Microsoft Dynamics AX in action
Ports of Auckland's path for the future.
Ports of Auckland had a strong business desire to create agility and responsiveness within its business solutions by strategically moving to a more homogenous technology platform, which would provide better resource utilisation and service delivery.
$270 billion worth of trade is shipped through Ports of Auckland each year, making it New Zealand’s most significant port. Ports of Auckland had embarked on a significant review of the business and technology landscape that underpins its provision of world-class services. Ports of Auckland was running a multitude of technologies and platforms in the applications space, including an increasingly unsupported FMIS platform. Its FMIS solution was expensive to maintain both from an internal resourcing perspective, and licensing and support were big-ticket expenses.
The decision was made to embark on an application renewal strategy aligned to the Microsoft stack of technologies. A key project on the roadmap signalled the replacement of their FMIS platform with Microsoft Dynamics AX.
The Microsoft Dynamics AX point of difference
Ports of Auckland CIO, Pieter Bakker, believes that finding the right tiered solution for an organisation’s size of business is critical.
“Strategically we could see that Microsoft Dynamics AX hit the sweet spot in terms of its fit with the size and scale of our organisation as a medium-sized business and how it fits from a business perspective. Dynamics AX was the clear choice, and one that carried a lot of confidence.”
In terms of value delivered, Pieter is confident that good benefit realisation and gains are being seen.
“Our post go live activity since November 2009 has been smooth and controlled. Our Group Financial Controller, Steve Copley, has been able to implement a number of changes to processes that he would not have been able to do with the old solution in place and that has brought real productivity benefits and cost savings. Risk has been entirely mitigated and our costs of operating are already on track to dip below our previous levels. Dynamics AX is incredibly broad and we now have a foundation solution that will manage all aspects of our business including inventory, purchasing, customer management, supply chain optimisation, AX CRM and business intelligence.”
The gain? The anchor has been pulled on risk. Dynamics AX has delivered stage one of Ports of Auckland’s IT vision, realising benefits immediately. It has proved the appropriate solution and fit for Port’s business model and has established a path for integration for the future.
