Yes, we are experiencing annoying Dynamics AX Performance problems!
You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard this phrase in my 13 years’ experience working on AX implementations. And guess what? I know for a fact that in 90% of the time this statement is actually not true! So why is this?
When engaging a customer who is experiencing AX performance problems, it turns out, over and over again, it’s usually not a hardware related issue.
Yes, off course when you try to run Dynamics AX on a machine with, say, 4 GB of memory, it just doesn’t perform. And no matter what AX or SQL configuration skills you have: it will never perform due to the basic lack of hardware. But be honest: How many AX customers do you know who do not meet the basic hardware needs? Most customers I have engaged have met these requirements and usually also, in the beginning, AX runs fine, performance wise.
No, things start to heat up when the system is actively being used day by day. Users feed data into the tables, are running queries, do the monthly inventory closings and so on. Actually they are doing what they are supposed to do – using AX for registering their business activities. And then after a while, you can just wait for it – the big moaning starts……“Bloody hell, this report takes forever!” or “The invoicing batch hasn’t finished yet – we will be late again!“
This moaning usually worsens over time and all of a sudden we are back at the header of this article: Funny that you ask John…
Working on Dynamics AX Performance over the past years has given me valuable insight into issues like SQL indexing, long running queries, wrong keys, configurations settings like parallel threading, priority batching, table locking etc etc. Many, many settings and parameters are to be considered. And usually this is not the priority of the implementing Partner nor do they have specific consultancy skills in this area. But still : This niche area is where you will find, and solve, most of your problems. And not in your hardware.
So, after a while I figured that I have a great reply to my valued AX Partners as well as end-customers. Whenever they start to moan and complain, I listen carefully, and let them finish. That’s just basic customer psychology. But in general my reply is:
Dear madam, sir, No, I do not believe you have a AX performance problem! I believe you have an AX knowledge problem which expresses itself as a Performance problem.
This phrase has taken me into many, rewarding, AX performance research and good Partner/Customer relationships and saved many customers a big load of money which would be spend on hardware or another, unneeded, AOS license.
I wonder how my AX Performance thoughts are by others... :), are you experiencing the same? So, fellow AX Professionals, I am curious, let's hear it please,
Happy tuning,
John Aalders
