Sense Dynamics AX Customer Day
(from Dynamics AX Newsletter winter 2006/07)

The Power of Three: Microsoft, Sense and Microsoft Dynamics AX

September 06 saw a further strengthening of the relationship
between Sense, one of the UK’s leading Microsoft Dynamics AX
partners and Microsoft as the two companies jointly hosted a
Dynamics AX Customer Day. Held at Hayley Conference Centre at
Eastwood Hall in Nottinghamshire, the event was a resounding
success with 45 delegates from over 30 Sense AX clients
benefiting from the latest news from both companies about
Dynamics AX.

The importance of the event was shown by the number of senior level attendees from Microsoft including Richard Guga – UK Product Manager for AX, Shailan Chudasama – Head of the Dynamics AX Technical Team, and Mike Bowyer – Sense’s Partner Account
Manager. In conjunction with the Sense team, they explained in
detail the current and future plans for what is now regarded
as Microsoft’s flagship ERP solution.

The day opened with Sense Managing Director, Michael
Blatherwick re-enforcing the power of the partnership
between Sense, their clients and Microsoft. He went on to outline
Sense’ future plans and how these would ensure that the
company remains at the forefront of its market, and one
of the UK’s leading Dynamics AX partners. These included
bold initiatives around customer service and a wider range of
client solutions integrating other surrounding Microsoft
technologies.

Microsoft’s Richard Guga outlined Microsoft’s wider future
investment strategy and was able to report some pretty
impressive statistics around the growth of Dynamics AX in terms
of market share. For example, a Compound Annual Growth Rate
of 31% worldwide for AX, with an even higher level of 40% in
the UK. Globally, 100 new customers are being added each month which on this basis, makes AX the fastest selling ERP product on the market. However it was his news about Microsoft’s investment program for AX that impressed Sense customers the most: Out of a
total annual R&D budget of $6Billion, $1Billion was set aside
for AX alone. Clarification about the AX roadmap was given with
a commitment to each version being supported for a period of
5 years from initial release. Further assurance about Microsoft’s commitment to developing AX as a leading business management system came from news about wider integration possibilities including a range of “Snap-Ins” which easily integrate products like

MS-Office, SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services and Business Scorecard Manager. This provides AX users with enhanced reporting and Business Intelligence functionality including KPI visibility and control from a user dashboard. It was also announced that 5 more Industry Builder solutions were due to be added in January 07. see page 4 for further detail From a technology viewpoint, Guga also referred to X++, confirming that not only would it continue to be the ongoing development language of AX but, further underlining
Microsoft’s commitment to this AX technology, it will become a
.NET language. Companies having invested in, or considering investing in AX, could therefore have complete confidence about the longevity not just of the Microsoft/Sense partnership, but also of the AX solution and technology-base itself. In addition to hearing directly
from Microsoft about its future strategy for Dynamics AX and
integrated technologies,

delegates had the chance to learn about and see the latest
version of Dynamics AX – version 4.0. see page 1 for
further detail The day was completed by a number of overview sessions which covered several key topics including Document
Management, Demand Planning and RF Warehouse Management.
In closing the event Sense M.D., Michael Blatherwick, attributed
the success of the day to the genuine strength of the partner
relationship between Sense, Microsoft and their AX clients -
“A lot of companies talk about commitment, but Microsoft has
proven its commitment over and over, both to us, and ultimately
to our clients. Clients are looking for more than a business
solution; they are looking for a long term business partnership.
With Microsoft, Sense, and Dynamics AX, they have the
assurance of both.” Dynamics AX Update powerthrough partnership