Dynamics AX for all

Dynamics AX Rainier and Egypt Market - Great Expectations

2014-02-23T13:12:00.001-08:00

Many of us already have heard that Microsoft Next Dynamics AX major release 7.0 (AKA Rainier) which is expected to be released on 2015 will be a cloud based Application, which means it will : a. Cloud Based Solutions and b. Platform independence - Browser enabled clients (https://community.dynamics.com/ax/b/valueindynamicsax/archive/2013/08/14/some-info-on-microsoft-dynamics-ax-2014-2015-next-major-release-codenamed-quot-rainier-quot-or-quot-rainer.aspx)

But the question is will this release will make a difference in Egyptian market? Because as cloud computing mandate to have a strong internet backbone which is not available all the time with a reasonable price. Although Microsoft has already addressed that question by providing different deployment model on premise or Public could, or private cloud

But me as most of IT people are more interested about hearing its suitability/fitting of the cloud offering model of Rainier to Egypt market for many reasons:

· Cloud means reducing the total cost of ownership TC as the companies will do more saving with this model by not spending more on hardware and software purchases (Server, TS, Citrix, VPN, RAC and backup system…etc) and ofcourse reduce the cost of hiring and retaining highly IT skilled labor .

The question is a not just a simple one to be easily answered, but let's explore the different factors that might give us a hint about fitting of the cloud model in Egypt Market by examining the obstacles:

First the Internet backbone itself in term of cost and speed: (I'll copy and paste some numbers with my comments on them)

o Many of us might not have heard about Egypt National Broadband Plan or 'eMisr' initiative (http://www.ntra.gov.eg/emisr)

o The initiate mainly is based on a World Bank study of the spread of the broadband:

· % increase in BB penetration and its correlation on the average % increase in GDP.

· Job creation

· Impact on intermediary sectors

· Social impact and consumer welfare.

o eMisr initiative has set some goals:

· Goal 1: 75% of Egyptian households have access to broadband services with a minimum speed of 2 Mbps by 2015

· Goal 2: 90% of Egyptian households have access to broadband services with a minimum speed of 25 Mbps by 2021

· Goal 3: 98% of the population to be covered by 3G by 2015

· Goal 4: 90% of the population to be covered by 4G (LTE and beyond) by 2021.

Hence, based on the above targets and the above illustrated assumptions, the estimated investment ranges from EGP 14.4 billion to 23.6 billion (USD 2.40 billion to 3.95 billion) over four years. This investment requires an additional EGP 2.1 billion (USD 350 million) to incorporate the demand stimulation investment needed to boost up the demand to the levels aimed at in the penetration targets.

Based on that a one percent increase in broadband penetration added 0.121% to the GDP growth of medium to high income countries; and 0.138% to the GDP growth of developing countries. Using this method, the cumulative contribution from 2011-2015 to GDP is EGP 24.9 billion (USD 4.17 billion). Relative to the initial year GDP (2011), broadband increases

GDP by 1.8%.

The earlier analysis concluded that employment multipliers were in the range of 35-50 (jobs per year for each USD 1 million in infrastructure investment) the scenarios adopted project total investment in the range of USD 1.9 ~ 3.5 billion Application of this approach suggests that the broadband plan will result in

Between 6,650 to 17,500 direct jobs annually, being sustained on average. Ofcourse this will have a positive effect on the increase of the potential user for cloud software and in particular Microsoft cloud based application.

To guarantee the success of this initiative, a two main requirements are needed:

· Laws and legislation: Here I can say the 2014 or (2013) Egypt constitution has preserved this and penalized the internet cutoff incidents.

· Government investments: as I recall Dr. Hesham Kandel the prior PM has claimed to invest 3 billion EGP, also the current government of Dr. Hazim Biblawyhas increased the amount of investment in the broadband project up to 5 B EGP.

The Second factor: Cloud service provider and is Egypt Market ready for it?

· There was a published study about the expectation of the cloud adoption/sales worldwide (http://news.investors.com/technology-click/021414-690137-amzn-goog-msft-battling-for-growing-cloud-market.htm) and if we can correlate it to the it to the IT spending in Egypt which was projected to reach highs of US$1.9 billion by 2013, reflecting a significant jump from its 2008 levels at US$1.2 billion, according to statistics released by Business Monitor International (BMI) in its ‘Egypt Information Technology Report third quarter 2009’. This mean the cloud computing will have a big room for that spending in Egypt market.

· Also, I can recall here Mr. Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer (CTO) of Microsoft Corp. and his meeting with the prior PM. Dr. Nazif and the ministyr of the communication and technology information ministry Dr. Tarek Kamel (in 2010, before 25 January revolution) and the discussion with Carig during his 3rd visit to Egypt the establishment of a new Cloud Computing Center in Egypt, which is likely to turn Egypt into a regional hub in this domain. (http://www.mcit.gov.eg/Media_Center/Press_Room/Press_Releases/1678)

The third factor: the measurement of the currently available cloud based software sales growth such as Office 365, dynamics CRM online:

All the indicators was positive and shows not just steady growth but also booming sales rates, which is a very good positive indicates that indicated that the Egyptian market is ready for cloud based software such as Dynamics AX Rainier

Yes all of these plans suffered from delay due to the political and security condition but the thing that it's on the track moving slowly in some aspects but moving faster in the other

I hope I've given an small insight about my personal prediction about AX future in Egypt

Please if you've any comments or even correction you would like to share, please send it to my email m_anass at outlook.com

Mahmoud Anass

PwC is providing Microsoft Dynamics AX, Dynamics CRM and Microsoft BI Services

2013-05-09T01:28:00.002-07:00

PwC consultants will provide advice and implementation assistance to clients who select Microsoft Dynamics together with other Microsoft technologies, including Microsoft Dynamics AX enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI) solutions as part of a business transformation

for more details
http://press.pwc.com/GLOBAL/News-releases/pwc-microsoft-in-strategic-alliance-/s/8879011b-6ebb-469f-b588-51d168119c3a#.UYo6ThHxXvc

GeoFlow, another big hit from Microsoft to BI and data visulization world

2013-04-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

From time to time, Microsoft amaze us with is cool products and emphasis on its capabilities to elaborate the concept of Self-Servicing and be one of the largest BI player.

Microsoft has recently release a new Excel 2013 Add-ins called GeoFlow, which is a result of collaborations between several teams within Microsoft. GeoFlow lets you plot geographic and temporal data visually, analyze that data in 3D, and create interactive "tours" to share with others.

In basic terms, GeoFlow offers a way to turn Excel into a cool 3D cinematic visual experience.

You can download GeoFlow from here

Microsoft Dynamics AX new sales offer: Buy one Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Enterprise CAL and Get one Functional CAL free

2013-03-07T07:04:00.001-08:00

Microsoft has recently announce a very interesting sales promotion for Dynamics AX 2012 R2, the offer is Buy one Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Enterprise CAL and Get one Functional CAL free.

Ofcourse this new offer will have a positive impact on boosting Microsoft Dynamics AX license's sales volume which will have direct impact on the DAX professional, specially the market demand for DAX professional is high and is suffering from the few numbers of AX professional.

Some details about the offer:
- Effective March 1st, 2013 through June 20th, 2013
- Eligible customers: New and existing
- Eligible orders: Orders during the effective time with a minimum of 30 Enterprise User CALs or 30 Enterprise Device CALs using
- Product License Versions: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and later versions
- Coverage: World Wide

For more information:
- http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/offers/erp-ax.aspx
- http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dynpartnercommunity/archive/2013/03/07/microsoft-dynamics-ax-bogo-boost-promotion.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I guess this year will be very interesting and so busy for AX professional, so lets wait and see :)

SQL Server 2012 Power View for Multidimensional Models CTP And Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

2013-01-21T02:17:00.000-08:00

Microsoft will release SQL Server 2012 Power View for Multidimensional Models Customer Technology Preview (CTP) . This release will have the following features:

- The Power View reports will support reading from the normal Multidimensional Cubes this will have a great impact on Dynamics AX, because inspite the latest release of Dynamics AX 2012 R2 support the Power view reports but it cannot read from the shipped standard out of the box cubes (Nearly 16 Cube), and it will need a Tabular model which you will have to build from scratch.

(Role Center in AX 2012 R2 with embedded Power View)

But with the expected SQL Server 2012 Power View for Multidimensional Models CTP release you can access the standard and the customized cubes that Microsoft is providing out of the box.

- Another interesting features, if you don't know MDX query and you find it very complex and hard to learn, Microsoft now offers you the DAX which a lot of easier than the MDX (If you know Excel formulas so you already know more than %60 of DAX)

For more information about SQL Server 2012 Power View for Multidimensional Models CTP

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlrsteamblog/archive/2012/11/29/power-view-for-multidimensional-models-preview.aspx

For more information about DAX

http://blog.gobansaor.com/2011/07/14/dax-the-new-sql/

If you want to try Power View reports

https://businessintelligencedemoportal.com/sites/contosoenergy/SitePages/pvrsample.aspx

Thanks
Mahmoud Anass

Sorry Microsoft AX Consultants, you won't be able to have good sleeping for the next couple years !!!

2012-10-17T15:30:00.001-07:00

The next major release of Microsoft Dynamics AX will include a new Windows 8 style UI which is expected to be released in August 2014, so If you didn't start AX 2012 learning and implementation you will suffer from the HUGE gap in the Application/Technical area, specially Microsoft will release additional 3 releases (Not major releases) which are AX 2012 R2 in December 2012 and AX 2012 R3 expected in 2013 first half, and AX 2012 R4 in 2013 second half, in addition to that Microsoft might release some Feature back !!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry AX people, for the couple next year you won't have good sleeping :D

Mahmoud Anass

Power of ERP + Simplicity of Excel = AX 2012

2011-08-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article about a Survey result shows how the ERP users are more eager to use MS Excel more than ERP application, because most/all ERP software in many times are cumbersome and not easy to use, especially if they are old, complex, and have tons of function such as SAP and Oracle.

in the same context i was thinking about the huge effort that Microsoft is doing to Marrying AX 2012 (which contains structure data) and MS Excel (contains unstructured data and make this marriage simple and Easy) (Watch the link Inside Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 - Office )

This makes you feel that "Dynamics AX 2012 Powerful. Agile. Simple." slogan is not just slogan for marketing consumption, but it’s a true fact!!

That’s why I’m convinced: Power of ERP + Simplicity of Excel = AX 2012

Thanks
Mahmoud Anass

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is Launched!

2011-08-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today Microsoft Announces Dynamics AX 2012 General Availability

see the following links:

http://msdynamicsworld.com/story/microsoft-announces-dynamics-ax-2012-general-availability

https://community.dynamics.com/b/theedge/default.aspx

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/newsevents/news/MSDYAX2012_AnnouceGeneralAvailability?r=14&l=1
(requires partnersource access)

Some benefits of AX SSRS over MorphX reports

2011-07-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

- SSRS support Graphics, Charts, while MorphX is poor in that area.
- SSRS Reports could use the OLAP Cubes, while MorphX Cannot
- SSRS Can Access any other Database while it’s difficult for MorphX
- SSRS employee WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get).
- SSRS Could be accessed from Client or EP
- SSRS supports email subscriptions, and snapshots.
- SSRS could be exported directly to Excel & xps format
- SSRS supports drilldown and sub report.

Thanks
Mahmoud

Microsoft Dynamics AX Continue to position itself as Class A ERP

2011-07-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

I've read this article (Microsoft Dynamics Lines Up Against SAP, Oracle, And Salesforce) and I'd like to share it with you.

How to run AX 2012 VPC

2011-06-23T05:01:00.000-07:00

I've found an interesting link about how to run AX 2012 VPC on Windows 7 withouth the need for Windows 2008 Hyper-V. Thanks for the blogger.

How to run AX2012 HyperV on Virtualbox (Step by step guide)

Thanks

Mahmoud

Opening Balance Uploading

2011-06-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

The best method for uploading opening balance for GL/AP/AR is to use the General Journal by preparing a Journal contains the Trial Balance and replace its Ledger Accounts that are connected to the posting profile of Sub module/Sub ledger by their respective Sub ledger Accounts, to make it more clear let me show you an illustration.
Ledger Account No. 21001000 represent Accounts Payable and its balance = $ 1,000 which is a result of 2 invoices, one for Ven001 = $300 and the other for Ven002 = $700.

In the Journal that contains the Trial Balance that you are preparing for the uploading, you will remove the Ledger Account 21001000 line, and replace it with the two lines of type Vendor for both the Vendors Ven001 & Ven002, you could also specify the document date (to maintain the ageing information) and the Invoice# .
Other benefits you could gain from this method by specifing the actual currency of the Invoice and its exchange rate (Note: Invoice Amount in other that company primary currency must be equal to the AmountMST, and this is achieved by the proper exchange rate).

By this way you won’t need the 999 Ledger Account (You will use “999” account only in the uploading of Inventory opening Balance).

Thanks

Mahmoud

Is Microsoft Dynamics AX6 - SAP-Killer?

2011-06-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

I read this post and I liked the way the blogger is trying show that SAP could be #1 because of the "Law of perception" but in fact AX could outperform SAP (depending on facts & numbers), Current SAP market share %31 and Dynamics Market share is %15 althought 5 years back SAP was %47 and Dynamics was %3. (to read the full article)

Whats New in Dynamics AX 2012 (A brief extract from the recently held Tech Conf.)

2011-02-10T05:12:00.000-08:00

I've find this nice post on Twitter:

Whats New in Dynamics AX 2012 (A brief extract from the recently held Tech Conf.)

http://axaptasource.com/2011/01/whats-new-in-dynamics-ax-2012-a-brief-extract-from-the-recently-held-tech-conf/

Why Microsoft did an fundamental change to AX 2012 (AKA AX 6) architecture?

2011-02-06T13:52:00.000-08:00

In this post "Engineering the future, our next milestone…" that was done by Kees Hertogh, Director, Product Management, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Kees is trying to highlight how Microsoft is driving the Generational Shift in ERP by its next release of AX 2012.

This is a loud message from Microsoft express its determination to position itself to be #1 in the ERP market. It reminds me when Microsoft entered into Cloud Computing technology even many companies precede it such as Amazon, IBM, and Google but by its persistence and determination (thanks to the huge R&D budget and its pioneers’ minds) it succeeded to across them and to be ranked as #1.

Mahmoud Anass

Convergence 2010 Virtual Partner Briefing

2010-05-04T03:37:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Partner Briefing is now available and can help you make the most of the Convergence opportunity with your customers. Take advantage of this convenient new on-demand format for getting the latest Microsoft Dynamics information.

Click here to access the Virtual Partner Briefing.
(Require Partnersource login)

Dynamics AX 6.0 and WF4

2010-05-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

In this post I will tackle some of the improvements in the next release of Dynamics AX 6.0 and WF4, which is revealed by Josh Honeyman (Principle Development lead for Dynamics AX workflow ) in his video interview with endpoint.tv.

From the post title the next release of Dynamics AX will Based on .NET 4.0 workflow, this will lead to the following improvements:

§ AX 6.0 WF code base will be reduced & optimized by more than 60%

o This optimization will result in reduction in database size for workflow instances and its related data such as activities, tasks, history...etc.

§ The WF 4.0 ability to host its designer in other application has been incorporated in the next release

o You can see graphical representation for the business workflow scenario (I think also the GUI is WPF based), which is not currently available in the current release of AX 2009

§ More integration between .NET and X++ inside X++ editor

o This give the idea of more incorporating .NET technologies in the next release, but from video interview, I expect that the next release is not fully integrated with .NET or the kernel not entirely moved into .NET & MSIL

§ More activities models, conditional branch has been added

o I guess this will give us very good extensibility and rich out of the box activities such as sending email activity.

o More approaching to business roles need, such as no infinite workflow instance, in term of setting actions based on the expiration date and time, for instance; escalating the instance to other employee or manager.

I think by these mentioned feature Dynamics AX will be more business adaptive ERP package and much more easier to maintain and configure it's module to the various business needs not just like other ERP software that enforce you to choose off the shelve Business workflow scenarios (which is mostly not suitable to all business specially mid and upper mid-market ) because of their technical difficulties in creating and maintaining different workflow scenarios.

To watch the interview video click here.

Have a good day and wait for more posts.

Mahmoud Anass

The upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX Retail offering

2010-04-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

The upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX Retail offering, which will be expected to be available in the next june, and it expected to have all of the Microsoft acquired IP Add-on in this area of business such as LS Retail EHF and To-Increase . This solutions has a great competitive advantage over other ERP products which is its an End-to-End solution, means it has front end (POS), backend (Retail chain management such as, promotion & price management, shippment & logistics..etc,). Its also totally found inside Dynamics AX (as the Picture depicts) not outside the Dynamics AX and fully integrated with the Dynamics AX module (Because most of other ERP solution, if they have look like this add-on or module, it would be outside the main solution package and they have to integrate it with the main system software GL and other modules).

See video on Youtube

Free online Conference for Dynamics AX

2009-08-17T01:44:00.000-07:00

I've found that MSDynamicsWorld.com will present online event about Dynamics AX. It's free so you can join it and enjoy it.

http://axdecisions.com/

Mahmoud Anass

Introduction to Lean Manufacturing Video

2009-08-17T01:33:00.000-07:00

This training video features eBECS Solutions Director and Microsoft Dynamics AX Lean Manufacturing original solution architect, Andrew Rumney. Andrew will guide you with an explanation of the lean concepts using practical demonstrations (pull and flow). The master class also includes a step by step Kanban demonstration, establishing a finished goods buffer and customer pull scenario.
http://vimeo.com/5953217

Enjoy It.

Chat Now: Fully Available Now in EMEA

2009-08-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

Chat Now Service is now Fully Available Now in EMEA you can login here (require partner source) https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/ordering/orderingnews/chatnowaugemea.htm?printpage=false

NOTE: Chat Now will be available in EMEA from August 3rd.

In response to Partner feedback, Microsoft Dynamics Operations is pleased to announce a new level of operational service that helps save you time. On August 3, 2009, our new interactive service called Chat Now went live on PartnerSource to all Partners in the Europe, Middle East and African Regions. Now with one click, partners can open an instant message-style dialogue to receive personal attention and assistance from a live Operations Customer Care professional in a simple, fast & conversational format. Resolve issues and have questions answered immediately; in real time and in your language including English French, German, Spanish, Italian Danish and Russian. Chat Now broadens the operational support options to provide instant service right when you need it.

Hello Dynamics AX World

2009-04-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

I've created this blog from a while but I haven't post anything due to my limited time and being busy in my work, I work as senior Dynamics AX developer at Microsoft Dynamics AX partner located in Egypt. Although the fact that Dynamics AX is booming in the region (Middle East) & worldwide, I’ve been faced with too many Accountant, IT, Manufacturers, Production and business related people ignorance about the product & it’s capabilities, and how it’s strong and reliable in competing other ERP products (such as SAP and Oracle), So I decided to create this blog to share with you the things which I’ve learned in my journey in AX whether technical of functional (due to I’m graduated from faculty of commerce, Accounting Major), and clarify some facts. Some of these information will particularly benefit my region (Egypt and the Arab countries). I hope to hear comments from you on my posts and share knowledge. Because the primary goal of this blog as its name depict (AX4All) is Knowledge transfer. I will try to do my best to keep this blog updated & usefull as possible for everyone. So help me God.

Mahmoud Anass
Senior Dynamics AX Developer