CONVERGENCE AX 2011?
Convergence 2011, the Dynamics user conference held this week in Miami, wasn't labeled Convergence AX. But it could have been. While last year the launch of GP 2010 drew a large GP crowd, this year's pending introduction of Dynamics 2012 in AX made devotees of that package the largest group. Users of Dynamics NAV, whose turn is next year, and SL were much harder to find. GP was still well represented. But just how much AX is gaining in importance was demonstrated by the exhibits. The booth guide showed about 130 exhibits listing themselves as allied with GP and about 115 with AX (or course many of those are the same.)
Among other salient points was the visibility of Columbus IT Partner, the Dynamics reseller headquartered in Denmark. Two of its operations, LS Retail and To-Increase, had large booths flanking the aisle in front of the entrance while a smaller booth under the Columbus IT name was also present. The booths also reflect the emphasis on retail from Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail, which incorporates software that Microsoft acquired from Columbus IT and add to that AlfaPeople, the retail-only AX VAR that just entered this country. While Microsoft insists that AX isn't favored over the other three packages, there are few in the channel that believe otherwise.
