Now back in sunny Dayton, OH, our team has had a couple of weeks to reflect on May’s AXUG Focus 2015. It was great to see AX users, partners, and Microsoft come together to learn and share experiences. We are honored that we were chosen to present at Focus 2015, and while we enjoyed educating, we also learned quite a bit from the experience as well. Here are three takeaways the Ellipse team had from AXUG Focus 2015:
1) Microsoft is striving to become more involved with AXUG
This year, Microsoft shifted the focus of Convergence to cater to decision-makers, while encouraging functional AX users and business analysts to network more through AXUG. It was reassuring to see Microsoft follow through on this promise by maintaining an influential presence at AXUG Focus 2015. The keynote speaker this year was Daniel C. Brown, Microsoft’s General Manager of Dynamics AX Research & Development. Mr. Brown remarked, “AXUG events provide me a great opportunity to interact directly with customers, get a sense what’s on their mind, and be a part of their community.”
2) Upgrading to the latest version of AX is always a hot topic among manufacturers
Our first presentation at AXUG Focus 2015 centered around rationalizing manufacturers’ upgrade path in AX. We focused on what’s new in AX for process, discrete, lean, and project manufacturing. AX updates have been coming so fast in recent years that ISVs and users haven’t been able to keep their software up to date and compatible with the most recent AX releases. What we learned from our presentation and the conversations it sparked is how many manufacturers are still not up to date with Dynamics AX, and are interested in the upgrade process.
3) In the era of industrial IoT, ability to communicate bi-synchronously with shop floor devices is crucial
Our second session at AXUG Focus 2015 discussed MES Integration with Dynamics AX. Gregor Newland, Regional Director of Business Development for Ellipse, who headed the presentation, explained that, “It was a wonderful experience to present content to companies who have made such a large investment in people and technology.” What we learned from speaking with those companies was very clear: in today’s world, manufacturers must integrate their shop floor machinery with their ERP. The benefits, including easier real-time communications with production processes and rapid down-time analysis, offer a competitive advantage.
