Poland’s top university rankings 2018

We are pleased to inform that the Faculty of Management Engineering at Poznan University of Technology, in which we implemented Microsoft Dynamics teaching lab took 4th place in the ranking of the best economic faculties of Polish universities. Every year the “Rzeczpospolita” newspaper publishes the ranking of leading universities in Poland. The high-ranking place of the Poznan University of Technology was decided by very high mark for the quality of teaching. Every year, several hundred students equipped by Integris have the opportunity to learn about one of the most modern ERP systems in the world, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations and Dynamics AX.
Integris has been providing IT solutions for over 20 years and the experience we have gained over the years of cooperation with universities and higher education institutions has enabled us to define their most frequent needs.
If your company has Microsoft Dynamics AX or D365FO and you are struggling with problems and want to take advantage of the latest achievements of technology, you are welcome to contact us!

Manufacturing Summit 2018

The 5th national Manufacturing Summit conference –  was held on November 14, 2018 in Wrocław, where over 100 delegates, including Integris and representatives of companies from the manufacturing industry interested in the development of digital strategies gathered. The meeting attracted authorities from business and industry circles who willingly shared their expertise and knowledge and discussed an important problem related to the digital transformation of production.
The fourth industrial revolution, about which we hear so much today, makes us wonder if this is the right time to start digitization and automation processes within a company, the so-called digital transformation. First, however, the speakers focused on discussing existing problems and issues within the organization and its work culture:

  • Data management for business improvement
  • Why does Industry 4.0 becomes so popular and what can companies gain thanks to ubiquitous digitalization?
  • Are companies ready for a digital revolution? Do the tools available on the market meet the needs of producers?
  • Searching for new areas of improvement
  • Improving the organizational culture and the increasingly difficult situation on the job market.

The programme included lectures and presentations of the latest technologies and solutions that can improve efficiency of factories and supply chains and make production even more intelligent. Particularly noteworthy was Microsoft’s remote presentation, which presented the concept of “Factory of the Future”, based on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution integrated with the latest technologies such as HoloLens. This example shows us what the future of production will look like from the leading experts.
The conference was a unique opportunity to see how the industry evaluates and implements Industry 4.0 and an opportunity to learn about new technologies and applications that can improve productivity within the company, as well as to establish new contacts with suppliers and peers in the industry.

New website update!

We invite all of you to familiarize yourself with our new and refreshed website and to check our products and services offer. Especially for you, our new site has been completely redesigned, now you can easily open it and navigate on any device. We encourage you to follow the website and our social media profiles. All content is regularly updated, thanks to which we provide support for business customers and keep you up to date in the world of tech news.

Microsoft announces the end of basic support for older versions of Dynamics AX

Microsoft announces the end of basic support for the following products from October 9, 2018.

Product versions Basic support end date Additional support end date
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Service Pack 1 (SP1) 09.10.2018 12.10.2021
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 09.10.2018 12.10.2021
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 09.10.2018 12.10.2021

After this date only quick-fix security updates will continue to be provided for these three versions in an extended support period that will last until October 12, 2021. For more information, please visit Microsoft’s support page.

At Integris we offer support and updates to the latest versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX software. The latest version, which is Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, combines the functionality of the Dynamics AX system and the cloud functions of the Microsoft Dynamics platform. Our specialists will be happy to help you choose the optimal licensing plan, present a clear system setup structure and follow the best possible and safest upgrade path. We are ready to take advantage of our extensive experience from various ERP system extensions – including minor technical updates and complex, full implementation projects.
We encourage you to contact us to discuss the details of software updates or to learn more about our services.

ERP Technology Value Matrix 2018

Last year, on the market of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, the promise of creating a smarter back-office intelligence processes began. Whether through machine learning (ML) to automate banking transactions or connect to the Internet of Things (IoT), facilitating service maintenance and new service-based business lines, ERP customers began to realize the benefits Industry 4.0 can bring to production, distribution and service companies. Since the last analysis of ERP systems by Nucleus, it has been determined that market-leading suppliers implement technologies that are facilitated by the flexibility and scalability of the cloud, enabling customers to achieve higher levels of maturity during their digital transformation.

Based on article by Nucleus Research.

How Microsoft HoloLens and intelligent technologies will shape our future. Microsoft Ignite 2018

One of the most important events in the entire Microsoft calendar – the Microsoft Ignite conference has already started. The annual meeting of business leaders began on September 24 in Orlando, Florida.
During this year’s Ignite conference, Microsoft presented a range of products and new technologies that will soon reach a wider audience and become available to the public. The conference schedule includes interactive workshops, discussion panels and many technological innovations from the world of Microsoft.
Current issues that were raised at the conference include: artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing (Azure), virtual reality (AR) and solutions for business and news for Microsoft Dynamics 365 developers.
We were particularly interested in the topic of the growing reality of AR and mixed reality with the participation of Microsoft Holo Lens.

Mixed reality, a phrase recently used more and more often by Microsoft, for which the next update was just announced, such as new functions and two new applications for HoloLens – Remote Assist and Microsoft Layout, which are already available to be tested by Dynamics 365 and Microsoft HoloLens users, in preview version. They are so-called Mixed reality apps – that is, mixed-reality applications that close the gap between the real world and the augmented reality (AR).
Remote Assist – A remote expert can be located anywhere in the world in a minute, connecting via Microsoft Teams, where you can allow the inspectors to be able to remotely inspect objects in real time. For objects around the world, and even distant places to which you can not always get.

New features in HoloLens include Research mode – for companies that create their own specialized applications and new functions for enterprise management, such as many logins for the same HoloLens device, which makes it easier to share it in the company. With Media Transport Protocol you can connect your HoloLens, copy and transport files to and from the device. Improved MDM features to help you set up and manage your device. You can display objects in 3d, and when you look at them and move, they are interactive. You can also create and display your own virtual locations, rooms, spaces, etc. The Windows mixed reality platform is constantly evolving so that you can personalize your real and mixed reality worlds.

HoloLens is a completely new technology and solution. Organizations that look to the future use transformational technology to change the way they do business. Transformation technology is one that will take your company to a higher level. Microsoft HoloLens allows you to perform activities that were not possible in the past. It improves the management of activities, facilitates work and has a positive effect on organizing your work. This is the future of many organizations and perhaps soon HoloLens will become another device used in the company, just like we use laptops and mobile phones today, which are part of basic equipment used every day by employees. This is a new technology and is really interesting.

Microsoft HoloLens features:

Voice and video calls without hands (handsfree)
Annotations in mixed realities: drawing + arrows
Enterprise AAD authentication and single login
OneDrive integration and image sharing – supports JPG, TIFF, PNG, BMP file formats and non-animated GIF
Broadcasts in mixed-reality technology: HoloLens users can share their view with another application by running
Remote Assistance in the background
Shooting in mixed mode: HoloLens users can capture different images of reality during conversations
Screen sharing: Experts can display their computer screen to view HoloLens users
Cross-platform functionality from Microsoft HoloLens and PC

Microsoft Business Applications Summit

New business applications – Business Applications – will be available from October 2018.
Hundreds of new features in the areas of sales, marketing, customer service, portals, omni-channel engagement hub, field service, project service, social engagement, finance & operations, talent, retail and business central enable your company’s digital transformation.
Here’s a shortcut of key functions:

Dynamics 365 application improvements. New mixed reality set – user experience using Microsoft Layout and Microsoft Remote Assist.
– New intelligent applications – developed over decades of work in artificial intelligence, initiated by Microsoft Research, to make Dynamics 365 more intelligent. You can increase productivity and plan sales with the new Dynamics 365 AI application for sales.
– New Power platform capabilities connect Power BI applications, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, Common Data Service for Applications, and Power BI data flow to an unparalleled array of tools to extend, customize and integrate Dynamics 365 and Office 365 with your environment.
– Data integration provides built-in connectivity to the Power platform and many others, thanks to data from hundreds of business systems, enabling rich and intelligent experiences. The common data model provides semantic consistency for canonical business units within Dynamics 365, Common Data Service for Apps and Power BI data flows, increasing the time needed by application developers, ISV partners and integrators.
– Deeper integration with other Microsoft products ensures trouble-free work with Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Stream, Azure and LinkedIn. Improving Dynamics 365 with data and signal from Office 365 and Bing.
– Performance, usability and improvements in support improve applications and provide a better working environment.

The full version of the article is available on the Microsoft Docs website.

 

If you are interested in our offer, or would like to receive detailed information about the products and services we offer, we invite you to contact us via the contact form, we are also available for you by email or phone or in person at our office.

Improving the way Dynamics 365 (F&O) is being updated.

In the field of ERP systems, we observe a continous development of new functionalities, integration possibilities are being added all the time and new technologies are being implemented. At the same time, research shows that “Eight out of ten enterprises (80%) admit that they have modified their ERP system in a moderate or significant way to adapt it to the unique business requirements of their companies” (source: https://www.computerworld.pl). Therefore, the ERP system upgrade process is usually expensive and long-lasting. Microsoft has announced a new solution to this problem, the reconciliation of these two seemingly contradictory aims: to allow clients to keep modifications made for their needs and at the same time to provide new functionalities “on a regular basis”. Microsoft has just announced further steps in this direction. Earlier this year, the company committed to delivering major Ms Dynamics 365 F&O updates twice a year to ensure predictability around new opportunities and allow a clear plan to its customers and partners. This is to reduce the cost of upgrades, provide all users with access to the latest features, improve performance and offer better support.

Here are some of the key points provided on Microsoft blog, in a post by Mo Osborne, Vice President and Operational Director of Microsoft Business Applications Engineering:

-All Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications will now target two major updates per year in April and October. They will offer new features and functionalities of the program. As Mo Osborne explains: “These updates will be compatible with previous versions, so your applications and customizations will continue to work after the upgrade. New features with serious, disruptive navigation changes in the user interface are disabled by default. This means that administrators will be able to first test the inclusion these functions to organize them.”

-Regular performance updates and improved program reliability will continue to be implemented throughout the year. Microsoft distributes updates over time and closely monitors its processes in the event of any problems.

– Microsoft offers access to the Dynamics 365 service upgrade before being deployed to production. Beginning with the update in April 2019, you will be able to approve major updates in the test environment before running the program. “If you encounter any problems while testing the update, Microsoft will work closely to support you and solve your problems in a timely manner to ensure the continuity of your organization,” says Mo Osborne.

We would like to remind you that the most important publications with information about upgrades will be published on the Microsoft blog, which started running from the first publication this spring (Spring release update). This is being continued as a standard practice, as Mo Osborne announced. The new blog serves as a reference point for customers who can look for additional details.

Information about upcoming updates will be released a few months before each major update to help companies plan implementation of new opportunities. Information on the release of the autumn update 2018 will be published on July 23 at the Summit of Business Applications Summit in Seattle.

And just like that…half of the year is gone!

June was a month of hard work for us. Two production starts of the Ms Dynamics AX and Dynamics 365 installations within one month is a good test for our team of consultants and programmers.

Those of us who were involved in ERP projects know this feeling and the thrill of launching an ERP system. Go-live is exciting, misleading, difficult and full of opportunities, all at the same time.

Although it can be a huge step in a long process, this is not the last step. It seems that many project managers use the date of starting the ERP system as their main milestone and key success measure. However, just reaching the start date of the so-called go-live system is only one of the elements of implementation of ERP implementation.
There are many questions that appear only after go-live of the system, for example, what impact on the company will new ERP system have on the company? Will the organization’s activities be more efficient? Do employees use the system effectively? That is why it is so important for us to provide a continous service after the implementation success, in order to supplement technical activities.

Although the training of end-users before launching can reduce many of the risks that organizations face at the time of change, additional reinforcement is needed after launch. For example, project team members should be supported to receive general support and answers to simple, process and system questions. Immediately after launching, about 80% of user problems are associated with a lack of understanding rather than a problem with the system itself, so administrators should be the first level of support.

At Integris, we offer on premises service at our clients base throughout the country and abroad, as well as video conferences and remote assistance. We work continuously and offer a hotline for users 24 hours a day.
In addition, the provision of additional tools, such as cheat sheets and training documentation, will make employees feel more comfortable with the system, and refresher training should also be provided if necessary.

We encourage you to familiarize yourself with our offer and we invite you to cooperation.