Discontinuation of Oracle database support in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Microsoft is committed to support the database system that scales to meet customer needs and helps lower the total cost of ownership over time. Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 delivers several breakthrough capabilities that will enable organizations to scale database operations with confidence and improve IT and developer efficiency, as well as enable highly scalable and well-managed business intelligence on a self-service basis for users. Today our customers are selecting Microsoft SQL Server as their database system.


Below are a number of benefits that customers can get by switching from an Oracle to a SQL Server database:
 
Business value


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is a complete set of enterprise-ready technologies and tools that help people derive the most value from information at the lowest total-cost-of-ownership. Enjoy high levels of performance, availability, and security; employ more productive management and development tools; and deliver pervasive insight with self-service business intelligence (BI).

Lower the total cost of ownership (TCO)

SQL Server 2008 has a simple tiered SKU licensing model helping provide lower TCO over time, while Oracle 11g requires additional licensing costs for a multiple array of options and add-ins, on top of already high maintenance and support costs. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 provides a data platform with many advantages and business benefits including better security, performance and scalability, developer productivity, and Business Intelligence tools (BI) – all at a lower total cost of ownership.
 
Business Intelligence


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 provides a scalable Business Intelligence platform optimized for data integration, reporting, and analysis, enabling organizations to deliver intelligence where users want it. Microsoft Dynamics AX utilizes the Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) Platform that comprises offerings from Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Office to empower people with self-service
 
Business intelligence to deliver the right BI tools for the entire organization. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 will utilize additional, more powerful features of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services to enable visually richer, more interactive and more flexible reporting and will use Reporting Services as the primary reporting engine. Microsoft SQL Server enables Business Intelligence for everyone in your company by enabling self-service access to data for analysis and team collaboration using familiar Microsoft Office and SharePoint user tools. The seamless interoperability of SQL Server 2008 with Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server and Microsoft Office adds a tremendous productivity gain for your users.


Security

Advanced security features, such as encryption, transparent auditing, and centralized key management, are among industry-leading features and included in SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, while Oracle charges extra for security add-ons.
 
About Migration

The Oracle to Microsoft SQL Server Data Migration Assistant for Microsoft Dynamics AX (Data Migration Assistant) helps you with the migration of data from a Microsoft Dynamics AX Oracle database to a Microsoft Dynamics AX SQL Server database. The Data Migration Assistant supports the following versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX: Microsoft Axapta 3.0, Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, and 2009.
The Migration Assistant was released in October 2010 and is available for download from the partnersource.

Connector For Microsoft Dynamics AX

 You can now download the connectors for Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics CRM from PartnerSource. For now take a look at the following PartnerSource announcement  with associated information and downloads!

Connector for Dynamics AX

Microsoft Dynamics AX '6' Coming This Year

Microsoft plans to roll out the next version of its Dynamics AX enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution in the latter part of this year, the company announced today.

That version, called Microsoft Dynamics AX code-named "6," will succeed the currently available Dynamics AX 2009 flagship product. Microsoft is promising that the new release will have an improved architecture plus the usual integration with other Microsoft products, such as Microsoft Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010.

With the new release, Microsoft is highlighting a "model-driven layered architecture" in Dynamics AX 6 that will benefit developers and independent software developers (ISVs).
Dynamics AX 6 has a model-driven-layer architecture that will accelerate the application development process for our partners, enabling them to write more quickly, to do less coding and to deliver the solution more quickly," said Crispin Read, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics ERP, in a phone interview. "They [developers] are modifying models vs. writing code -- that's a big new capability, a very significant capability in AX 6."


Read noted that ISVs will be able to use this modeling capability to better extend their products to additional markets. He claimed that the new model-driven layered architecture approach was "unusual" in the ERP software industry. Traditional ERP software products have tended to drift more toward "spaghetti code" when it came to product upgrades and expansions, he claimed.
Earlier versions of Dynamics AX have been based on a layered architecture, but they have not included this modeling capability. The modeling is based on a SQL Server-based model store, Read explained.

"The layered element is really intended to separate the work that is done by the different parties involved providing a customer solution," Read said. "That's very unique, but it's been a fundamental architectural attribute of AX for some time. We certainly improved it; certainly extended it, and we made it much more fine grained in AX 6 through layering. Now, it's model driven in the sense that we now have a SQL Server-based model store, so that there'll be fewer cases where you need to write code to modify or provide application functionality. There will be more cases where you can do that by tweaking the models themselves."

"Application modeling tools enable developers to customize an application using specialized languages that are simpler than a full programming language," explained Robert Helm, managing vice president at the Directions on Microsoft consultancy, in an e-mailed response. "Modeling can make writing customizations simpler than programming, which is how it's done today. Modeling can also make customizations easier to deploy, update and migrate to new application versions than code would be."
Read cited three main benefits for ISVs that will come with the Dynamics AX 6 release. Products will be able to get to market faster, ISVs will be able to expand their marketing and they'll be able to reduce their lifecycle investment costs, he said. Read explained that Microsoft Dynamics AX is targeted toward addressing five markets, including retail, distribution, manufacturing, services and the public sector. The solution initially will be designed for 38 countries

Skype Integration with AX 2009

Integrate Skype with Dynamics AX. Click on any phone field to dial the number directly in Skype. Skype usernames can also be entered as communication types, and can also be dialed or instant messaged with a click from any Dynamics AX form that displays communications.

Click here to see the demo

Note: This is a third party tool

Difference between Logistics, Inventory Management & Supply chain Management

Logistic Management:

Logistics management plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer & legal requirements.


Inventory Management:

The word “inventory” was first recorded in 1601. The French term inventaire, or “detailed list of goods,” dates back to 1415. Inventory management is primarily about specifying the quantity and placement of stocked goods.

In other words, logistics management answers the following questions:

How can we deliver items to a customer as quickly as possible
How many items should we buy from vendor so that they are not spoilt in the warehouse?
Where should warehouse workers pick the goods? What is the optimal path to the item in a warehouse?
Where should warehouse workers pack the goods?
What vehicle should load the goods?

As you can see, logistics management controls processes inside a company (warehouse logistics) and outside a company (transport logistics).

Inventory management answers such questions as where an item is stored (aisle, row, shelf, etc.), how many item units are stored in a warehouse and many other item related questions.

For example, transfer an item from one company warehouse to another one, is this Logistics or Inventory management?

Answer is Logistics management.

One more term that also confuses a lot of people is Supply Chain Management (SCM). The thing that may confuse  is the difference between the supply chain management and logistics management.

Supply Chain Management:

Supply Chain Management is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to a customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. In sophisticated supply chain systems, used products may re-enter the supply chain at any point where residual value is recyclable.

So, to extend Logistic management description, we can say that logistics management is the area of a supply chain which plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer & legal requirements.
Logistics is a channel of a supply chain which adds the value of time and place utility.
Actually Logistics is the physical execution part of Supply Chain Management. SCM deals with more strategic aspects at macro level whereas logistics is nuts and bolts of its implementation.

Supply chain consists of the following areas:

Transport
Finance
Health, safety & Environment
Information Technology
Education & Training
Human Relations
Warehousing

Logistics is a logical extension of transportation & warehousing to achieve an efficient & effective goods distribution system.

Roll up 5 for AX SP1

Dynamics AX 2009 SP 1 hotfix Roll up 5 is now available on partner source.

This hotfix rollup contains all the fixes that were released in the previous Microsoft Dynamics AX hotfix rollup packages for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 SP1. The build number of this hotfix rollup is 5.0.1500.2985.
Click here to Download

Take your business into the future with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

Improve productivity

In the volatile world of business, individual productivity and effectiveness has a direct impact on your profitability. Give people familiar, easy-to-use tools that enable them to work quickly and make smart, proactive decisions

Your business can benefit from giving executives, managers, and employees the knowledge they need to make sound business decisions. Microsoft Dynamics AX can deliver the information and the analysis tools they need to make that happen. With the ability to custom-tailor the information people need for their specific responsibilities, Microsoft Dynamics AX can drive decision-making and improve productivity throughout your enterprise.

True productivity requires an end-to-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) package that your people will actually use. With Microsoft Dynamics AX, you can provide a familiar interface that quickly connects your people—and even business partners—to the right information and tools to work faster and smarter.

Compete globally

Today, business opportunity can mean enlarging your customer base to include a worldwide audience or expanding across borders into new sites or branch offices. Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to manage the complexities of a global organization by consolidating and standardizing processes and by providing visibility across your organization.

Simplify compliace

Companies face myriad regulatory requirements that vary widely across regions and countries. Microsoft Dynamics AX can help you reduce risk and liability associated with corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and customer initiatives.

It's not easy managing the challenges of compliance. Not only must you deal with the increasing demands of doing business in a fast-changing global environment, you also need to provide relevant and timely information, and report accurately and regularly to authorities, business partners, stakeholders, and shareholders. Dealing with these challenges to enforce compliance can be complicated and costly.

Microsoft Dynamics AX gives you a cost-effective way to simplify the challenges of compliance by helping your organization improve internal controls and increase visibility into compliance-related processes and activities.