Microsoft’s new Dynamics AX release, Dynamics AX7, was a major highlight of Microsoft’s new annual conference, Envision. While all of the sessions and keynotes I attended were full of great information and demonstrated many of the new technologies and tools available to Microsoft customers, a few of the sessions stood out. One in particular, “Reimagining Enterprise ERP with Microsoft’s Modern Cloud-Based Service” was delivered by Microsoft’s Enterprise ERP General Manager Christian Pederson.
Preparing to Adapt and Be Agile
Christian began with a study stating that, up until recently, the average amount of time a company was listed on the S&P 500 was 67 years. As of today, 75% of the companies in the S&P 500 are expected to not be there in 10 years. Companies must be agile, he continued, and ready to adapt to change in order to remain relevant and keep from being disrupted and/or replaced. Regardless of the change that requires adaptation and agility – whether it’s a competitor’s new technology, emerging markets, or new customer expectations – companies need not only the tools to meet those requirements, but also an ability to predict and prepare for change, so as to not be disrupted but be the disruptors.
Dynamics AX7: A Catalyst for, and a Response to, Change
Decades ago, the corporate environment was much more stable. Companies could implement the newest technologies and leverage them to remain competitive for years to come. The world is no longer this stable. New technologies can be disrupted almost as quickly as they are adopted.
The advent of cloud computing has on one hand accelerated this process, and on the other given businesses the ability to remain on the cutting edge, deploying new technology as soon as it is available and leveraging big data and predictive analytics. Greater than ever is the need for companies to remain agile with the ability to look ahead and adapt, and greater than ever is their ability to do so.
With this in mind, the Microsoft mission – “Create more personal computing”, “Reinvent business processes”, and “Build the intelligent cloud Platform” – has led to the development of the latest release of the Dynamics ERP system, Dynamics AX7, that seeks to helps businesses remain agile in the face of change, and concurrently allow businesses to be the catalysts for change. As we at Ultra encounter mid-market manufacturing and distribution companies that struggle to meet increasing customer demands, attack new markets, and strive to innovate with new products and services, we have recommended considering cloud offerings such as Dynamics AX7 to assist them through an ever-changing environment.
Renault Sport Formula One: Competing with Dynamics AX7
Thomas Mayer, COO of Renault Sport Formula One, joined Christian during the session, demonstrating how Microsoft has helped. Renault needed to remain competitive, specifically gain the ability to quickly adapt to change and reinvent some of their business processes when they underwent a change in ownership, which resulted in new branding and a new engine for their formula one race car. Thomas compared the new AX7 to the human nervous system, delivering key information thereby allowing critical decisions to be made quickly.
Formula One racing is known as a sport relying heavily on precision and timing. Behind the race track scene is a rapid engineering and prototyping team, many of whom are mobile and deployed at the track. These teams are just as reliant on precision and timing, needing to analyze massive amounts of data and continuously update the race car to remain competitive and push their team into the winner’s circle. Thomas credited Dynamics AX7 with giving their team the ability to go from 1,200 work orders a week to over 3,000 a week in just a matter of months.
Renault Sport Formula One is just one example of how Dynamics AX7 running on Azure, Microsoft’s integrated cloud platform, is giving businesses the power and flexibility to remain competitive and even create disruption in their industry.
To learn more, visit Microsoft’s website here.
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