Dynamics AX Add-on: Atlas XL

Recently I wrote about the possible reporting options that exist inside Dynamics AX 2009.

Dynamics AX 2009 - Reporting Possibilites

I did however leave one area not covered, which is important, and very useful. That area is third party applications or packages for Microsoft Office, specifically Excel add-ins.

One that I have seen used, and works great in Dynamics AX 2009 is Atlas XL developed by Globe Software Pty Ltd in Perth, Australia.





This has an integration with Dynamics AX 2009, that makes use of the .Net business connector to expose the full data model, including business logic, X++ based calculated fields.

Once the server peice is setup and the Excel Add-in is installed and configured for end users, the usage is pretty easy. Super user can create their own Ad-hoc reports, pivot tables, etc. and access company data, they have security rights too, as this takes on the security rights of the user at hand for access to Dynamics AX objects inside the instance.

There is other Excel Add-in's that exists as well, but this is one I have seen in action, and one that works with nearly all AX versions, not just 2009. I have seen this fully working though, in 2009, making it a proven product.

If your interested in Atlas XL, then feel free to contact Sunrise Technologies, Inc. as we can get this for you, set it up for your instance and get your using it.

Other than third part Excel Add-in's, it is possible to create custom OBA or Office Business Applications and Add-in's for office products like Excel. Sunrise also has the knolwedge and skillset to do this for you, if needed.

Well that all for now, I wanted to make sure and give a complete picture for reporting options with a Dynamics AX 2009 instance.

Check back soon!




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Microsoft Dynamics Client for Microsoft Office and SharePoint Server

Well it was talked about at convergence, and now it's on the price list. Microsoft Dynamics Client for Microsoft Office and SharePoint Server is here now, and ready for use. Check out the following links:

(*note: All require PartnerSource access)

Main Link: Main Post

PR: Press Release
FAQ: FAQ
PPT: Power Point Pres.
Fact Sheet: Fact Sheet


So in short the goal of this is to:

"Create Microsoft Office system-based business applications that are specific to the needs of your organization"

This means making use of the Dynamics Data Toolbar to query Dynamics AX data from word, excel, and infopath for usage in documents. To use Excel and SharePoint to interact with business logic and data. To make use of FRx drill down ability with Office documents. Take the Snap in program and extend it to the needs of your or your client. I am Really excited about all the possibilities that can be achieved with this. If you are interested in finding out what this means in more detail, and how this can help your company, well stop by Sunrise Technologies, Inc. web site and leave your contact information asking about this: Sunrise Technologies, Inc. Web Site. We are one of the top leaders in Dynamics AX, and also how we can turn office and your information worker task into streamlined business processes with Dynamcis AX and Office 2007 system! :-)

Check back soon!

Find a job at: www.DynamicsAXJobs.com

Snap, Crackle, InfoPath?

Well the release of Snap 2.0 for Dynamics AX was recently released. [ link: Codeplex Snap in program link ] With this release we see some changes. One the move to codeplex from GotDotNet for managing the project, and the
add-on's for the different Snap ins for doing different information worker task. these are still simplistic in nature, but show the power of using this piping for Snap to achieve this type of interaction.

One of the area's I wanted to point out was the Customer Journal Snap-in. This Snap-in is focused around InfoPath forms. Some post back I talked about using InfoPath with Dynamics AX. And here is a great example of doing that, with the Snap pipe line. You could easily use this model to achieve other custom built solutions for Information workers at your clients, Today, that could easily carry into the next version of Dynamics AX. Check out the bit from the site posting below:

"The Customer Journal Snap-in is a handy tool for a Sales representative that helps improve the productivity of sales meetings by enabling the sales rep to view and carry relevant details of a customer (contact info, orders, service requests), which are copied over from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 to a Microsoft Office Infopath 2007 form, to the sales meeting. He can also make changes to the customer's information and take notes using this InfoPath form during the meeting and later synch the changes back to Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 server on the click of a
button."

So with this, you have the ability for some information worker processes to work with office 2007, and can be very attractive to Office centered users, that make use of InfoPath or Excel.

Of course we all know the future interface for Dynamics AX is Office and SharePoint, and the futher development of this along with the development for the future releases of Dynamics AX just shows this to be true. The future: Office, SharePoint, .Net, and SQL Server are the core.

Well check back soon as I continue to post!

Find a job at: www.DynamicsAXJobs.com