Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued vs. SYSPRO

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

Almost, since day one Syspro has been saving us time and making us more productive as a whole. We have been able to grow our revenue exponentially with keeping our personnel needs at nearly the same level. Syspro is a great system for an organization that has multiple needs like Distribution and Manufacturing and/or multiple locations.

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

• If you are a small or medium business, SYSPRO is a great fit due to its flexible design. If you perform warehousing and inventory management Syspro performs these functions very well.
• SYSPRO has been around since 1978 and it shows in its development and support. I have been through several re-sellers for our support function, however we have now moved to SYSPRO corporate for our technical support and development/customizations. SYSPRO corporate supports their customers VERY well.
• The SYSPRO interface is highly customizable and nicely laid out. Even with the basic implementation, you can still get off the ground and run without performing too many modifications.
• SYSPRO forms and reporting templates are easy to customize/modify.

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

• We have been using 6.0 and the security is not so good.
• The program is a bit difficult to learn for rollout
• The Learning Channel could be improved - downloadable mp4's would be nice to include in the program vs moving back and forth to the learning channel. Since the program is difficult to learn, it would be nice to be able to utilize the learning channel within the program. Also, the learning channel is pretty complicated to use.

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

I've heard many reports from our users stating how difficult Syspro is to use and navigate. From an average standpoint, the Syspro Administrator has to invest a lot of time in setting up the user for success. Once the groundwork is applied, SYSPRO's overall usability becomes fair easier to the average user.

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.

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

We evaluated 8 of the top vendors 16 years ago before we selected Syspro and frankly, none of them came close to meeting all of our needs at a reasonable price point. We still look back at that process and think it was one of the best decisions we have ever made.

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

• Significant returns regarding our ability to quickly process orders - both direct entry, EDI and web orders.
• Significant returns through giving us the ability to serve configurable products to our customers - We used the product configurator to accomplish this.
• Simplifies the shipping process and makes it easy for us to process shipments.
• Significant returns in terms of automation and cutting down on expense.

Incentivized