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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