Dynamics AX 7 – features, UI and roadmap
November 19th was the global press release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 7, now referred to as ‘The New Dynamics AX’.
Our team attended the Microsoft Dynamics AX 7 Informational Event at Microsoft’s London offices to find out more about this new release. We then hosted an online Dynamics AX 7 demo webinar for our consultants. This is the summary of what we learnt.
Introduction to the New Dynamics AX
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more through the following actions:
- Create more computing
- Reinvent productivity and business processes
- Build the intelligent cloud
The New Dynamics AX is bringing the following major evolutions:
- Available on any device
- Modern UI
- Power BI
- In-Memory
- ML
- IoT
- Big Data
- Integration platform
The data model and business logic remain consistent with the previous versions of Dynamics AX.
One of the main challenges of an AX implementation is that businesses are constantly evolving – so are their processes and needs. By the time the implementation is finished, the business’s needs are already different to what they were when the project started.
Dynamics AX 7 will fix this issue by organically growing with the business. Lifecycle services will become essential to Dynamics AX implementations and support, thus making it possible for a company’s AX system to evolve overtime and adjust to the customers’ growth and innovations.
The New Dynamics AX will be available on any device to enable business anytime, anywhere.
It will offer an intelligent User Interface with embedded Power BI. It will enable businesses to collect data, analyse it and come-up with more efficient business strategies.
For more information on Dynamics AX 7’s new features, see The year ahead for Dynamics AX.
Key improvements within Microsoft Dynamics AX 7
The key improvements in Dynamics AX 7 are:
- Immersive experience
- Web-based client
- Azure Cloud Enabled
- Application Lifecycle Experience
- Global Industries
Users will benefit from the following new features:
- AX 7 offers a user interface that works great for both touchscreen (with icons in the middle of the screen) and point & click (with a menu).
- The UI’s colours and fonts can be personalised. Customer banners allow e-branding messages or images.
- The work spaces and role centres have evolved, and the UI can now be used in a different way thanks to the new menu and the favourites feature. Work items assigned to each user appear on the homepage, which also has a ‘recent links’ feature.
- The admin interface displays a summary with tiles, and has Power BI on the right.
- The customer list has been made tidier and cleaner. Individual records show contact information as well as BI. Sales orders now show a clean view on a simple UI.
- The task recorder has been improved with a number of new features. For each task, it displays a list of the steps that need to be followed and keeps track of the progress by ticking each completed task. It also features guiding messages and alerts you if you’re not following the guidelines. This guided tool for the end-user adds great value for user training.
- For cost analysis, Power BI tiles now enable the user to add and remove fields.
- You can now access Cloud verticals, like Dynamics Retail POS.
- Lifecycle Services (LCS) will be at the core of Dynamics AX 7 and will be essential to its delivery. It comes with a set of tools that run on Azure and can be accessed anywhere at any time. LCS enables Partners to stage their IP, produce demos, and set-up vertical solutions.
Roadmap
- We are now at the preview stage of Dynamics AX 7 (some partners are already developing solutions).
- The UI will have 40+ languages at launch, but the country localisation will be staged (first ones will be: AU, CA, DK, FR, DE, IS, IE, JP, MY, NL, MX, NZ, SG, ZA, UK, US).
- General availability for the public on the Cloud: Q1 2016.
- The on premise solution and private Cloud upgrade will be available 6 to 9 months later (when SQL 2016 and Windows Server 2016 become available).
- The Data upgrade won’t happen until the second half of 2016. Customers can start preparing for the upgrade and then they will be able to move their data in the second half of 2016.
Readiness for consultants
For tips on how to get ready for the New Dynamics AX, see: The year ahead for Dynamics AX.
About us: 365 Talent Portal is the first online platform that gives Dynamics partners and end-users instant access to hundreds of consultants. With a network spanning 98 countries, it allows companies to search for consultants based on their skills, rates and available dates, enabling them to find the best person for their projects without incurring the hefty fees typical of recruitment agencies. Register here –365talentportal.com.