Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 A New Generation in ERP - Avanade

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012A New Generation in ERPMike EhrenbergTechnical FellowMicrosoft CorporationApril 2011

Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2012 is not just thenext release of a great product. It is, in fact, agenerational shift in business software,delivering new levels of capability, unmatchedagility, and a compelling and empowering userexperience. At the same time, MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 sets a new standard forsimplicity. This paper does not pretend tocapture every detail of the product, butinstead highlights the key innovations thatmake Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 powerful,agile, and simple.POWERFULMany enterprise resource management (ERP)systems have never moved beyond managingthe administrative dimension of your business,tracking general ledger, payroll, and HR, whilethe real operation of the business is managedelsewhere. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 isdifferent, covering both the administrative andoperational requirements. To do this, MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 delivers rich, prebuilt,industry-operational functionality out of the box,with proven functionality for manufacturing(process, discrete, and lean), distribution, retail,public sector, and service industries. Bydelivering this capability, Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 gives you more value faster, andestablishes a strong platform for independentsoftware vendors (ISVs) to more efficientlydeliver the specialized vertical functionalityunique to verticals within those industries.Stronger base functionality and a broad portfolioof specialized vertical solutions means a better fitfor the needs of your business, more value, andmore rapid time to value.For example, for the public sector MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 incorporates fundaccounting as required by public sectorentities. Historically this critical capabilityneeded to be addressed as customization oras part of the workload delivered by an ERPISV focused on specific public sector vectors.Delivering this level of functionality out of thebox, as part of the Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 industry capabilities, empowers publicsector customers and dramatically simplifiesthe work of ISVs building for verticals in thatindustry. However beyond public sector, manyprivate sector companies look for increasedaccounting control and are adopting fundaccounting techniques. Because thesecapabilities are part of Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 and not the addition of an ISV focusedon public sector, they are available to privatesector customers as well. The ability tocombine capabilities from multiple industriesfor one customer is increasingly important—manufacturers often manage their owndistribution and sometimes operate their owndirect retail operation, and large numbers ofcustomers in all industries have segments oftheir business that operate with the projectstructure of service industries. MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 industry capabilities makethe power of this functionality available to allcustomers.Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is a truly globalsolution, designed to scale with your business.Simple enough to deploy for a single businessunit in a single country, Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 will support the unique requirements forbusiness systems in 36 countries—all from asingle-instance deployment of the software.Microsoft Dynamics AX 20121

Multiple currencies, multiple time zones,multiple languages, and compliance withmultiple banking and reporting standards andlegislative codes give you the global coveragethat you require. And a layered architectureand installable language packs provide theflexibility for future growth to other markets,including options for agile, partner-ledlocalization.Business software is powerful if it empowersusers—increasing their productivity andproviding strong insights that help them makebetter decisions. This is the heart of MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012, centered on the latestgeneration of its Microsoft DynamicsRoleTailored user experience.Figure 1: Familiar RoleTailored user experience The base of the RoleTailored userexperience is familiarity—userscomfortable with the Windows® operatingsystem and Microsoft® Office areimmediately at home in MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012. The MicrosoftOutlook® messaging and collaborationclient–styled navigation is enhanced withnavigation concepts from Windows 7, thecontextual access to relevant functionalityfrom the FluentTM user interface pioneeredin Microsoft Office 2010, and the use ofSearch metaphors to find informationthroughout Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.The familiar experience extends evenfurther to drive productivity—for analystsworking with data from MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012, interoperability withMicrosoft Excel® spreadsheet software andPowerPivot brings that data into thosetools that analysts expect, with a native,natural experience enabling rapid, effectiveaccess to business system data.Workflow automation, built on the .NETWorkflow Foundation, brings user tasks toa central task pane, including tasksassigned to an individual, their role, or aspecific functional queue. Tasks and inputqueues of documents are combined in theRoleTailored user experience of MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 to help users quicklyprioritize the work they should be doing.The system is not just there to recordtransactions when users finish their work; itis helping them follow consistent processesand focus on their most important tasks.The value of a business system is notabout putting transactions in; instead it isabout turning those transactions intoinformation—into business intelligence(BI)—to help users make faster, betterdecisions. To do this, business intelligencemust be an embedded part of theapplication, not a separate tool thatrequires users to take extra steps andswitch contexts. Rich, embedded BI is atthe core of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012with:Microsoft Dynamics AX 20122

o More than 30 Role Centers shippedout of the box, to provide the rightBI for each user’s job roleo 11 SQL Analytics Server Cubesbehind those Role Centerso Key performance indicators tailoredto each process and role based onthose cubeso Over 800 out-of-the-box reports, alldelivered through SQL® ServerReporting Serviceso Rich interoperability with MicrosoftExcel to surface report output andenable analysiso Standards-based datainteroperability with PowerPivot forad hoc slicing and dicingo InfoParts providing in-context BI fullyembedded throughout the MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 user experienceAnd of course these are all developed usingtools that enable extensibility to rapidly addthe unique requirements of ISV verticalsolutions and individual business customers.Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 further innovatesto capture business intelligence aboutworkflow and process together withtransactional information to enable richanalytics about process effectiveness, with afocus on empowering business processoptimization. Strong administrative ERPfunctionality, combined with industryoperationalfunctionality, a scalable globalsystem, and a familiar, empowering userexperience with embedded BI to keepinformation in context, define MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 as a truly powerful businessapplication.AGILEExcellence for a business application beginswith two primary challenges: how well doesthe software model the real world, and howquickly can I make it fit my business in arapidly changing world? If the fidelity betweensoftware model and reality is high, thenimplementation is straightforward and thesoftware is able to provide strong insight,empowering efficient business execution. If it’snot, then implementation is filled withcompromises and workarounds and using thesoftware is filled with challenge andcomplexity. It’s that simple, and it’s thebeginning of why Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012is different.The heart of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is aset of unified, natural models that let you see,measure, and change your business. Indeveloping this release, every applicationconcept involved in representing the businessin software was reexamined. In each case,limitations that forced workarounds andcompromises in older ERP products werelifted, and new capabilities were added toprovide an even richer software representationof a business and its structure, processes, andpolicies. Unified, natural Microsoft DynamicsAX 2012 models make modeling simplebusinesses fast and easy and yet still providethe richness and flexibility to represent themost complex organizations.Microsoft Dynamics AX 20123

Figure 2: Graphical design of declarative workflowsstreamline the definition of ―to be‖organizational structures, hierarchies,processes, and policies, and to enablebefore-and-after reporting acrossorganizational changes.Support for multiple hierarchies—forexample, one based on HR reporting andanother based on legal entity, with theability to designate one hierarchy for oneapproval process and another for adifferent process—all without writing code.Fundamental elements of the unified, naturalmodels in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012include: Flexible business organization modeling,allowing you to capture the physicallocations of your business, legal entitystructure, and business reporting structure. People, with separate modeling of theperson, their reporting hierarchy, and theirrole. Declarative representation of businessworkflow, policies, and dollar limits—andthe ability to specialize that policy fordifferent parts of the organization model,without writing code. For example, as abusiness analyst you have the ability togrant different purchase order approvalrules to different legal entities within agraphical workflow editor, with no codingrequired. Unlimited financial dimensions, allowingcategorization and analysis of transactionsacross multiple axes. Date effectivity for data and models at theframework level, with additional securitycontrol on future effective information, toThese same capabilities that drive the agility ofthe core of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 havebeen implemented so that they can also beleveraged by ISVs building solutions thatextend the core product. The result: richersolutions and consistent customer experiencesspanning core product and partner extensions.Natural models simplify system administrationas well. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 managessecurity based on roles and tasks—users aremapped to roles and given access to the tasksthat they are responsible for. The systemknows which low-level technical assets arerequired to complete those tasks—administration happens at the level that thebusiness naturally thinks about their people,roles, and responsibilities. Microsoft DynamicsAX 2012 is simpler to set up and simpler tochange because the software reflects the realworld in a natural way.Beyond the horizontal system, the investmentin unified, natural models extends even furtherinto the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 industrycapabilities. For example, the system supportstraditional discrete, process, and leanMicrosoft Dynamics AX 20124

manufacturing modes. Historically mostapplications supported only one of thesemodels. Companies, on the other hand, areoften not purely one mode or another. Aprocess manufacturing company often hassome operations that are discrete, and insome cases, a single company may blend allthree modes. This impedance mismatchbetween software and the real world forcedusers to either work with multiple applicationsor create awkward workarounds to use anapplication to represent a process that isoutside its capabilities. Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 breaks through this limitation—in asingle instance it is possible to modelproduction processes of each type. Thesoftware is able to represent themanufacturer’s real world with high fidelity,simplifying operation and improving results.can be addressed declaratively without writingcode. For example, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012enables list pages—an important vehicle foraccessing system data—to be definedcompletely declaratively, with a single modelcovering delivery of those pages on both clientand portal experiences. Beyond pages, modelsare used to define data, process, and policy—enabling business users to directly express theirrequirements, reduce complex coding, andsimplify upgrades. Layered models enablecustomer-specific requirements to build on topof vertical, local, and base system capabilities inan ordered structure. The combination drivesoverall system agility—speeding the process offitting the software to the business atimplementation, and more importantly, enablingrapid system evolution in the face of changingbusiness conditions and requirements.Figure 3: Elements in layered model storeEnabling these unified, natural models, MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 architecturally provides amodel-driven layered architecture (MDLA) thatmakes company-differentiating changes easy toexecute. As more and more of the system isdefined through models, unique requirementsSystem deployment represents another criticaldimension where businesses demand agility—growth, or even consolidation, will change abusiness’s needs. Evolving technology maychange the most effective way to meet thoseneeds. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 enablesflexible deployment alternatives that supportyour business today and tomorrow. MicrosoftDynamics is committed to enabling deploymentchoice—that includes on-premise deploymentand partner private cloud hosting today, and aroadmap to Microsoft cloud capability in thefuture—all with a single application solution.Deployment of a model at a specific moment intime should not lock a customer into anapplication that should be the heart of theirbusiness for a very long time; customers canchoose Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 because itis the right solution for their business.Microsoft Dynamics AX 20125

SIMPLEAs business applications evolve, the naturaltendency is for complexity to increase. InsteadMicrosoft Dynamics AX 2012 makes anintentional commitment to simplicity—focusing specifically on explicitly engineeringto simplify every aspect of the system, frominstallation through deployment,implementation, customization, userexperience, and upgrade.Microsoft Lync TM, Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 brings collaboration directly intocontext through the application, making itsimpler to connect employees, customers,suppliers, and partners.For system administration, MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 automates applicationlifecycle management, making the systemsimpler to deploy, manage, and upgradefor customers, implementers, and ISVs. Forexample, in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012every step of the product installationprocess was examined, and the entireprocess was overhauled to remove steps,eliminate opportunities for error, andstreamline the interaction between IT andapplication roles, dramatically shorteningand simplifying the process.Figure 4: Familiar user experience also in MicrosoftSharePoint® For users, simplicity begins with a familiarinterface that makes the application simpleto learn and intuitive to use, and continueswith explicit work to streamline every stepin high-velocity transaction processes likeorder entry. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 also bringsthe power of software to more users in thebusiness, adding rich functionality forsupplier relationship management (SRM)and a rich set of employee self-servicefunctionality for HR data, procurement,and travel expense management. Through interoperation with Microsoftcollaboration technologies from MicrosoftSharePoint, Windows® AzureTM, andSimplicity drives adoption and ensures thatcustomers truly get the benefit of the system’spower and agility.MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX 2012—ABUSINESS SOLUTION FROM MICROSOFTThe anchor point for Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 is that it is a business solution fromMicrosoft. That heritage brings with it anobligation and a commitment to bring the fullbreadth and depth of Microsoft research,development, and innovation investment tobusiness customers in a unified solution. Thiscommitment manifests in four key pillars forMicrosoft Dynamics AX 2012 customers andpartners: First Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 isdelivered on a platform of familiar, highvalue,low-total cost of ownership (TCO)technology. Whether IT is managedMicrosoft Dynamics AX 20126

directly by the customer or by theirpartner, Microsoft technology meansaccess to a broad universe of people andresources that already understand thetechnology platform. Next the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012solution delivers pervasive interoperabilitywith Microsoft Office, SharePoint, andLync, whether on-premises or in the cloud,to bring users the familiar, productiveexperiences they expect—empowered withaccess to Microsoft Dynamics AX data andfunctionality. For example, BI accessednaturally through Microsoft Excel,documents stored in SharePoint visualizedin business context through MicrosoftDynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics dataavailable for seamless inclusion inMicrosoft Word documents, and presenceand click-to-communicate capabilitydelivered through Lync interoperability. In addition, Microsoft is committed tobringing the latest innovations acrosssocial, mobile, visualization, machinelearning, and natural user experiences tobusiness users, in context, today andtomorrow. Perhaps most importantly, thecommitment to bring Microsofttechnology to business users is not a onetimeevent at a single point in time—it is acommitment to continuously renew thattechnology from generation to generation.Renewable technology, delivered throughan upgradable application—power andproductivity on-premises today, withMicrosoft Dynamics AX 2012 evolving toinclude the cloud tomorrow with the nextmajor Microsoft Dynamics AX release.In December 2010, Microsoft Dynamics AXwas recognized as a leader for both vision andexecution in ERP by Gartner. MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 delivers the next step inthat vision—the beginning of a newgeneration of business applicationproductivity. A core principle for MicrosoftDynamics products is a commitment tocontinuous customer care, ensuring a pathforward to future product versions. MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012 is no exception, with tested,proven tools, capabilities, and processes tohelp customers transition from earlierMicrosoft Dynamics AX versions to MicrosoftDynamics AX 2012. The new version deliversrevolutionary new capability in an evolutionaryway.Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is here. Welcometo the new generation of business applicationproductivity.Microsoft Dynamics AX 20127

© 2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other productnames are or may be registered trademarks and/ortrademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. Othernames and brands may be claimed as the property ofothers.Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is a pre-release productunder development. The information herein is forinformational purposes only and represents the currentview of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of thispresentation. Because Microsoft must respond tochanging market conditions, it should not be interpretedto be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, andMicrosoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of anyinformation provided after the date of this presentation.All pre-release product release dates and featuresspecified are preliminary based on current expectations,and are subject to change without notice. Microsoft maymake changes to specifications and product descriptionsat any time, without notice.Sample code included in this presentation is madeavailable AS IS. THE ENTIRE RISK OF THE USE OR THERESULTS FROM THE USE OF THIS CODE REMAINS WITHTHE USER.This content is provided ―as-is‖. Information and viewsexpressed in this content, including URL and otherInternet Web site references, may change withoutnotice. Some examples depicted herein are provided forillustration only and are fictitious. No real association orconnection is intended or should be inferred.MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS,IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION INTHIS PRESENTATION. NO LICENSE, EXPRESS ORIMPLIED, BY ESTOPPEL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANYINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IS GRANTED BY THISPRESENTATION. Microsoft products are not intended foruse in medical, lifesaving, or life sustaining applications.Microsoft Dynamics AX 20128