Dynamics AX-SAP Connector Released

A new connector integrates Dynamics AX enterprise resource planning (ERP) installations in remote business units with SAP installations at headquarters. The Dynamics ERP Connector for SAP Business Suite, released Oct. 2010, could interest larger companies in deployments of Dynamics AX, a high-end ERP product aimed at multinational companies (or divisions of large companies) with 200 to 7,500 employees. Microsoft contends that large companies running SAP can often implement Dynamics AX in remote business units faster and at lower cost than they could adapt SAP, and that the savings outweigh the cost of integrating and maintaining ERP systems from two different vendors.

Wrapping SAP

The new connector enables 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 the spokes: subsidiaries, offshore manufacturing or retail operations, or other remote business units. Several major 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 continues to run its headquarters on SAP ERP software while using Dynamics AX in some business units, including Xbox processor manufacturing and its company-branded retail store operation.