14 DAY TRIAL // As of June 2, 2008, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is available for business customers in selected countries in Europe, Africa, America, and Asia. According to Microsoft, the latest iteration of the business management solution will initially be offered in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Redmond giant indicated that Dynamics AX 2009 would be introduced on additional markets by the end of 2008.
"Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 signals a new chapter in enterprise resource planning (ERP) user productivity," revealed Mogens Elsberg, general manager for Microsoft Dynamics ERP. Dynamics AX 2009 is without a doubt a solution aimed at international businesses offering not only a boost in productivity, but also risk management and cost control capabilities.
"Employees using traditional ERP systems have had to wade through inefficient, time-intensive steps - enter transactional data, run reports, analyze reports - before they can do their jobs effectively. Through Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009's Role Center, employees from the executive suite to the warehouse have access to role-relevant business intelligence to help them make decision more efficiently. The Role Center provides a centralized view of each person's prioritized work lists based on their organization's configurable business processes and clearly identifies specific steps to take, thereby optimizing productivity," Elsberg added.
Microsoft has placed a great deal of emphasis on the multisite and shared services capabilities offered by Dynamics AX 2009. In this context, the product is equipped to tackle the most complex scenarios involving financial information as well as the processes associated with the supply chain. Dynamics AX 2009 was set up to be a breath of fresh air for businesses with operations spanning across the world, bringing to the table centralization and standardization.
"With its innovative role-based user experience, improved reporting and BI capabilities, and improving platform harmonization, Microsoft Dynamics products should be on ERP selection shortlists for a variety of SMBs, particularly those that use Microsoft's server-based products. Multisite companies should consider Dynamics AX," commented R "Ray" Wang of Forrester Research in a report on the business management product.