I’m currently working at a company that is considering implementing Navision Attain. It’s a multisite metals company with locations in Canada and the United States. I’d love to hear feedback on the following: 1) Are there any customers out there that would be willing to talk about the product? I’m a bit leery of speaking with only the customers that Navision or its resellers provide. 2) We too have had a hard time understanding the line between Attain and Axapta. Is there a maximum number of users that should be using Attain, versus Axapta? Thanks.
Can’t answer number one for you, but in relation to number two the short answer is no. The Attain/Axapta issues have been debated a few times - try doing a search with Axapta vs. Attain key words etc. and you should find some of the earlier postings. Regards, Adam Seaton
Thanks for your response. I’ve seen a few responses regarding users and sizing, but nothing that’s conclusive. From your understanding of the product, are Attain or Axapta designed to size to a certain number of users? Can each product perform acceptably if sized properly, regardless of the users?
How many users are you proposing? The more important consideration may be not so much how many users, but where they are. If you are proposing a single site 2 tier set-up then either product should be happy assuming that the servers and infrastructure are sized accordingly. In a 3 tier set-up, Axapta AOS is a strong piece of technology. That’s not to say that Attain can’t run remote sites - it certainly can - but in my view Axapta becomes a stronger product in a multi-site setup (with one DB), particularly an international one. …but without knowing many specifics about your proposal it is difficult to be too objective on this one. regards, Adam Seaton
What would you suggest for a 50 concurrent single site operation?
quote:
Originally posted by davidlc
What would you suggest for a 50 concurrent single site operation?
With only that information, I cannot suggest either product. Both products can handle 50 concurrent users in a single-site installation. What kind of business are we discussing here - heavy manufacturing, wholesale, something else?
Navision Attain is going to be an easier and quicker product to get implemented. Also, unless your’ve got a pretty serious IT department, I would not recommend Axapta. The main thing that you’ll notice is a totally different user interface. If you like working in a “tree-like” structure then you’ll like Axapta.
Lars I am a potential customer that likes Navision, we are a single site brewery with 250 Pubs and are looking for the right solution for our requirements for process production, sales, distribution, finance, CRM, property management, service management, business intelligence and integration with an EPOS system, with about 50 concurrent users. We have found a Brewery solution add-on in Belgium for Attain but nothing for Axapta. So our current thinking is for Attain running on SQL-server, any thoughts? Adam has bowed out of this discussion because I have spoken to him directly.
We have approximately 150 users across about 20 sites in Canada and the U.S. The sites will likely range from a few (3-5 users) to many users (up to 50 users). Of the 20 sites, we anticipate having about 90 across 2 sites, with several more smaller user sites. Under this scenario, what are the groups thoughts about using Attain vs. Axapta? Thanks.
Hi David, My initial guess based on the information you have given is that Attain with either the Belgian brewery add-on or the Process800 add-on(www.process800.com) would be a good solution for you. Still, it is quite difficult to give a rock solid recommendation based on the relatively little information I have - normally the dialog between prospect and SOlution Center is much more intense that the one we have here 
Regarding your question about SQL server, I don’t think that you have to choose SQL Server. You could actuallu choose Attain on either native or SQL server. Based on what you have described so far, the database is really not the important issue - unless of course, you have a policy or strategy that says that you should select SQL Server. The most important part for you here, is whether the functionality of the solution meets your requirements, AND if you trust the Solution Center you are in dialog with to be able to deliver a quality solution that matches your business requirements. Best regards Lars lsv@hands.dk www.hands-international.com
It is important to remember that for the last 15 years Axapta (Concorde) and Attain (Navision/Navigator) were sold side by side in direct competition to the same clients. Each had features that made it a little better than the other, and in the end most purchase decisions were made either emotionally (just like the decision of weather to buy a Ford or Chevy/Opel/Vauxhaul which in reality are just the same) or the decision was made based on the full service package rpovided by the Solution Center. In my experience over the last 12 years, I believe that a decision should be made based not on the product but the company. If the company provides both products, then it is in their interest to suggest to you the best product, since the best product for you will mean the least problems for them in the future. In the future our buddies at MS will dfferentiate the products, by pushing Axapta up against the bigger products, and keeping Attain in the mid market, but be aware that that is more a marketing issue, than what the product can do. Please make you decision in co-operation with a good solid NSC that knows which product is the closest fit to your needs.
PS Turley, keep asing questions, that’s the best way to get answers. And good luck.
I would like to contribute with my opinion… ‘Axapta, Attain and Great Plains are full blown competitors at the same way as a Toyota, Honda and Ford car dealers is’. My advice, I’m a sales man, is to research the best deal and secure your seller is delivering the best for value… and remember it’s buyers market and you can ‘almost’ get a ‘buy back’ garentuee those days.
… the latest ‘initiative’ is a 2 years interest free loan up to 150.000 USD from Microsoft Capital. + A Free PC when signing[:D]