Microsoft Dynamics AX Pricing and Licensing

New Microsoft Dynamics AX Licensing

With the launch of Microsoft Dynamics AX, also known in the channel as Dynamics AX7, Microsoft is now offering simple, transparent and flexible per-user licensing on monthly AX subscriptions.  Dynamics AX cloud subscriptions will include the software licenses and the Azure cloud infrastructure.

The new Microsoft Dynamics AX licensing for cloud will initially only be available through Microsoft and will be made widely available six months from the initial release.  Once the new version is widely available, enterprises with tight restrictions regarding compliance and data-sovereignty will be able to deploy the latest AX release on-premise using Microsoft Azure Stack or they can launch the new version in the cloud through RoseASP’s audit-ready Dynamics AX hosting services.

Microsoft Dynamics AX Pricing and User Licensing

Dynamics AX Pricing is available two ways–through a Dynamics Enterprise Agreement (EA) or through a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Partner.  CSP Tier 1 partners are able to bundle monthly AX hosting with tailored services for Dynamics AX on Azure, so it’s likely that prices will vary by Dynamics Partner depending on the level of services offered.

Enterprise Agreement Dynamics AX Cost per User

There are now only 3 user types for AX7 rather than the 4 types previously available for AX 2012R3 –Enterprise User, Device User, Task User and Self-Service User. See the Microsoft Dynamics AX Cloud Subscription Pricing List below (rounded to the nearest dollar).

Enterprise User– 50 User minimum: $185 per user/month
Task User– Approve time/expense/ invoices, add sales & purchase invoices: $30 per user/month
Self-Service User– Record time & expense, create requisitions & budget activities, view rights into AX – $8 per user/month
Functional usersno longer available
Note: Device Licenses are also available, intended for POS, Warehouse & Store Manager Devices for $73 per user/ month. One Enterprise User can be swapped out for 2.5 Device CALs – no other swapping of licenses is allowed.

If you would like more specific information on Dynamics AX pricing for your business, go to this form for a tailored Microsoft Dynamics AX cloud pricing quote.

What’s included in the monthly service on Azure with Microsoft?

• Production instance
• Azure infrastructure, so you are not paying anything extra for Azure
• 10GB storage plus an additional 2.5GB for every 20 users above the 50-user minimum.
• Sandbox Tier 1: One Development/TEST instance provided for the life of the customer
• Sandbox Tier 2: One Standard Acceptance Testing Instance for the firstthree months
• Disaster Recovery – the specifics on backup and recovery haven’t been made clear to us yet
• Integrated Power BI and Cortana Analytics
• Support: Basic technical break/fix support is included for customer who purchase through Volume Licensing with a response time of next business day, during local business hours only.  Additional support can be purchased or provided by the Dynamics Partner.  Customers purchasing direct from a CSP provider will be provided support directly through the partner

Available add-ons include additional storage and additional Test instances ($400+ per instance/per month).

A variety of “premium” sandboxes are also available from $1,300 – $12,000 per month.

Should I Subscribe to the New Microsoft Dynamics AX as a Service?

The new Dynamics AX pricing and licensing offers a lot of scalability and flexibility to large-scale enterprise AX deployments, but a Dynamics AX 2012 R3 deployment may still be the better option for many customers. Here are a few important details to note about Dynamics AX as Service on Azure:

• The Dynamics AX on Azure monthly customer commitment will be roughly $10,000 whether you use 50 Enterprise users or not. Additionally, if you are using less than 50 enterprise users but need 100 task users, you will still need to purchase Task User licenses separately. However, an Azure Dynamics AX cloud subscription does allow Enterprise Users can be turned into Device Users. For example, a customer could meet the user minimum requirement with 10 Enterprise Users and 100 Device User CALs.
• Regulated customers required to provide evidence of change management may find user access to their Dynamics AX as a Service environment to be a challenge, as no modifications can be made to any of the documents available in the Microsoft Trust Center.
• Typically consisting of three environments – TEST, DEV and PROD, deployments of Dynamics AX on Azure take more than the 3-month timeframe Microsoft allots, so be sure to factor these environments into your monthly fee calculations for Dynamics AX as a service.
• Microsoft currently suggests a maximum 200 users for AX cloud subscription on Azure. While this is likely to change over time, customers who plan on large deployments should check first with Microsoft.
• No Management Reporter Designer (MR) access is given in Production. This means that if you plan on modifying a row or column or combination thereof, you will need to do this in TEST first, then call Microsoft and have them deploy it in Production.  There is no way around this.  Neither the customer nor the partner has access to Production.  While we agree this is a good rule of thumb, financial users may find this a bit restrictive when it comes to MR.
• Professional Direct Support is available at a price Point of $9 per user per month with a minimum of 100 users or $900 per month. Premium support is also available for Dynamics AX on Azure at an additional cost.

Microsoft customers currently on AX 2012 will be entitled to upgrade to the next On-Premises version of Microsoft Dynamics AX, expected to be released during the 2^nd half of 2016.

What if I want to keep AX 2012 in the Cloud?
RoseASP will continue to support hosting customers with existing AX 2012R3 or earlier licenses.

What if I want the new version of AX with fewer than 50 users or more than 200?

Enterprises that need to deploy AX with fewer than 50 users, or more than 200 users can do so through a private cloud hosting provider offering a lower user minimum.  RoseASP can provide cloud services for 10-users or more on Microsoft Dynamics AX in our audit-ready private cloud environment.  We currently offer AX2012 R3 in the cloud and will be offering the new version of Microsoft Dynamics AX (AX7) as soon as the new AX cloud subscription licenses are made available to cloud hosters.  We specialize in hosting mission critical data and accounting systems regulated by SOX, HIPAA, FDA and more.

What’s Next..?

Hopefully we have given you some insightful information about Microsoft Dynamics AX pricing, licensing and available options.  If you need to get started quickly with a Dynamics AX cloud solution, see this Microsoft Dynamics AX Quick Start Page »

You can learn more about compliant enterprise cloud in this SOX Cloud Requirements eBook:

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