Microsoft Dynamics AX
Microsoft Dynamics AX was one of Microsoft's enterprise resource planning software products. It is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family. In 2018, its thick-client interface was removed and the web product was rebranded as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations as a part of Microsoft's Dynamics 365 suite.
Developer(s) | Microsoft |
---|---|
Stable release | |
Operating system |
|
Platform | .NET Framework 4.6 |
Available in | Multilingual[3] |
Type | Enterprise resource planning |
License | Shareware |
Website | dynamics |
History
Microsoft Dynamics AX was originally developed as a collaboration between IBM and Danish Damgaard Data as IBM Axapta. Axapta was initially released in March 1998 in the Danish and U.S. markets. IBM returned all rights in the product to Damgaard Data shortly after the release of Version 1.5. Damgaard Data merged with Navision Software A/S in 2000 to form NavisionDamgaard, later named Navision A/S. Microsoft acquired the combined company in July 2002.[4]
In September 2011, Microsoft released version AX 2012.[5] It was made available and supported in more than 30 countries and 25 languages. Dynamics AX is used in over 20,000 organizations of all sizes, worldwide.[6]
The newest version, released in February 2016,[7] dropped the nomenclature of year and version and was simply called AX, although was widely known as AX7. This update was a major revision with a completely new UI delivered through a browser-based HTML5 client, and initially only available as a cloud-hosted application. This version lasted only a few months, though, as Dynamics AX was rebranded Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations in October 2016, and once more as Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations in July 2017. An additional version is available focusing on Retail branded as Dynamics 365 for Retail. This has a slightly different licensing price than Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.
Development centers
MDCC or Microsoft Development Center Copenhagen was once the primary development center for Dynamics AX.[8]
Features (modules)
Microsoft Dynamics AX contains 19 core modules:[9]
Traditional core (since Axapta 2.5)
- General Ledger – ledger, sales tax, currency, and fixed assets features
- Bank Management – receives and pays cash
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – business relations contact and maintenance (customers, vendors, and leads)
- Accounts Receivable – order entry, shipping, and invoicing
- Accounts Payable – purchase orders, goods received into inventory
- Inventory Management – inventory management and valuation[10]
- Master Planning (resources) – purchase and production planning
- Production – bills of materials, manufacturing tracking
- Store, manage, and interpret data.[11]
Extended core
The following modules are part of the core of AX 2009 (AX 5.0) and available on a per-license basis in AX 4.0:
- Shop Floor Control
- Cost Accounting
- Balanced Scorecards
- Service Management
- Expense Management
- Payroll Management[12]
- Environmental Management[13]
MorphX and X++
Code samples
X++ integrates SQL queries into standard Java-style code. The following three examples produce the same result, though the first has generally better performance. Samples 2 and 3 hint at an object-like behavior from table buffers.
Sample #1
/// <summary>
/// This job is used as an X++ sample
/// </summary>
public static void xppTest1(Args _args)
{
UserInfo userInfo;
ttsBegin;
update_recordset userInfo
setting enable = NoYes::No
where userInfo.id != 'Admin'
&& userInfo.enable;
ttsCommit;
}
Sample #2
/// <summary>
/// This job is used as an X++ sample
/// </summary>
public static void xppTest2(Args _args)
{
UserInfo userInfo;
ttsBegin;
while select forupdate userInfo
where userInfo.id != 'Admin'
&& userInfo.enable
{
userInfo.enable = NoYes::No;
userInfo.update();
}
ttsCommit;
}
Sample #3
/// <summary>
/// This job is used as an X++ sample
/// </summary>
public static void xppTest3(Args _args)
{
UserInfo userInfo;
ttsBegin;
select forupdate userInfo
where userInfo.id != 'Admin'
&& userInfo.enable;
while (userInfo)
{
userInfo.enable = NoYes::No;
userInfo.update();
next userInfo;
}
ttsCommit;
}
Presence on the Internet
Information about Axapta prior to the Microsoft purchase was available on technet.navision.com, a proprietary web-based newsgroup, which grew to a considerable number of members and posts before the Microsoft purchase in 2002.
After Microsoft incorporated Axapta into their Business Solution suite, they transferred the newsgroup's content to the Microsoft Business Solutions newsgroup.[14] The oldest Axapta Technet post that can be found dates to August 2000.[15]
Events
Extreme Conferences
extreme365 is a conference for the Dynamics 365 Partner Community which now includes Dynamics AX, featuring an Executive Forum.[16]
Personalization and predictive analytics
At the National Retail Federation (NRF) Conference 2016 in New York, Microsoft unveiled its partnership with Infinite Analytics, a Cambridge-based predictive analytics and personalization company.[17]
References
- Dynamics Lifecycle Services Communication (2016-05-27). "May 2016 release notes". Microsoft. Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services Engineering Blog. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
- "Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 System Requirements". Download Center. Microsoft. 6 June 2017.
- "Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations: Product availability, localization, and translation guide" (PDF). Microsoft. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- "Microsoft acquires Navision (2002)" Microsoft website
- "Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Launches Worldwide". Retrieved 8 May 2018.
- What is Microsoft Dynamics AX?, randgroup.com
- "Microsoft delivers enterprise-class ERP to the cloud - Stories". 9 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
- "Microsoft Development Center Copenhagen" Microsoft website
- "Microsoft Dynamics AX Business Ready Licensing editions" Microsoft website
- "Inventory management in Dynamics AX" Dynamics AX Training
- https://www.jetglobal.com/blog/microsoft-dynamics-ax-feature-list/ Microsoft Dynamics AX Feature List
- "Payroll Management - Microsoft Dynamics AX" Microsoft website
- "The Environmental Sustainability Dashboard" Microsoft website
- "Microsoft Dynamics AX Community" Microsoft website
- "26.1 Any input to the benchmarking tool in Damgaard Axapta??". 2000-08-04. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Alt URL
- "eXtreme365 celebrates record attendance, diverse learning opportunities at Lisbon conference". Extreme365. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
- Infinite Analytics' Cutting-Edge Personalization Engine now on Microsoft Dynamics AX Platform "PR Newswire"