Abas ERP vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued

ABAS by far offers the most bang for the buck. We are able to handle all of our business functions through ABAS and also have additional features like Business Apps, Business Intelligence, Vendor and Customer portals, as well as many other features that many other ERP packages didn't have. It has allowed us to consolidate our software packages and also provide visibility since everything is now connected.

Incentivized

It integrates fully with the other Microsoft software we use daily, and this coordination speeds up our work and gives us the agility to run easily. For example, in a purchase inquiry, the customer, after submitting a request, identifies the teams that should work on the project, and if they need further review by other people, they are added to the process, and everything is managed seamlessly rather than the sales process. Get the result as fast as possible.

Incentivized

• Ability to drill down information from one screen to another
• Allows creation of various custom fields screens and reports
• Availability of "demo" system where one can test new functionality without affecting "Live Abas ERP"

Incentivized

• Microsoft Dynamics AX's scalability to meet our regional office needs provide flexibility to the team's requirements.
• Combined with Citrix Xenapp, the application offers seamless access for users on high latency unreliable network connection to the application.
• Application maintenance and updates are easy which makes it possible for us to manage remotely considering the servers are located in a remote Asia site.

Incentivized

• ABAS is headquartered in Germany with a US based headquarters in Virginia. Some of the programming structures were based on European methods that differed somewhat from the way business is done in the US. ABAS-USA has worked to modify the system so that it is in tune with US business practices and has made great strides in this effort. For the average user, the structures may go unnoticed, but for the more advanced user, some of the field names that are used for advanced reporting might be in German. However, ABAS-USA has recently been updating the programming language to be fully in English.
• Because ABAS is growing rapidly, more complex customizations might take longer to complete than normal. ABAS appears to be bringing on even more technicians to handle the increased workload so the concern is waning.

Incentivized

• MRP can be slow to adapt to changes in actual production or supply chain transactions.
• Setting up number sequences seems a trivial matter, but these numbers ID transactions once they are in the ledger and are key--easy to miss this point in the implementation process.
• Bank rec being easily automated and able to quickly plug into a bank back end to get data is not the best.
• Payment processing can be 'clunky' based on checks, ACH, Wires...as some of these items are not triggered out of the box in AX, bur are easily added --talking ACH and Wires specifically.

Incentivized

Microsoft Dynamics continues to evolve by bringing more functionality to the customer. Also there are several independent software providers that offer a wide range of solutions for vertical markets.

Incentivized

Overall the product does what we need it to do in order for us to function as a company. While there are some concerns over ongoing costs, the belief is, once we have it fully acclimated to our business the cost should settle into alignment with our original expectations. The new features that are consistently being added do add value to the product as they are usually customer request directed.

Incentivized

Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.

Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.

We use a 3rd-party Microsoft Partner for the system. They are responsive and very knowledgeable. While costs have been mentioned several times in this review they are very aware of costs and have developers who are more economical they use to help offset the level of work required to meet our changes and fix our issues.

Incentivized

It took a lot of work, but Microsoft ultimately did a good job with in-person training, including being onsite in multiple global locations for extended periods.

Our solution deviated from a number of key out-of-the-box standards that were included in Online training. We just used that for introduction to the general functionality.

Some rough spots, but ultimately worked out. The contract didn't appear to be structured to support the level of overlapping facility deployments required to meet timeline commitments. Merging cultures on the program was also challenging. Overall, not an easy implementation by any stretch. Everyone did the best they could.

These other software packages all have strengths but for what we were looking for in one system, to handle most of our business processes, but also allow the flexibility to be customized (without the need to be placed on a "like to have" waiting list), ABAS gave us that ability, hands down.

Incentivized

I was not part of the decision making process to select Microsoft Dynamics AX, however, I do know that an exhaustive search was done and many options were considered alongside Microsoft Dynamics AX and I feel that the right decision was made in choosing this solution.

Incentivized

• Abas ERP has had positive impact on our overall business objectives.

Incentivized

• With the robust built-in reporting we were able to drop an external reporting platform that costed about $40,000.
• API integrations have saved manual entry and reduced having to hire 2-3 people to manage data.
• Several administrators and developers are required for this which costs about 200-300 thousand in employee costs.

Incentivized