Looking forward (read: AX 2012)

Back in November 2008 I blogged about AX 2009 after attending the Convergence conference in Copenhagen and I was pretty excited about the possibilities. After working with AX 2009 since it was released in 2008, I'm still excited but also more realistic about several aspects of implementing and operating AX. After gaining hands on experience, you discover all the rough edges and you get a feel for the quality of the software with regards to things not woring as expected for instance measured as the number of hotfixes released. All in all it seems like AX 2009 has succeeded in the market.

So whats next? AX 2012 was officially published as the name of the next version of AX (aka AX 6) at the Microsoft Dynamics Technical Conference taking place in Redmund in January. I wasn't able to participate, but based on the information published after the conference, it certainly seems like a huge (giant?) shift both with regards to added and extended functionalty, and technical with some architectural changes as well (like the possibility to replace the classic AOD files in the file system with storage in the database).

The post by Jake at AxaptaSource gives a good summary of what was presented at the conference and it should be pretty clear to everyone that we are talking about the biggest shift in the history of AX and a shift that will have an impact on everyone involved in the value chain. This is of cource in the category of un official information, but still quite trustworthy as far as I can understand.

Modelling is one example that will influence developers and people involved in deploying changes. Much tighter integration to Visual Studio is another. The security system is re designed with roles becoming a real part of the security system (a role in AX 2009 is the same as the Role Center assigned to a user at least within AX) and the requirement of defining a user in Active Directory, seems not to be a requirement anymore (replaced by Claims based security in SharePoint for non AD users). Setup is made easier and system management is prioritzed with a new add in for System Center Operation Manager. The BizTalk adapter is gone and replaced by the WCF adapter (Web Services). The (data) caching machanisms are re designed (much needed in my mind). Include columns are finally supported for SQL Server 2008 togheter with support for full text indexes. Huge performance improvements mainly in the area of CIL execution (Common Intermediate Language). Drag and drop transformation of forms to web pages in Enterprise Portal (indicates big changes in the area of forms in general). Workflow executing as part of the AOS service and shared workflow editor (designer) withVisual Studio 2010. Management through PowerShell. AIF service contracts have changed (possibly influencing the upgrade effort) and less complexity (hey, that sounds like a step in the right direction). Very thigh integration to Excel supporting data entry and synchronization from Excel (big time mental change for a lot of people I think). Big improvements in the area of debugging and batch execution in addition to AOS beeing able to host WCF processes (a real enabler).

Add a module for Public Sector (be aware Agresso and Visma :-)) and 1200 new features in addition to some major rewrites (rumors), and you probably start to see the big picture. I think the AX Community must start preparing for AX 2012 on the mental level since this release will require a shift in most of the ways we have been used to treat new releases of AX.