Dynamics 365 — 7 reasons to upgrade your Dynamics AX to the cloud

Humans have a tendency to resist change in their lives. Some view it as an unnecessary inconvenience — but what about a change that can make life more convenient? If chosen thoughtfully and implemented correctly, change can enrich your business and encourage financial growth. Embracing the upgrade to Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations cloud will do just that. 

You may be wondering “why would I need to upgrade to the cloud if legacy AX is working perfectly fine for me?” There is some level of reservation when it comes to software updates, but upgrading your ERP system to the cloud can have invaluable benefits. Here are just six of many compelling reasons to switch to Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations:

1. Security: In today’s world, hacking poses an ever-present risk to companies both financially and against their hard-earned reputation. Contrary to prior business thought, cloud-based applications now provide a more secure experience because credentials and active threats are monitored and counter-attacked 24/7 by Microsoft. This not only keeps your data secure, but does so affordably.
2. Total Cost of Ownership: The cost of upgrade is limited to testing and validation, removing all other IT-centric related work, and there is no need to re-train your staff — except on all the new features that can be. The main reason for this reduced cost is the use of automatic upgrades, managed services, and no more hardware investments, which also helps to significantly decrease the total cost of ownership.
3. Synergy: A huge benefit of upgrading to the cloud is that your platform is accessible on any device, and compatible with any browser. Because your business applications are standardized by Microsoft, they work seamlessly with a single sign-on and are integrated out of the box. Web Service support is also more dependable*. Dynamics 365 provides update reminders from 90, 30, 15, and 7 days before the upgrade will happen, and updates can also be postponed up to 12 months from the release date. (*Mainstream support for AX 2009 will be terminating 4/10/18. Dynamics AX 2012’s support will terminate 10/09/18). 
4. Always Have the Latest & Greatest Features: After you make the leap to the Cloud, any subsequent platform updates will be performed automatically every three months. The applications will update every six months.
5. Familiarity: Because much of the functionality remains the same, you can save time learning the software and increase overall efficiency. The core business logic you’re used to in Dynamics AX has been transferred to Dynamics 365, but the interface has been updated.
6. Adaptability: You can mix and match apps to personalize your experience and maximize profitability, and the best part is that user experience of these apps are all equally intuitive. Leveraging sales and field service alongside your Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations provides you the ultimate growth platform.
7. Quality Information: The depth of analytics that you depend on are not forgotten in this upgrade — these data rich dashboards are easily connected to one another so nothing slips through the cracks.

There are different features to consider depending on your situation, but Arbela is here to help. The upgrade to the cloud may seem daunting or unnecessary, but we promise you won’t regret the efficiency this upgrade will bring.