capabilities that come from connecting the information that is emerging from social networks to the business processes driven through Dynamics. Making Dynamics the hub that enables a business to truly connect with its ecosystem in the broadest sense is one of the big game changers that we see coming.

There are more…topics for a future conversation.

As part of this interview, I asked Mike for a closing paragraph, this is that closing statement.:

Thanks for the opportunity to expand on the comments in the blog post, and on the vision for the Dynamic Business. We really view Dynamics as a journey that we are taking with our customers and partners – it is great today, will be even stronger tomorrow, and has almost unlimited potential as we look forward. Combining the innovation of all of Microsoft with our passion to deliver business applications that focus on simplicity, value and choice, we look forward to continuing that journey together.

First I just want to thank Mike for a very detailed interview. I know how busy he is, so I am honored to have been able to have done this.

I hope that you have enjoyed this interview, and the details just as much as I do. We have some much going on with Dynamics AX from a technical aspect, and this kind of information helps us line ourselves up, to make sure we are getting prepared now to make use of the not to distant technology in future Dynamics AX releases.

Finally I would like to thank Katie, from Waggener Edstrom for helping Mike and myself with getting this interview togeher!

That's all for now, but check back soon as more great post are coming. Also look for Mike to appear on this blog again in the future!

A direct link to Mike's Bio, off of the Microsoft PressPass site, can be found here.: Mike Ehrenberg Bio.




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