Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Subscription Offers

Introduction

This blog post can be used by all Microsoft Dynamics customers to understand the options you have when transitioning to the Microsoft cloud.

Highlights: The offered 40% subscription discounts are relevant for all Microsoft Dynamics on-premises customers/products that have an active AX enhancement plan or active Software Assurance.

Since October 1^st, 2019, Microsoft has been offering all Microsoft Dynamics on-premises customers with active Software Assurance or an Enhancement Plan a discounted model when they transition from the legacy solution into Microsoft’s Cloud based product suite. This is Microsoft’s way to offer existing customers a good deal and some incentives to move from a legacy system to their newest cloud infrastructure. For most customers this move makes sense, because you do not have to maintain legacy software, hardware and other infrastructure components as everything is handled by Microsoft.

Customers that operate across multiple states or countries level see huge advantages in the Microsoft cloud model, because it makes it easier to scale, work remotely and you do not have to worry about downtime, electricity costs, and other infrastructure components.

Who is the Dynamics 365 Subscription Discount for?

Microsoft Dynamics customers that currently are running legacy solutions e.g. Dynamics AX4.0 or Dynamics AX2009 will most likely need more assistance when it comes to mapping out how their operational costs (OpEx), whereas AX2012 customers will be more familiar with the subscription model.

When your business is operating in the Microsoft cloud, every user needs a unique subscription (Dynamics 365 Finance, Team Member, Activity etc.) assigned to them, in order to be compliant.

Below is a graphic indicating some of the fundamentals around who is eligible, Microsoft agreements types that are in play etc:

Transitioning to Dynamics 365

Most Microsoft on-premises product SKU’s has multiple product capabilities included. This means that if you, for example, currently have a Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premises SKU, you would have functionalities within Customer Service, Sales and Field Service included. When you transition into Microsoft’s new subscription model, you would have individual SKU’s for those products as shown in the graphics below.

Most Microsoft Dynamics AX subscriptions contain Supply Chain, Retail, HR, Project and Finance capabilities. That will also be split out to individual SKU’s e.g. Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Dynamics 365 Commerce (renamed from Retail), Dynamics 365 Human Resources (Basic HR capabilities in available within your Dynamics 365 Finance SKU’s) and Dynamics 365 Project Operations (Microsoft announced that in 2024 Project Management Accounting PMA and Expense Management will fall under D365 Project Operations) learn more about the Dynamics 365 Project Operations announcement here.

If a single user needs access to multiple applications, you will have to license them with a base subscription and then an attach subscription.

Example of single- and multi-user Dynamics 365 Licenses:

The below graphic shows the different transitions from on-premise product SKU’s to Microsoft’s cloud based subscriptions.

The next graphic shows the Microsoft transition from other Microsoft products; Dynamics GP, Dynamics NAV, Dynamics SL and Dynamics XAL. The transition principals are the same as mentioned above.

The illustration featured below is another example of how a transition path could look when moving from on-premise to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 SKU’s.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can take advantage of the 40% discounted SKU’s?

All Dynamics on-premises customers with an active Software Assurance or Enhancement Plan.

How long will I have the 40% discounted rates?

As of March 2021, Microsoft have not announced any expiration date.

Why is Microsoft providing a 40% discount?

Microsoft want to bring their existing on-premise customers to a more secure, stable and scalable platform, their Cloud platform.

What happens if I decide to add more licenses that I have on-premise?

If you currently have 100 on-premise subscriptions, you will get 40% on the 100 cloud subscriptions. If, over the next years, you need to add 10, 20 or 30 additional licenses, they must be purchased at the standard Dynamics 365 application or attached SKU price.

Need help mapping your transition subscriptions? Contact Avantiico.