What is DAX and how does it relate to Dynamics 365?

DAX can mean lots of things. In the context of Power BI, DAX stands for “Data Analysis Expressions”. It’s a language used when creating calculations in Power BI – similar to Excel functions.

In the context I want to discuss, though, DAX is shorthand for Dynamics AX. Microsoft Dynamics AX was the last name of an on-premises ERP system published by Microsoft. IBM Axapta was originally published by a Danish company named Damgaard. Damgaard then merged with Navision and then ultimately sold to Microsoft. Once Microsoft acquired the company, it was rebranded as Microsoft Dynamics AX. Similar situations happened with Solomon, Navision, and Great Plains (Dynamics SL, Dynamics NAV, and Dynamics GP, respectively).

What happened to Axapta?

Well, it got bought by Microsoft. When Microsoft acquired the Axapta product, it was re-branded as Microsoft Dynamics AX. Microsoft released versions of Dynamics AX of 3.0, 4.0, 2012, and AX 7 (which was the first foray into a cloud-based SaaS). Dynamics AX 7 was short-lived, though, and was eventually rebranded as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.

Since then, the naming and licensing have continued to change. Dynamics 365 for Operations, Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Dynamics 365 F&O, Dynamics 365 for Finance, and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management are all different names that refer to the same product – the spiritual successor of Axapta.