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How to avoid issues with Virtual Company settings when migrating Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 (or older versions) to Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management

Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Reading time: 4 minutes

Migrating data from AX2012 (or an older version) to Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management may present unexpected challenges. While working on various upgrade projects and helping Microsoft Dynamics Partners with database migrations, we have encountered a whole host of issues. When performing a data upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to Dynamics 365, one of the issues we encountered is virtual company migration. In this blog, we will try to provide you with the answers to some frequently asked questions related to this issue.

What have been the benefits of virtual companies?

Creating a virtual company and storing data in it is a way to share that data between legal entities in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 without having to change any settings in the existing. Normal companies are configured to read and write data from the tables in this virtual company. When users save information in one of those tables, the data is available to the other company accounts in the group. Sharing data in this way can also make it easier to set up new companies.

How does standard migration transfer data from virtual companies?

During the migration, data previously owned by virtual companies will be copied to all companies that were assigned to the virtual company. After the migration, an additional legal entity will be created, which will have the same name as the Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 virtual company.

This means that data are duplicated in all legal entities, leaving customers very dissatisfied with the process.

How did virtual company data work in Microsoft Dynamics AX2012? What’s changed with Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management?

A Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 virtual company is a type of legal entity in which users do not create data directly. Virtual companies were used to share data between companies.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamicsax-2012/appuser-itpro/virtual-company-accounts-in-microsoft-dynamics-ax

Now, virtual company functionality is deprecated in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management environments and cannot be used.

What has changed since virtual companies have gone: advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

  • A separate company is not created, however, the data is copied and appears in each company. You see the data right away in your company. If a record is created in one company, it also appears in the others. As a result, records are duplicated.
  • Users can select fields from tables for sharing. This means fields that are not selected for sharing are maintained in each company and will not trigger any replication.

Disadvantages:

  • Fields that reference financial dimensions can't be shared across companies.
  • There are limitations for data sharing for master tables.
  • Cross-company data sharing isn't supported for sharing of transactional records for reporting or management purposes, such as consolidations.

How do virtual companies work now?

In the case of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management, “virtual company functionality is not available”. During the migration, attention must be paid to the virtual company as all the data that was previously owned by it, will be copied to all the legal entities that were assigned to the virtual company.

To replicate the functionality, Microsoft recommends Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management Cross-Company Data Sharing functionality that can be configured for specific groups of tables. How to do this is described here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/fin-ops-core/dev-itpro/sysadmin/cross-company-data-sharing

We hope that this blog has provided answers for most of your questions and will help to ensure your migration to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management is even more successful and efficient!

If you still have AX2012 or older version and are considering how to migrate to the latest Dynamics 365 F&SCM version, Companial offers the BestPath Assessment – detailed technical analysis that provides more visibility into your Dynamics AX transition project complexity and help you make informed decisions as to which project tactic (upgrade, re-implementation, or a mix) is the most beneficial to move to the Dynamics 365 for Finance and Supply Chain Management.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out your local representative or contact us directly at service@companial.com.

Lina Sprainienė
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