If you are thinking of moving to the cloud, this article outlines many considerations to keep in mind when upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.
Originally published in H2 2018 D365UG/AXUG Magazine
Cloud. Like many terms in IT, the word carries with it several meanings, and so each cloud implementation can be as unique as the company driving the deployment. This can lead to a lot of confusion and uncertainty about the cloud. However, the industry messaging is clear: Cloud is the future. It’s a good message, and one that almost every company is embracing, but future can be a misleading term as well.
Anyone who has worked with IT systems for more than a few years knows that moving forward does not always mean leaving the old behind. Legacy systems are a real issue—especially with ERP software—and with the current speed of change in IT, we are constantly creating new generations of legacy systems. These modern legacy systems are not running on old, antiquated, or unsupported platforms. They are systems that were created at the height of technology at that time. They work just fine, but they simply could not be written to anticipate the evolution we have experienced. Many times, the cost—both in time and money— is too significant to allow for an upgrade, and so they are left to run as is. And why not? Do you replace your car every time a new body style comes out? Probably not.
Microsoft Dynamics AX could easily be the poster child for modern legacy generations. Though scarce, version 4 deployments are still out there. 2009, 2012, 2012 R2, and 2012 R3 are all distinct generations, and yet they all still run just fine. Admittedly, some are now unsupported, but they are hardly antiquated.
So how, as consumers, do we reconcile the past and the future into something that works today? The answer lies in the driving force behind our changing business. Are we running data centers that are viewed as an unnecessary expense? Is there a new market we are trying to enter that has new or updated regulations and transaction requirements? What do we need to do to adapt? The answer to this question is really what should be driving our cloud future.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (Dynamics 365) is considered the cloud future of Dynamics AX. Designed for the cloud, it embraces and leverages all that the cloud has to offer. But what if you are not ready for that future?
Implementing a new ERP system (which is the effective reality of almost any Dynamics AX upgrade) is not a simple task. The move from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 carries with it the extra load of code rewrites, a significant data import task, and the potential of having to redo data integrations. The time commitment alone may be enough to keep some companies from considering it. Does that mean that you can’t meet the CFO’s request to get out of the data center business? Thankfully, the answer is no.
Cloud, to repeat, means many things. Dynamics 365 is a software as a service (SaaS) offering, the ultimate expression of the cloud. However, cloud offers infrastructure as a service (IaaS) as well. This means that all the virtual machines (VMs) that are currently running your generation of Dynamics AX can run in the cloud.
As any company that has already started a cloud journey can attest, the easy button may not work, despite what the experts say. There are cases that are very easy, and others that are not. Evaluating your current environment against the supported OS versions, ensuring the correct connectivity, and reviewing compliance requirements (like data sovereignty) are all key components to any cloud migration.
The good news is that most recent versions of the Windows OS are supported in Azure, which means SQL (including SSRS) and even SharePoint, if you need it, will run.
The best news is that Microsoft supports Dynamics AX 2012 running in Azure. And, the deployment doesn’t even need to be done through LCS any more. Any supported migration or deployment means can be used. It may require a version or kernel upgrade, depending on where you are at, but any company not currently on R3 should be considering that anyway.
If you think that a cloud move for your Dynamics AX environment sounds right, here are a few more items to consider before you start your journey:
- Client Deployment: If you are currently using RDS to access Dynamics AX, this will not be a big change. If everyone is running the thick client on their machine, this may take some getting used to, both for the end User and for IT support.
- User Connectivity: In the cloud, everyone can hear you scream. By default, VMs are open to the internet. Detailed planning is required here to make sure that you don’t expose or restrict too much access.
- Migration Plan: Moving data into the cloud is generally free but can be very time-consuming. The database move may not be something that
you can do over a weekend. This doesn’t mean you need to plan for extended downtime; it just means that you need to consider tools that are available to sync data continuously, so you can bring your data to the cloud over time. This may be as simple as extending a SQL Server availability group to include an Azure VM. Or, if your environment is complex enough, with several ISV and support servers, you may need to consider a sync tool like Azure Site Recovery (ASR). ASR syncs changes to a VM at the disk level to ensure replicated machines stay in a consistent state. You can even use the tool to perform the cutover when the time comes to switch access from on-premises to the cloud. - Data Consumption: While moving data into the cloud is free, the same cannot be said for the reverse. If you plan on bringing a significant amount of data back on-premises, you may need to consider unlimited data plans (yes, that is a thing even in the cloud) to avoid high data egress fees. Data warehouses and Excel data pulls are usually the largest culprits here. The workaround to avoid these charges as much as possible is to also move the consuming applications into the cloud.
- Infrastructure Reliability: On-premises redundancy and cloud redundancy are not the same. With an on-premises workload, redundancy can be handled at a host level, where VMware or Hyper-V can failover VMs if something happens to a host. In the cloud, redundancy must be handled at the application layer. This means that if you have a single server performing a mission critical activity, additional steps will need to be taken to ensure you have an SLA. This may be simply specifying the correct storage type, but this review must be part of your plan.
- Licensing: Azure has very specific licensing terms, especially when moving from on-premises into Azure. Make sure to review the Microsoft Mobility licensing details to see if you can bring your licenses or if the Azure VMs need to be provisioned with licenses. There is a cost savings if you can bring your licenses.
At the end of the day, the cloud has much to offer. As with most technology, understanding the benefits and limitations specific to your business will be crucial to a successful future. Fortunately for us, Microsoft has ensured that multiple generations of Dynamics AX have a home in the cloud.