At Long Last, Microsoft Unveils Its Verticals Strategy for Dynamics AX

For several years, Microsoft has been promising Dynamics users and partners vertical solutions--special functionality geared toward particular industries.

Now, it is delivering on the promise, beginning with Dynamics AX customers.

Microsoft announced today four acquisitions of intellectual property designed to provide industry solutions across the verticals of pharmaceuticals, food, retail, manufacturing, and professional services:

• A process manufacturing solution acquired from Fullscope Inc., which provides tight integration of business processes across discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing
• A professional service solution acquired from Computer Generated Solutions Inc., which delivers a single system to manage projects and resources, execute financial transactions and customer billing, and match resources with client assignments
• Retail solutions from LS Retail EHF and To-Increase Denmark A/S, a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus IT Partner A/S, that enable Microsoft to provide an end-to-end retail solution including store management with point-of-sale, merchandising and ERP capabilities

In an interview, Crispin Read, Microsoft’s general manager for ERP, said “about 70% of our customers are in these five industries.” He noted that not included in the verticals being addressed now are financial services and health care. “We feel we have a better chance with focus than by being all over the waterfront.”

Process manufacturing and professional services solutions for Microsoft Dynamics AX are available immediately on the Microsoft Dynamics price list, and the retail solution will be available at a later date. The next industry vertical likely to be addressed will be the public sector, according to Read, though he declined to provide a timetable.

He noted that customers will benefit financially from the acquisitions. “This will lower the costs for customers by reducing the amount of customization they need to do.”

Crispin said that Microsoft’s market research showed that companies in the upper mid market, which mostly include those with operations in multiple countries, “all want vertical solutions.”

According to Crispin, Microsoft will focus in its vertical approach on “common functional requirements [that] exist across industries and can be packaged.” Partners will be able to focus on other more specialized functionality to serve companies that need additional customization, and will reduce their time to market and lower their investments.

Kees Hertogh, director of product management for Dynamics AX, identified customer benefits as including a “predictable roadmap” and “more rapid innovation.”

“We speed up our packaged best practices. Customers can really focus on competitive differentiators to compete more effectively.”

The vertical capabilities being acquired are from Fullscope Inc, To-Increase Computer Generate Solutions Inc, and LS Retail EHF