Infor CRM vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX (discontinued)

If you have a mobile workforce, it likely wouldn't be as appropriate (keep in mind we're using the desktop client, and have very limited experience with the web app). It is well suited if your business needs lots of custom processes- find a good vendor. We utilize SimpleSoft out of Ohio, and they have been excellent. Key question: think about where your business is going to be in 5-10 years, and will this CRM solution be able to grow with us?

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

• It has an improved interface which is fairly intuitive for end users.
• Available in both on-premise and in the cloud.
• Mobile is a particular strong point of the system and is blazing fast.
• Advanced Analytics is available which provides a suite of out-of-box BI tools.

Incentivized

• Pricing: Microsoft Dynamics AX gives us good flexibility in how we price our products.
• UX: Microsoft Dynamics AX has a good user interface to put valuable information on the screen for users.
• Inventory Management: Microsoft Dynamics AX does a great job at giving us insight into our inventory.

Incentivized

• Speed - SalesLogix tends to operate rather clunky (could be my company's deployment) in that it hesistates for long periods between clicks and frequent lockups occur.
• User Interface - Difficult to read data at times, the UI is tired looking.
• Group View Creation - While a positive, the creation path is very technical for the average user to understand and almost must have programming language capability to complete.

Incentivized

• Sales Ledger. Currently, the idea behind the sales ledger module is that the company prepares a sales order for another company. I would prefer the developers consider the scenario where a sales order is prepared for the same company but for another branch or unit.
• Postings of issues items are currently possible but none of the modules caters to "departmental material or item request". Further tweaks have been done on our Project Module to cater for this but it's not entirely perfect. This will enable aid in cost allocation per departmental request of materials or items.
• Challenges with the bank module - does not allow for easily reconciliation as the statement from the banks can not be uploaded except for specific format.

Incentivized

We have too much invested in customizations to walk away from it. Once again, the ability to customize Saleslogix is both a positive and negative attribute. Saleslogix is offering a cloud based solution so they recognize where the future is moving to. Unfortunately it is still an enormous amount of cost, training and functionality to move to that solution. At the time of this writing CustomerFX doesn't have a cloud solution for that quoting module our sales staff depend on. And if we move that direction we will have to pay again to get the cloud based modifications performed. We're on the hamster wheel of technology.

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

It can be a bit slow at times. Its that refresh don't always need to refresh slowing down the user.

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 utilize the support of a local-ish vendor. SimpleSoft is their name. they are great, and very responsive

Incentivized

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.

We selected INFOR CRM over Salesforce simply because it was affordable and didn't have so many 'bells & whistles' that Salesforce has that we were not using. We didn't realize that the compatibility with upgrades were going to be such an issue.

Incentivized

Cost and local regional compliance were primary factors in chosing Microsoft Dynamics AX over SAP Access Control for our need. SAP AC would have provided easier integration into our primary ERP system SAP but there were some regional compliance with ASEAN countries as well as the cost of implementation was more over Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Incentivized

• We're launching a new project where we will be building a sales funnel, including sales metrics and KPIs, sales process, and reporting/dashboarding. This is going to be a huge shift in our thinking and how we manage our sales. I'm expecting a substantial ROI on this work.
• We've automated a lot of tasks that required attaching items to emails and duplicating work. For example, instead of attaching sample order picks to an email then sending it to our fulfillment group, we assign them the ticket. All communication is done via the ticket process. Once the order has been shipped, the UPS information is added to the ticket and it is assigned back to the original user for tracking. This has saved us so much time, not only in errors, but in missed orders and trying to get tracking information after the recipient has already not received their package.
• We really needed to build in functionality that would allow separation between the different types of teams (procurement, certification, sales, etc) that we've had all trying to use InforCRM vs investing in multiple platforms. This is our fault more than InforCRM, but again, being able to have different 'views' based on department and role would be a really nice improvement for the next update.

Incentivized

• Clients have seen better cost containment on inventory based on better on hand management and supply chain visibility.
• Faster closing process for the finance team, where by day 3 of 4 you can generate a trial balance and look to balance ledger to sub-ledger.
• Better reporting allows for real time analysis and can get to predictive metrics in certain areas.

Incentivized