ERP from Microsoft in "cloud": opinions of clients

The declaration of start of the offer of the software of Microsoft Dynamics ERP by means of the "cloud" Azure platform this week involved the considerable interest from outside of conferees of Convergence in Atlanta, but some users and partners had questions concerning plans of the company to which it still should respond.

Microsoft stated that through Azure it can provide ERP at lower cost, at the expense of such means as: the multiple lease and architecture other than a traditional hosting allowing many companies sharing of one copy of the application at the same time data are stored separately. Such approach is more economic, allows sellers to carry out more often upgrade easier for clients.

Microsoft does not expect that all clients will use the Azure model, but expects many hybrid deployments.

The probable perspective of it is reflected by the relation of such customers as Lee Weiner, the chief financial executive of Bradshaw Group company. "I have one guy in IT so I am not going to save a lot of money having transferred IT in outsourcing", - he told, having added that it is interested in following to new technologies. Weiner is also the chairman of the advisory board of the User group Dynamics NAV. Now the company uses it software. A lot of things, according to him, depend also on that how flexible there will be use of a system. Whether there is a loss of flexibility of that money which is supposed to be saved? "In each company everything seems a little in a different way", – he told.

Weiner expressed concern about potential idle times because of system failure in "cloud": "I live the fact that a system works for me". Now Bradshaw reached nearly 100% of time of permanent readiness of a system (uptime) working in the company.

Ryan Connolly, the director of department of corporate solutions of American National Standards Institute (ANSI), told that he is interested in cloud deployments, but, possibly it does not happen: "My boss does not see anything in "cloud". It likes to have everything at itself, in property". The top leading officials of the companies especially are afraid of disclosure of customer information, he told. ANSI uses Dynamics GP and CRM together with other products of Microsoft.

According to Frank Vukovits (Frank Vukovits), the head of the User group of Dynamics AX on programming, Microsoft can have some success in attraction to transition to Azure of clients with small IT groups. One employee of IT can pull double, threefold and even fourfold loading of duties of the database manager, support of network and the Exchange Server equipment, he told. Transfer of ERP in Azure will allow to release, according to him, time for the projects generating profit. However for the companies with a large number of IT specialists such step can be less attractive. "It is slightly more difficult to say that we take out ERP out of limits, and all the rest remains here", - he told.

Nevertheless, according to Vukovits, the clients of Dynamics who are already using a hosting do not need to pay to Azure some attention: "Most of people does not know that Microsoft is in a hosting very long time". If it was CIO, he told, probably, it would be convenient to it - to be connected to Microsoft.

Some users have a certain interest to transition to "cloud", but are configured to make this transition step-by-step as Argo Turboserve Corp – the user of the Dynamics AX and CRM systems, however to this day the company management is not satisfied with the detail level of information on plans of Microsoft concerning deployment and integration, coexistence with other Argo systems, such as supply chain management, software of service of the nuclear equipment.

As Kirill Tatarinov, the vice president of corporation and the head of the Microsoft Business Solutions direction reported, the company will permit integration of "cloud" applying technologies like Azure Service Bus. "Interaction was the major priority for Microsoft in general, as well as Dynamics", - he told.

But whatever the staff of the company vendor and representatives of business spoke, billing of use of a "cloud" ERP system from Microsoft remains one of yet not resolved issues.

In addition, a number of heads ask a question: convenience of using of cloud products today whether will turn back a very heavy burden tomorrow?

Also, judging by just planned exit next year Dynamics NAV 7 for Azure, before emergence of a complete cloud line of Dynamics will pass several years. Despite terms and time, Microsoft does not consider himself late in a game of cloud ERP, in comparison with competitors - NetSuite or SAP, and its approach is consciously aimed at providing success of clients, Tatarinov emphasized.