New License for Dynamics Snap, Portal Applications

A new licensing plan introduces a per-user fee for the previously free Snap for Dynamics AX but eliminates other charges, resulting in lower prices for customers. Snap for Dynamics AX is a set of Office add-ins that gives Office applications access to data and functions in Microsoft’s high-end Dynamics AX enterprise resource planning (ERP) product. The licensing plan also introduces a single, consistent price for Web-based self-service applications in Microsoft’s other ERP products—Dynamics GP, NAV, and SL—but could increase customers’ overall cost for deploying those applications.

License Plan, Not a Client

Announced at Convergence 2007, Microsoft’s semiannual conference for partners and customers, the licensing plan bears the unwieldy and somewhat misleading name Microsoft Dynamics Client for Microsoft Office and SharePoint Server. Despite the name, the plan does not introduce new client technology for the Dynamics line but merely repackages an existing collection of supplemental modules and applications for the Dynamics ERP products with a new per-user licensing scheme.