Mobile Tools for Dynamics AX

Dynamics AX Mobile Sales, a client application for Microsoft’s Dynamics AX enterprise resource planning (ERP) product, could help sales personnel look up customer information and place orders using a Windows Mobile phone or personal digital assistant (PDA). Accompanying the release is an SDK called the Dynamics Mobile Development Tools, which will help partners create similar mobile applications for AX, giving those partners an opportunity to generate additional business from their existing customers. However, partners will need to move cautiously to avoid colliding with Microsoft, which will build additional mobile applications for AX and its other business management applications.

What Is Mobile Sales?

Mobile Sales is a Windows Mobile client application that allows workers to access and update data in Dynamics AX from a Windows Mobile Platform—based handheld device, such as a Pocket PC. (Mobile Sales was tested on Motorola’s MC35 and MC70 mobile devices.) Acquired in Microsoft’s July 2002 purchase of Danish software company Navision, Dynamics AX (formerly Axapta) is Microsoft’s high-end ERP product aimed at multinational companies (or divisions of those companies) with 100 to 5,000 employees and complex manufacturing or distribution needs. AX has broad multilanguage support, shipping in 40 languages and more than 30 country-specific versions.