Last week I released out a companion guide on Lifecycle Services that walked through the features that are available that you can use this to help with your own projects and implementations. A number of people asked when the electronic copies would be available and the answer is now.

The Kindle version is available for download on Amazon and you can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M56Z52A/

Don’t forget that if you don’t have a physical Kindle then there is a desktop version, and a client for all of the tablets that allows you to read all of the kindle books. If you haven’t seen them before then here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=nav_kindle_reader_karl?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Also for the Premium Subscribers on the Dynamics AX Companions (www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com) website are able to download all of the chapters as PDF files right now and read them at their leisure. Here is the link to the landing page with all of the chapters listed out: http://www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com/Configuration-Blueprints/Configuring-Lifecycle-Services-To-Manage-Dynamics-AX-Projects

If you are not a Premium Subscriber then sign on up on the Dynamics AX Companions website and not only will you get access to all of the chapters to this book, but also all of the other complete books that I have published there. If you want to get a sneak peek into what the chapters look like then registered users can click here to download the first chapter for free: http://www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=t-IlnFKVek0%3d&portalid=0

Recently I have been diving into more and more of the Lifecycle Services offering that is offered by Microsoft to help with managing our Dynamics AX projects, and during the process created a simple guide to show you most of the features that are available within it, and also how you can use this to help with your own projects. This weekend I finished up the guide and published it to Amazon for those that may be interested. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500589756/

If you want to get a quick overview of the content then here is a quick summary of the chapters and the content. Read More

Our 4^th of July project was to finish off the 3^rd book in the Barebones Configuration Guide series and this morning we finished it, published it to Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500427047/) , and also made it available for download as a PDF for the Premium Subscribers on the Dynamics AX Companions (www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com) website.

So now you can work through book #1 and configure a sandbox version of Dynamics AX through Azure and Lifecycle Services, then book #2 and configure a new blank organization, and now book #3 and have a fully functioning General Ledger to test on.

If you follow the following link then it will take you to the overview page with all the links and content: http://dynamicsaxcompanions.com/Bare-Bones-Configuration-Guides/Configuring-The-General-Ledger-Within-Dynamics-AX-2012

Here is an overview of all the content that is now available.

Read More

The Dynamics AX Companions (www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com) website has now been up and live for two weeks, and there is a little bit of extra premium content that has been posted there that you all might be interested in viewing. Here is a quick overview of the 23 new chapters that are now available:

Topics Added

• Using Azure And Lifecycle Services To Host Your Dynamics AX Test System
• Creating A New Partition
• Configuring The System For The First Time

More Information: Configuring A Basic Dynamics AX 2012 Test System

Topics Added

• Configuring Your Organization
• Configuring Your Legal Entity

More Information: Configuring An Organization Within Dynamics AX 2012

Topics Added

• Configuring Lean Manufacturing

More Information: Configuring Production Control Within Dynamics AX 2012

Topics Added

• Configuring Sales Management
• Configuring Activity Management
• Configuring Case Management
• Configuring Contact Management
• Configuring Prospect Management
• Configuring Opportunity Management
• Configuring Lead Management
• Configuring Campaign Management
• Configuring Telemarketing
• Configuring Call List Scripts Using Questionnaires

More Information: Configuring Sales & Marketing Within Dynamics AX 2012

Topics Added

• Configuring Service Management
• Configuring Service Orders
• Configuring Service Agreements
• Configuring Service Objects
• Configuring Repair Management
• Configuring Dispatch Teams
• Configuring Service Subscriptions

More Information: Configuring Service Management Within Dynamics AX 2012

Watch out for more content over the next week or so – especially the Configuring The General Ledger Companion Guide that should be finished and sent to printing next week.

I have received a number of requests (especially from outside of the US) for downloadable versions of the Dynamics AX Companion books other than through Amazon, and through the Dynamics AX Companions (www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com) website I now have a way to do that.  This week I published the complete set of chapters for the Configuring Production Control Within Dynamics AX 2012 there for you all to access if you are a Premium Subscriber.  Although they do not have the same touch and feel as the real book (which you can still get through Amazon) they are easy to access and I even used two of the chapters yesterday as I was setting up some data so I’m a user of them as well.

I will be posting all of the other books this way as well over the next couple of months as well so watch out for more content on the way (including updates and additional chapters).

Here is a summary of the content along with links to the pages on the Dynamics AX Companions website.

http://dynamicsaxcompanions.com/Bare-Bones-Configuration-Guides/Configuring-Production-Control-Within-Dynamics-AX-2012 Read More

Yay! Today I launched my new Dynamics AX Companions (dynamicsaxcompanions.com) website which despite what you may imply from the name is not a dating site for Dynamics AX users.

It is a consolidation site where I am going to post all of the blog posts that are scattered about on WordPress to make it easier to find the information that I have created for you all.

This is also where you will be able to download the source files for all of the presentations that I have posted to SlideShare, and Scribd, in their original format so that you will be able to see all of the screen shot details that you haven’t been able to see in the past because those sites compress the images during the upload process.

Also over the next few weeks I will be posting the drafts of my upcoming Dynamics AX Companion Series books so that you can get a sneak preview of them in their raw state while I polish up all of the details. If you are working through the Bare Bones Configuration Guide series, then this will give you access to the raw footage for you to follow and test out while I am still writing all of the narratives for them.

Make sure you register and also drop me notes with your feedback on the site. I have slaved for days (3) over this site and think it is pretty cool.

Over the weekend I worked managed to finish off the second book within my Barebones Configuration Guide series that focuses on the initial Organization configuration and setup that you would need to do if you were setting up a system from scratch. This short (105 page) guide includes the following topics:

CONFIGURING YOUR ORGANIZATION

• Initialize the Organizations Number Sequences
• Importing Address Zip Code, City, State & County Components
• Configuring The Global Address Book Properties
• Configuring Default Address Books
• Configure Working Time Templates
• Configuring Your Organizational Calendar
• Creating A Default Email Template
• Configuring Your Default Workflow Parameters
• Configure The Alert Notification Parameters

CONFIGURING YOUR LEGAL ENTITY

• Adding an Address to the Legal Entity
• Adding A Logo To Your Legal Entity

If you are interested in taking a look here are the link on Amazon:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KOWVCO2/

Paperback:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1499748817/
Read More

With the Release of the Dynamics AX R3 demonstration image earlier on this month I decided to create a new demonstration company, and as I was doing that I thought that it would be a good idea to also kill two birds with one stone, and use it as a reason to finish off the first book within my Barebones Configuration Guide series. This short (150 page) guide includes the following topics: Read More

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. People always want to get access to a demonstration version of Dynamics AX that they can test drive. There is something very special about being able to work through scenario yourself. I guess ERP is just like a car, in that you need to get behind the wheel rather than be chauffeured. The problem is that in the past, this involved setting up a new server, configuring the software, and also getting the test system licensed with Microsoft which is easier said than done, so we always shy away from it. Lifecycle Services and Azure Hosting has made this better because now you can rent space on Azure and fire up a VM within 10 or so minutes.

But today I was introduced to goERPcloud, and I have to admit this is a super cool offering. They offer a free trial service for test driving Dynamics AX R3 where you can sign up for a 30 day trial, without having to give them a single digit of your credit card number. I didn’t buy it either, but I tried it out and gosh darn it – it worked like a charm.

goERPcloud is the CreditKarma for Dynamics AX hosting. Read More

A couple of weeks ago I did a webinar for MS Dynamics World titled “Microsoft Dynamics AX workflows for financial automation: Improving process efficiency with ease” which you can view if you like by following this link:

http://msdynamicsworld.com/webcast/microsoft-dynamics-ax-workflows-financial-automation-improving-process-efficiency-ease

While I was preparing for the webcast, I created a storyboard of everything that I was going to show, which I thought may be a great reference for everyone, so I tidied it up and the complete set of examples that I worked through during the webinar, plus the examples that I didn’t manage to get to in the time I had are now available as a Companion Guide for Dynamics AX. Within the 401 pages I cover: Read More