Upgrading Microsoft Dynamics AX to D365 Finance & Supply Chain

Upgrading Microsoft Dynamics AX to D365 Finance & Supply Chain

By Rajendra Jawal on Feb 19 2022 1:03PM

Category: Strategy

After successful client acquisitions and implementation projects across the globe, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 ERP is now entering its end-of-life phase. Microsoft has officially ended mainstream support for AX 2012 version since October 2021. Fortunately, there is a better, enhanced, and latest technology version i.e. MS Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain ERP available to customers who are looking to upgrade their AX 2012 application.

Leaders in the enterprise application space, organizations like Microsoft have sensed where the future is headed and have upgraded their products to create an experience of delight, ease of use and modern savviness amongst the users. Today's products are as much about the 'feel' as about the 'function' and access from anywhere and on any device is the new mantra for business users.

Microsoft has come up with the D365 Finance & Supply Chain solution as its new improved version. There are many features that stand out and make this product an enterprise standard one that is easy to implement.

• 100% Browser based User Interface - HTML5, browser & mobile based user interface
• One version continuous update on cloud – Be on latest version of application, no costly code and data upgrades needed
• Extend ERP using integrated Power Platform for building Apps, automate business processes and using Power Automate and self-service BI capabilities using Power BI
• Integrated Experience - Integration with Office 365, Apps, BI, and Azure cloud services covering AI, ML and RPA

Organizations committed to uplifting the perception of the manufacturing industry and taking it forward to through the combination of new technologies and people centric policies will surely see light at the end of the tunnel. At Godrej Infotech, we have worked over the last year with our parent company, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Ltd. to bring in many positive changes through the application of Agile Methodologies and Digital Transformation techniques. Having said that, this is just the beginning since the scope for change in traditional manufacturing organizations is phenomenal and needs to be approached in a step-by-step manner for achieving the desired results, on-time and with excellent quality.

As a Solution Architect at Godrej Infotech, I have actively been working with multiple organizations helping them to upgrade their AX 2012 systems to D365. In my experience, it has been a productive exercise that has brought in many benefits to customer organizations such as -

• Reduced hardware / software maintenance costs due to adoption of cloud
• Easy scalability based on requirements
• Any-time, any-place, any-device access
• Increase in employee productivity
• Enables organizations for new technology adoption roadmap

For example, we did upgrade projects for several of our customers and all of them have opted for Cloud solution in place of on-premises AX 2012 ERP application.

• Project 01: Global NGO for environmental sustainability projects chose to do D365 Finance & Supply Chain ERP upgrade and opted for cloud implementation, resulting in enormous flexibility in management reporting based on real-time information.
• Project 02: Manufacturing company having 05 different Electrical product manufacturing scenarios has chosen to take fresh implementation approach instead of going for code and data upgrade. The integrated CRM & ERP system has significantly reduced the communication gaps and increased efficiency.

Based on our experience, there are 03 approaches for upgrade projects that needs to be thoroughly evaluated

• Code upgrade + Data Upgrade
• Only Code upgrade (Use Power BI for old historical data reporting)
• Fresh Implementation

Best approach needs to be decided based on client needs and specific business scenarios, however following key factors needs to be considered for deciding right approach for upgrade projects –

• Customization of functionality and reports in AX – Previous layering of code is no more supported, hence we built customization & reports using extensions
• Use of deprecated features, these features cannot be upgraded
• Interface patterns and tools – Application Integration Framework (AIF) in AX 2012 is not supported, hence fresh design and development approach is needed for integrations using OData, Rest APIs, and Power Platform
• Cloud vs on-premises solution – impact of hardware, software, and licensing
• Honest disclosure about need to review existing implementation/learnings
• Not a “push button” upgrade
• Discussion about how to "do it better this time…", lessons learned

I would strongly recommend this approach to organizations looking for an upgrade, especially to those organizations that are already on the Microsoft solution stack. We have several Microsoft certified professionals that are well versed with our rapid implementation methodology that is secure, reliable, and fit for various industries such as manufacturing, retail, logistics, projects & service. For more details, please visit our website www.godrejinfotech.com