It’s happening. Microsoft Dynamics ERP is heading to Azure, the company’s cloud platform. In the forth quarter, the software maker is making Dynamics NAV 2013 and Dynamics GP 2013 available as an online service.

You’ll recall that in late 2010 and amid Steve Ballmer’s exuberance over the cloud, concerns about how Dynamics ERP fits into the company plans began to surface. What form would it take? How will customers adapt?

Back then, Dynamics expert Hunter Richards expertly illustrated the potentially thorny road both Microsoft and its customer base will have to navigate for cloud-based ERP. This week at Convergence 2012, Microsoft revealed what it’s doing for its part.

That means taking things one step at a time. In this Enterprise Apps Today report, I wrote:

Developing a “map to the cloud” — as Mike Ehrenberg, chief technology officer for the company’s Business Solutions division and a Microsoft Technical Fellow, describes it — is no time to overreach. So the company is taking a measured approach. The first intended audience: SMBs.

“The roadmap reflects Microsoft’s customer focused approach, targeting two key market segments — the first wave will target small and mid-market companies, with the second wave expanding those offerings to enterprise customers,” writes Ehrenberg in a blog post.

Seems reasonable. Microsoft even addressed one of Richards’ concerns about eroding channel opportunities. It plans to roll out services centered on select verticals like industrial manufacturing with more launch over time.

Catch up on the details here.