Merit Matters Blog

The Microsoft Dynamics AX Developer Center has some "How Do I" Videos regarding Microsoft Dynamics AX and Enterprise Portal. These videos are designed for Microsoft Dynamics AX developers, from the novice to the professional.

These videos include a number of series (updated on a regular basis):

• Form Series
• Enterprise Portal Series
• User Interface Series
• Application Integration Framework (AIF) Series

Thanks to DaxGuy for originally pointing these out.

With our team working as "backbone" support for all of our on-site consultants and many other partners, we still haven't seen complete utilization of the SureStep methodology with Dynamics GP in a way that we expected it to. On the other side, our Dynamics AX team and partners use it frequently for overall project management; even there, the development piece seems to be less defined and open to discrepancies.

In order to fulfill our clients' expectations for quality and timelines, we have been utilizing different methodologies so far (SureStep being one of them), and they depend mainly on the size of the project and the experience of the team members involved.

Has anybody used SureStep for any of their Dynamics GP, Dynamics AX or Dynamics CRM projects? We are especially interested in using it for managing larger engagements or working with another partner.

For those of you unfamiliar with SureStep, he is a good article on SureStep methodology. SureStep is available through PartnerSource.

This is a very interesting perspective on Dynamics AX 2009 from Lee Pender and the RCP: Microsoft Dynamics AX: Feels So Good.

One reason for the traditionally high ERP failure rate is organizational adaptability. With Dynamics AX 2009's easy user interface, this normal challenge for most organizations will be greatly reduced. Therefore, all else being equal, this will increase the likelihood of project and implementation success.

A second reason for ERP failure is that new deployments often take longer than expected to deploy. Now, if end user training can be streamlined, it can take less time during the final stages of the project.

Business Intelligence (BI) is definitely moving away from a position of being dominated by pure-play vendors. Large acquisitions in 2007, when SAP bought Business Objects and IBM aquired Congnos, show how quickly BI is moving from a specialized, expensive technology into a commodity itself. Microsoft has realized the potential of this growing market when it released the first version of SharePointPortal Server in 2001. The market reaction was excellent. According to Tom Rizzo, director of SharePoint Product Management, Microsoft has sold over 85 million licenses in the first six years of SharePoint life, making it one of the fastest-growing server products in Microsoft’s history.

A full range of BI products was completed when Microsoft announced a release of Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 (PPS). It is actually a bundle of three different packages: Business Scorecard Manager for monitoring, Proclarity for analysis, and a third and completely separate module for planning.

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is the collection of software applications, methodologies and/or web potential that stores and provides detailed customer information - allowing a complete customer-centric approach to any company’s customer policy. The role of a CRM system in an organization may consist of the following:

DID YOU KNOW: You can now schedule Material Requirements Planning (MRP) regeneration to happen automatically! 

A common question we get during Microsoft Dynamics GP Manufacturing implementation projects is “How often should I run MRP regeneration?” 

The answer to this depends, of course, on several factors – including, but not limited to – the speed of your database server, the size of your database, the number of items, the depth of your bills of material, and the time horizon you need to cover for MRP regeneration.  Even with all these factors, most Dynamics GP users find that MRP regenerates in minutes when run on newer hardware.  Even so, older versions of Dynamics GP required a user to log into the system and submit MRP.  Therefore, some clients opted to run MRP weekly or as needed, as opposed to every day.

Now, in Dynamics GP 10.0, it’s easy to set up MRP to run automatically every night (or multiple times during the day) if needed.

To set this up, you’ll need to do a couple things:

Microsoft has released Dynamics GP 10.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2). The biggest feature of SP2 is the compatibility of Dynamics GP 10.0 with SQL and Windows Server 2008.

Download Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 SP2.

Don't miss out on this year's WPC Rock-N-Rave in Houston. This year, Rock-N-Rave will take place on Monday, July 7th, from 8PM - 1AM, at the largest vintage arcade in the US - Joy Stix Amusements. We will be holding a video game tournament, and giving away prizes to winners. 

Visit the Rock-N-Rave website for more information.

In a post at ZDNet, Mary Jo Foley notes "AX 2009 includes and/or makes use of every Microsoft technology but the kitchen sink."

Read her Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 article here:

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009: The 'Halo' for Microsoft's App Platform

The Dynamics CRM Team Blog have made the Dynamics CRM Resource Center accessible through the interent. Read why.

Or - just access the Resource Centers:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Resource Center
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Resource Center (for On-Premise and Service Provider editions)

Microsoft Dynamics™ AX is a comprehensive business management solution that provides mid-sized and larger organizations end-to-end industry specific functionality. Microsoft Dynamics AX also is built to make it easier to do business across locations and countries. With Microsoft Dynamics AX, you can be confident your solution is relevant to the demands of your industry and business.

Click here to see the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Demo.

Online demos are now available for Merit Solutions' Advanced Lot Management (ALM) Module:

• Advanced Lot Management (ALM) Demo
• Auto Lot Number Generator within ALM
• Quality Management Suite
  • Enterprise Quality Management (EQM)
  • Advanced Lot Management

Exciting news...

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is NOW AVAILABLE for download on Partner Source.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics AX (Axapta). The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 download is a full install and required for new installations or upgrades from previous versions. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 supports upgrades from Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 Service Pack 4 (or higher) or Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 Service Pack 1 (or higher).

Partners - Download Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 online now.