Microsoft Dynamics AX vs. SAP - part 2

Most employees who work for midmarket companies use Microsoft Outlook to read and respond to email, track scheduled appointments and organize contacts. How many of these employees have had formal training in Outlook? The answer is very few. Outlook is an intuitive tool that is easy to understand and use. How much would a company benefit if its ERP application was as intuitive as Outlook? Again, the answer is obvious.

Microsoft Dynamics AX has been designed to work like software that employees are very familiar with -- Microsoft Office. Dynamics AX also provides a seamless Microsoft user experience for handling both structured (Microsoft Dynamics) and unstructured (Microsoft Office) data. Microsoft has provided a seamless environment for accessing ERP data within the Office applications. This capability is not an additional product that needs to be purchased. It is inherent in the base Dynamics AX application.

One of the biggest reasons ERP implementations fail is the inability to get employees to adopt the system. The familiar user interface of Dynamics AX increases the user acceptance rate. The tight integration between Dynamics AX and Microsoft Office also helps increase the productivity of employees throughout your business in less time. Employees can take advantage of the innovations built into Dynamics AX to use the best tool for the task at hand. For employees, that means software that works the way they do. For the business, that can mean an accelerated return on your investment, and a business that's managed more smoothly, more effectively and more profitably.

Microsoft Dynamics AX vs. SAP

When a company is in the process of evaluating a new business solution or ERP application, two or three solutions typically top the list.  In most cases, two of these applications are Microsoft Dynamics AX and SAP.  Below are several observations to consider when making this extremely important decision that will impact a business for years to come.

Configure the software to meet your needs or change your business to work with the software

When selecting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, executive management should ask, "Do we really want to run our business using the same ERP package that most of our competitors use?" Most businesses have unique processes that help drive success over their competitors. Wouldn't the better choice be to select a product that gives an organization an edge over the competition?

Products like SAP require a business to change the very processes that contribute to its success to match the functionality of the software. For the routine processes within an organization, this technique allows it to get the most out of its ERP investment. Customers and partners can each have separate object ranges for customizations, but they are still on the same layer which can lead to additional testing and expense.

Unlike traditional and legacy products like SAP, Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to give companies the ability to quickly and cost-effectively configure and customize their business applications to support the unique needs of the business. This also allows companies to change their applications as the business grows and changes in order to maintain their competitive edge.

Dynamics AX has the industry's most advanced architecture and tools to enable companies to make the necessary customizations. These tools provide companies with complete customization capabilities that enable the means to add new functionality and modify existing functionality quickly and with limited coding. Dynamics AX also takes advantage of industry-standard Microsoft tools and technologies with which millions of developers are already familiar.

One of the biggest fears companies have about customizing their ERP applications is the increased cost of upgrading to new versions of the application. Dynamics AX uses a layered technology that gives the technical staff clear visibility to where these customizations reside. Advanced tools are provided to automate integrating the valuable customizations to a new version.

The flexibility and extensibility of Dynamics AX not only offer companies the means to support the current business needs, but they also give management comfort in knowing that as the business changes the ERP solution can change as well. Offering an affordable and adaptable solution provides greater value and enables customers to get a better return on their investment. In fact, Nucleus Research Inc. independently found that Microsoft Dynamics AX achieved a top score of 18 and a composite score of 4.2 higher than other solutions, including SAP.

Top 10 Things CFOs Should Know About ERP - #10

And so we have come to the end of the Top 10 series. With today's focus on departments becoming a cost center, I wrap up the CFO series.

Channeling information among departments seamlessly and efficiently is critical to a business’ performance. Duplication of work and missed sales opportunities are just a couple of the costs businesses incur when information is not conveyed accurately and on time. ERP establishes an automated process that provides an overarching perspective of business operations so that departments are able to run leanly.

Hopefully, I have shed some light on the tell-tale signs indicating whether you need a new ERP solution or whether it is time to upgrade the existing solution. Stay tuned for new ERP series in the near future.

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Top 10 Things CFOs Should Know About ERP - #9

We are getting so close to the end of my list. I am hoping that you are able to find useful tidbits of information on this list. Today, I am talking about slowing production lead times. When information from the sales department is not integrated with the engineering and production teams, customer orders cannot be met in a timely manner. This can lead to a loss of sales to competitors who are better equipped to scale the business to meet customer demand.

Top 10 Things CFOs Should Know About ERP - #8

I am starting off the new week with number 8 on my list which is eroding margins. When a business' accounts receivables are on the rise so are its cash flow problems. In the manufacturing industry, in particular, many companies operate with low quantity/high cost products making timely payments a priority. An ERP solution tracks payment dates and amount of money owed to the business so that the organization can appropriately plan and scale back operations based on cash flow.

Top 10 Things CFOs Should Know About ERP - #7

Today's topic and number 7 on my list is low customer satisfaction. So, how is customer satisfaction tied to the ERP system? Customers are any business’ greatest asset. It is therefore essential that manufacturers are able to provide good customer service by accurately fulfilling customer orders and meeting delivery dates on time, every time. ERP allows the customer service department to communicate effectively with production and shipping, giving the rest of the business visibility from the customer service perspective, leading to delighted customers that keep coming back.

Further reading on ERP Solutions

Top 10 Things CFOs Should Know About ERP - #5 AND #6

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, I have decided to post a bonus double entry from my top 10 list of things CFOs should know about ERP. In today's post, we take a look at existing technologies which do not support growth and business benefits which are not realized.

#5 Existing technology does not support growth – As a business changes and evolves, so must its ERP solution. If your existing solution is not able to keep up with the growth of the business, including the demand from additional employees and managing increased orders and customer inquiries, it is merely a drain on your financial and human resources. This is a clear indication that your current solution requires an overhaul.

#6 Business benefits are not being realized – Look back at the reasons behind implementing your company’s ERP solution. Now look at how the solution is running today.  Is it delivering the value to your business that you expected? If the answer is no, then it’s time to reassess the solution and find out why.  Has your business changed, but your ERP solution wasn’t flexible enough to change as well?  Was it just not the right choice?

Look out for my next post immediately after the holiday. Thank you for following my blog and Happy Thanksgiving!

Top 10 Things CFOs Should Know About ERP - #4

      Number 4 on my top 10 things CFOs should know about ERP is antiquated reporting structures. It is critical that CFOs adhere to Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. With many legacy systems, or a lack of ERP technology altogether, audit and control processes are not integrated in a company’s accounting system. In order to be compliant, a current ERP solution is necessary to ensure regulated financial reporting.

      As always, if you are looking for more information on ERP, check out this website

Top 10 Things CFOs Should Know About ERP - #3

Number 3 on my top 10 things CFOs should know about ERP is carrying costs increase – The inability to accurately forecast demand is a major cost for businesses. By over procuring supplies, businesses lose money from unused product and ongoing storage costs. Conversely, not ordering adequate supplies results in revenue loss as companies cannot meet increases in customer demand. ERP offers integration support for all functions of a business, including those critical to carrying costs such as inventory, order entry, production and shipping.

Read more on ERP solutions

Top 10 things CFOs should know about ERP - #2

      The second thing on my top 10 list is inefficiency in sales. ERP allows companies to maintain accurate records of activities such as warehouse orders, customer inquiries, and service calls, which are integral to a business running smoothly and leanly. Additionally, it provides organizations with a more accurate quoting process since the sales and engineering departments have easy access to information about past customer orders, allowing employees to avoid designing past custom orders and compiling pricing quotes from scratch. Without a 360º view across all departments, cost inefficiencies arise whereby departments are submitting duplicate requests for services or orders, ultimately wasting valuable time and human resources.

      More Information on ERP Solutions

Top 10 things CFOs should know about ERP - #1

I am starting a new series on the top 10 things CFOs should know about ERP. Making an ERP purchasing decision can be a daunting task for any business and often companies don't know where to start. My posts for the next 10 days will shed light on the tell-tale signs that indicate whether the company needs to implement ERP for the first time or upgrade the current ERP solution to ensure profitable growth. When implemented correctly and in line with the business goals, ERP can positively impact a company’s bottom line, which is music to any CFO’s ears.


#1 Increasing IT spend with decreasing IT performance – Merely having an ERP solution does not guarantee saving your business time and money. ERP is meant to solve business problems, not cause them. So when an IT department is constantly making one-off customizations to the current system, performance across all departments can subsequently decrease due to increased complexity that does not allow the system to run seamlessly across the business.


More information on ERP Solutions

Surviving and Thriving in the New Economy

A recession isn’t new for the American economy.  Since the dawn of the 21^st century alone we have already weathered through two very painful recessions.  When times are wonderful, businesses tend to invest heavily, particularly on technology, and then when the economy turns, they are stuck with expensive systems to support during the downturn. 

The recession of 2009 was even more painful. The skyrocketing cost of fuel, unprecedented price competition from overseas markets, the banking crisis and the rising costs of healthcare have all forced American business to drastically reduce operating costs, consolidate, shrink or go away.  Companies, with expectation of growing rapidly or maintaining their huge conglomerates bought and implemented ERP systems sized for their future. No one had any idea of what were to face in the years 2009 and 2010.  The American business, of almost every size and sector, has shrunk ... maybe your ERP should too. 

But what happens when the economy rebounds again?  Or what happens if you are one of the companies that was opportunistic, got established or grew like Wind and Solar?  You don’t want to have to buy another ERP solution to fit your expanding business. You want an ERP system that is adaptable to your business as it grows and expands. But guess what? We are inevitably going to have another recession. What would you do?


Dynamics AX allows your business the flexibility to grow or contract; it's recession proof. 

Connected Enterprise:

Microsoft Dynamics AX is a suite of integrated, adaptable manufacturing management solutions that enables manufacturing customers and their people to make business decisions with greater confidence.

Intelligent Enterprise:

Dynamics AX is fully integrated to Microsoft Office and collaboration tools employees work with everyday. It is critical that organizations obtain the right technologies and tools that allow the transformation of a business' day-to-day data into relevant information that teams and management can use to successfully drive initiatives across the enterprise.
Optimized Enterprise:

Credit Management is something almost every company needs.  Standard Dynamics AX gives you the flexibility (which is one of the reasons why you buy AX) of still picking and packing even if the customer is on credit hold, taking your inventory out of stock so you can’t sell it. Credit Management by Solugenix forces lock downs on credit holds and the picking of orders for customers who are on credit hold.

Welcome to the Solugenix Dynamics AX blog

Welcome to our new blog, where we will share experience, knowledge, news and reviews of anything and everything related to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

As an introduction, Microsoft Dynamics AX is one of Microsoft's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) mid-market products, part of the Dynamics family. Currently in its 8th release (Dynamics AX 2009), the software now offers role-based functionality to both the Enterprise Portal and windows clients, as well as timezones support and Enterprise Portal development.

This year, Microsoft has also launched a new release of Dynamics AX for Retail, now available worldwide! Check out the news story https://community.dynamics.com/blogs/theedge/archive/2010/08/03/announcing-worldwide-availability-of-microsoft-dynamics-ax-for-retail-33.aspx