On AX2012 or AX 2009 and you want to upgrade? You may have to wait, and here’s why…
In any AX upgrade there are three levels of consideration, so let’s explore and see where we are today (May 2016).
AX Code
Okay, so Microsoft has a tool for this one. Migrating your code, including configuration settings and customizations, is available now. Feedback from our development efforts is that the tool itself is a little crude, and requires much more manual intervention to achieve the final goal. Our team has upgraded 6 various ISV products to NEW Dynamics AX, and while the exercise by itself is not sophisticated, to do it right and to utilize some of the new development concepts introduced in AX7 currently requires some manual workarounds. If you have few customizations and self-developed code changes, this should be a much simpler task. If you have a lot of customizations – not so much.
Our Recommendation: Microsoft has promised a more sophisticated tool for this task sometime during this calendar year. If you have developed numerous customizations, we recommend saving time and money by waiting for this new tool.
AX Licensing
Three licensing and implementation models are planned for the NEW Dynamics AX:
Public cloud (formally release earlier this spring)
Private cloud (expected to be available later this summer)
On premise (current anticipated release date is 1st Qtr, 2017)
Those of you already familiar with AX2012 licensing will be puzzled by the fact that the AX7 Price List does not contain ‘Functional Users’. That’s right, you don’t have to read that again, no more Functional Users. What does this mean? No formal license upgrade policy currently in place. There are plenty of rumors out there, but we don’t want to spread disinformation. Users of AX2009 can take advantage of the current Microsoft offer to get 2 Functional Users and 1 Enterprise User for every Advanced Management user in AX2009, as well as upgrade your “light” AX2009 users to Functional users in AX2012. However, where all of those Functional Users go when you upgrade to AX7 is not quite finalized just yet.
The private cloud and on premise option will include some form of perpetual licensing model. And, if you buy AX7 in the public cloud, there are no prices yet for how much subscription fees will be reduced for customers who already own, and have already paid for, licenses.
Our Recommendation: If you’re on AX2009, we recommend that you go ahead and take advantage of Microsoft’s current (generous) offer to upgrade your licenses to AX2012 - even if you have no intention of actually deploying it. It will put you in a much better position when you upgrade to AX7. If you’re on AX2012, at the moment all you can do is sit and wait until the formal upgrade policy is announced by Microsoft.
AX Data Migration
In short, there is no ‘there’, there. Nada, zip, nothing. Microsoft has promised us, Partners, that the tools should be available this Fall (2016). The good news is that they are currently developing data migration tools for both AX2009 and AX2012. The bad news is that neither are yet available. Building one on your own (for Partners or Customers) would truly be an adventure. Microsoft’s current recommendation is contained in a single word: ‘re-implementation’. Sounds expensive to us...
Our Recommendation: Unless you just feel like writing a big check for total re-implementation or have other reasons to consider a re-implementation, we recommend that you wait for these tools - it’s just a few months. Writing one’s own tool sounds too adventurous for our clients.
After extensive conversations with Microsoft licensing and technical specialists, all of this sounds like a “not so excellent” adventure just yet, but we get weekly updates from Microsoft - so stay tuned!
Are you considering an upgrade to the New Microsoft Dynamics AX in the next few years? Let's talk!
