Name: Microsoft Dynamics AX
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 3.8 (59 reviews)

it_user826284

MIS Director at a real estate/law firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

Jun 7, 2018

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All its features are valuable

Pros and Cons

"All its features are valuable."
"All its features are valuable."

"It needs better financials and reporting from the system, not through Excel."
"It needs better financials and reporting from the system, not through Excel."

What is our primary use case?

We have implemented it for retail companies (e.g., fashion, toys, etc.). We have also implemented the same solution for FMCG and supermarket business models.

What is most valuable?

All its features are valuable.

What needs improvement?

It needs better financials and reporting from the system, not through Excel.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Gene Hammons, MBADirector at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

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Sep 5, 2018

We're seeing a lot of AX clients bring on Host Analytics, Adaptive Insights or more recently, Anaplan for advanced reporting, closing and reconciliation, FP&A and the like. We're also seeing traction from Workiva for SEC reporting - in the past I was used to seeing clients go with BI tools to do the advanced reporting but it seems to have shifted of late.

Gene Hammons, MBA

Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

Oct 17, 2017

It's a great toolkit to drive efficiencies throughout your entire organization

Pros and Cons

"AX is nearly a Tier One product, so implementations are long, but there's a lot of flexibility. Also, the ability to handle different issues found in larger organizations."

"AX does take some time and maintenance."

Microsoft Dynamics AX is very strong in the manufacturing sector, as well as other verticals. It scales well and we've found several clients who were looking at Oracle, SAP, JD Edwards and so on who were well served at a very competitive price point (usually much less). One client was looking at a $5M SAP proposal and we got AX in just under $2M, and they were very happy with it as they have several sister companies that face $500K SAP upgrades/maintenance seemingly annually.

AX is nearly a Tier One product, so implementations are long, but there's a lot of flexibility. Also, the ability to handle different issues found in larger organizations.

There are several other MS Dynamics products for smaller companies. Our AX users were in the $200M to $400M annual revenue range. AX partners and resellers are a critical step. We found using a partner who specializes in their vertical is critical. We've also done a couple of AX rescues of clients that went with super-large practices where the consulting talent varies in skill. We tend to stick with boutique firms whose consultants we know and trust.

The cons: It's not really a con, but AX does take some time and maintenance. What you would expect with any large ERP product, it's not just a 'slam it in and you are done' project, but the type of technology you'd select if you were planning on continuous improvements and tying varying technologies together.

We had a combo contract manufacturing pharma outfit and it had some really good success in phase two of importing daily production reports from contract manufacturers that provided better visibility to finished goods, WIP, and raw materials inventory onsite at the contract manufacturers.

For a regional medical practice, we were able to link SQL tables from the practice management software to track data, such as 'which clinics were the docs practicing at on a certain day' without them having to do any actual data entry beyond what they were already documenting in patient records. This was nice.

If you're planning a major project upgrade and can take the time to put together a cost/revenue model showing AX breakeven, we generally project a break-even at less than 18 months. It's a great toolkit to drive efficiencies throughout the entire organization. If you're just looking to replace an outgrown ERP, it's probably a little big or you need a more advanced IT approach to really appreciate what you can do with AX.

There are also some good user groups and a growing development community. We understand the new Dynamics 365 Enterprise is using the AX code base and look forward to seeing that version mature in the months/years to come.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. We are a software selection and implementation firm - not affiliated with any software or ERP platform but have had several clients successfully implement AX in pharma manufacturing, healthcare regional practice, food & bev manufacturing and others.

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it_user674340

AVP-Head,MIS Department at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Jun 5, 2017

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The most valuable feature is the manufacturing module.

Pros and Cons

"The most valuable feature for us is the manufacturing module. It addresses our product costing for tuna canning."
"The most valuable feature for us is the manufacturing module, as it addresses our product costing for tuna canning."

"The database requires a huge CPU and memory resources."
"The database requires a huge CPU and memory resources."