Dynamics AX Links to SAP

Dynamics AX will gain integration with SAP’s Business Suite via a connector from Microsoft slated for delivery in the third quarter of 2010. The connector will aid “two-tier” or “hub-and-spoke” Dynamics AX deployments, in which SAP applications are used to manage a large parent organization (the hub) while Dynamics AX manages smaller subsidiaries or other subordinate business units (the spokes). Microsoft contends that large companies already running SAP can often implement Dynamics AX faster and at lower cost in business units than they could adapt SAP, and that the savings outweigh the cost of integrating and maintaining ERP systems from two different vendors.

Wrapping SAP

Several companies have already deployed Dynamics AX in a hub-and-spoke fashion, including Chanel, Dell, and Würth Group (a major manufacturer of screws and other fasteners). Microsoft itself uses Dynamics AX in some units, including Xbox processor manufacturing and its recently opened line of retail stores, while continuing to run the overall company on SAP.