MSDW Podcast: Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations upgrade journeys, Part 3 – Understanding the cost

Our Microsoft Dynamics AX to 365 upgrade journeys podcast series continues (catch up on parts one and two) with a very different perspective: the observations of a Dynamics AX 2012 customer still in the planning stages of their next upgrade.

Kenny Mullican is CIO of Paragon Films, a plastics manufacturer based in Oklahoma and a Dynamics AX 2012 R2 customer. Paragon Films is the perhaps a perfect AX 2012 manufacturing customer. They use most AX modules, work across multiple sites, and, thanks to Kenny's team, have managed a stable, standards-based, lightly customized (relatively speaking) ERP solution for several years.

Now Kenny and his team are in the process of evaluating where to take their ERP solution in the future. An upgrade to Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations would seem to be the logical path, but there are questions. Chief among them:

• Is Microsoft ready with the tools and
• How much will this effort cost? Or to put it another way, is it still an upgrade if it costs more than the original ERP deployment four years ago?
• For a company that doesn't see value in a shift from capital expenses to greater operating expenses, is an on-premises deployment the only viable option?

Kenny walks through his team's approach to AX 2012, what he has learned so far about his D365FO upgrade options, and the questions that still remain. We are also joined once again by ERP and AX veteran Peter Joeckel of TurnOnDynamics to share his perspective on both manufacturing and AX upgrades.

Show Notes:

• 3:00 – Paragon Films' AX deployment and ERP history
• 6:30 – Why Paragon Films still sees room for improving and expanding their use of AX
• 9:00 – Looking down the road to a D365FO upgrade: "It has to happen at some point"
• 14:00 – Could Microsoft push back end of support for AX 2012?
• 16:00 – Can partners transfer understanding from past AX to D365FO upgrade experiences to the next upgrade project?
• 19:30 – The type of project estimates that AX customers are getting for D365FO upgrades
• 24:30 – Adjusting from an AX level of access to a more restricted cloud solution
• 27:00 – Why the operational expense of monthly per user fee of a cloud model doesn't appeal to all AX customers
• 29:00 – Other concerns that a manufacturer has about going to the cloud