Flemming's Weblog on Dynamics AX

To all my readers,

I'm am sorry to say that I will retire this blog since I have decided to leave Microsoft as of September 1st 2007. I my new job at TIA technology (www.tia.dk) I will work on insurance applications not related to Dynamics AX.

If you want to follow my new work you can find my blog here http://flrtia.blogspot.com/.

Thanks to all reading this and best of luck with Dynamics AX going forward. It's going to be a huge success...

Flemming

I apologize beforehand to those of you following my blog that it's been a while since I have posted updates here. We have been rather busy with releasing the next version of our partner tools as well as completing new features for the next version on Dynamics AX.

That being said, I thought now is a good time to cover some of the things we have been working on as well as what the team I'm responsible for is charged with.

If you're a Dynamics AX partner implementing Dynamics AX you should know that we have released a new version of the SureStep Rapid Configuration Tool as well as the Task Recorder for Dynamics AX. You can get the new version as a download from PartnerSource.  These tools go hand in hand with the newly released Microsoft Dynamics SureStep methodology. We have spent a good chunk of time making it Dynamics AX product specific with content and tools support. The goal with all of this is of course to help you implement Dynamics AX in a more efficient manner.

Business Modeling 

Another tool you may want to take a look at is the "Sure Step Business Modeler". This tool can be used to browse/create/edit a representation of a company organizational structure as well as role descriptions and repository of process diagrams in the form of bitmaps. It comes pre-populated with the "Customer Model" data we use at Microsoft when we are modeling our target customers and users. 

We are currently working on how we want to take process modeling further. We realize most partners today are using Microsoft Visio in one form or another - but also that they could use some help organizing the content in those Visio files - and ensure that best practices and more reuse occurs from one implementation to the next. Feel free to comment on what YOU think is needed in this area - and whether the Business Modeler tool is helpful in your daily work.

Developer Tools

Another area my team has in mind is the MorphX environment with all its tools for developers. There is no doubt that what we do here has a significant impact on the partner productivity - since most partners spend a fair bit of time using the MorphX environment to customize the application.

We are looking at how we want to take the MorphX environment further - and especially in relation to Microsoft Visual Studio. With the next version of Microsoft Dynamics AX, a new repoting tool will be released based on Visual Studio. In short - you will be able to use all the power of Visual Studio to write production-grade reports against Dynamics AX.

In my view the MorphX environment is second-to-none when it comes to developing business application. The blend between a strong model driven repository and a unique set of runtime capabilities means that you can be highly productive as an application developer. The mix between well-known features like the layer architecture, the runtime layout of forms and reports and the tree-like approach to designnng makes it super useful when you are fast forwarding on prototypes. It's even been seen that customization was done during a pre-sales pitch...However, it's also a known fact that many developers lives for the strong set of capabilities found in Visual Studio and .net. . What do you feel would be the optimal mix?. What would your dream development environment look like? Let me know with a comment to my blog. 

I trust many of our partners find their way to Convergence 2007 (http://www.msconvergence.com/public/home.aspx) in San Diego in March. My team is going to be there for sure talking about Microsoft Dynamics AX and implementation. We want to interact with as many partners as possible to get feedback on implementation aspects and good ideas for new solutions to help ease the process.

For those of you attending, make sure to use the networking tool (http://convergence.leveragesoftware.com/) where you will also be able to find my contact information and possibly schedule some meeting time.

In any case please make sure to see our product presentation on the pre-partner day where we will be talking about implementaion aspects of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

What's really - REALLY needed?

I am thinking about the many many software products out there on the software market to work with business process modelling , capturing, describing and documenting it. I know this is something partners spend a fair bit of time on during an ERP implementation and personally I would wat a tool to help me out with this.

I know that most of our partners do use some kind of tool or best practice when they go out to customers, to talk to them about their business, and try map these to the features of our products. Whether it is just drawing it up on a white board, or using elaborate commercial software to describe business processes. I'm wondering what partners and customers in the ERP mid-market really would like to have.

Personally I tend to think that an effective tool for a partner during an ERP implementation has to have a few characteristics, 

• An fairly simple "editor" (although probably being a rich client), which partners (and customers eventually) can use to restructure pre-defined process models.
• The editor should be able to manage
• Roles + attributes and their relationships
• Activities in a hierarchical structure (aka the MIcrosoft Business Solutions Workmodel) + attributes
• Search facilities
• Process diagrams depicting
• Swimlane diagrams for flows across departments
• Activity diagrams for individual roles
• Textual process descriptions
• Security settings based on roles
• A simple thin client UI. This would allow partners initially to host the models and the customers to log in browsing the models. Later it would mean easy access for all users at the customer.
• An underlying SQL database model. It could initially be fairly simple - not trying to capture all metadata from the models. Or it could be more ambitious storing all of the metadata captured in the process diagrams.
• A way for partners to download and upload models (even verticals) for sharing

In reality I guess there are two extremes in doing this - on the one hand using no tool at all, just drawing up diagrams on a whiteboard (or somewhat better, manually drawing them in Visio). On the other hand using an advanced software package to capture and define the models (think IDS Scheer). Getting the right answer to what to opt for of course makes you consider a lot of things, such as - usability, cost (license, training etc.), simplicity and feature richness.

I am sure that there are many answers (perhaps even a right one) - and I am plannig spending the upcoming holidays thinking more about this. If there are others out there with a viewpoint, let me get your comments.

Happy holidays

Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Dynamics AX is now avilable for download on PartnerSource.

I have received a few questions regarding partner tools for SP1 and when they will be available.

For those interested I can say that we have completed upgrade and validation of the Rapid Configuration Tool as well as demo data to work on top of SP1 and we are in the process of uploading them to PartnerSource. Partners should expect them to be available for download within the next couple of days. We are also going to refresh the beta version of the Task recorder to work with Service Pack 1.

Look for more information on https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/products/axapta (for registered partners - requires access)

In my team we are thinking a lot about where partners are actually spending their time when implementing Microsoft Dynamics AX.

We have recently talked to a handful of partners and we have also received valuable feedback to a survey we sent out to around 300 contacts with our partners (look for survey results soon to come). Many partners tell us that they are spending time during process analysis with customers on rather trivial tasks, such as capturing how users wants modifications done - cut-copy-paste of screenshots etc. into documents and also preparing demos and training materials and doing a lot of screendumps manually.  To try help out we have created a small tool allowing partners to capture user interaction from Dynamics AX. We call it the "Task Recorder"

A beta-version of the task recorder is available for download from PartnerSource for registered partners of Microsoft Dynamic AX.

The tool is useful in quit many scenarios and we would love feedback from our partners on the usage of it. It can be installed on top of Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0.

People working within supply chain management defintely knows the term "Lean".  As in the Toyota production system where the ideas were first realized it refers to the removal of unneccessary waste in a production. I believe there is an opportunity to apply the same thinking to the way Dynamics Ax is implemented by our partners. It´s got to be simpler, faster and more effective to move Dynamics Ax from the point of signing a contract to running a live production system. Or in other words manage a truly "minimalistic" ERP implementation.

From talking to partners I know there is much time spent understanding the customers businesses and mapping this to how Ax works. Designing customizations based upon the gap analysis and business process documentation is a time consuming task and one that is very important to get done correctly.I could imagine there is an opportunity to provide tools and content to improve this process.

In another phase of the implementation, partners are spending time on migrating data from other systems. Having the right set of tools to handle data migration is another area where I see an opportunity to help out and simplify the life for partners.

What do you believe is a waste of time? We are looking for feedback on Dynamics Ax implementation and if you are consultant working with Dynamics Ax, a developer or other professional with insight into Dynamics Ax, we would like your feedback.

As you may know we have a new team called the Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner Productivity team, which is part of the Microsoft Dynamics AX product development organization. Our charter is to provide tools and content to empower partners to complete more implementations with their existing resources. Our goal is to understand your key pain points during an implementation and we have created a survey to collect your feedback to help us prioritize projects planned for upcoming releases.

Here is a link to the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=150804591E15816

We request feedback from all disciplines involved in a Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation: Pre-Sales, Project Management, Consulting, Development and Testing. Please forward this to the appropriate people in your organization so we can get a complete picture of your implementation cycle.

You can also review implementation tools already available at our landing page on the MBS PartnerSource portal at https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/products/axapta/partnerproductivity

We hope you will also engage with us at the Microsoft Convergence 2006 EMEA in Munich, Germany. Look for the Partner Productivity team at Microsoft Dynamics AX Expo booths as well as roundtable sessions during the conference in November. Register for Convergence at https://www.microsoft.com/europe/convergence

In case some of you did not know, a new book has just been published, covering the details of Dynamics Ax version 4.0 (Inside Microsoft Dynamics 4.0). For those of you who wants details on the technology behind Ax and the programming environment with all it's possibilities, this book is definately something you should have on your shelves. It's been authored by some of the most knowledgable people behind the product and I can highly recommend it.

While we're at the topic of documentation, I had a comment on where to find documentation on the RCT tool. This is currently only included with the tool itself, i.e. you have to download and install RCT from PartnerSource. The documentation on RCT is at this point very limited, but it is something we are looking at improving and expanding.

Regarding documentation on Dynamics Ax, my team is currently investigating what would make the most sense to work on in order to help partners with implementing the product. If anyone has comments on this topic I would be very interested. Which kind of documentation  - and in which form - would you think is most needed to help you when implementing? Let me know by mail or as comments to this blog.

When customizing Dynaimics Ax a great deal of time is usually spent on testing that the customizations actually work. This is often a manual effort and can be quite time consuming.

On the Dynamics Ax application teams we are using various means of testing the standard application. Test automation is a key aspect and so is unit testing of the bits and pieces of new code we make.

In Dynamics Ax version 4 we have shipped a unit test framework as part of the MorphX environment. Partners can use this when they are developing their customizations and new functionality. If you are interested in how the unit test framework (SysTest) actually works you should check out the blog of one of my co-workers, David Pokluda (http://blogs.msdn.com/dpokluda/), who have just started describing this topic in details.

Pre-sales and implementation time is something that is of great concern not only to partners but to the Dynamics AX Partner Productivity team, part of the development group in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

To take advantage of the increasing license sales that have accompanied the new release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 partners will need to either hire more Microsoft Dynamics AX consultants …or reduce implementation time. The Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner Productivity team has a charter to reduce the time partners spend on implementations and wish to offer assistance.

Would you like:

• more support during pre-sales, diagnostic and analysis activities
• better developer content, end-user instructions, and pre-configured data
• tools to capture best practices to on-board new employees faster and reduce risk during implementation
• to spend a larger percentage of your time providing customers value-added services that allow you to differentiate yourself from your competitors
• reduce time on inefficient tasks during implementation and charge your customers in full for your efforts 

If you are a partner and have answered YES to any of these questions, please connect with the Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner Productivity team by emailing us at daxppext@microsoft.com. The team has prepared a short survey requiring partner input to understand how your time is spent. The Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner Productivity team will use the survey results to develop tools and content to ease major pain points resulting in shorter implementation cycles.

The, soon-to-be-released Microsoft Dynamics Implementation Model and the just released Rapid Configuration Tool for Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 are examples of tools we are working on.

The Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner Productivity team would like to engage with as many partners as possible, so please Help us help you!

You can also visit the partner communities on PartnerSource where the Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner Productivity team is also active at https://mbs.microsoft.com/PartnerSource/

Links for further information on this topic:

Microsoft Dynamics AX Implementation specific newsgroup
https://members.microsoft.com/Communities/mbspartner/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.private.mbspartner.axapta.implementation

Microsoft Dynamics AX general newsgroup (Microsoft Support monitored)
https://members.microsoft.com/communities/partner/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.private.directaccess.axapta

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To help partners with the process of setting up the application modules, Microsoft recently launched the ”Rapid Configuration Tool” for Dynamics Ax 4.0, which is a tool available for partners (free download at PartnerSource).

I am wondering how many partners know this tool and is actually using it during the implementation phase. I thought it would be useful to just write a short note on this tool, which is actually quite powerful. In my team we understand that the process of setting up an application typically requires work by partners as well as super users at the customer site. They often work together over a period of time ensuring that all parameters and base data is entered or migrated into the Dynamics system.

This is where the Rapid Configuration Tool (RCT) can help. The tool effectively makes sure that all relevant modules are configured (that is the ones the customer has purchased and chosen to enable) and that the configuration takes places in the right sequence. It has features allowing the people working with setting up the application to be notified about issues and work tasks, and it contains an issue log system, where user can log issues they find throughout the testing.

Data entry is often time consuming and tedious, and the tool helps simplify this for instance by allowing users to create Microsoft Excel sheets which can then be populated offline and later imported in a simple way.

Another issue is learning the correct settings and understanding the application from the users perspective. To facilitate this the tool contains a substantial amount of training content in form of powerpoint presentations, videos and other documents showing how to work with various parts of the application. All of the content can be accessed from within the tool.

Going forward we would like feedback from partners who have been using this tool. We are looking for ways to improve it and expand it. If you have comments let me know.

I finally got the blog set up and ready for posting - probably have to spend a bit more time making it look better but it will have to wait for now. I'm pretty excited to start this blog - and curious about whether anyone will notice? However, I do feel that the interest about Dynamics Ax is growing these days and the community is building - so why not contribute.

For the ones who don't know me, I have been working with the Dynamics Ax product since the initial conception back in the 90's and prior to that also with the Concorde XAL product - which is sort of a pre-decessor. Most of my time have been spent within development working with adding new features and managing the project in general. I also spent a couple of years in the US working with partners on servicing and supporting the Axapta product as it was then called.

I feel strongly for the product and it's place in the market. I believe we have a truly unique product with it's capabilities around customization and flexibility. The tools provided with the product is the key strength and differentiator. We've created a lot of good features, but we need to do much more to help customers and partners to not make wrong choices. I'm currently thinking a lot about which tools and documentation we should to provide to partners to make each implementation a real success - both in terms of time spent (short) and money (little).

The reality is that there are so many choices. Which parts of an implementation should we focus on - where does it really hurt? What is partners spending time on, it is the analysis of customer requirements and the matching to the Ax processes? - or is it preparing pre-sales demos? What about the actual design of customizations - it may be that it's not complicated to figure out what to customize, but it's impossible to figure out how to do the customizations? Is this the most critical aspect - and if so how can we in Microsoft help with that?

All these questions and so many more are right now on my mind. Basically the issues is where to focus. It's not that we are not doing anything alreaady but we need to do more. One example of what we are doing is the "Rapid Configuration Tool" for Dynamics Ax 4.0, which we recently made available to partners on the Microsoft Partner Source web-site (http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/partnersource.mspx - requires access). This tool helps partners and customers setting up the Ax application and managing the process. It addresses activities during a deployment phase, but what about all the activitites in other phases of an implementation such as analysis, design, development etc.

What I would like is feedback from partners on where they see the biggest issues and what could help most driving down the implementation time. To get this feedback we are right now preparing a survey we would like partners and other to respond to. As soon as the survey is ready I'll talk more about this in this blog. For now we are thinking about all the questions to ask.

In the meantime - if you read this blog - and you think the topic is interesting - let me know. Also make sure to join the discussion forrums on the Dynamics Ax communities (http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/ax/community.mspx) as well as the partner forums on PartnerSource.

Disclaimer
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.