In order to find the best partner for Dynamics AX support, there are two main things to consider.

1. Does your partner's support team have a dedicated, capable and purposely well-rounded roster?

More specifically:

• Does your partner supply support with functional, technical and development resources?
• Are you only able to access the newbies, or are you connected to seasoned experts?

2. Are you restricted in using your support hours only for break/fix issues or can they be applied to other projects?

As the Vice President of Development at Stoneridge Software, my team is actively involved in support requests. I've made sure that the two items I mentioned above are a priority for our clients.

• Most of our Dynamics AX support staff was previously employed by Microsoft.  Check out our team bios page located here - http://stoneridgesoftware.com/about-us/team
• If you are signed up for a support plan, Stoneridge Software treats your support hours as consulting hours, you can use your support hours for anything ERP related. Here are some of the ways you can use your support hours:

Help with your ISVs

Not many partners will support your ISVs. Most partners direct you to the ISV teams and you work with the ISV directly, Microsoft support absolutely will not help you with your ISVs. If you have three ISVs you are now dealing with, that's three different ISV contacts plus your support partner. At Stoneridge, we know this is a headache, so we've made sure our support plans included that if you call us with any issue, we figure it out or answer the question and we either fix it or work with the ISV to get it fixed. We take the load off of your shoulders and onto our own.

Training

We will perform live individualized training, classroom sessions or online training tailored to the topic(s) of interest to you!

Break/fix support

Every support team does this but we have many, many years of support experience on our team.

Question/answer support

Ask us any functional, technical or development question you'd like.

Escalations or systems down

We are the ones to come to. We have technical abilities other teams do not have and we can handle whatever you are running into.

Developing new or modifying existing features

You can use your support hours for creating new reports, forms, integrations, data imports, extensions to your ISVs. You name it, we'll build it.

Installing hot fixes and upgrading to newer versions of software

Microsoft and ISVs routinely send out new updates and it is important to take advantage of them. However, sorting out the details of what needs to happen with them and dealing with the conflicts between ISVs, your custom code and Microsoft code can be challenging. We staff our support team with team members capable of navigating these scenarios and handling whatever comes up.

Improving performance

If you have areas of your application not performing the way you want them to, we will investigate the issue, find the right solution and make whatever adjustments are needed. Because we have support team members with all kinds of backgrounds, we can make hardware recommendations, SQL server changes, code changes - whatever is appropriate for the performance issue.

BI development

We have a dedicated BI team knowledgeable in ISV and Microsoft BI tools. We can help you select tools, teach you how to use them and work with you to build up BI skills. If you would rather we build dashboards and reports for you, we are happy to do that as well.

Maintaining your ERP software and hardware

We offer health checks and monthly maintenance programs that you can apply support hours towards. The health checks and maintenance programs are like having an insurance policy. We continually check in to try to catch issues early on before they turn into bigger problems.

Searching for the best partner for Dynamics AX support

If you're on the lookout for a partner who will have your back and support your Dynamics AX system, carefully consider the items above before making your choice.

Becky Newell is a co-founder and Vice President of Development at Stoneridge Software. She spent 14.5 years Microsoft before forming Stoneridge Software. She has a vast amount of experience with all aspects of AX 2012 and 2009 development and holds the following certifications on Dynamics AX: Development (2012, 2009), Enterprise Portal Development (2009, 4.0), MorphX Development (2009), Financials (2009), SharePoint 2010 Development.

Stoneridge Software is a unique Microsoft Gold Partner, with emphasis on partner. Our client centric focus means that special emphasis is placed on training and supporting our clients long after the go-live and beyond.

by Stoneridge Software

August 26, 2016 by Becky Newell, Stoneridge Software

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Tags: Best ERP Training, Dynamics AX Support, Dynamics AX training, Dynamics AX Training Tips, microsoft dynamics support
Posted in About Microsoft Dynamics AX, Accounting Software Selection Tips, Choosing a VAR/Partner, Dynamics ERP for Manufacturing, Dynamics ERP for Professional Services, ERP Software Implementation Tips, Microsoft Dynamics ERP Training | Comments Off on How to Find the Best Partner for Dynamics AX Support

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