New Blog!

Hi all,

If you have found yourself here at AX Soup and are wondering where the new content is, it's at a new site! I am not done blogging and have been fairly active in blogging content for years! 

Since the renaming of the product from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, I have been sharing content under D365FandO(m) or www.d365fandom.com.

I hope to see you there!

Best regards, 

Kelly

Draining the AOS

One thing that has always plagued me is when to do system maintenance in AX. I am talking "full blown, kick all the users out" system maintenance. It seems like there is always someone who wants to be working!

I would try to schedule downtime during the standard lunch hour, sending an email alerting people to the potential for downtime. Too many users work through lunch or take later lunches, so my suggestion of running to the local Mexican restaurant fell flat. Sometimes, users just didn't see my company-wide email that I had sent earlier in the day about the upcoming downtime. I also tried to take down the AOS after office hours. That didn't work either because many users always want to be logged in to AX.

Basically, it came down to the fact that I felt like I was always completely inconveniencing someone when I would start system maintenance. I would start getting calls of, "What's wrong with AX?" or "Did someone kick me out?" I just couldn't win!

Me, over here like "Why are you working at 11:00 pm?"

My Wonderful Accidental Discovery

Don't Change my BOMs!

One thing that AX is not inherently great at is BOM management. Upon initial setup, if you use "out of the box" security roles, any AX user who can create Released products will be able to modify BOMs as well. There isn't a really good method of tracking BOM changes either, and a user who doesn't understand the complexities of your BOM structures can accidentally mess things up pretty quickly with just a few clicks of the mouse.

In certain industries, BOM change tracking is highly important. Changing a BOM component within a BOM may need to be approved, signed off on, and meticulously tracked down to the minute it was changed.

Since AX doesn't have BOM management, there are a few ways that AX users can accomplish this themselves. I am going to discuss a few different ways I have discovered that users can utilize to track BOM changes within AX and limit their risk with BOMs.

Remove User Access to BOMs

Ultimately, removing user access from BOMs is what a lot of people end up doing. This restricts visibility into the BOM process and can create a headache for any organization. Many people need to have the ability to see and use BOMs from sales to production, then also into the QA process. You have to be able to share this information, but you don't want people to accidentally delete a BOM or change a quantity on a BOM while they are clicking around. Ultimately, it seems that more users accidentally delete a BOM when attempting to remove a line from a BOM because they hit Delete instead of Remove, or they hit the wrong button because the buttons are so close together.


At the end of the day, we really just want users to see BOMs, but we don't want them to be able to change them. What options do we have to limit risk with BOMs in AX?

Summit 2017

When the announcement was made that Summit 2017 would be in Nashville, I was ecstatic! Nashville is an easy drive for me, so I won't be spending a lot of time in airports this year. Also, Nashville has a great vibe and really cool music scene. It's going to be a lot of fun!

The week of Summit just happens to be one of my favorite weeks of the year because I get the opportunity to meet up with my peers, exchange information, and learn more about AX and the upcoming Dynamics 365 landscape. I am also personally invested in Summit Nashville as I serve on the Summit Planning Committee, acting as a liaison to help provide great content for all end users.

What is Summit?

Summit is an annual conference for all Dynamics users. It is held in the fall, typically in mid-October. This conference is jam-packed full of informational sessions and learning. It can feel overwhelming, but it is by far one of the most beneficial facets of an AXUG membership outside of the face-to-face interaction and networking of local chapter meetings. There will be sessions led by users, partners, and Microsoft employees over a broad range of topics such as Finance, Project Management, Security, Technical, AX for Beginners, Warehouse and Inventory... the list goes on and on!

Early Bird Pricing

Ideas for D365? Tell Microsoft!

This blog post is a public service announcement. If you have an idea for how Dynamics 365 for Operations can be improved, Microsoft has a website where end users can tell them what they'd like to see as well as vote on ideas that other users have suggested. Get out there and post your great ideas! Also, there are already several great ideas that have been posted. If you see a life changing idea, be sure to vote it up!

The website where ideas can be submitted to Microsoft and voted on is: https://ideas.dynamics.com/ideas/dynamics-operations

Horse Race in AX

As many of you may know, I work and reside in beautiful Louisville, Kentucky. One of the best parts of living in this city is that on the first Saturday in May, we host a small gathering of our closest 150,000 friends called the Kentucky Derby. For those of you not familiar with the Kentucky Derby, it's a horse race that's been hailed "the most exciting two minutes in sports."

I got to spend some time at the track this week.

The Marathon of Implementation

I wrote this article for the AXUG magazine (link to original article here) and felt that it was appropriate to share it again on the eve of yet another half marathon. As many companies are actively considering moving to Dynamics 365, it still maintains its relevance. Here it is, slightly edited to maintain applicability.

The Marathon of Implementation

After being live in AX for over three years now, I can look back on my company’s implementation process and laugh about some of the craziness that occurred during that time. Of course, I now have some space from that process and I have gained a bit of perspective. At the time though, I would not have laughed, and I can empathize with the pain that those of you are feeling that are in the process of implementing AX, Dynamics 365, or any ERP for that matter.