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Planning Your Migration from Dynamics AX to the Cloud

Published Date
Author Ryan Pollyniak

Your business has relied on Dynamics AX for many years—the ERP platform has served you very well. Mainstream support for AX 2012 RTM and R2 expired in 2018, and extended support is scheduled to expire in October of this year. AX 2012 R3 mainstream support expires October 2021 and extended support ends January 2023. It’s time to think about the next evolution of ERP for your business: Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management (F&SCM) in the cloud. 

The good news is, D365 F&SCM and the cloud delivery model give you access to expanded ERP functionality. You can also leverage smoother integrations with other Dynamics applications that make it possible for you to share customer and operations data more easily across all of your business workflows. 

 

Determining What You Want to Do and How to Get There 

The key to making a smooth transition from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 F&SCM is to start at a high level to determine what you’re trying to do and the best way to get there. And that’s where Western Computer expertise can help. To get you started, our ERP experts have produced a webinar, Upgrade Strategies for Moving from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 F&SCM, which introduces you to the migration concepts you need to consider. 

This includes assessing your current Dynamics AX footprint and the cloud-readiness of your business.  

There’s also a certain mindset adjustment as you migrate your ERP platform from an on-premises or private cloud environment to Microsoft Azure. The leading public cloud platform gives you the benefit of deploying and managing your cloud environment and helping it scale as your business grows. 

 

Opening the Door to Enhancements Beyond ERP 

As part of the migration process, we examine the modules you have added to Dynamics AX as well as the reporting and third-party applications your platform integrates with. In many cases, you will find those add-ons already exist as embedded functions within D365 F&SCM (such as Power BI). Or they may just involve creating quick data mappings to other Dynamics 365 cloud applications like Marketing, Sales, Customer Service and Field Service.  

Businesses that migrate from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 F&SCM can also enhance their warehouse and manufacturing workflows. Additional benefits come from easy connections to other Microsoft tools:  

  • Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) 
  • Power Apps (extensions for specific ERP functions that require little or no code) 
  • Power Automate (workflow engine) 
  • Azure IoT (to connect any device to your business) 
  • Cortana Intelligence (end-user assistance)  

 

The webinar provides a quick overview of all these Microsoft products, which will help you envision how the move to Dynamics 365 F&SCM will pay off in additional benefits beyond the new ERP capabilities you will gain. 

 

Upgrade Strategies for Moving From Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 F&SCM


Answers for Your Migration Questions 

Additionally, the webinar covers the questions business leaders commonly ask when planning their migration from Dynamic AX on-premises to Dynamics 365 F&SCM. While the journey may seem a bit challenging at first, the result will be a business that operates more efficiently and provides access to information more easily so internal teams can work effectively. Your ERP system will also receive software updates consistently throughout the year and your data will be more secure—protected by the military-grade security and disaster recovery offered by Microsoft Azure. 

To learn more about migrating from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 F&SCM, check out the Upgrade Strategies for Moving from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 F&SCM webinar. And for more information on how Western Computer can help you with your integration, contact us today to start the conversation.