Certification Program for Axapta Solution Providers

The Axapta Industry Builder initiative, announced in Mar. 2005, will certify the financial stability of solution providers and the quality of the code, such as add-on modules, that those partners create for customers of Axapta, the high-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) product from Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS). The program could also assuage support concerns of Axapta customers by making Microsoft the single point of accountability for Axapta solutions containing third-party modules. At the time of the announcement, however, none of Microsoft’s other three ERP products supports the new program.

Partners Key to Sales

Axapta, acquired in the July 2002 purchase of Navision, is Microsoft’s highest-end ERP product and is aimed at multinational companies with 100 to 5,000 employees (or divisions of larger companies with 100 to 5,000 employees in the division) and complex manufacturing or distribution needs. Installations often involve more than one Microsoft partner: an array of ISVs supply industry-specific functionality and other vendors assist with installation, integration, and training.