Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance & Supply chain management, is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system that is suitable for medium and large companies.
It is not uncommon to also hear the acronym AX and this can cause confusion.
The Dynamics AX business solution – now Dynamics 365 F&SCM – has been presented under different names over the last few years, including :
- Axapta
- AX v2.5, v3, v4
- Microsoft Dynamics AX V5
- Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, 2012, 2012 R2, 2012 R3
- AX7
- The new Dynamics AX (February 2016)
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operation (October 2016)
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations, Enterprise Edition (July 2017)
- 2018 – Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations
- 2020 – Split between two complementary products
- Dynamics 365 Finance
- Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
Microsoft Dynamics AX nowadays:
In 2020, Microsoft has decided to split Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations into two different applications, Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.
Dynamics 365 Finance allows companies to monitor the performance of their financial operations in real time. The platform uses AI to help companies optimize their financial operations. Organizations can use Dynamics 365 Finance to automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks. Its core features include: payables and receivables, budgeting, cash management, expense management, financial reporting and accounting, and project management.
Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management helps organizations oversee product quality, find ways to optimize operational efficiency, and increase profitability. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management can transform your supply chain and manufacturing operations. Its core features include: Cost and asset management, inventory management, procurement, sales and marketing management, transportation and warehouse management.
The solution grows with you according to your needs. You can use only a part of the system, a module or a group of modules. It should also be taken into account that country/region specific regulations affect the setting of taxes and other areas of financial management.
A bit of history:
Each name change represents feature additions and better integrations.
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fiance lets you use analytics to make data-driven decisions to promote future business growth
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Supply chain enables you to become more proactive in your operations with built-in artificial intelligence capabilities
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations, Enterprise Edition: The solution now allows you to run in cloud or On-Premise mode (you run on your servers instead of Microsoft’s).
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations: The solution was only running in cloud mode on Microsoft servers. It is part of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 product group. It still contains the 26 ERP modules that allow you to manage your entire business.
- The new Dynamics AX: Microsoft has moved the SQL server functionality to SQL Azure. The client functionality has been switched to WEB mode from this point on. The integration with Excel has increased even more dramatically, as has the integration with Outlook, Word and Power BI.
- AX7: The name used before the release of The new Dynamics AX. AX7 is mostly a product code name that people used to find each other. The initial documentation of cloud features were under this name.
- Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3: This version is client-server based using SQL as the database. It contains more than 26 modules, including module additions that enable the use of mobile devices for warehouse management.
- Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2: This version is in client-server mode. More than 20 modules are available in the solution.
- Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012: Several changes have been made to the client mode to add functionalities related to Excel and Word. This increases the level of integration and productivity for users already familiar with Excel. In addition, the license payment process has been modified for this version.
- Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009: This version is in client-server mode. More than 20 modules are available and the company had the possibility to choose the modules it installed.
- Microsoft Dynamics AX V5 : This is the same version as Dynamics AX 2009.
- AX v4 : Several additions and improvements were made to the existing modules.
- AX v3. Several improvements have been made to the modules.
- AX v2.5: Several improvements have been made to the modules.
- Axapta: Its name comes from the first version.
What is important to remember is that Dynamics AX has continued to innovate over time, since the 2012 version we found a full range of modules that are now in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations, Enterprise Edition.
Discover the complete list of these modules below:
- General Ledger
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- Budget
- Fixed Assets
- Human resources
- Procurement
- Sales and Marketing
- Product Information
- Management
- Inventory management
- Warehouse management (with mobile devices such as scanners)
- Transportation management
- Retail sales, call center
- Planning
- Production control
- Service management
- Project management and accounting
- Organization
- Administration
- System Administration
