Microsoft has unveiled its next-generation business software in South Africa, signaling a new chapter in enterprise resource planning (ERP) user productivity.
Jumana Helal, head of the Microsoft Dynamics SA, says Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is a flexible solution that assists businesses to thrive in a competitive global marketplace, by giving users the ability to control costs, manage risk and increase employee productivity.
"Our vision of ERP is that it will start to prompt its users to take certain actions, instead of merely being a reactive tool that people use to pull weekly reports from," says Helal. "Employees using traditional ERP systems have had to wade through inefficient, time-intensive steps - enter transactional data, run reports, analyse reports, before they can do their jobs effectively. Through AX 2009's role centre, employees from the executive suite down to the warehouse have access to role-relevant business intelligence to help them make decisions efficiently."
Helal says: "Traditionally, ERP have been transactionally orientated, but a shift in technological thinking is showing a movement to a process and workflow system that is proactive."
According to Helal, AX 2009 has the ability to translate diverse languages and currency.
Growing businesses are facing increasing pressure to meet global and local regulatory compliance. AX 2009 delivers features to limit risks and lower total cost of compliance. AX 2009 features a role centre that prioritises tasks for business functions, a user interface familiar to Microsoft Office software that results in higher user productivity.
AX 2009 provides communication with remote employees, customers and partners with Microsoft Unified Communication. AX 2009 is integrated with Microsoft SQL Server 2008, which can compress database size by 60% to 80%.
Frank Sauerbach from Microsoft says what makes AX 2009 distinctive is its flexibility: "Users can now set up their own workflows. We are currently trying to get into the public sector market, such as municipalities and non-profit organisations. We are delivering a lot of out-of-the-box functionality."
According to Sauerbach, even though AX has been on the market since 2000, the new version 2009 features new models, quality management, and expense monitoring. The two types of certification include the Microsoft Dynamics Certified Professional and Microsoft Dynamics Master Certificate.
World Wide Worx strategy MD, Steven Ambrose, says South Africans are becoming more technologically aware and mobile. The demand for flexible ERPs has become more relevant: "Technology is driving the way people are relating to business processes. Human relationships are moving from groups to networks, more uncertainty and more maneuverability. Society is moving towards network individualism, multiple specialised relationships and more transitory relationships. The social network within a company is becoming more of a flatter hierarchy."
The launch of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 was held at the Dunkeld Hotel, in Johannesburg.
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