Sure Step Business Modeler

Microsoft provides an awesome tool known as Sure Step Business Modeler that partners can use to have their customers visualize how Dynamics Customer Model is synced up with hypothetical or their own business processes. The tool itself is really simple to use (IE like controls) and user can easily add, edit new departments, personas, business processes, org charts to meet their own needs. You can also attach JPEG images like flow diagrams with each process, sub process, task etc to further explain the process in detail.

I found this tool extremely useful when customer want to see how their business processes, employees and organization will work with the proposed Dynamics solution. After you download the tool from PartnerSource, you can install it either on a single machine (with DB and client application) or centrally with DB installed on a separate machine with multiple clients accessing it.

Using Performance Analyzer for MS Dynamics AX2009

Performance Analyzer is a cool tool for Dynamics products suite to capture and analyze application performance counters. It provide handy SPs and DB Views to get various sorts of performance information. More information and tool itself can be found from:

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/DynamicsPerf

Together with PAL (Performance Analysis of Logs), one can consume the power of this tool more effectively. PAL is an open source tool and can be downloaded from:

 http://pal.codeplex.com/

How to pass Dynamics Sure Step 2010 Certification (MB5-858)

Here are some tips and tricks that one can look at to pass the exam:

Get the mocks of two courses 80199A and 80047A from partner source. Read the 80047A just to get an introduction of sure step. If you are not in project management position or have no knowledge about general project management stuff, then spend some time to go through 80047A in more detail. While reading it try to play around with the client tool for sure step 2010 but you need to draw some boundaries while looking at the documentation embedded within the tool, otherwise you will be reading the documentation for ever. Also focus on end of chapter exercises.

Once you are done with 80047, pick up 80199 case study based course. Try to visualize the implementation phases as you are doing the actual implementation. Again it is really necessary to look at the documentation in the client tool keeping the scope limited. What I have experienced is almost 50% of the exam questions can be answered if you have done a good job reading 80199 course.

You may also go for course 80235A (Managing  Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations) but I didn't as the questions in the exam are not really related to specific Dynamics products. The course 80199A is quite enough I think.

I know most of readers who haven't done a single implementation or involved in such project will not second me but it is really important to have your involvement in at least one implementation not necessary for any Dynamics product could be any ERP before you attempt for this certification.

A good direction for certification preparation is the distribution of percentage for contents in exam. Take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=MB5-858#tab2. You should follow this list of major topics get full coverage of test preparation.

In general try to focus on the following topics:

• Focus on Optimization Offerings
• Decision Accelerators
• Project Types
• Design Documents (Functional Requirements, Functional Design, Technical Design, Integration Design, Solution Design)
• Project Charter, Project Scope, Project Closing
• Implementation Roles (Customer, Partner roles)
• Focus on Agile project type specifically

 If you get some time, it is good to go through the documentation in client tool. For any question, feel free to ask me (irananed).@gmail.com

Now a certified professional for Managing Microsoft Dynamics Implementations using Sure Step 2010 (MB5-858)

Passed this challenging test. Will share some tips, tricks and other relevant information to pass the test in my next post.

Microsoft Dynamics AX Technical Conference 2011

Microsoft is hosting the technical conference for MS Dynamics AX6.0 in Jan 2011.





















This is the first public event for the launch of AX6.0. More information about this event can be found from:

www.microsoft.com/dynamics/dynamicsAXTechnicalConference2011

Follow this event on Twitter http://twitter.com/MSFTDynamicsERP

Accessing Dynamics AX client using Terminal Services

Continuing my efforts to take advantage of virtualization for Dynamics AX deployment, I used Windows Server 2008 terminal services to access AX client application from another machine (with Windows Vista Ultimate). I used the normal procedure of installing terminal services from the following article:

http://www.virtualizationadmin.com/articles-tutorials/terminal-services/general/working-terminal-services-remote-applications-part1.html

Using the TS RemoteApp Manager on server machine, I allowed AX2009 client application to be accessed remotely by creating an .rdp file and through TS Web Access. On the client machine, I accessed the terminal server using the URL something like http://servermachine/ts (you might need to use fully qualified server machine name like servermachine.mydomain.com) and was able to see the AX client application listed in the browser window. Just click the application icon and AX client will get opened just like you are accessing it locally on the client machine.

You can also use the application specific .rdp file, change its icon (one that your normally use for AX client) and paste it on the client desktop or leave it on the shared network location as you like.

AX2009 Development Licences

I was asked to clarify how AX2009 development licence works and what are the different development licences one needs to have in order to take complete development environment. Actually, you need to have four development licences:

Base Application: This will allow to have access to UI elements like Menus, Forms.
MorphX Development Suite: With this licence you will be able to see the Data Dictionary and other UI objects (reports etc).
Web MorphX Development Suite: Controls access to web development objects in AOT.
X++ Source Code: This licence allows to have access to Class objects in AOT.