Microsoft launches Dynamics AX 2012

Microsoft has launched its latest enterprise resource planning (ERP) package, Dynamics AX 2012.

The delayed product was originally due for release in mid-2010 and is an update to Dynamics AX 2009, which was launched mid-2008.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a webcast launching the new software said: “Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is now available to customers around the world in 25 countries and 23 languages, including out-of-the-box business intelligence and analytics capabilities, and 35 role-tailored profiles.

“It’s more than a standalone product,” added Ballmer, “it integrates easily with [our] SharePoint and Office packages.”

With major changes to the user interface and features specifically targeting public sector organisations, the update is looking to appeal to a broader customer base than the previous iteration.

A recent blog by Microsoft’s Dynamics AX product team pointed to Dynamics' improved performance and scalability.

“Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is 20 times faster than Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 on some tasks, and we’ve made it scale by taking advantage of the more powerful processors and server hardware available today,” it said.

Also speaking on Microsoft’s launch event webcast, Gartner research director Nigel Montgomery said, “It still amazes me that so few customers have a tangible ERP strategy for their business.

“A lot of CIOs haven’t measured the value of their ERP investments, and the key message has been that ERP is traditionally seen as a stodgy, costly, intangible part of the business. I’d like CIOs to recognise the business value ERP can give them,” he said.

Montgomery also said that it was taking a long time for ERP systems to move to public cloud infrastructures.

“In one of our recent studies, 60 per cent of mid-market firms said they had no plans to move their ERP systems into the cloud.

“However, hosted ERP models are becoming more prevalent, and those systems lend themselves to software-as-a-service (SaaS) licensing. This is something we're seeing a lot more of,” he added.