The MSDW Podcast - SoundSage

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Long-running Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central environments are at risk for becoming complicated and causing pain for users. But don't rush to blame such issues on bad decisions or mistakes. A BC system can easily accumulate a mix of inefficiencies, workarounds, and issues as a result of many small and innocent-seeming decisions that accumulate over time, say our guests, Microsoft MVPs Cynthia Priebe and Cari Corozza. More often, the reasons for such user pain are related to a lack of clear ownership or a clear vision that considers the downstream impact of changes.

When a system does reach a breaking point, experts like Cari and Cynthia are there to help, and they have both seen their share of BC customers dealing with systems that have gone from inconvenient or inefficient to problematic. In this episode they share stories of real world patterns they have observed in areas including permissions, reporting, month-end, and data ownership and how they lead to disruptions. They also offer suggestions on how to identify and avoid potential problems as part of the ongoing upkeep of a BC solution.

Connect with Cari and Cynthia on LinkedIn:

Cari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cari-corozza-cpa/
Cynthia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-priebe-dcp/
Business Central Strength Training Network LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14822015/
The Righter Way LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14295297/

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EPPC 2026 begins soon, and MSDW is a media partner of the event with on-site coverage planned. To prepare, we talked to one speaker who will be presenting two sessions at the event, Microsoft MVP Sean Astrakhan.

Sean tells us about his two session, one on building accurate AI with Azure tools, and another focused on building better integrations with Power Automate and more advanced tools. We discuss our expectations for the event, the experience of an attendee vs a presenter, and picking sessions that can fill in knowledge gaps.

Sean's next free workshop: https://www.untethered365.com/freetraining
Save €200 with the code MSDynamicsWorld. Book now!
EPPC 2026 on MSDW: https://msdynamicsworld.com/eppc-2026

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This episode is sponsored by Stratos Cloud Alliance.

As Microsoft expands the capabilities of M365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and surrounding tools, partners must work to understand the updates and translate them into meaningful guidance for their clients.

That ability to mature AI skills in a rapidly evolving marketplace requires partners to bring a combination of skills to bear, according to our guests, David Buggy of Velosio and Scott May of Stratos Cloud Alliance. Customers expect partners to bring a practical but also forward-looking approach to Copilot and AI agent capabilities. But often, those partners are still working to help their teams understand the latest changes so they can provide the right guidance to clients.

David and Scott break down some of those challenges for us and share some of the ways partners are adapting. We discuss what it means to be customer zero today, learning from other partners, and introducing new monetization options. They also share some of the go-to-market motions that are shoing promise, including messaging that they believe is resonating with customers as everyone races to stay current with the AI landscape.

If you would like to continue the conversation on how you can use AI in your org, book time with Scott May: Meet with Scott May | Stratos Cloud Alliance

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Steve Mordue joins us to talk about the AI landscape that SMBs are facing today and how that led to his team's launch of a new AI offering, RapidClaw, an OpenClaw-based agent framework that made it to market before the reveal of Microsoft's latest autonomous offering category, Autopilot, and the first of its agents, called Scout. Steve explains how he has made sense of some of the big choices today in the enterprise IT space like pre-built services from hyperscalers, the rise of AI agents, different user interface options, and a variety of billing models. He also explains how his team made some of their decisions, like the use of OpenClaw as an agent harness that each organization can host with full control.

We also discuss how Steve sees AI costs shifting, some of the qualities of effective agents, and the importance of natural language-driven interfaces.

Show notes:

6:45 - How are customers should be calibrating their AI priorities vs what many are doing so far
9:50 - Copilot Studio and Power Automate co-existing
4:30 - Boring successes
24:00 - How costs are shaking out for clients
30:15 - How partner billing will change with AI
34:00 - Are we moving away from user-based license model, and what does that mean for partners

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This episode is sponsored by Velosio.

Organizations are feeling increasing urgency to make decisions about the future of their legacy solutions. Demands around security and sustainability become more challenging to meet over time, and as cloud solutions continue to evolve, IT and business leaders may see uncertainty in their path toward modernization.

Our guests on this episode are Velosio's Carolyn Norton, Practice Director for Cloud Services and Cloud Solutions Specialist Brian Williams. They help us explore why decisions around legacy systems may feel more urgent now than in the past, and how increasing risk is moving conversations forward across industries.

We discuss how Microsoft's cloud and AI strategy is changing buyer expectations, and how that in turn is changing their assessment of the value of legacy systems. Some of the factors customers are discussing with Velosio go beyond security to the latest governance demands and the impact of their investments on cyber insurance, Carolyn and Brian explain. They also offer some perspective on the importance of business outcomes and the way they believe executives should be helping to champion and prioritize the most important modernization efforts.

More from SignUp Software:

Explore SignUp Software’s native D365 solutions at signupsoftware.com, and discover how Velosio can support your business at velosio.com.

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This episode is sponsored by Delinea.

Security and compliance concepts related to Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management are constantly evolving, and our guest, Delinea principal software development engineer Alex Meyer, continue to work to help the community make sense of their options.

Alex, a Microsoft MVP, recently presented a new webcast to the MSDW audience on native controls in D365 applications, and he joins the podcast to provide more perspective on the gaps that still exist. Auditors have become more familiar with D365 F&O solutions, Alex explains, and that means they know where to look for verification of segretation of duties.

We also discuss another hot topic right now, D365 licensing and the new policies Microsoft is trying to finalize related to technical enforcement for users. Alex shares his experiences and observations thus far, including the latest known delays to Microsoft's implementation of this plan.

More from Mekorma:

If you want to see how we can help your business, reach out to Ora and our expert team today and take the first step toward transforming your AP experience!

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This episode is sponsored by SignUp Software.

For Dynamics 365 Business Central users, the decision between embedded and external accounts payable (AP) automation solutions can have a lasting impact on the organization. To understand the topic further, we spoke with Rob Ashe, Vice President of North America at SignUp Software, and David Huether, Chief Commercial Officer at NEXT 365 for North America, about their organizations' experiences partnering on Business Central projects and what they are learning from finance leaders implementing AP automation solutions.

BC customers want to invest in AP automation that delivers both greater efficiency and better operating conditions like improved security, integration, and consistency for user experiences.

The partnership between SignUp Software and Next365 is providing unique results in areas like process assessment and optimization, executive-level advisory scenarios, and implementation acceleration. For example, David shared a case study from the energy sector where Next365 helped a client replace an outdated industry-standard system with SignUp's ExFlow, achieving a lower total cost of ownership while improving functionality and reducing vendor lock-in.

Our guests also discuss some of the key market drivers that will propel their partnership forward, specifically around the needs of CFOs building more complex and constrained organizations. They also offer BC users some ideas for the future around financial performance and how to start making measurable steps forward in modernizing AP.

More from SignUp Software:

To learn more about ExFlow, the only fully embedded AP automation solution for D365 Finance & Supply Chain Management, visit signupsoftware.com. To learn more about their partner Next365, visit next365group.com/

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MSDW was a media sponsor of this week's DynamicsCon 2025 event, live in Chicago. In our travels, we met up with some Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management experts to get their perspective on Microsoft announcements, customer feedback, and other plans.

In this episode, we hear from Microsoft MVP Alicia King (Keener) of RSM, James Cook, director with enVista, and Joe Christensen, founder of Aqueducts Consulting. All three work with Dynamics 365 F&O solutions, and we talked about new features, how customers are learning about Microsoft's AI offerings like pre-built agents and Azure AI Foundry, and some of the pressing needs for F&O customers related to licensing.

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This episode is sponsored by Coffee + Dunn.

As buyer behavior has evolved, sales and marketing teams have tried to keep pace. Understanding buyer behavior remains key, says our guest, Thomas Manders, CEO of Microsoft partner Coffee + Dunn, but data gathering and contextualizing insights for sellers have proved a challenge for some firms.

In this episode, Thomas shares examples of business processes that Dynamics 365 users can execute on today, including steps that can bring sales and marketing teams closer together. We also discuss some of the latest Dynamics 365 Customer Insights marketing capabilities and what the Coffee + Dunn team is watching for in Microsoft's D365 road map.

More from Mekorma:

Don’t let your business fall behind—stay ahead and ensure you're fully compliant. Want to learn more? Book a meeting with us today or reach out to us at info@mekorma.com

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Alicia King (Keener) received her first Microsoft MVP award in 2024, but her experience with Dynamics ERPs goes back more than 15 years. She joins us to share some of the meaningful experiences in her professional journey and her perspective on the present and future of Dynamics 365 F&O.

We discuss Alicia's approach to community participation, how she has extended her expertise into specific industries, and about her presentation plans for DynamicsCon 2025 in Chicago, where she will be presenting on using the built-in tax engine for D365 F&SCM.

Show Notes:

4:00 - The types of content she creates and what she prefers to consume
5:45 - Alicia's history with the product, starting with AX
8:45 - On working with a system that has added so many feature areas and specializations
11:00 - Working with D365 F&O in the life sciences industry
16:45 - Alicia's DynamicsCon 2025 session plans related to the D365 tax engine
18:45 - On building and nurturing an audience in the Microsoft community

More information:

Alicia's site: https://www.aliciamvp.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciamvp/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aliciakmvp
MSDW article: https://msdynamicsworld.com/story/microsoft-dynamics-profile-d365-fscm-journey-personal-challenge-mvp

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This episode is sponsored by Yooz.

When a Microsoft reseller like Innovia considers channel partnerships, it does so in the context of strategic plans related customer needs, growth goals, and market opportunities. On this episode, we sit down with Tim Teeter from Yooz and Trish Boccuti from Innovia to discuss how their organizations have successfully collaborated by prioritizing customer needs, aligning business strategies, and setting growth goals.

Tim shares insights into how their teams connected, established priorities, and achieved notable successes. Trish recounts how Innovia found ways to align their goals related to verticals, Dynamics sales, and customer success with Yooz's strengths around delivering procure-to-pay solutions.

Tim also highlights Yooz's initiatives in AP and invoice automation, emphasizing their work with Dynamics customers and partners. The discussion includes upcoming plans for Yooz on MSDW and introduces their new YoozProtect solution.

More from SignUp Software:

If you want to learn more about SignUp Software, their products such as Content Gate for Business Central, and strategies for winning in the Office of the CFO - join them for their upcoming Partner Day at Directions North America in Las Vegas on April 6th. For more information you can also check out their website at www.signupsoftware.com.

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This episode is sponsored by Resco and their Resco Next 2025 event.

Resco's annual event focused on advanced mobility, Resco Next, will be in Valencia on May 20 and 21 this year. The team has a variety of experiences planned, including a live podcast episode of Ambush on Air, the popular marketing-focused podcast series hosted by marketing consultant and NetStock partner marketing lead Sam Bush, our guest on this episode.

Sam has established herself in the Microsoft channel as voice for thoughtful marketing and demand generation, with a focus on impactful, people-to-people campaigns and strategies. She also tells us about her focus on bringing B2B marketing to younger generations and the challenges and opportunities of that effort.

And since MSDW is a media partner for the event, this episode offered a good opportunity to talk about some of the broader event themes we will be covering including advanced mobility software and services in the context of Microsoft Business Applications.

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Jukka Niiranen is a former Microsoft MVP and a current Power Platform expert, offering his services through his own firm and sharing his views regularly on social media and in his newsletter. On this episode, Jukka joins us to talk about how his career has evolved, his current work, his technology outlook, and a few hints at his upcoming licensing session at DynamicsMinds 2025 (where MSDW is a media partner).

Jukka's career has evolved in the last decade from a consulting role with a Microsoft partner to founding a services firm to now opening his own consultancy. He also recently made the decision to end his 11-year streak as a Microsoft MVP and we discuss that experience. And Jukka shares some context on how the evolution of Microsoft Business Applications has shaped his advice to clients regarding AI, Power Platform, D365 apps, and more.

Show Notes:

1:00 - Jukka's professional history, including his newest venture and the transition from CRM to Power Platform and low code advisory
Clients in the low-code world are not exactly the same as CRM decision makers
4:30 - The emergence of Microsoft's low-code vision with the components that became Power Platform
7:30 - The ongoing separation in the Power Apps community between CRM-based and dev-based
15:15 - What Jukka has learned from looking at Microsoft's Ideas sites
17:15 - Experience after retiring his MVP status
26:30 - How Jukka's views in writing and advisory work overlap
28:00 - Jukka's presentation on Power Platform licensing at DynamicsMinds 2025
34:30 - What kind of AI conversations is Jukka having with customers today
43:45 - Security and governance issues as it relates to AI in enterprise software
49:00 - About Jukka's newsletter, Perspectives Plus

Where to find Jukka:

Newsletter: https://perspectives.plus/
Company: https://niiranenadvisory.com/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jukkaniiranen/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jukkan.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://mstdn.social/@jukkan

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This episode is sponsored by Staedean.

ERP solutions have evolved to support global supply chains, and they are put to the test each time new disruptions arise.

Our guest on this episode is Luciano Cunha, CEO of Staedean, and he joins us to discuss his outlook on ERP solutions for manufacturers managing complex and changing supply chains.

Luciano shares industry examples of Staedean's experiences and offers advice on how supply chains could evolve further in response to ongoing trade tensions. He tells us about why he recently wrote about the potential impact of tariffs in today's global economy, and we talk about how individual organizations can adapt and where they can find more optimization opportunities.

More from Mekorma:

Schedule a discovery call with a Mekorma expert today to discover how we can optimize your Accounts Payable process, tailor solutions to your unique business needs, and help you overcome current challenges. (https://mekorma.com/linked-webpages/book-an-ap-automation-software-demo)

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This episode is sponsored by NMB Solutions.

Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management users will be thinking about global challenges in 2025. Our guests on this episode, Michelle Frennier and Chris Winstanley of NMB Solutions, help us understand some of the biggest risks businesses are facing this year and how to adapt.

Shipping cost management will demand particular attention, Chris tells us, as faster deliveries add more pressure to businesses. Labor shortages, rising costs for transportation, and auto-fulfillment demands will all color the picture.

Global trade compliance is another area of continued uncertainty, and Michelle helps break down some of the key risks and challenges.

We also discuss data visibility concerns, the latest in supply chain automation opportunities, and some of the solutions that NMB is bringing to bear to help teams improve compliance, shipping, and transportation.

Contact NMB Solutions to learn more: https://www.nmbsolutions.ca/contact-us

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This episode is sponsored by SignUp Software.

When Tina McGrath first encountered ExFlow from SignUp Software, she was working as the finance lead in an ERP transformation project for a Dynamics AX customer moving to D365. Their older invoice automation software presented a range of challenges, including integration issues, lost information, usability, and customization complexity.

On this episode, Tina takes us through some of the critical requirements, priorities, and guiding principles that led her to select SignUp as part of that project and how it benefited that organization. We then discuss how, years later, Tina came to lead SignUp's consulting services for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations in North America. Rob Ashe, head of North America at Signup, also joins us and to talk about future plans for ExFlow that D365 customers can look forward to.

More from SignUp Software:

· To learn more about ExFlow, the only fully embedded AP automation solution for D365 Finance & Operations, or to explore the full suite of solutions offered by SignUp Software, visit their website (https://www.signupsoftware.com/book-demo/) and request a product demo today.

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This episode is sponsored by k-ecommerce, powered by MDF Commerce.

On this episode we are talking about automation and e-commerce with Patrick Fusarini and Rich Fowler of k-ecommerce. B2B organizations face complex requirements in their commerce decisions, and Rich and Patrick tell us about what the requirements they are hearing from Dynamics 365 customers today.

Many scenarios are driven by the D365 user's own clients, they explain. In a B2B context, those organizations want to be able to make their purchases with greater velocity and lower friction. Our guests provide some examples of D365 customers that are making that happen with k-ecommerce.

We also discuss the relationship between automation and better data insights, and how partners can use that connection to improve outcomes further. Rich and Patrick share suggestions on how D365 customers can prioritize commerce needs, improve automation, and create a meaningful commerce execution plan.

To learn more about k-ecommerce, check out k-ecommerce.com or try their interactive demo here.
Catsports: How k-ecommerce transformed this online sports business: https://k-ecommerce.com/success-stories/catsports

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Microsoft is taking an AI-first stance to its Business Applications portfolio, but what does that really mean for customers, system integrators, and consultants?

Dynamic Communities (DCI) is launching a new event next month that aims to take on the full scope of the Microsoft-centric AI discussion. The AI Agent & Copilot Summit North America takes place from March 17 to 19, 2025 at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines in San Diego.

MSDW is a media partner for the event (register with our link for a $150 discount), and John Siefert, CEO of DCI, joins MSDW editor Jason Gumpert on this episode to talk more about how his team has envisioned and curated this event based on earlier experiences and community feedback.

John discusses some of the key opportunities for learning and networking and how the sessions and tracks are optimized for various roles and scenarios. He also shares the latest news about Microsoft leaders speaking at the event, including CVP Bryan Goode, VP Ray Smith, and Senior Director Cecilia Flombaum.

We also touch on the beautiful setting of this event, Torrey Pines in San Diego, and how participants can get the most out of their time on site.

References:

Event site: https://copilot.summitna.com/
Register with MSDW discount: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-agent-copilot-summit-na-tickets-936091594157?discount=MSDW150
Our event preview article: https://msdynamicsworld.com/story/event-preview-ai-agent-copilot-summit-na-2025-spotlight-future-microsoft-enterprise

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This episode is sponsored by Resco, hosts of Resco NEXT 2025.

Resco has recently announced their upcoming Resco NEXT 2025 event, taking place in Valencia, Spain from May 19-21 2025. Our guest, Trevor Metcalfe, takes us through some of the plans for the event including speakers and hints at the agenda, which continues the focus on field workers and mobile, deskless scenarios

This year's event is free to attend, and we discuss the history of the Resco NEXT dating back to year one in Boston and other memorable locations where the community has gathered in the past.

Learn more here: https://www.resco.net/next/

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This episode is sponsored by SignUp Software.

On this episode, we are exploring how companies approach Procure to Pay and why the concepts, process and technical capabilities surrounding it have gained so much traction.

Procure to pay typically includes accounts payable processes, but that's only part of the story. My guests on this episode, Bob Monio of SignUp Software and Brendan Coffey of Mekorma, explain more about the business case for payment services working together with AP automation software and how that broader vision offers benefits like reduced fraud and improved cash management.

Bob and Brendan share their views on investing to improve procure to pay , including the recently announced joint partnership between Mekorma and SignUp. And they share their experiences working with companies looking to both better automate and optimize financial capabilities.

More from Mekorma:

For more information on how your organization can take advantage of the integrated Procure to Pay system discussed today, add payment processing to your AP environment, or if you’d like to discuss further the solutions offered by SignUp and Mekorma for D365, contact Bob Monio. You can reach him by email: bob.monio@signupsoftware.com or by phone: +1 612.293.8558

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This episode is sponsored by Evenica.

On this episode, Kelly Mazur, Marketing Director at Evenica, shares her biggest takeaways from this year's NRF Retail Big Show conference. Mazur details what Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce capabilities she and others demo'd for the retailers in attendance, and she shared the two major themes showcased across the Microsoft booth. She also discusses commerce trends from the expo floor and shares retail predictions for 2025. AI was no doubt a hot topic again this year, but in this podcast episode we give specific use cases that were prominent across the event.

For more information about working with Evenica, please visit Evenica.com.

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This episode is sponsored by Evenica.

In this episode, Evenica's Kelly Mazur dives into the world of modern e-commerce technology, breaking down the key differences between Headless Commerce and Composable Commerce. She unpacks these buzzwords, explaining what they mean, how they work, and which strategy might be the best fit for your business.

Mazur also shares real-world examples of third-party applications that integrate with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce to help create tailored, innovative solutions. Whether you're an e-commerce novice or a seasoned pro, this episode provides actionable advice to level up your commerce game.

Tune in to explore the future of e-commerce architecture and learn how to build a solution that works for you!

For more information about working with Evenica, please visit Evenica.com.

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This episode is sponsored by enVista.

The devices and applications available to frontline workers continue to evolve. On this episode, Chris Tordi and Mark Laatz of enVista join us for to explore the integration of Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365, RFID asset tracking, voice automation, and connected worker solutions. You will learn how tools designed for frontline workers enhance productivity, ensure compliance, and drive operational excellence across industries.

We discuss:

The evolving role of the connected worker
How D365 can be used to empower frontline workers.
Advantages of using D365 on various devices, including enterprise mobile devices, tablets, and wearables.
The latest advances in RFID and voice scenarios for frontline workers
Meeting industry compliance and customer demands

More from Mavim:

Improving low code with business process management (Article)
Low Code No Code and Business Process Management (White Paper)
Going Cloud on a Deadline? It's Never Too Late to Find a Better Way (White Paper)

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Our editorial team returns for a fast-paced discussion about recent Microsoft Business Apps and Azure news coverage and expert articles. It's the first roundup episode of 2022 and helps us catch up on what's new and important in the community.

0:45 - Microsoft announces GA of finance insights features for Dynamics 365 Finance
2:45 - How Power Platform professionals re-invented their careers
4:45 - Microsoft CVP Vasu Jakkal on why security is so important to Cloud for Financial Services
6:30 - Microsoft takes on cloud security solutions: What it means for partners, rivals
7:30 - Why Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare matters in the healthcare IT market
9:45 – global's acquisition of Dynamic Consulting and new financing
12:30 - Finding the right fit: A Microsoft partner CEO shares his acquisition experience in the channel
13:45 - SignUp Software plans for new stage of growth in Microsoft channel following IPO
15:00 – Expert contributor highlights: House of the Future and Quantum computing in the cloud

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When a new application changes the way a business operates, it is changing the way individual workers carry out their jobs. Our guest, Derek Lichtenwalner, a digital transformation specialist at water bottling company BlueTriton Brands, understands the impact of changes better than your average solution developer because he made the transition to his current role after working several in roles on the company's production line.

Now a Microsoft Power Apps expert at the company, he is responsible for developing and enhancing applications that the production workers use to inspect and maintaining equipment.

Derek tells us about how Power Apps changed the trajectory of his career from production to digital transformation, and how he now interfaces with both the company's employees and management.

Show Notes:

2:00 - How Power Platform was introduced at his company
4:15 - Why Derek tends to look at the user's perspective first when designing apps
5:00 - How a hackathon kickstarted Derek's Power Apps work
8:15 - Details about the autonomous maintenance app that Derek works with.
10:30 - The technology that make the app work, like Azure AD connector
11:30 - Observations on app speed
14:00 - Maintaining relationships with app users and getting feedback.
15:30 - Getting involved in the Power Apps community
16:30 - On changing career plans as a result of Power Apps work
18:30 - What Derek is looking forward to in Power Platform
19:30 - Why the business still needs to add automation
20:30 - Lessons or advice to newcomers to Power Apps (helping others with questions, speed up dev of their applications)

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This episode is sponsored by Avanade.

In a landscape of global competition and supply chain complexity, manufacturers are turning to some of the most interesting and newest technology offerings to help fuel their success. And our guests,

Jennifer Johnson, Avanade’s North America Manufacturing Industry lead, and Thomas Nall, Avanade’s Global Manufacturing Industry lead, share their perspective on the investments their manufacturing clients are making or planning as modern manufacturers. From big data and data transformation to disruptive technology and sustainable manufacturing, they share stories from the field and how Avanade is helping manufacturers move the needle when it comes to data, technology and innovation.

Show Notes:

2:15 - How to approach questions around getting data right for manufacturers and their supply chains
6:30 - The importance of standardizing data
8:00 - What do manufacturers face when they take ownership of new business systems?
11:30 - Facing organizational change across many roles, from IT to the shop floor
15:00 - Does more data open opportunities for new roles and responsibilities?
17:00 - Trends in modernizing IoT
18:30 - What do organizations need to understand about digital twins
21:00 - What other new technology holds promise? (augmented reality, predictive analytics, and more)
28:00 - Do pressures of the pandemic prove instructive for future tech planning?
29:30 - Are executives eager to talk about the future of their businesses, competition, and consumer habits?
33:30 - Growing interest by customers in taking a technology-first approach
36:30 - Reasons for optimism about technology investment in manufacturing

Connect with Jen and Tom on LinkedIn and visit Avanade.com for more information on Avanade - the leading digital innovator, creating great experiences and realizing results for their clients through the power of people and the Microsoft ecosystem.

Jen’s LinkedIn profile
Tom’s LinkedIn profile
Avanade’s website

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This episode is sponsored by Beanworks.

The twelve months from March 2020 to March 2021 were an important year for financial automation vendor Beanworks for a few key reasons. The pandemic made their tools indispensable, both for existing clients and those companies scrambling to get away from paper-based financial processes. The company was also acquired by Quadient, which marks the next phase in the company's history.

Beanworks CEO Catherine Dahl joins us to talk about some of the key moments in her company's history, from their challenging start picking up the pieces of a previous firm to their product development roadmap, post-acquisition plans, and more. The company operates with the current and future needs of finance department workers in mind, Dahl says, and their product portfolio, from managing purchase orders to invoices to expenses to payments, reflects that worldview.

Show Notes:

0:30 - The importance of 2020 for Beanworks, including the pandemic and their GP integration launch
3:00 - The story of Beanworks' acquisition by Quadient
4:15 - The origins of Beanworks in 2012 and earlier efforts
6:00 - Competing and differentiating in the AP automation space
9:45 - Building a Microsoft channel program and features for the Dynamics product line
10:45 - Differentiating in the marketplace
13:00 - Customer stories and needs: managing payables by exception, work from home, and more
17:00 - Planning for growth
18:45 - What is required to continue innovation in finance into the future
21:15 - What to expect from the next generation of accounting professionals

Eliminate 83% of data entry, with AI-powered header and line item data capture, so your team can focus on higher-value tasks. Manage POs, invoices, payments and expenses from a central platform. For more information visit beanworks.com or email us at sales@beanworks.com

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This episode is sponsored by Columbus.

Microsoft has made some important updates to its desktop-as-a-service lineup this year, with the launches of Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). To help make sense of the differences, the strengths of each, and how they stack up in the broader marketplace, we are joined by Jason Valenzano, senior technical solution architect for managed services at Columbus. Jason walks us through some of the details and differentiating factors of Microsoft's virtual desktop offerings and where organizations can best apply each one today.

Factors like onboarding and the complexity of the surrounding IT environment, including security and hybrid needs should be at the top of the list, he says. But don't underestimate the employee experience benefits of the right desktop as a service offering like the flexibility of work location, streamlined IT support, and choice of the devices people can use to get work done.

Show Notes:

2:00 - Defining desktop as a service
3:30 - What is Windows 365 and what does it mean for Microsoft
5:15 - How Azure Virtual Desktop differs from Windows 365
7:45 - How does an organization figure out the right fit for one of these offerings
11:15 - Pricing as a factor in the decision
16:00 - How IT and other departments influence decision making on desktop technology
19:30 - How heavier computing needs factor into a virtual desktop decision
22:30 - Managing deployment in a growing or a distributed global workforce
25:00 - Security and ransomware protection
27:45 - Onboarding considerations - accounts, licensing, and more complex tools and decisions
30:00 - Competitive landscape for desktop as a service

For more information on infrastructure and application management services, please visit https://www.columbusglobal.com/en-us/solutions/application-management or contacts Luke.Dudenhoeffer@columbusglobal.com.

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This episode is sponsored by Vertex.

Changes in sales, use, and value added taxes around the world reflect other key shifts in economies, both local and international. As B2B and B2C commerce accelerated into digital channels starting in 2020, businesses were forced to not only reconcile their finances differently, but contend with any manual processes that would hold up their ability to levy and pay taxes. At the same time, companies have expanded geographically or digitally, making their tax burdens more complex.

On this episode, Steve Johnston and Arun Raghavan of Vertex join us to discuss the state of tax automation and how it aligns with the ongoing shift to cloud ERP. As they explain, sales tax is not just about selling, it should be considered part of the broader customer engagement processes that touch sales, service, expense management, and more. And as regulations themselves evolve and modernize, the governments raise their expectations of businesses to comply, including the growing likelihood of the need in some places for real-time remittance and compliance.

Show Notes:

2:30 - How Vertex customers have altered their approach to digital channels during the pandemic
5:30 - The impact of digital channels on sales tax collection on both businesses and governments
7:00 - The shift to cloud as companies see on-premises infrastructure as a greater potential risk
10:30 - Roles that have been impacted by shift to digital, from CFO and compliance to procurement, sales, and more
13:30 - How departments and roles are adapting: Geographic, role-based changes in today's economy
16:30 - International M&A and stretching financial resources
19:30 - From managing tax manually to embracing automated updates
23:30 - Evolution of tax automation alongside other trends in ERP
28:45 - Why companies are modernizing tax automation and Dynamics ERP at the same time
31:30 - How to understand Microsoft's tax calculation engine in the context of broader tax automation
33:45 - Recommendations on proper integration of tax automation software with Dynamics ERPs
36:00 - How far will taxes reach into customer interaction in the future?

For more information on how Vertex delivers sales, use, and value added tax technology for a wide range of Microsoft Dynamics platforms, visit https://www.vertexinc.com/partners/microsoft-dynamics-365 or contact them by email: microsoftdynamics@vertexinc.com

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This episode is sponsored by Formpipe.

In this podcast, leaders of the team at Formpipe join us to discuss the challenges of viewing and accessing documents across the Microsoft Dynamics applications - and beyond.

As organizations push for more automation, more data availability, and better customer experiences, the challenges of document management and visibility continue to grow. Businesses are asking tough questions of IT in a world where user roles blur, as do expectations for interacting with document data, from ERP and CRM interfaces to portals and beyond.

As our guests explain, the future of documents is a reflection of the future of business more broadly in terms of data control, user experience, and business outcomes.

Show Notes:

2:30 - The most pressing document management challenges for Dynamics customers
5:15 - What it takes to meet users where they are today in terms of systems, security, and past experiences
8:45 - Moving toward the world that uses core systems combined with new front-end interfaces that work in various industries
10:00 - Challenges behind the scenes in document management projects today
12:00 - The importance of properly indexing documents
14:15 - How different are each organization's document management needs today?
16:45 - How do organizations cope with the change management around modernizing document management?
19:00 - How cloud based deployments of document management are different from on-prem systems of the past
22:00 - The future of documents and data

For more information on Formpipe or Autoform DM, please visit www.formpipe.com or contact them at sales@formpipe.com

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This episode is sponsored by KwikTag by enChoice.

Many organizations understand the benefits of automated invoice approval but often they haven't taken the next step to automate payments processing. Our guests on this episode, Mary Miller and Tiffany Allen of KwikTag by enChoice, share their outlook on payment processing and how its role alongside AP automation has changed in the last couple years. Paper checks have always been a costly and inefficient payment method, especially at scale, but the pandemic made checks even more challenging to manage. We discuss key elements of automating payment processing like virtual cards and cash flow management. But Tiffany and Mary also explain some of the broader spend management opportunities that their customers are enjoying, like control of spend over time and optimizing contracts.

Show Notes:

2:00 - How to position payment processing in the context of AP
4:00 - How well do organizations assess their own payment processing needs
5:30 - What are virtual cards and what purpose do they serve?
9:30 - Why KwikTag offers payment processing in addition to AP automation
11:00 - Choosing a payments provider and analyzing customer needs
16:00 - What GP customers can expect from living with a payment processing automation
18:00 - Vendor onboarding needs and challenges

KwikTag, by enChoice, leads organizational digital transformation as the one system for invoice and payment automation. KwikTag helps organizations increase efficiency and gain visibility into their invoice workflows with complete AP automation and powerful integrations with the Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems. Visit kwiktag.com to learn how automation could benefit your business.

Learn more about KwikPayables Accelerate, the cloud-based AP and payment automation solution for Dynamics GP, watch this episode of Coffee with KwikTag: Complete the AP Cycle with Payment Processing. To read more about why AP and payment automation is so important post-pandemic, read the whitepaper: Why Automate AP and Payment Processes?

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The Ignite Fall 2021 event has now wrapped. The virtual event was full of product updates that gave strong indications of Microsoft's plans for cloud, devices, application development, employee experiences, and collaboration. To wrap up our Ignite 2021 news coverage, veteran Microsoft MVP and new MSDW contributor Asif Rehmani joins us to break down some of the major announcements and how they could shape the future for businesses, workers, learning, and, in some cases, for society at large.

Show Notes

2:00 Viva reaches GA - what are the modules available now, and what the Suite is about
6:00 - Who will be championing Viva?
10:00 - How Microsoft is pressing key messages: Cloud, Teams, and building atop the Microsoft Cloud
13:00 - What is the real opportunity with Loop?
16:30 - Microsoft betting on collaboration and maintaining context
19:30 - Do we need a Teams wish list?
25:00 - What does Metaverse mean to Microsoft?
29:00 - Looking ahead: digital twins, VR, AR, and more
34:30 - Final takeaways from Ignite messaging

More information:

Asif on LinkedIn
Asif's firm VisualSP
Asif's recent article for MSDW on digital adoption

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This episode is sponsored by Inogic.

Microsoft MVP and Inogic co-founder Roohi Shaikh joins the podcast to discuss geoanalytics, solution development, product management, and the needs of the Dynamics 365 CRM community.

Inogic's product lineup includes its flagship, Maplytics, but it also includes over a dozen other apps, many of which cover relatively simple use cases that add efficiency and boost productivity. But as she exlains, simple does not always mean easy. Apps that boost productivity can help everyone from the small to very large Dynamics customers. We also talk about how Azure services now play a part in R&D and what Microsoft customers think about using the public cloud.

Show Notes:

1:30 - Roohi's professional background and history with co-founding Inogic
3:45 - The history of Maplytics, Inogic's flagship product
5:45 - Roohi's approach to product management and development
7:30 - What kinds of organizations use Maplytics with Dynamics 365/CRM?
9:00 - Interesting industry cases for geoanalytics
15:00 - The Maplytics roadmap: live tracking, geo-fencing, and more
16:15 - The implementation model for Inogic apps and the impact of the pandemic on deploying solutions
18:30 - More on building a product roadmap and developing new product ideas
24:00 - Outlook on virtual and physical conferences
26:00 - Roohi's plans for the future of Inogic
27:00 - Working with Azure infrastructure

About Inogic : Inogic has a suite of 15 Microsoft Preferred Productivity Apps on Microsoft AppSource. Be it App Integrations, streamlining Document Management in Dynamics 365 CRM/CE, improving productivity with its suite of 1 Click Apps or simply visual representation of data using Visualization Apps – Inogic has always been a hub of distinct and innovative solutions for Dynamics 365 CRM / Dataverse (Power Apps). Its flagship product Maplytics™ is a geo-analytical mapping app that provides seamless Maps and Dynamics 365 CRM integration with features like Territory Management, Radius Search, Appointment Planner and Routing within Dynamics 365 / Dataverse (Power Apps) across all devices. A preferred app on Microsoft AppSource, Maplytics helps businesses around the world plot, plan and analyze their CRM data on a rich and interactive map interface within Dynamics 365 CRM.

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In this quick news roundup episode, the MSDW editorial team reviews a period of active deal-making in the Microsoft Dynamics channel. We look at all sorts of M&A, including deals driven by private equity, by big corporations, smaller ones, and an SMB merger. We also review three recent features by contributing authors with very different expertise.

Articles referenced in this episode:

9altitudes to acquire Microsoft partner Hillstar BI
Microsoft buys Clear Software to bolster SAP and Oracle integration to Power Platform
Sylogist acquires Pavliks, makers of The Portal Connector, for $11.5M CAD
Avanade acquires Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner Qauntiq
Dynamics GP channel veterans Custom Information Services and Reporting-Central announce merger
Sikich acquires Microsoft Dynamics partner PA Group USA
Avalara acquires CrowdReason for property tax compliance management
HSO acquires CRM Dynamics
Provance launches ServiceTeam ITSM Professional, a new Power App
Adding a digital adoption platform for enterprise software users: What you need to know
Business Process Management for a Dynamics 365 implementation: Beyond diagnostics
Microsoft Dataverse Custom APIs in workflows, Power Automate, and beyond

Our sites:

MSCloudNews.com - Independent news and information on the Microsoft Azure cloud
MSDynamicsWorld.com - Covering the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem

MSDynamicsWorld -

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Everest Group recently published its new assessment of Microsoft Dynamics 365 service providers, and lead author and practice director Abhishek Mundra joins us to discuss the report's findings. The report evaluates service delivery factors across some of the most recognizable names in the Microsoft channel, including a few we rarely hear about in the context of Dynamics 365.

We do not get into details on any specific service provider, but we discuss topics raised in the report like adoption trends, industry specialization, measuring Dynamics 365 customer satisfaction, and the mix of Dynamics customers from the SMB sector up through large enterprises.

Abhishek also offers some perspective on how his team's findings on Dynamics 365 services compare with services in competitors' channels like Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, and more.

Show Notes:

1:30 - About Abhishek, his work, and Everest Group's latest Dynamics 365 Services Assessment
4:15 - Who uses a services assessment and how it is developed
6:30 - Headline findings about D365 services
11:30 - Why Microsoft continues to fight against Oracle & SAP for large enterprise ERP & CRM wins
15:30 - Trends in services industry specialization
23:00 - Why are some of the partners Everest Group evaluated so low profile in the Dynamics market?
25:00 - Evaluating talent across service providers
27:30 - How satisfied are D365 customers?
29:30 - Why organizational change management seems to be gaining traction in the Dynamics 365 channel
31:30 - Recommendations for strategic planning and vendor selection
36:00 - How SIs are building and executing on their industry strategies
38:30 - Observations on strategic discipline and bets for the future among executives at service firms
41:30 - How to parse consultant-speak when researching this space

References:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2021: https://www2.everestgrp.com/reportaction/EGR-2021-50-R-4621/Marketing
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service Provider Compendium 2021: https://www2.everestgrp.com/reportaction/EGR-2021-50-R-4640/Marketing

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Cynthia Priebe of New View Strategies joins us for a conversation following her article and presentation on how to best use the Dynamics 365 Business Central EFT data exchange definitions and assisted setup. These capabilities offer a lot of potential value for Business Central users without the help of developers or administrators, she says. But the setup is not always straight forward, and we discuss some of the points she has made already and how MSDW readers have reacted to her findings.

Related Article: EFT in Dynamics 365 Business Central & Dynamics NAV: 11 lessons learned the hard way!
Webcast On-Demand: EFT in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central & NAV: Lessons learned the hard way

Show Notes:

2:00 - Learning styles for BC capabilities
3:00 - Challenges of learning how to work with EFT data exchange definitions and assisted setup
7:00 - BC's terminology - North America compared to other regions
8:30 - Troubleshooting errors in the tools like payment exports
10:15 - Dealing with the pressure of being wrong in front of a client
13:00 - Adapting to a SaaS ERP that gets frequent updates
14:45 - What else data exchange definitions can do for customers
17:30 - Reducing manual work: tackling this challenge at a hands-on level
19:00 - Why consultants should train BC customers to do more themselves
22:00 - What Cynthia is working on next
24:00 - The excitement and adjustments around frequent release waves and monthly updates

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It's about time for another news roundup from our editorial team. We look at new product launches, Microsoft Dynamics and Azure partner news, new sales figures, and some of the most popular article contributions from subject matter experts.

Show Notes:

0:45 - The launch of Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services set for Nov 1
2:00 - Report estimates Dynamics 365 Field Service closing in on $200 million in annual revenue
3:45 - Azure for healthcare: Opportunities abound in the cloud
5:00 - Microsoft to bolster Cloud for Healthcare with Truveta data platform investment & partnership
7:45 - Zuora to run subscription management services on Microsoft Azure, integrate with Dynamics 365 and Power BI
10:00 - Akerna expands ERP portfolio with $17 million acquisition of Microsoft ISV 365 Cannabis
12:15 - How Microsoft partners are building solutions with Azure Machine Learning
13:30 - Updates to Dynamics 365 media and entertainment accelerator adds Teams integration, content workflow support
14:30 - Microsoft's Power Apps Portals customers were exposing millions of private records, security firm reveals And related discussion at MSDW:
- Portals Community Call, September 2021: Securing Power Apps Portals
- Portals Community Call, August 2021: Using React with Power Apps Portals
19:15 - Features roundup
- How Microsoft customers should prepare for intelligent edge investment
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Training Insights, Session 11: e-Commerce
- My favorite new features coming to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service in 2021 release wave 2
- Power Platform 2021 Release Wave 2: Experts note developer improvements, simplified Dataverse access

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This episode is sponsored by Mavim.

Business process modelling touches nearly every element of a Dynamics 365 ERP or CRM project, from the customer's requirements and goals to a partner's pre-sales engagement to Microsoft's own platform and tools for project execution.

On this episode we speak with Edwin Jongsma of Mavim, makers of BPM tooling built on Microsoft technology, about the variety of ways in which BPM fits into Dynamics projects today.

We discuss some of the subtle but important reasons to focus on business process transformation from the diagnostic stage of a project onward, and why having a platform to support BPM leads to successful outcomes for both an individual project and for managing a broader IT portfolio.

Microsoft has a role to play in BPM for Dynamics 365, Edwin notes. The Lifecycle Services platform is one obvious touchpoint, as is the Catalyst methodology for envisioning and planning solutions. And Power Platform's low-code/no-code tools, have an important role to play in both defining business process and reflecting an organizations needs.

And, Jongsma argues, partners should be applying BPM concepts to provide industry models and process expertise to shorten the diagnostic phase and provide better guidance.

Show Notes:

1:45 - Why the diagnostic phase of a Dynamics project is so important
3:30 - Observations on Microsoft's Catalyst Framework
5:30 - Why customers should define a clear roadmap to their 'to-be' state on D365 F&O
8:00 -
10:45 - How to avoid the risks of typical ERP projects by connecting people and technology
12:00 - Why customers should expect partners to have to-be models already developed based on industry expertise
14:30 - Positive outcomes in project phases after a successful diagnostic phase
19:00 - How expertise in BPM fits with Microsoft's Power Platform value proposition

More from Mavim:

How to optimize the diagnostic phase of your next Microsoft Dynamics 365 project (Article)
Going Cloud on a Deadline? It's Never Too Late to Find a Better Way (White Paper)
Low Code No Code and Business Process Management (White Paper)

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This episode is sponsored by ExpandIT.

Field service solutions maintain a unique position in the world of business software. It serves a distinct purpose and is used by very specific roles, and yet it also needs to work alongside other critical systems like a Dynamics ERP solution.

John Macdonald, group CSO and regional president for North America at ExpandIT joins us to talk about the types of businesses adopting field service today and how his firm's solution has matured alongside common ERPs like Dynamics 365 Business Central. We discuss the types of deployments and business outcomes his clients are seeking today, including some of his observations from recent customer conversations. For example, he estimates that eight percent of the prospects his sales team talks with are not moving from another field service solution but rather using manual, unstructured processes today.

As you will hear, John brings a unique perspective as a solution provider. Before joining ExpandIT, he held roles at Navision and Microsoft, so he is understands the challenges of the ERP-focused partner and how field service touch points should be optimized.

Show Notes:

1:20 - John's history with Navision and Microsoft before joining ExpandIT
3:35 - What types of organizations benefit from field service software?
6:00 - The story of a growing business that was falling behind on service
9:00 - What are organizations' starting points today?
12:30 - Have ERP project experiences prepared customers for getting the most out of a field service deployment?
16:00 - How ExpandIt engages with customers and partners
20:00 - Navigating the need for a single source of truth between field service and other systems like ERP
23:45 - How a field service deployment typically rolls out (hint: speed matters)
28:00 - The types of business outcomes services firms are seeking

About ExpandIT : ExpandIT Field Service software puts information at your service technicians’ fingertips – digitally. Easily track key information, access up to date data, view a real-time overview of job related information, complete checklists and provide photographic proof of work completed.

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This episode is sponsored by Stratos Cloud Alliance, Velosio’s Microsoft partner program. Visit www.dynamics365partner.com to learn more about their partner offerings.

Microsoft has been moving the Power Platform forward steadily over the last few years, both by expanding the platform and by deepening the tools and capabilities in each of the services. At the same time, the messaging from Microsoft about the suite has evolved, with encouragement for citizen developers and promises that professional developers and partners have a place in this ecosystem. Those dynamics of customer self-service and partner guidance may seem at odds, but the reality is that, like the rest of the Microsoft business applications stack, expertise comes from investments in skills development and from the time and experience gained from real world projects. While users may be able to get started themselves with Power Platform by building small scale apps or flows, the reality, say my guests Scott May and Rod Donovan of Stratos Cloud, is that partners are already becoming the trusted resource for most customers in more advanced scenarios. And, they believe, that opportunity will only grow, making Power Platform one of the best opportunities for new client engagements going forward.

Show Notes:

2:00 - What's the reality of the Power Platform's value today?
4:30 - Rod's experience helping Microsoft customers and partners to ramp up on Power Platform expertise and usage
8:00 - Ways Stratos Cloud is getting partners interested in Power Platform opportunities like App in a Day or Dashboard in a Day
11:30 - Observing Microsoft partner reactions to Power Platform around the world
15:30 - Different models partners can use to engage with customers on the latest technology
20:00 - The difference between being a Power Platform dev shop vs a well-rounded business apps service provider
22: 00 - Microsoft's role in supporting Power Platform projects and deployments
28:00 - Business apps growth in Microsoft earnings, and how Power Platform elements is becoming more closely tied to Dynamics 365 products
32:00 - The most exciting new opportunities with Power Platform around licensing updates, RPA, and more
33:30 - What partners can do next to ramp up engage with clients

About: Stratos Cloud Alliance is the Microsoft CSP Indirect Provider that provides all the sales support, enablement, and services a partner needs to build a profitable cloud solutions business with Microsoft Dynamics 365. With over 33 years’ experience implementing Dynamics business management solutions, Stratos Cloud offers partners a comprehensive portfolio of Microsoft Cloud Business and Productivity Solutions, ISV Products and Tools, Customer Services, and flexible Partner Programs supporting transformation at the pace and investment level that is right for you.

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This episode is sponsored by BI4Dynamics.

Microsoft offers its Dynamics ERP customers a variety of ways to get started with analyzing their business data, but the BI and analytics landscape continues to evolve as data growth accelerates and industry demands change. Our guest on this episode, Dr. Vijay Jog, the founder of CRGroup and president of Global Business Applications for CRGroup’s parent company, Quisitive, joins us to discuss the BI and reporting themes influencing Dynamics space today.

Expectations are changing for many roles, Vijay believes. Accounting teams must provide better insight that leads to a proactive outlook. IT departments must gaining new skills in areas like data lakes, analytics, storage, and security. And teams continue to struggle with the perennial problem of data islands, Vijay says.

BI and analytics options vary by Dynamics product, and Vijay shares his views on some of the most interesting new and upcoming capabilities, including the transition from BYOD to BYOL for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations and advances with Power BI.

Show Notes:

2:15 - What is unique about today's data challenges?
4:30 - What do Dynamics customers get out of the box for BI and reporting?
7:00 - BYOL and the other important competencies of BI
10:00 - Building a great BI team around business systems like a Dynamics ERP
14:00 - Metrics that customers are analyzing more carefully due to the pandemic
16:00 - What makes an organization a top performer on BI and analytics practices
18:00 - Microsoft technology to watch in the analytics and data management space
21:30 - Optimism on the BYOL model for Dynamics 365 F&O

You can start a free 30 day trial of BI4Dynamics, just visit bi4dyamics.com/trial to learn more.

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Pendo.

Change is hard when it's not predictable. But replacing or adding to a worker's business applications can also be a comfortable experience when the organization provides adequate preparation and support.

Our guests on this episode, Hannah Whiteside and John Dorrian of Pendo, discuss some of the ways in which change management is impacting technology adoption today. We discuss some of the typical symptoms of a failed software deployment, including ways to prevent them. And our guests share their views on the different kinds of change management that organizations must contend with, whether human, systems-driven, or even compliance-driven.

And we frame some of those challenges in the context of Microsoft's business software offerings. As Hannah and John explain, apps like Microsoft Power Apps and Teams pose their own unique challenges and patterns of adoption.

Show Notes:

2:00 - How to position the role of organizational change management in today's business applications landscape
4:45 - The risk of too many tools, both official and rogue acquisition
8:45 - How to look at adopting Microsoft's commercial software from a change management perspective
11:45 - The danger of gut feeling vs data-driven decisions with organizational change
15:00 - Is Power Platform's flexibility an added challenge for adoption principles?
19:15 - How to measure for process efficiency according to app usage
22:30 - How to gently guide users away from their legacy systems with user-driven analytics
28:15 - The role of system integrators in advising on app usage and adoption
30:00 - How one Power Platform champion's team and dev group is changing from gut feel to data-driven evaluation of apps
32:00 - Why discovery work ought to become a thing of the past in service engagements
35:30 - Where compliance needs fit into Pendo's story
39:30 - Other scenarios in which change management becomes critical, like M&A

For more information on how to overcome user adoption challenges on your employee-facing applications, https://pendo.io/digital-adoption.

More information:

Pendo's MSDW webcast

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This episode is sponsored by Stratos Cloud Alliance, Velosio’s Microsoft partner program. Visit www.dynamics365partner.com to learn more about their partner offerings.

What does Microsoft want from partners in their fiscal 2022? If July's Inspire 2021 was any indication, partners will have to re-commit to priorities ranging from continued opportunities in remote work and data management to co-selling industry-focused solutions.

Stratos Cloud's Scott May and Jeff DeMaria join us to sort through the announcements from July and to offer some guidance on how partners can prepare for the opportunities of the new year.

Show Notes:

2:00 - What are partners experiencing as Microsoft's FY 2021 ends and they watch for new messaging at Inspire in July
3:30 - Takeaways from Satya Nadella's Inspire keynote
7:00 - Microsoft's cloud platform strength
10:00 - How to get aligned with Microsoft and finding the gaps
13:00 - Real world opportunities: security, next phases of remote work, employee experience,
18:30 - Dynamics 365 themes like skilling, verticals, and growth
24:00 - Partner interests: industry, SKU updates to Business Central, and D365 green field opportunities
28:00 - What the new "world of work" really means for partners
32:00 - Important Microsoft programs in FY22
36:00 - What's next at Stratos Cloud Alliance

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Note: This episode is sponsored by Sana Commerce.

What does it take to earn and retain the business of B2B buyers today? For manufacturers contemplating ways to improve the experiences of their customers, technology investment is likely a major component of any plan. After all, B2B buyers are hard to replace and, since they are also consumers when they're not at work, their expectations have changed over the years to include things like choosing their preferred ways to buy products and get support.

Our guest, supply chain technology marketing strategist Adam Robinson, joins us to provide context on how manufacturers investments in customer experience technology like modern e-commerce is becoming one of the most critical ways to position a company for success in the future. Robinson foresees a wave of change coming to the manufacturing sector that will impact supply chains through new waves of acquisition, continuing risks disruption, and new options for buyers who will more actively seek new options if a vendor fails to meet their needs.

Show Notes

2:00 - How customer demand is driving manufacturers to invest in new capabilities
6:00 - How concern over margins and other metrics are driving tech stack investments
9:30 - Are current events creating smarter businesses?
11:00 - Expectations in B2B commerce customer experiences
14:00 - How to get out of day-to-day perspective and re-focus on broader view
16:45 - The relationship between 3PLs and e-commerce technology
20:00 - What roles in a manufacturing organization matter to understanding customers
21:30 - Opportunities in direct-to-consumer scenarios when customer data connects across the organizations
25:15 - Predictions on supply chain and logistics future

References:

RECAP: B2B E-Commerce Seminar for Manufacturers:
A Path for Manufacturing Advancement

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Microsoft offered partners a wealth of Azure-related updates at Inspire 2021. To help us get our bearings on them all, we invited Gordon McKenna, a veteran Microsoft MVP and CTO for public cloud at Ensono, for a conversation. Gordon shared his perspective on both the hybrid scenarios that his clients frequently care about and some of the forward-looking goals that Microsoft has set with new Azure and Azure-adjacent product and service updates.

Show Notes:

2:15 - Experiences as an MVP
3:30 - Microsoft's hybrid cloud updates and how they will help customers
10:30 - Converging services around public cloud
12:00 - Updates from Microsoft on Azure Kubernetes Service
16:00 - The explosion in cloud data projects and new migration scenarios for partners
20:30 - How to evaluate Microsoft's priorities, including in Teams
23:15 - The Windows 365 opportunity alongside WVD, AVD, and Citrix

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This episode is sponsored by Cavallo.

Distribution software firm Cavallo may have recently appeared in the marketplace, but the brand is really the new incarnation of one of the most well-established vendors in the Microsoft business applications ecosystem. Formerly known as Salespad, the company has a long legacy building its solutions atop Dynamics GP and the firm has announced plans to launch its next generation of solutions on Dynamics 365 Business Central first, while also planning to support some products more broadly.

Senior vice president of product Jeremy Boogaart joins us to discuss the story behind the new brand, the evolving needs of distributors, the company's outlook for customers on both Business Central and GP, and his own lengthy career at the company, starting as one of the first employees sixteen years ago and building his expertise in a range of roles.

Show Notes:

0:50 - Discussing the company's rebrand to Cavallo
4:00 - "Project Davinci", the meaning of the new brand name, and the connection to the company's heritage
7:15 - What the Salespad customer base can expect going forward
10:00 - Customer expectations and product roadmap plans
12:15 - How are distributors looking to improve performance?
16:30 - The need for flexibility in order management
19:15 - Jeremy's view on Business Central's native capabilities for distributors and how Cavallo adds value
24:15 - Why this is a great time for ISVs to invest in Business Central
26:00 - What are Dynamics partners telling Jeremy's team about adoption of BC?
28:00 - Jeremy's work at Salespad and Cavallo over the last 16 years

To view Cavallo’s solutions, request a demo or visit their website at www.cavallo.com

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DevOps has changed a lot in the last decade. And in the world of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and its predecessor, Dynamics NAV, the devops landscape has absorbed many of those changes in just the last two to three years as Business Central emerged as a cloud-first SaaS ERP product.

Our guests on this episode, Tobia Fenster, a Microsoft MVP and Microsoft Regional Director and fellow MVP Waldo (a.k.a., Eric Wauters), discuss their experiences with DevOps for Business Central, including the tools and services they have created to improve the experience. Their work in this area has been driven by both a need to help their internal teams and to offer solutions for the broader BC developer ecosystem that take on a range of needs in areas like container management and automated build pipelines.

DevOps requirements are more sophisticated than ever, which means the tools are more powerful, but the concepts are also more complex. That rapid shift could be a risk both to partners and to BC customers that rely on customizations in the cloud. The situation remains quite manageable, Tobias and Waldo say, but development teams joining the BC community need to address the challenges straight away and understand the stakes, for their own sake and for their customers.

Show Notes:

1:40 - Introductions to Tobias and Waldo
4:00 - How is the developer experience today different from the old days?
6:45 - Waldo's outlook on embracing Extensions
10 :00 - How is the development community adapting to modern techniques?
13:30 - Who needs to have expertise in modern CI/CD and containerization for an ISV or a VAR organization?
18:00 - The origins of ALOps (created by Waldo) and its reception in the community
20:45 - Tobias's experience as an ALOps early adopter and use of the tool at Cosmo Consult
25:15 - What are Waldo and Tobias are asking of Microsoft to strengthen DevOps
30:00 - What types of partner organization can benefit from finding an existing DevOps framework
33:00 - What, if anything, should customers and others in the community understand about these development topics and the impact on their systems?
37:00 - What to look for in the near future

Links:

Tobias: MVP | Regional Director | Blog | Cosmo Consult
Waldo: MVP | Blog | ALOps | iFacto

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This episode is sponsored by Versapay.

The payment processing landscape today has been shaped by the enormous stresses of the last fifteen months. As our guests, Meredith Mitchell and Jason Read of Versapay explain, they have seen customers accelerating existing modernization plans while for others, their companies' survival hung in the balance of opening up new digital payment options for clients.

Jason and Meredith discuss some of their latest thinking around payment modernization and process automation, like ways to help an organization get paid on time and to make the process both easy for customers and united with the rest of the business operations through systems like Dynamics 365 Business Central.

The Versapay team is also watching some of the more interesting trends today in the Microsoft space, like supporting migrations of Dynamics SMB customers to Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management and helping customers seeking achieve even more optimization around payments.

Show Notes

1:00 - What has changed in conversations with finance professionals in the last year
6:00 - How CFOs and treasurers faced the reality of the pandemic
8:30 - Bringing new capabilities online quickly to help customers pay
9:30 - The latest thinking on payment modernization in the B2B world
14:30 - Finance organization goals, from customer experience to cash flow
17:30 - Process automation in the Microsoft ecosystem
21:30 - What else customers asking for and how Versapay has responded
24:45 - Looking ahead in the product roadmap at Versapay
27:30 - Investing in supporting upgrades and migrations to Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management in addition to Business Central
28:45 - The latest on the ChargeLogic merger with Versapay
30:00 - Wrap up - improving how payment around ERP can continue to be optimized.

For more information on Versapay or book a demo with them, visit https://info.versapay.com/versapay-payments-schedule.

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This MSDW Podcast episode is sponsored by KwikTag by enChoice.

Mike Fernandes, VP Products, and Mary Miller, Director, Marketing and Channel, from KwikTag by enChoice joined us to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence and the cloud on AP automation solutions for the mid-market – specifically in the Dynamics space. We discussed the growing market demand among organizations for cloud-based, accelerated deployments as companies continue to have team members working from home. We also explored the rising demand for complete procure-to-pay process coverage and where AP automation fits into the picture. Mary and Mike also provided insight into their product roadmap, which includes payment automation and new solutions for Dynamics products.

Show Notes:

1:30 - How AI is already playing a part in AP automation
5:45 - How cloud is changing the value proposition for AP technology buyers
8:45 - Having a broader cloud deployment strategy, even if ERP remains on-prem
10:00 - Differentiating procure-to-pay and invoice automation
13:10 - Challenges raised by the pandemic and how KwikTag's customers have handled them
16:10 - What else are customers asking the KwikTag team for?
19:15 - At what stage are companies investing in capabilities like invoice management alongside ERP?
21:10 - Tips on creating engaging videos and sharing company culture

Learn more about KwikPayables Accelerate, the cloud-based AP automation solution for Dynamics GP: Coffee With KwikTag – KwikPayables Accelerate. To read about AI within the KwikTag AP automation solution, check out the whitepaper “What’s Intelligence Got To Do With It?”

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David Rosas co-founded payroll and HR software firm Greenshades in 2002 and as CEO. He has had a front-row seat to shifts in the enterprise software space in the years since, from changes in his own products to shifting trends and regulations that have shaped the needs of his clients.

As integral components of most ERP and accounting system deployments, payroll and HR solutions, especially SaaS offerings, have gained even more importance since 2020. David tells us how his customers' needs have focused Greenshades' efforts, including the move from outsource to in-house payroll and the value of cloud solutions for organizations planning a migration away from on-prem ERP.

Show Notes:

1:30 - David's background and experience starting Greenshades
4:30 - Understanding the need for payroll in relation to ERP
7:00 - When does an organization need to step up its HR and payroll capabilities?
9:15 - The complexities of managing work-from-home changes since 2020
13:20 - The move from outsource payroll back to in-house
14:15 - The history of SaaS options HR and payroll, and acceleration in the past few years
17:30 - How do on-prem ERP users look at SaaS HR and payroll in the context of their tech stack?
20:30 - How have Dynamics 365 SaaS solution roadmaps changed the outlook for Greenshades as a payroll and HR provider?
22:15 - Some important new partnerships
26:00 - Expectations for the rest of 2021 and outlook on the Microsoft channel

Greenshades takes the headaches out of payroll and HR for you. Right now, you can put the Greenshades payroll platform in your corner and get fifteen percent off your service, one free month, and no implementation fees. Visit greenshades.com and get started today.

Greenshades on MSDW

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This episode is sponsored by Stratos Cloud Alliance, Velosio’s Microsoft partner program. Visit www.dynamics365partner.com to learn more about their partner offerings.

Jeff Edwards recently joined Stratos Cloud Alliance, Velosio’s Microsoft partner program. He and Scott May tell us about some of Microsoft's latest partner incentives and the hottest opportunities in the channel today. We also discuss vertical strategies, Microsoft's performance as their fiscal year nears an end, and what to watch for in FY22 in terms of licensing, program updates, and leadership changes.

Show Notes:

2:00 - Jeff's history in the Microsoft ecosystem and his leadership at Stratos Cloud
3:45 - Scott's role and responsibilities
5:30 - Important updates from Microsoft: Incentives, investments, and planning
11:00 - What Microsoft's channel incentives on cloud customer onboarding say about business priorities
15:30 - CSP growth rates at Stratos Cloud and in the channel overall and what that says about the market
18:00 - Three different partner profiles that are engaging with Dynamics 365 and the rest of the Microsoft cloud
21:30 - Microsoft's new fiscal year and how partners will reset, from executive leadership to licensing and commerce tools
26:30 - The work partners can do to become industry-focused while aligning with Microsoft's plans

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A recent episode of the podcast looked at changing trends in the Dynamics 365 Business Central community, including some of the risks customers face when deploying the software in a fixed fee model.

For another perspective on the topic of fixed fee and the broader outlook on Business Central deployments, we spoke with Robert Jolliffe, founder of Microsoft partner Sabre Limited, to discuss his firm's evolution in delivering ERP projects. Jolliffe explains that while fixed fee ERP projects can be fraught with danger for both the consulting firm and the customer, they can also work well when designed to play to a partners' expertise and matched to the right type of customers.

In the Microsoft channel, partners with strong industry expertise can make the best case for fixed fee, Jolliffe believes, by relying on their knowledge and experience to shape projects that avoid typical pitfalls. Fixed fee does not have to mean low cost, and it doesn't necessarily mean a rapid deployment. But new engagement models can help Microsoft partners differentiate themselves, and Jolliffe talks about how this approach informs not only deployment of an ERP solution like Dynamics 365 Business Central, but also the support, training, and other activities.

Jolliffe also discusses how his firm arrived at its current model, including the importance of learning from other VARs in the Microsoft channel and leaning on his pre-Microsoft ERP experiences. We also talk about the technology that is shaping his firm's work, the challenges of re-branding, and still feeling like a relative newcomer in the BC and NAV channel after nearly a decade.

Show Notes:

2:00 - Rob's career history in engineering and ERP, including entering the Microsoft channel
6:00 - What it was like entering the Microsoft channel with NAV in 2012, including the growing pains and path toward repeatability
11:30 - The debate over if and how fixed fee BC deployments can work
16:00 - The dangers of a basic fixed fee approach to ERP when an organization has specific industry needs
20:45 - The balance of sales velocity and delivery quality
25:00 - How Sabre's model has evolved, including what Rob has learned from other partners
28:30 - More on transitioning a business model form hourly to fixed fee
33:30 - Other important cloud tech for manufacturers
41:30 - Rob shares a branding anecdote

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Businesses set different thresholds for successful ERP projects, and the reasons can be complicated. With budgets that range from thousands to millions of dollars and often little room for delay or rework, it should be no surprise that some organizations end up going live with critical financial and operational business systems that an outside observer might consider sub-par.

Microsoft has taken an interesting strategy with Dynamics 365 Business Central, the company's SMB ERP cloud offering, urging partners to pursue highly repeatable, fixed price deployments wherever possible. That model serves some interests, like accelerating the growth of the customer base, but it has also created tension with ERP professionals who say their years of experience and dedication to customer success have taught them to pursue other approaches to achieve the best outcomes.

Alex Chow, founder of AP Commerce, is one of those ERP veterans who has charted his own path in the Microsoft channel. He says he started his own firm in 2005 to allow him to work with clients in the way he preferred. And while the firm is not the biggest or fastest growing, he says the company's philosophy has held the team on a steady path even as the product and channel trends have shifted around them.

Alex recently wrote about his experiences meeting Business Central customers post-go-live that were living with problematic deployments and the concerns these cases have raised. We discuss some of those observations and more about his broader experiences with Business Central and NAV.

Show Notes

2:00 - Alex's early experiences in the ERP consulting profession and how that led to him starting his own firm
6:00 - Finding other consulting models beyond billable hours, and how to make it a reality for NAV professionals
13:00 - Does traditional billable consulting still make sense for Business Central today as a SaaS offering? And how Microsoft is managing partners today.
17:00 - What makes an organization unique - or just like everyone else
19:30 - What can go wrong on a BC deployment, and what led Alex to write about it.
23:30 - The nature of fixed-price BC implementations and why it can lead to less-than-ideal outcomes
25:30 - What's unique about these companies' issues compared to ERP failures of the past
27:00 - How to improve sub-par implementations and why BC customers might be wary after go-live
31:30 - What differentiates a worker doing repeatable deployments vs specialized service
39:45 - Where to find professional help for BC
41:30 - Response to Alex's article
43:00 - If and how selling and servicing BC has changed AP Commerce
45:30 - Can customers install solutions from AppSource themselves?

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Enavate.

Across Microsoft's broad base of legacy ERP customers running Dynamics GP, NAV, and SL, there is a range of reasons why any organization might consider a cloud migration project. But until they assess the current state and future options, business leaders will be challenged to justify a decision on how to move forward with ERP modernization.

Our guests on this episode, Jennifer Ranz and Chad Sogge of Enavate, discuss the guidance and tools they have developed for organizations considering a move to Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud. Jennifer and Chad are veterans of Microsoft's ERP product teams and they have carried that experience in the SMB market with them to Enavate where their team has been developing new assessment tools and guidance around migrations based on Dynamics products and Enavate's own experience with many organizations that have already deployed Business Central.

We discuss various types of ERP journeys today, some of the ways Microsoft partners are collaborating on ERP projects today to benefit their clients, and how to handle challenges like industry-specific needs and historical data. We also look ahead to the future of migrations and how Business Central will evolve to support more customers moving to the cloud.

To learn more about cloud migration, technology and options visit the Enavate blog.

Show Notes:

3:00 - Advice Chad and Jennifer are offering legacy ERP customers today
6:00 - How adoption of other modern business technology like Office 365 is spurring thinking on modernizing ERP
7:30 - Benefits of Business Central after a transition
11:00 - How to assess and select the right transition path, and about Enavate's assessment tool
14:30 - How to explain the scope of a BC project to a customer
16 :30 - Know your ERP project priorities
21:45 - Why legacy ERP customers are going with SaaS transitions
23:00 - ISV discovery and mapping from legacy to BC
26:45 - What partners need to know about migration factories
28:15 - Migration tooling available now
32:00 - The importance of historical data and what to do with it after the transition to BC
35:00 - How to make BC a better solution than the legacy system
38:30 - The growth of assessments for ERP customers as the solutions evolve

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Sana Commerce.

Many manufacturers still struggle to understand and meet B2B buyers’ expectations for online customer experience. In reality, business buyers are just consumers at their jobs. They know that Amazon-level experiences and capabilities are possible, and now their expectations of B2B experiences are rising.

On this episode we talk with Sana Commerce’s Customer Success Team Lead, Roberto Najera, as he shares his viewson the past, present, and future of e-commerce in the context of manufacturer's needs and Dynamics 365 integration. We also discuss findings from Sana Commerce's new State of Manufacturing and E-Commerce Benchmark Report and how some of the findings around levels of investment and addressing current challenges are reflected in Roberto's experience working one-on-one with manufacturers.

Show Notes:

2:00 - A historic perspective of e-commerce in manufacturing and the changing trends today
4:30 - Investments in B2B e-commerce in the wake of the pandemic, both technology and skills
8:15 - Managing the growth of digital channels
12:30 - Deciding if and how to enhance more customer interactions from traditional to online
13:30 - Maturity levels that businesses go through in e-commerce adoption
18:15 - E-commerce planning in the context of ERP data analysis
19:30 - Surprising findings from of e-commerce initiatives
21:45 - New challenges that B2B firms are facing today that e-commerce solutions are helping them overcome

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Editor's Note: This episode of the podcast is sponsored by the PartnerLinQ Unified Digital Connectivity Solution.

The last year has taught us how volatile supply chains can be. Weaknesses came to the forefront, and businesses and consumers alike discovered the big downstream impact a seemingly small manufacturing or transportation issue can have.

In this episode of the MSDW Podcast, Visionet executive VP Jawad Khan and senior EDI strategy consultant Thomas Smith join the podcast to look back at what has happened to supply chains in the last year and how individual businesses running Dynamics 365 have adapted. Visionet recently launched PartnerLinQ globally.

We discuss how organizations are maturing their supply chain capabilities and expectations, and what today's solutions need to offer to meet those demands.

Show Notes:

2:30 - What has changed in supply chain connectivity in the last year, and how work to modernize has progressed in that time.
6:30 - What are businesses looking for in terms of supply chain visibility?
9:00 - The impact of getting more roles and departments involved in supply chain activities in various industries
11:00 - The needs of Dynamics 365 users who are working to manage trading partner relationships
15:00 - The role of transporters in the larger networks
21:00 - How supply chain pressures are shifting their planning to the needs of customers today and in the future
23:00 - PartnerLinQ's global launch from Visionet
27:00 - Capabilities that are here today that all organizations should support

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Jeremy Vyska has worked in the Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 space for twenty years working in a variety of technical and consulting roles. His newest venture, Spare Brained Ideas, marks a new phase in his career as he gets more engaged with the community and develops products and services focused on education, professional development, and customer success. He is also now a published author, with his new e-book, Your First 20 Hours with Business Central, launching this week. Jeremy tells us about the motivation behind writing the book and how it aligns with his broader outlook on working in the Business Central ecosystem today.

Show Notes:

2:00 - About Jeremy's new book and his work
7:00 - The experience of virtual events and other digital spaces
10:30 - Life in Sweden
12:45 - Who can benefit from Jeremy's new book
18:00 - Early response to the book, and the writing process
21:15 - How headhunters and others can benefit from staying educated on the latest information in the Business Central ecosystem
28:40 - Paying attention to the holistic needs of users and professionals, from continuing education and advocacy to onboarding
35:30 - How user group communities could evolve with Microsoft's support
42:00 - How is customer satisfaction with customers onboarding to BC?
43:45 - How to get the new book

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Cincom.

Two decades ago, many product companies started their digital journeys with a brochure-style web site. Back then, a static online product list may have met customer expectations, but today's buyers expect something more. On this episode we talk with Greg Hall, director of product management at Cincom about buyer experiences, the state of the CPQ market, and his observations on how buyer and seller priorities have changed over time.

Hall foresees more complex products and services, even products sold primarily as services, using CPQ technology to engage customers earlier in the buying process and more holistically throughout it.

Want to see how CPQ can help you? Visit cincom.com/cpqsync to learn more.

Show Notes

1:30 - Introduction to Greg and a bit about Cincom's 50+ year history
3:30 - Evolution from "brochure" web sites to digital selling
9:30 - Buying journeys: Why simple and complex can exist side by side, and how it continues to change
13:00 - Representing a complex product across a sales process
15:15 - Other ways to enhance sales processes
17:00 - The creative ways companies use CPQ tools, including in services-based businesses
20:30 - Digital maturity levels and what is next for CPQ users
23:00 - Which organizations are ready to operate in a data-driven culture
24:30 - Prioritizing investments in digital commerce
27:30 - Why CPQ adoption is still in the early stages across the broader marketplace
28:30 - What else Greg is watching in the broader enterprise software market

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Accountants have plenty to look forward to in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central's 2021 release wave 1. Our guest, Cari Corozza of New View Strategies, has been investigating the finance-related features of this cycle and she has already shared several in a recent article and webcast. Now she joins the podcast to chat about her findings, how she expect's New View's clients to adopt the latest updates, and how others in the community have responded.

Show Notes:

1:40 - About Cari's work
3:00 - What's exciting about 2021 release wave 1
4:00 - Dimensions updates and how users can take advantage of it
10:10 - Changing or correcting dimensions on GL entries and the impact on posted entry.
12:10 - Bank integration
17:00 - Using the Ideas site to promote feature requests, including one of Cari's favorites
21:00 - Preparing to roll out these features for users

Links

2021 Dynamics 365 Business Central Wave 1 Release Plan
Feature: More control over setting for default dimesnsions
Feature: Correct Dimensions on GL Entries
Microsoft Ideas

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Lipi Sarkar joins us to talk about the new book Building a Digital Future: The Transformational Blueprint for Innovating with Microsoft Dynamics 365. Lipi and co-author Vinnie Bansal wanted to investigate how organizations have invested in Dynamics 365 solutions to meet strategic goals and what others can learn from those experiences. Unlike a lot of books in the Microsoft technology space, this one is written for executives, not developers or IT professionals, though anyone with an interest in management and strategic planning could benefit from its findings.

The book is available on May 25, and you can order it with a 10% discount from Book Depository or from your local Amazon site (without a discount).

Show Notes:

1:30 - Why write a new book focused on Dynamics 365?
3:30 - Is the term "digital transformation" still valid in today's landscape?
5:00 - What inspired the authors to write the book, and how the pandemic has influenced the findings
8:45 - What customers told the authors about projects that were executed while the pandemic was unfolding
10:30 - The dilemmas faced by of those seeking a transformative change
13:30 - Has conventional wisdom on transformative technology evolved?
18:00 - More findings from Dynamics 365 case studies featured in the book
20:00 - How Power Platform is changing the nature of business application investments
22:00 - Thoughts on deciding to take on the challenge of authoring this book

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Priyesh Wagh's current work in the Microsoft channel focuses on both Dynamics 365 Project Operations and various elements of the Power Platform. In this episode, Priyesh discusses the types of projects he has worked on recently, his community efforts and experiences as a new Microsoft MVP, and how Dynamics 365 project delivery has changed since he joined the Microsoft channel with CloudFronts in 2014.

Show Notes:

2:00 - How Priyesh started his career and what tech he is focused on today
4:30 - How standardized (or not) are Project Operations or Project Service Automation deployments?
6:30 - How customization has changed in the era of Power Platform
8:15 - Understanding the change from PSA to Project Operations
9:30 - What kinds of organizations need project service capabilities?
14:15 - Discovering new Project Operations capabilities like Project Buckets
16:00 - How to understand Project Operations deployment options - Lite vs full (integrated with F&O)
19:45 - Priyesh's experience as an MVP
22:30 - What will Priyesh be exploring next?
27:00 - Life in Mumbai during the pandemic

Links:

Blog: D365Demystified
LinkedIn
Scottish Summit presentation - "Approval process using Adaptive Cards with Dataverse connector in Power Automate"

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There's a new virtual event coming in April with an educational focus for Microsoft technology users but a slightly different origin story.

WWMSTUG (or Worldwide Microsoft Technology User Group) will take place on April 14 and 15. It came into existence because a group of Microsoft partners wanted to provide a virtual educational experience to their customers and decided to invest in the idea together. Two of the event organizers, Jeff Goldstein of Queue Associates and Bob McAdam of SalesPad tell us more about how the event came into existence, what they hope to achieve, and what they hope attendees will get out of it in terms of understanding the Microsoft technology updates related to Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Teams, and more. They also explain the registration model. Unlike a lot of events there is a modest fee to attend, though the participating partner organizations are picking up the tab for some attendees (details on their site).

Show Notes:

1:15 - Why did the organizers see a need for this event?
4:45 - Getting a new user event started
8:00 - Assembling a lineup of sessions
10:00 - What do customers expect from Microsoft and their partners in terms of technology selection?
15:00 - What can attendees expect from the virtual experience?
19:00 - On the decision to make this a paid event (and how free passes are being made available via sponsors)
22:30 - Thoughts on Microsoft's new plan around user groups

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Note: This episode is sponsored by Continia Software. To learn more, join one of their webinars.

Since we last spoke to Chris de Visser on the podcast he has taken on the role of North America CEO at Continia Software. Continia provides financial automation solutions with a focus on Dynamics 365 Business Central and NAV and, as a vendor based in Europe, has been working to expand its presence in the North American market. De Visser explains how he approaches his role and some of the ways a firm must adapt to succeed in North America compared to other parts of the world.

We also discuss some of the other challenges that Dynamics 365 Business Central has presented to firms like Continia. Veteran NAV ISVs have invested many thousands of hours into transitioning away from Microsoft's previous generation of ERP technology and we talk about why 2021 may be an inflection point in that journey as Business Central gains momentum.

Chris also shares some background on his own role and how his career has evolved as the Microsoft Dynamics channel has matured.

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With the tools and services of the Power Platform evolving so rapidly, Microsoft and community leaders face a complex challenge in engaging with the experienced users and subject matter experts from around the world while also fostering an ecosystem that welcomes newcomers.

The Global Power Platform Bootcamp, taking place live (virtually) on February 19 and 20, offers one indication that users around the world still want to learn from each other when it comes to Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI. Last year's event consisted of 40+ local in-person meetings around the world. And though this year's event will be virtual, the organizers are expecting an even bigger set of meetings.

As people grow their own Power Platform skills, they can add value to the community by adopting a "show and tell" attitude, says Microsoft Power Platform senior evangelist Jon Levesque, who joined this episode along with Kent Weare of Microsoft's Power CAT team and two of the event's organizers, Kunal Tripathy and Vivek Patel. The group discussed the event's evolution, what attendees can expect to hear from Microsoft, and what it means to promote community as virtual communication persists.

Show Notes:

5:30 - How this year's event will be different from 2020
7:00 - Finding a balance between the local and global interests of Power Platform communities
8:15 - Building more awareness of Microsoft's RPA and Power Virtual Agents work
9:30 - How do local groups blend their direct interests and discovering the latest product updates?
11:00 - What messages from Microsoft speakers will resonate at the event?
15:15 - How is the mix of people joining Power Platform events changing?
23:00 - Observations on the most innovative companies adopting Power Platform, including use of the Center of Excellence
25:30 - What it takes to bring a global event together, and what attendees can expect
30:10 - How to get involved in the Global Power Platform Bootcamp

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This episode of the MSDW Podcast is sponsored by Stratos Cloud Alliance.

Microsoft continues to forecast significant growth in Dynamics 365 business, but to achieve it more partners will have to get involved. But building a practice focused on business solutions is quite different from cloud, productivity, or other specialties.

Our guests are Len DiCostanzo, Principal Consultant at MSP Toolkit, and Scott May, Director of Channel Development Stratos Cloud Alliance. We discuss Dynamics 365 as an opportunity for partner growth in the Microsoft channel. They lay out research on the market opportunity, the options partners have when it comes to building a D365 practice, and some of the factors that firms should look for in a prospective distribution partner.

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Join us for a quick recap of top headlines from the first month of 2021 in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform channel.

Show Notes:

1:00 - First look at the 2021 release wave plans
3:40 - Microsoft earnings
7:00 - The reveal of Microsoft Cloud for Retail
10:00 - New partner deals: HSO and Incremental Group
13:30 - The Contingent's use of D365
16:00 - Upcoming community events - Global Power Platform Bootcamp and DynamicsCon
18:15 - The Salesforce-Microsoft relationship
19:45 - What's next

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As the pandemic drags on, the Microsoft business applications community is finding a new and evolving ways to connect. The DynamicsCon virtual event began in 2020 and will run for the second time in March. To learn more about how it began and what is going into the next event, we talked to the founder, Jon Stypula. MSDW is a media sponsor of the event and we wanted to discuss both the event has developed and where Jon hopes it will go in the future.

Show Notes:

4:45 - Deciding to provide a professional level of production for DynamicsCon, including funding through sponsors.
8:30 - Why to maintain transparency in the event's planning and organization, including with session selection.
10:30 - Why the DynamicsCon is aiming to make the speaker lineup a mix of veterans and newcomers.
17:30 - Microsoft's role in the community and event landscape these days, and why Jon believes they do not appear to be interested in overall community management.
27:45 - Updates to the attendee experience
30:30 - How virtual events have opened up accessibility to much of in-person events' value and how they will continue to change
35:45 - How DynamicsCon has changed from the first event to the upcoming second event
39:00 - How partners and customers work together differently with Power Platform and other tech compared to Dynamics
42:00 - Microsoft's mixed reality solutions, from Dynamics 365 apps to HoloLens 2 more generally
48:50 - More on what to expect from DynamicsCon

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In this special edition of the MSDW Podcast we are featuring a recent conversation between Microsoft MVP Rick McCutcheon and Microsoft global strategic ISV alliance manager John O'Donnell on how partners are utilizing Microsoft AppSource. Rick originally published this conversation as part of his Partner Talks series.

Microsoft launched its AppSource ISV solution directory in 2016 as a replacement for a collection of old and fragmented systems. The initial coverage compared it to Salesforce AppExchange and Microsoft promised it would lead to higher ISV solution quality and that it would evolve quickly with.

Nearly five years later, AppSource has evolved and grown, though probably not as quickly as Microsoft has wanted. Still, most ISVs in the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform space list their solutions there, and some partners even list services offerings. Some vendors report closing sales thanks to the platform, others don't.

In this conversation, O'Donnell emphasizes several strengths of the platform, from its global reach to its expanding set of offerings, beyond Dynamics 365 and Azure into other areas of Microsoft's business. They also discuss some ways vendors can optimize their listings to get the most out of the platform today.

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The Microsoft's Dynamics 365 FastTrack team has been holding a TechTalk webcast series in recent months featuring the use of various tools and capabilities of the Power Platform in the context of strengthening a Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management (a.k.a., Finance and Operations) system.

Series organizer and FastTrack architect Rachel Profitt explains that, while there is lots of great material on Power Platform and likewise plenty of information available on D365 F&O, customers and partners can still find it hard to connect the dots that open up the full range of solution possibilities.

Profitt and principal technical specialist Murray Fife of Microsoft's Black Belt team recently co-presented a new session in the event series on AI Builder, and they discuss with us some of the highlights of that session, the audience reaction, future plans for the webcast series, and the broader outlook for building momentum in blending Power Platform tools with ERP.

Show Notes

2:30 - How Rachel and Murray's work with AI Builder is being received by customer and partner audiences.
7:00 - Rachel's role as a FastTrack architect and Murray's role as a principal technical specialist on Microsoft's Global Black Belt team
10:30 - Why Rachel felt a need for a Power Platform TechTalk series for F&O customers to showcase customization alternatives
12:30 - Reactions from the partner community after seeing the presentations.
15:30 - Why developing with Power Platform requires a shift in the F&O customization mindset
18: 00 - F&O customer roles most interested in Power Platform adoption
21:30 - At what point in the development of a D365 solution do customers make the decision to deploy Power Platform?
27:30 - What's in a partner's demo versus what's in scope for the delivery team
29:30 - How accurate are AI Builder tools in doing their jobs?
33:30 - What's next in the Tech Talk series, and what else has been covered already
34:30 - What Rachel and Murray are excited about for 2021: events and features

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On this episode we welcome back Peter Joeckel of TurnOnDynamics and Karen Riordan of Menlo Technologies for a discussion of the new year's Dynamics GP outlook for customers and partners.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft's SMB ERP product of the future, so changes still to come are to some extent predictable already starting to play out: incentives for legacy ERP customers to plan for a transition to BC; greater urgency on partners to transact via Microsoft's CSP program, and a GP product roadmap that has shriveled to almost nothing.

But given these realities, what is to be done? The economics of ERP are changing along with the rest of IT and enterprise software. We discuss the impact of some of Microsoft's latest moves like new cloud assessments for on-prem customers (not necessarily through their partner of record) and the latest channel sales incentives. These changes, will impact customers not just in terms of whom they consult with, but what types of partners can really serve their needs in the future.

Show Notes:

2:30 - Microsoft's interest in getting customers to assess a transition away from Dynamics GP
4:30 - Why aren't GP customers more interest in transitioning to cloud ERP?
7:00 - Pressure on partners to manage their GP customers
10:00 - Finding an optimal way to engage with Microsoft customers: Can a partner talk to both IT and the CFO?
12:00 - What should a customer really expect from their partner in terms of making sense of Microsoft's offerings?
16:30 - How difficult is it for GP customers to do a full assessment of their next steps?
20:15 - The economic challenges of ERP for Microsoft partners
25:00 - What does the subscription-based ERP model mean for Microsoft's goals and partners' challenges?
32:30 - How well has GP served its user base during the pandemic?
36:30 - How many GP to BC transitions are really happening?
39:00 - Who is doing GP to BC transition assessments for Microsoft and what are the outcomes?
44:30 - How will Microsoft's newest incentives shape the partner channel in 2021?
47:30 - Do partners and Microsoft have a responsibility to encourage their clients to evolve enterprise IT?
48:30 - 2021 predictions

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This episode is sponsered by HCL-PowerObjects.

As the Microsoft Power Platform has enjoyed greater adoption, the challenges of managing security, governance, data migration, licensing and other needs have gained greater urgency for customers.

John Doris and Jamie Barker of HCL-PowerObjects join us to discuss their experiences working with a wide variety of organizations that have been investing in the Power Platform to modernize their systems and processes. We dive into the most common challenges as well as other considerations that both partners and customers are dealing with like the future of front office and back office applications, the impact of Microsoft Teams, and Jamie and John's experiences helping organizations build a Center of Excellence.

Other resources:

HCL-PowerObjects webcast: Harnessing the True Potential of Power Platform and How to Build a Centre of Excellence
HCL-PowerObjects Podcast

Show Notes:

2:45 - Judging and measuring growth of Power Platform in the last year
5:45 - How the pandemic impacted PowerObjects customers' priorities around collaboration and automation
7:15 - Why a Modern Workplace are taking a stronger interest in use of Power Platform and Teams
11:30 - Organizational challenge: finding a balance of front office and back office support
13:00 - The varying approaches to governance and IT fundamentals with Power Platform
16:00 - Challenges that customers should be considering next: onboarding, app evaluation, and more
18:00 - Encouraging app makers to be innovative while also taking advantage of reusable components and following development best practices
22:30 - Center of Excellence: What it takes to plan for creating one properly
24:00 - How do organizations work with a Microsoft service provider for help with Power Platform development?
27:45 - Measuring end users' happiness with the apps and flows they get from a citizen developer corp.
33:00 - Discovery tools: Know when to retire, replace, augment, or keep them
36:00 - Dealing with the end of life of SharePoint 2010 workflows and replacing them with Power Automate flows
41:15 - What can organizations expect in licensing for Power Platform elements?
44:45 - License consumption strategies
48:00 - How to get in touch with Jamie or John

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Microsoft Dataverse; US politics; Azure Purview; FastTrack; Sales Insights

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Note: This episode is sponsored by Avanade. Learn more about Power Platform at Avanade here.

Venkat Rao, Power Platform go to market lead for North America at Avanade, joins us for a conversation following up on his recent five part article series on the Power Platform and its role in supporting the evolution of business applications. (Check out parts one, two, three, four, and five.)

Enterprise-grade systems like Dynamics 365 applications are here to stay. But, Venkat believes, thanks to low-code tools, organizations can now expect to give more responsibility back to their workers as they plan the future of their enterprise investments. Much of Venkat's writing has dealt with newcomers to the Power Platform, and he explains that embracing the tools here requires the acceptance of concepts and practices like running a Center of Excellence. He also reflects on recent customer successes in areas like managing the return to work, mixed reality, and initiatives to empower citizen developers.

Show Notes:

1:30 - Making sense of Power Platform and how to approach it for the first time
5:00 - Thinking about low-code and no-code solutions as a technology segment
7:30 - The importance of considering complex software requirements when evaluating low-code solutions
9:30 - Venkat's evolving professional focus, from Dynamics CRM to Power Platform
14:30 - What it looks like to scale up Power Platform initiatives across an organization
18:00 - The frequent challenge of bringing a Power Apps deployment back under control after rapid spread
21:00 - The Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE) starter kit - Venkat's views on its usefulness
24:30 - How organizations build upon the CoE starter kit
27:00 - How Power Platform and HoloLens 2 work together
33:30 - Is RPA mundane or amazing?
36:00 - Looking ahead: New technology Avanade clients are excited about

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The Microsoft channel is ever-changing, and ISVs can spend considerable time optimizing their approach according to the latest incentives, rules, restrictions, and opportunities. Microsoft MVP Steve Mordue returns to talk about some of the latest updates in the channel. Steve is the founder of the ISV business RapidStartCRM. He's also a popular blogger for channel pros. He has also started a new site, ISVConnectED, a private community for ISVs who want to talk channel strategy and tactics, ask their peers questions, and otherwise compare notes. We discuss Microsoft's current partner programs that impact the Dynamics channel, opportunities around Power Platform, including Dataverse, the risks ISVs face when Microsoft builds similar IP, and what the Salesforce Slack deal means for Microsoft.

Show Notes:

1:30 - Microsoft's ISV programs and why Steve started ISVConnectED
3:45 - Why Steve writes about the state of the Microsoft channel and why it continues to create complexity
6:30 - The complexities of Microsoft programs like Direct CSP, and the importance of large CSPs today
15:30 - Power Platform - the business model and special offers
20:00 - Microsoft's efforts on industry solutions and what it means for vertical-focused ISVs
24:00 - Working in Microsoft's shadow as an ISV - searching for white space
28:45 - Encouraging news on AppSource
33:00 - Dataverse rollout
36:30 - Why Dataverse is so important to Teams and Microsoft 365
43:00 - New opportunities for custom Power Platform development and the importance of governance
46:00 - The Slack acquisition by Salesforce
48:30 - How Microsoft competes with Salesforce
54:00 - Microsoft's current approach to business applications acquisitions

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by GetResponse MAX for Dynamics 365.

Mac Ossowski of marketing automation solution provider GetResponse joins the podcast to discuss how sales and marketing teams can work together with shared technology, even when performance goals may differ. Mac has been active in the email and marketing automation field for over a decade and runs GetResponse MAX, the company's managed offering for medium and large companies. The company started in the small business sector more than ten years ago, and recently started to make more investment in the Dynamics 365 space with a new integration and more partner alliances. Mac also shares his view on some of the design decisions that went into the company's D365 offering and how companies are deploying solutions across departments today.

Show Notes:

1:45 - GetResponse company history and evolution over two decades
4:00 - Speaking to the needs of mid-market and large companies vs small businesses
6:30 - Lessons from bringing marketing technology together with Dynamics 365 Sales capabilities
9:30 - What kind of services do Dynamics 365 customers need with implementing marketing automation?
13:00 - Changing perspectives on automation in 2020
16:00 - Sales enablement and sales acceleration: what data and tools do sales professionals need?
20:00 - The value of greater marketing data insights
22:30 - Observations on working in the Microsoft ecosystem
26:00 - What types of marketing technology of the future are most exciting?

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The Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Business Central community has a heritage of conferences around the world, some that go back decades. But with the pandemic, everything has changed in 2020. Some events have gone online, others have been put on hold, and still others have emerged as new alternatives. BC Tech Talk is the latest new event. It runs December 3 & 4 and is free to attend. MSDW is a media sponsor, so we sat down with three members of the event's planning committee to learn more about what to expect, who should be there, and what's new in the BC community.

Show Notes:

1:30 - How BC Tech Talk came together
4:00 - Observations about the themes emerging from the session topics
8:00 - How quickly are developers adopting the new skills and techniques required for Business Central projects?
11:30 - Why now is a time for up and coming community contributors to emerge
18:45 - Why employees at customer organizations should be paying attention to the topics of a tech-focused event like BC Tech Talk
21:00 - Implications of this year's growth in virtual events
28:00 - Reviewing the BC Tech Talk structure, and more reasons for attending

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Pattern Energy, a company that develops and operates wind and solar energy generation projects around the world, had many years invested into a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 ERP solution that was on-premises and highly customized. But by 2018 they knew that their aging system needed to be replaced.

On this episode, Nick Tavenier, the ERP systems analyst at Pattern Energy discusses some of the company's experiences in moving away from AX 2009 as they evaluated new options and eventually committed to Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management in the cloud. He discusses his team's experiences planning and executing their migration project, work with third party solution vendors in areas like security, governance, and financial management, and how they have maintained an engaged core ERP team even after their go-live.

Show notes:

1:30 - Some history on Pattern Energy's operations and use of Dynamics AX 2009
3:00 - Comparing D365 with Tier 1 & 2 ERP options, as well as looking at AX 2012 as a full or temporary potion
5:00 - Planning to migrate from AX 2009 - Custom and ISV solution needs
7:00 - How Pattern envisioned processes with stock D365FO features and standard use patterns
9:00 - areas of D365FO that Pattern will use based on the complexities of their organization - multi-entity, multi-company, financial consolidation, etc. and new features Microsoft is adding or acquiring
12:30 - Making the decision of cloud vs on-prem D365 and how mindsets had to be changed
13:30 - Connecting with other AX to D365FO customers about the complications around implementation projects in areas like entity hierarchy, data management, and customization
16:30 - Training developers and IT experts on security management, customization techniques
18:45 - Adopting the "One Version" model from Microsoft, and where they have found challenges, including governance and regulatory compliance
22:30 - The importance of voicing concerns and starting a dialog with Microsoft, and why there seems to be a clean slate with the introduction of ERP in the cloud
25:00 - How Pattern uses an internal product manager and others to champion the solution
28:30 - Navigating the internal ownership and duties between the IT and the business
31:00 - How D365FO fits in alongside the organization's other Microsoft investments like Azure and Power BI
33:30 - Why record sharing between entities within D365FO has become a challenging matter from a technical and functional perspective

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The latest release wave for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is now rolling out with a range of updates that should benefit users, developers, and system administrators. Dynamics NAV and BC veteran Kim Congleton of New View Strategies has been busy examining the new updates and helping the community understand how to make use of the improvements. She recently wrote about the system administration enhancements and followed that up with a webcast presentation for MSDW readers. We caught up with Kim for this podcast episode to dig into a few more details of the new release wave as well as to talk about how Business Central has evolved as a new offering (not just a continuation of NAV), how her firm has experienced the pandemic, and her expectations for the future.

Show Notes

3:00 - How to approach the new features and information that arrive in each release wave for business Central
5:30 - Read-only performance for reports
7:15 - Buying added storage capacity in the cloud
10:30 - How do you deal with NAV historical data when moving to BC?
14:00 - Restoring environments
17:30 - Why BC really is a separate product from NAV
19:00 - Impressions on the first iteration of the Teams app for BC and where it might go next
22:30 - Events and batch processing
24:30 - Power BI scenarios for BC
26:30 - Other Microsoft services Kim is looking ahead to.
30:00 - Observations on training investment by NAV and BC customers
32:00 - Why the Microsoft Ideas site is useful

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Australia-based business consultant David Ogilvie has been thinking and writing on how businesses can adapt to economic conditions triggered by the pandemic, looking at factors like managing capital, supply chain optimization, and customer service. And managing across all of those areas require the ability to track the right metrics.

David discusses how his work with companies in his region have changed with the pandemic, what the ERP competitive landscape looks like today, the role of the independent ERP consultant today, and some of the tools and metrics of inventory management that he is focusing on.

Show Notes:

2:45 - David's work with Dynamics AX customers looking to move to a new ERP, and the themes of today's conversations around business applications
5:00 - Tools, techniques, and organizational approaches that have helped businesses adapt to the pandemic
7:30 - Decisions businesses are making to adapt in the current climate
9:30 - Do organizations have a need for different types of services today versus a year ago?
11:00 - Controlling process behaviors in a business with a focus on metrics like EVA (economic value added) - and cautions around using them properly
15:00 - A case of inventory mismanagement and how metrics could have played a part
17:30 - The importance of supply chain planning to avoid the bullwhip effect amid unexpected
23:00 - The intended meaning of just in time inventory versus how many companies have applied the philosophy
24:30 - Ten inventory management tools that David emphasizes
25:00 - How supply chain matters impact customer experience, and why to start with the customer rather than the supply chain
27:00 - ERP competitors of Microsoft that David sees in his clients' market segment and region

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This episode is sponsored by Provance. Support a digital transformation in IT with Provance ITSM—the most Microsoft-centric IT Service Management product on the market.

On this episode we catch up on some of the top headlines and contributed articles from the last month, including highlights of the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform 2020 release wave 2, new industry-focused business apps directly from Microsoft, new Teams integration for Business Central, and a few choice Azure advances.

Articles discussed in this episode:

Years in the making, a cloud + edge model for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management nears preview
Azure Hybrid at Ignite: Microsoft signals multi-cloud, multi-edge capabilities
Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform are pushing serious Azure scale, architects report
Azure Automanage: A month into the life of a new Azure service
With C3.ai, Microsoft gains an ally in industry-focused, AI-driven business apps
Launch of Fundraising and Engagement for Dynamics 365 Sales is part of new industry solutions approach at Microsoft
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, a new industry-focused solution, launches
Microsoft launches Azure Space to pursue new connectivity, compute opportunities
Dynamics 365 Business Central takes first step into Teams with app preview
Power Apps Portals seeing "hockey stick growth" as capacity-based model gains momentum
With Dynamics 365 Project Operations in GA, Microsoft prepares transition plan for legacy users
Driving a successful implementation using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and RSAT
How to post Fixed Bid and Time & Material-based invoices in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations from Project Operations
Finding the Center of Citizen Developer Success

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Samuel Adranyi is a Microsoft MVP who brings his expertise to the local, regional, and international Microsoft Azure and Power Platform communities. He tells us about his own professional development, the decision to move back to his home country of Ghana from a role in the US, and what he is doing today to encourage others to gain expertise in Microsoft technology. He has organized local events, he mentors students on developing their professional skills, and he is an active content creator across his own blog and podcast, as well as on YouTube and other social media.

We talk about how he has focused his community efforts since returning to Ghana, some of the most promising tech for students and others looking to gain new professional skills, making cloud technology more accessible in Ghana, and Samuel's experiences as an MVP so far.

Show Notes

2:00 - About Samuel's community activities, professional interests, and moving back to Ghana from the US
4:30 - On making an impact in the West Africa Microsoft community
7:00 - How Samuel got interested in IoT
9:30 - What is the IoT readiness level of organizations today?
11:30 - Bringing IoT to Power Platform
14:30 - Samuel's award-winning COVID-19 IoT solution
18:15 - Making cloud tech more accessible in Ghana - payment method challenges, Azure data center proximity
21:00 - Traction in the Microsoft developer community
22:45 - Samuel's podcast featuring young technologists from Africa and around the world
27:30 - On becoming an MVP, ramping up podcast and video efforts.

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This episode of the MSDW Podcast is sponsored by dotdigital. Find out more about their Microsoft Dynamics offering here.

As marketing technology continues to evolve, so does thinking on where it can deliver the most impact in an organization. The marketing-to-sales funnel remains the most common way to deploy marketing automation tools, but Dan Griffin of dotdigital makes the case on this episode that the organizations should be pushing for customer engagement that encourages more of their own departments to communicate across channels. Customer service, product managers, and others have a lot of value to add to the customer experience after the sale is made, and the digital tools that marketers understand best today could be brought to bear with the right planning, says Griffin.

We also discuss the evolution of the Microsoft channel when it comes to delivering martech solutions. System integrators and agencies will deliver marketing solutions quite differently. And today's economic climate has led customer to ask their service providers to help them deliver digital marketing capabilities in new and more efficient ways.

Show Notes:

3:15 - dotdigital's latest efforts in the Microsoft channel to deliver marketing technology
5:00 - What does martech mean to partners today?
7:30 - The current landscape has forced customers to do more with less, and they are finding out why digital matters in areas like account-based marketing, top of funnel brand marketing, etc.
9:30 - Companies are beginning to understand the value of marketing to their customers
11:30 - How well do different types of Microsoft partners - systems integrators vs agencies - approach the challenge of digital marketing solutions
18:00 - More ideas on using marketing-based tools to improve engagement across the customer lifecycle
21:30 - Why you want your organization focus more on process to improve metrics
23:00 - How the Microsoft community's marketing conversations have evolved in the last six months

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Blue Horseshoe Solutions holds a notable role in the history of Microsoft's enterprise ERP development. The firm was founded in 2001 and some if its own modules for warehouse and transportation management have become part of Microsoft's core ERP products, first with Dynamics AX and now Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.

On this episode, sponsored by Blue Horseshoe, Steve Shebuski, vice president of digital transformation, and Mike Castelluccio, partner director, discuss some of the standout features and differentiators in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management today and how Blue Horseshoe has moved their own roadmap forward alongside Microsoft. They explain why the future of supply chain innovation will be in the cloud, still working with ERPs like Dynamics 365 but available as a service rather than a deep customization.

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Members of the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 community came together for a series of online pub quizzes in July to raise money for local charities and support social action against racism. The events took place in midst of civil protests in cities around the world drew hundreds of participants and raised money for local non-profits.

In the UK, funds from the event went to Black Minds Matter, a London-based organization focused on mentoring, education, and other support services for black and ethnic minority young people. Microsoft MVP Tricia Sinclair, a key organizer of the original series of events, has continued her efforts to support the organization by creating a Power Platform-focused training curriculum for them that brought together subject matter experts from the Microsoft community to educate and mentor the group. The multi-week program concluded with a hackathon where the participants developed and presented Power Platform creations focused on themes like mental health and legal services.

On this episode, we are joined by Tricia Sinclair as well as Malik Gul, Director of Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network in London, and program participant Rosina St. James to look back at the hackathon and the broader program, to discuss the outcome, and to learn more about exposing professional opportunities in the Microsoft ecosystem to under-represented communities.

Show Notes:

2:30 - Introductions to our guests and their work
5:00 - Origins of the effort to raise funds, awareness, and support for Black Minds Matter in London
7:00 - The mission and goals of Black Minds Matter in the context of social trends, including boosting opportunities for learning and development
12:00 - Why making the connection between under-served communities and professional opportunities is so important
13:45 - Reaction of the students to the program and the various roles and options
15:30 - Getting an understanding of the software industry
17:45 - Bringing Power Platform community members together to help build out the student program
19:00 - Where is the overall effort to train the next generation on Microsoft business apps workers?23:45 - Preparing the student group for the hackathon
27:30 - Rosina's app from the hackathon
29:30 - Developing ideas for new solutions, and the judging panel's observations and engagement with social and healthcare services organizations
34:15 - Next steps for the program including mentoring, internships, apprenticeships, and education options
38:45 - Plans for scaling these efforts, from technology education to more diverse health and social opportunities

Links:

Black Minds Matter
A demo of the iFeel App
Tricia Sinclair's blog
Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network

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The news roundup returns, and on this episode, we look back at top headlines from the last several weeks of executive hires, Microsoft revenue numbers, product wins, partner updates, and more.

Show Notes:

0:45 - New leadership for Microsoft Business Applications group
2:35 - More insight into Dynamics 365 revenue performance
6:45 - Microsoft Lists for Teams and its implications for Project Oakdale
11:15 - Dynamics 365 Field Service: New stats and analyst recognition
14:00 - The future of AppSource
17:30 - Mercedes-Benz USA adopts D365 Remote Assist
19:40 - The future of conferences in the Microsoft space
25:45 - Remembering John Gravely

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Microsoft MVP, solution architect, and Scrum expert Neil Benson recently concluded two years of work on a membership and sales platform upgrade for RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland) that involved Dynamics 365 Customer Service, integration with multiple other SaaS vendor solutions, and, of course, lots of legacy data to contend with from the decades old systems being replaced. This was a big project by any standard. Microsoft celebrated its early successes last year, but work has continued, and Neil gives us an inside view of what it has been like managing five delivery streams amid a host of other changes, from user adoption to the IT department's Azure transition to going live during the pandemic.

Show Notes

0:45 - About Neil and his business, Customery
2:50 - About RACQ and their modernization project
5:20 - The scale of this project and the challenges of working at that scale
7:35 - Why RACQ had everything to lose in terms of customer satisfaction and retention from undertaking their modernization program
8:20 - Attitude toward cloud adoption from their legacy stance
10:50 - How five workstreams moved ahead together, how they divided up responsibilities and stages
12:05 - The core software products that go into RACQ's cloud transformation
13:35 - Observations on using Adobe Campaign with Dynamics 365 and other solutions
15:20 - Deploying Apttus and the future of their relationship with (or without) Microsoft
17:50 - The fight for ISV cloud hosting between the hypercloud vendors
19:50 - Using Scrum on a project of this scale
23:50 - Neil's experience training others on Scrum
27:50 - Innovative solutions of the RACQ solution
31:20 - How does an organization focused on driving adapt to Covid and other changing trends around car usage?
34:20 - How such a big project transitioned to work from home during the pandemic
34:35 - RACQ's efforts in trialing other tech like RPA
38:20 - Is RPA a viable long-term product for CIOs?
41:50 - On the history of Customery's LEGO usage
43:15 - Neil's podcast activities

Where to find Neil:

Customery Academy - https://customery.academy
Amazing Apps - https://amazingapps.show
Customery Videos - https://youtube.com/customery

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Lisa Crosbie joins us to talk about her many community activities and interests in the Microsoft Business Applications space. Lisa is a technology evangelist at Barhead, a Microsoft partner, and when she's not working with their sales and professional services teams, she can be found doing a range of things, from blogging to podcasting to videos to presentations. We sit down to discuss some of the things Lisa has been focused on in her community efforts recently including Microsoft Teams and Project Oakdale, Microsoft certifications, product updates coming in the 2020 wave 2 releases for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, and her latest presentation schedule, including the upcoming DynamicsCon event.

Show Notes:

3:30 - Adjusting to and staying motivated by community participation in an all-virtual situation
5:00 - The importance of certifications in today's Microsoft business apps landscape
9:10 - How to use Microsoft Learn to prepare for certifications
13:00 - Lisa's outlook on Project Oakdale
24:20 - Will Teams interfaces be important for ISV solutions?
25:30 - Why Power Automate in Teams will be important
27:15 - The RPA opportunities of 2020 wave 2
30:00 - Lisa's participation in DynamicsCon
34:15 - Lisa's professional evolution from the client side to the consulting side
39:15 - Why the MVP community is still thriving'
41:30 - Will the virtual focus help more people achieve MVP status?
43:15 - Creating the UP Podcast
45:30 - What else Lisa is excited about in the next release wave

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Erik Hougaard returns to the podcast with new perspective on Dynamics 365 Business Central development and customization. Over the last few months, Erik has been creating a rich new library of developer skills videos on his YouTube channel, covering everything from OAuth and Javascript controls to web services and String operations.

He recently created a Blast from the Past video in which he spun up an old NAV 3.56 system and explored its features, customization language (which was also called AL at the time), and interface. Looking at a 30 year old predecessor to today's Business Central was more than just a trip down memory lane, as he tells us. It can also give today's customers and professionals a better understanding of why the latest version of Business Central looks and acts the way it does. With that perspective in mind, Erik also shares his views on the latest customization trends, ISV solution adoption, SaaS support, and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the ecosystem.

Show Notes:

1:45 - Why look at NAV 3.56 now?
4:00 - Why now is a good time to create more educational content, and how Erik develops ideas.
7:45 - Contextualizing the on-prem to cloud transition of Business Central
10:00 - How Erik circulated an easter egg through older NAV systems
11:30 - Is it good that so many features of BC today are so similar to NAV years ago?
14:00 - Features or techniques that have potential for a big impact
16:30 - As an MVP reaching the community, comparing video versus traditional blog posts
20:00 - How many companies still need customization with BC?
23:30 - Customer and partner responsibilities around managing DevOps for BC
25:15 - A current challenge around country versions with extensions management, both in development and in releasing apps to AppSource
29:00 - How are BC users doing in the context of coronavirus?
32:00 - Why is development such a big part of NAV and BC?
34:30 - Tips around developing your YouTube channel

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We continue the Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 migration podcast series with a conversation focused primarily around making the case for D365 Finance and Operations, once again joined by Karen Riordan of Menlo Technologies and Peter Joeckel of TurnOnDynamics. In some ways, the path to F&O could be described as only marginally easier than a migration from GP to any other vendor's ERP, so the discussion touches on ERP selection more broadly, the range of approaches that partners in the Microsoft channel have selected regarding their own ERP product sales strategies. Many sell more than one ERP, and for many of those, the other ERP is not a Microsoft product. We also touch on the DevOps debate around Business Central and some of the latest Microsoft incentives to GP customers.

Show Notes:

1:00 - Quick recap of the first three episodes
2:30 - What are renewing GP customers hearing from Microsoft and partners?
5:00 - Marketing evaluation: Microsoft's BREP to CSP incentive and surrounding positioning
10:45 - If GP customers don't select BC straight away, what does ERP selection look like?
15:30 - What are signs that a GP customer might be a good fit for evaluating F&O?
17:15 - Customer story: How AX/FO dimensional inventory solved a GP user's needs
27:00 - What drives cost in ERP projects (hint: it's moving from one to another)
30:00 - Why a partner sells both Dynamics ERPs and a competing vendor's ERP
35:00 - The DevOps debate
41:30 - Why so many GP partners will never look at F&O, and perhaps why some never should

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With Microsoft's big summertime virtual event, Inspire 2020, now behind us, the MSDW editorial team chats about some of the biggest news of the event, as well as some of our readers favorite new articles from recent weeks. Up for discussion are the newest Microsoft business applications product names: Customer Voice and Dataflex, as well as Azure cost management, Business Central DevOps, and more.

Show Notes: * 1:00 - Introducing Dynamics 365 Customer Voice, the next generation of Microsoft Forms Pro * 4:45 - Pondering the reveal of Dataflex and Dataflex Pro * 7:00 - The partner challenge to frame the latest Microsoft business apps portfolio in the best possible light * 8:30 - Azure cost management strategy and best practices * 10:00 - Debating the burden of D365 Business Central DevOps * 14:00 - Reviewing other top contributed articles

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Ingram Micro Cloud.

The coronavirus pandemic has become a core element of Microsoft's FY21 cloud strategy. And the company now expects their partners to align with goals around remote and returning workers, industry specialization, and digital transformation.

While that vision rings true in many ways, it presents challenges for sellers in the Microsoft channel who need to adapt what they sell and how they sell it. Mark Stuyt, chief engagement officer at Neural Impact, a sales and marketing consulting firm that applies behavioral economics, neuroscience, and persuasion psychology to the customer acquisition process, joins us to talk about the transformation that sales teams themselves should consider to close new business in this challenging climate.

Some selling techniques remain unchanged today, but Mark also emphasizes novel tactics like selling via Teams, using video at key times, thinking more about the advantages of industry specialization.

To learn more about today's sponsor, Ingram Micro, and their partner services please visit https://microsoft.ingrammicrocloud.com/dynamics/.

Show Notes: * 2:45 - How the pandemic has impacted organizations' investment decisions around tech * 4:00 - Unconscious decision making by buyers that leads to selecting a partner * 6:30 - Stresses of selling without the traditional early impressions of face to face meetings * 8:00 - The range of ways to take advantage of video, and how it taps into buyer psychology * 11:00 - Strategies that sales are using today to tap into video * 17:20 - Why should a sales team say yes to an industry? * 20:30 - The disadvantage that broadly-based partners will face over the next 12 to 18 months compared with industry-focused partners. * 22:30 - Why now is the time to be bold in selling * 24:30 - The challenge of driving an emotional connection with prospects and customers. * 26:30 - The role that Microsoft Surface Hub can play for partners. * 28:00 - Neural Impact's work with Ingram Micro to develop tools to help partners sell remotely

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Microsoft only revealed Dynamics 365 Commerce a year ago, but the offering is already evolving. In reality, Commerce came into existence as a rebrand of Dynamics 365 for Retail with a new e-commerce and content management tools introduced. Today's roadmap for Commerce calls for updates all over the wide ranging solution, from back office to warehouse to the storefront and the call center.

Amid such a wide ranging product, how does a customer train up their various users? To learn more, we welcome Elif Item, an AX and D365FO veteran who now focuses on training development and delivery through her company, Item by Item. Elif explains that Commerce is now delivered in a range of scenarios, and that variability is what can make training so challenging. Customer service agents and e-commerce management staff have very different experiences in the same system, for example. Training methods are also changing, and Elif talks about how her firm and clients are embracing different types of training content and platforms.

Show Notes

2:00 - The evolution of Dynamics 365 Commerce and Elif's recent experiences
5:00 - How the introduction of e-commerce capabiilties changed the product
7:30 - The types of scenarios in which Commerce is deployed today
11:00 - How Commerce differs from third party e-commerce solutions
16:00 - The range of unique requirements and roles that Commerce aims to cover
20:30 - How do you balance so many retail-related roles in a single system
26:15 - Overlooked roles that still need training
32:00 - Learning styles and training trends for today and the future
39:00 - On embracing the changing roadmap of Dynamics 365 products

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by DXC Technology.

There is no single approach to successfully tackling challenges like project methodology, executive sponsorship, user adoption, or planning for post go-live support, but they are all absolutely critical to a successful Dynamics 365 project outcome.

This podcast episode explores some of the very real decisions organizations must face before and during an enterprise software project, and how they reckon with the factors that determine success. The responsibility – and the credit – for a successful project outcome is almost always shared between the services delivery team and the customer's own people. Microsoft MVP Rick McCutcheon speaks with Russ Riley and Greg Pierce of DXC Technology about the mindset of great project teams and what a strong partner relationship looks like during and after go-live.

If you’d like to speak with our guests or learn more about DXC Technology and how they can help your organization move your business applications from on-premises to the cloud with post go-live support, you can reach them at phone no#: 877-651-6193 or email: dxceclipse@dxc.com.

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Ingram Micro Cloud.

Dynamics 365 is one of the product areas in which Microsoft encourages its partners to push for growth. With some of the highest margins in the channel, Dynamics is a lucrative opportunity for firms -- if they can make it part of their portfolio.

In hindsight, many partners forget or may not have the capacity to add Dynamics 365 to their practice while most may not have the talent, operating model, or financial structure. With the economic impact in today’s market, traditional ERP or CRM isn’t a want anymore, but a need in the digital transformation era.

Mathew Batterbee, UK & EMEA Dynamics 365 lead at Ingram Micro Cloud, joins the podcast to discuss some of the ways Ingram is working to bring more Microsoft partners into the Dynamics 365 space. Growing the number of partners transacting on Dynamics will require some new thinking and new program models, he says. We discuss some of Ingram's latest programs and also look at broader updates in the Dynamics partner channel like new the BREP to CSP incentives and the untapped potential of Microsoft's Cloud Ascent tool.

Show Notes:

1:00 - Mathew's background at Microsoft and in the channel
5:00 - The challenges of transitioning to Dynamics 365
9:00 - How Ingram supports cross-selling Dynamics 365
12:30 - The value and challenges of Microsoft's Cloud Ascent analytics tool for partners
17:00 - The importance of growing the Dynamics 365 channel
19:15 - Mathew's perspective on the new EP to CSP offer for Dynamics ERP on-prem customers
26:45 - How customers who have lapsed on support might be able to revive it

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The news roundup podcast returns! developments. MSDW editors discuss a range of topics including:

1:00 - an interesting new data-related acquisition
3:30 - Microsoft's Q3 earnings
6:30 - The new GM for Dynamics 365, Mike Morton
9:40 - A new BREP to CSP option for Business Central and its impact
13:00 - The new Web API for Power Apps Portals
15:00 - New industry accelerators for the Power Platform
17:00 - The impact of COVID-19 in the Azure space
18:20 - The importance of Dynamics 365 certifications

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While the second episode in our GP upgrade series dealt with customer needs, both current and future, this episode looks at some of the specific conversations that customers and their partners have when it is clear that a change is coming.

As we discuss in this episode, there are several precipitating factors that lead to a change from the GP status quo. And it is pretty clear that some ERP veterans, including our guests, Karen Riordan of Menlo Technologies and Peter Joeckel of TurnOnDynamics, have not yet embraced the idea that all or even most GP customers should move to Dynamics 365 Business Central. For some GP customers, BC is a good option, they say. But they also make the case that plotting the wrong path forward can result in big outlays of time and money with little to show at the end.

Show Notes:

2:15 - Why now is the time to talk about GP customer upgrade options
8:45 - Defining two of the unique reasons why GP customers are motivated for a change
16:45 - Are GP customers moving to cloud hosting?
20:15 - Multi-tenancy - what it means that GP doesn't support it
22:45 - Peter makes the case for why GP to BC is not an upgrade
24:45 - Are GP users educating themselves?
28:45 - Why Karen is seeing interest in Intelligent Cloud
30:15 - Where should this series go from here?

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In the first episode of this series about upgrade strategies for Microsoft Dynamics GP customers, Karen Riordan of Menlo Technologies and Peter Joeckel of TurnOnDynamics joined us to discuss the wide-ranging the experiences of these organizations and varied viewpoints they hold today when it comes to the much-hyped promise of moving from on-prem ERP to Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud.

On this second episode, we go deeper on the needs of GP customers today. The tens of thousands of GP customers in the world are a diverse group. Some have watched carefully as Microsoft and other vendors have released their new generation of ERP solutions, while others need someone to come in and start from the beginning on what cloud is all about. Peter and Karen agree that GP customers should expect their partners to take a consultative approach rather than acting as an extension of their IT team. And they discuss some of the signs that a company is a good candidate for moving to pure cloud ERP as opposed to some other alternative.

Show Notes:

1:00 - When talking about upgrades, why talk about the GP market's decisions?
4:30 - Why don't companies have a great understanding of what a newer ERP system can do for their businesses?
6:30 - The challenge of taking a consultative approach rather than a technical approach to ERP discussions
10:30 - Signs that an organization really needs to consider a new ERP
15:30 - What roles or groups tend to support new technology investments and why is there resistance in other areas?
19:30 - Distinguishing between different types of GP deployments and why the broad use means different future needs
22:30 - Why executive vision is the critical foundation to enterprise application investments, both for the organization and the success of an implementation partner.
24:30 - How coronavirus has impacted the ERP and broader IT priorities of organizations.

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When the full extent of the coronavirus pandemic finally became clear to businesses around the world, the falling stock markets, locked up supply chains, and panic buying were accompanied by a frenzy within marketing departments to re-calibrate both their messaging and their communication channels.

For marketing automation vendor ClickDimensions, one of the results was a massive jump in message volume from customers, says the company's CEO Mike Dickerson. He also observed that the crisis has put very different demands on the customers and the Microsoft partners with which his team works on a daily basis. Dickerson talks with us about these recent experiences and his observations on changes in the Microsoft channel since he last joined the podcast, including the evolution of digital marketing more generally, the need for special skills to accompany a marketing automation deployment, and the ISV Connect program.

Show Notes:

1:30 - Responding to the impact of coronavirus on customers and partners
6:30 - Modern B2B needs still reflect the digital consumer mindset
8:30 - What shutdowns did to customers' communication volume
9:30 - How the ClickDimensions services business has evolved, and the role it plays with Dynamics partners
17:00 - How marketing automation users have adapted - or failed to adapt - their engagement strategy in the midst of a crisis.
21:30 - Mike's perspective on how the pandemic is impacting the Microsoft channel more broadly
26:30 - ISV Connect and its progress from the partner perspective
31:00 - The risks of ISV Connect from the investor perspective and their influence with MIcrosoft
35:00 - How else can partners adjust for better outcomes

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Talking about digital transformation to an Microsoft community audience is a little like talking about gold medals to Olympic athletes. They all understand, they have all heard it a hundred times before. But few have a good chance to reach the goal. Fortunately, strategic IT is not a winner-take-all sport, and our returning guest for this episode, Guus Krabbenborg of Dynamics and More, has been spreading the message that all organizations have the opportunity to transform by shifting their thinking, re-focusing some IT priorities, and demanding a different kind of relationship with their technology partner.

Guus has a new book that tackles these challenges. We dive into Guus's motivation to create the book and his experiences in the last few years that shaped his message to customers and partners.

Show Notes:

2:30 - Guus's outlook on digital transformation broadly
6:45 - Executive sponsorship and the tension between IT projects, strategic vision, and responsibility for success
11:45 - Why companies must refocus on their customers and engineer their business model accordingly
14:00 - The challenge of having a conversation with executives vs IT, and how Microsoft partners can do better
17:00 - Should partners try to be both strategic and tactical? Would they be better off breaking apart these duties?
21:45 - Why change is so difficult for Dynamics partner organizations
25:30 - How do you encourage clients to take action?
30:00 - Guus's new book and his reasons for writing it
36:00 - An alternative book sales model
40:00 - How will Microsoft and partners address the topic of modernizing their ERP methodology guidance

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guuskrabbenborg/

Email: gk@dynamicsandmore.com

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Kerry Peters and Cynthia Priebe of New View Strategies join the MSDW Podcast to continue the discussion on some of the critical and timely topics they have raised in recent articles about bringing automation and digital tools to bear in financial management with Dynamics 365 Business Central.

They discuss some of the pressures their clients have faced in the last two months due to COVID-19, some of the new features of Business Central that they believe hold a lot of value for clients, and what they have learned about introducing new organizations to Business Central.

Articles referenced:

Stop licking those postage stamps! How to email sales invoices from Dynamics 365 Business Central in six easy steps
Still writing paper checks but want enhanced fraud protection? Set up Positive Pay in Business Central without the help of a developer!
Tear up those paper checks! Dynamics 365 Business Central makes ACH easy
Transitioning to a Virtual Accounting Department

New View Strategies has created a page that collects all their remote work articles and a checklist.

Show Notes * 1:45 - Kerry and Cynthia's experience in the Dynamics community * 6:45 - How their clients had to adapt quickly to plan for work from home. * 10:15 - The challenge of reducing paper processes under situational pressures of COVID-19 * 12:45 - Experiences implementing positive pay for Business Central - and how well organizations have adapted * 17:30 - Why organizations fail to be self-motivated on digital transformation in finance * 22:00 - Exciting new features * 27:30 - Do organizations need coaching to adopt electronic/paperless features of Business Central? * 31:30 - How are GP users evaluating Business Central? * 34:15 - Bringing new customers to Business Central from any other finance or ERP system.

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by DXC Technology.

Companies say they want off-the-shelf software, but the reality is that most products can't meet the needs of a sophisticated enterprise without some amount of enhancement. On this episode we assemble a roundtable of experts from DXC Technology to dive into the common challenges and questions around investing in custom software development. Our guests, delivery manager Mindy Waters, enterprise integration expert Keith Honkonen, vice president of software engineering Will Wirtz, and sales director David LaMarre, discuss software requirements definition, roadmap development, and how to build atop off-the-shelf or bridge the gap between solutions.

And they explore why software development fits in more naturally with application modernization efforts than many enterprise or mid-sized organizations might think.

Show Notes: * 2:30 – In what cases should today's enterprise software buyer be thinking about custom development? * 5:45 – Examples of when an off-the-shelf Dynamics solution can benefit from solution development * 9:00 – Application modernization * 14:00 – Moving from on-prem to cloud and why it's not just about cost * 15:30 – The struggle of finding a balance between legacy applications and new development * 18:00 – Tips to get started defining their needs and building a solution roadmap * 23:00 – Bringing an agile mindset to solution development projects * 26:00 – How to measure success in deploying custom solutions

If you’d like to speak with our guests or learn more about DXC Technology and how they can help your organization move your business applications from on-premise to the cloud, you can reach them at phone no#: 877-651-6193 or email: dxceclipse@dxc.com.

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by DXC Technology

Organizations with on-premises Dynamics ERP or Dynamics CRM solutions probably understand that moving those workloads to the cloud requires planning. But with so many variables, no two cloud journeys are exactly the same.

Today's podcast guests, Chris Lavelle and Heather Palmieri from DXC Technology, join Microsoft MVP Rick McCutcheon to share their experiences planning and delivering cloud migrations of various types. The process always starts with a conversation to understand the business goals and the current application environment, Lavelle and Palmieri explain.

Listen in as our guests discuss their experiences working with customers to move a Dynamics ERP or CRM solution to the cloud and what kinds of plans, expectations, and decisions lead to success.

If you have questions you can get in touch with our DXC guests at dxcexclipse@dxc.com or by calling: +1 877-651-6193.

Show Notes:

3:00 - How to start the conversation
5:00 - Who on the user side needs to be involved in the process from the start?
6:15 - How can an organization estimate the time their migration will take?
7:45 - Following a project planning methodology to develop a fact-based approach
10:30 - Why legacy system migration usually includes unknowns that make expectation management a challenge
15:15 - Estimating the time required of the end user organization to keep a cloud migration moving forward
17:45 - How to prepare your organization for the commitment required on a cloud project.
19:30 - Supporting an organization's ERP or CRM usage after moving to the cloud
21:15 - How to use cloud migration as an inflection point for our business

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by DXC Technology.

An organization with a mandate to embrace digital transformation can only achieve its goals if it considers the needs of its workforce. Expectations by the executive team around productivity, flexibility, and expertise hinge on supporting employees with the tools that enable them to do their jobs no matter the challenge.

Today, as IT departments navigate a landscape that bridges the on-premises systems of the last two decades and today's cloud-based services, decisions around new technology investments will determine whether an organization can support a digital workforce.

In this episode, we hear from three subject matter experts from DXC Technology on how their clients are transitioning to support a digital workforce. DXC sales director Russ Riley, director of operations David Bowles, and IT manager Pete Loach sit down to discuss how a digital workforce succeeds today. We dive into how IT leaders are assessing their next investments and the measures that organizations are taking today to accelerate their digital journeys.

Show Notes * 2:00 – The value of virtual cloud migrations and scenarios that drive organizations to embrace it * 4:30 – What should companies expect to scope a cloud migration project? * 8:30 – Adopting virtual desktop infrastructure: The technology and the advantages * 12:30 – The importance of client-based VPN tools * 17:00 – Disaster recovery services and what they accomplish * 22:00 – DR and the importance of defining what's truly mission critical * 24:30 – Securing resources in a corporate environment via multi-factor authentication (MFA) * 26:30 – The benefits of managing public cloud infrastructure compared to the days of all on-premises data centers

If you’d like to speak with our guests or learn more about DXC's work with organizations building a digital workforce, you can reach them at phone no#: 877-651-6193 or email: dxceclipse@dxc.com.

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Anya Ciecierski, marketing director of CAL Business Solutions and the creator of several group blogs for the Microsoft channel, joins MSDW's Marilou Barsam for part two of a conversation on the challenges of developing and realizing value from marketing content. Here, she explains how some simple techniques can yield big results when it comes to re-purposing content for different online properties, as well as reviving great older content.

Show Notes:

0:45 - Managing for the unending demand for new content and the risks of duplicating content.
5:00 - Rewriting or repurposing blog posts - when and how
8:30 - Tips for increasing traffic on an existing blog post.

More about Anya:

ERP Software Blog
CRM Software Blog
CAL Business Solutions
Anya's marketing blog
LinkedIn
Twitter

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Anya Ciecierski, marketing director of CAL Business Solutions and the creator of several group blogs for the Microsoft channel, joins MSDW's Marilou Barsam for part one of a conversation on the challenges of developing and realizing value from marketing content. The source of the most insightful content at an ERP services firm is the firm's subject matter experts, a group that is notoriously challenging to encourage to write. Anya offers her tips for getting the most out of her team, as well as some of the options for making the most of the content she develops, whether it is blog posts, white papers, or other items.

Show Notes:

0:30 - Anya's background as a marketer in the ERP channel
2:30 - A 3-step process for marketers who need to develop new content with the help of subject matter experts
9:00 - How to calculate the ROI on content investments
11:30 - The debate on calls-to-action, gating content (or not), and engagement metrics
13:30 - The benefits of content generation with subject matter expertise

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Paul Soliman is one of the newest Microsoft MVPs and the first for business applications in the Philippines. As we learned from our recent profile piece, Paul splits his time between running two businesses, Hacktiv and Raven Global Ventures and helping to organize his country's growing business apps community group, which has grown from single digits to hundreds of members. Paul sat down to discuss his experiences in more depth, including his work experiences at major Dynamics NAV customers in his country and his realization at the possibilities of the Power Platform to transform businesses and careers.

(Editor's note: Due to some audio engineering issues, some parts of the interview have a bit of distortion, but it is still easy to understand.)

Show Notes

2:45 - Paul's experience getting started in the Dynamics NAV space, including what he learned about corporate culture from his early employers
5:30 - Experiences as an admin on a legacy ERP and exploring open source enterprise software
10:00 - Transitioning to a consulting role and working with the Philippine Red Cross
13:30 - Using empathic listening
15:45 - Embracing the Power Platform
17:00 - What it took to become an entrepreneur
20:00 - Why focus on the Philippine market for his company's solutions
23:45 - Favorite Power Platform use cases so far
27:45 - The types of people who find roles via Hacktiv
30:40 - Paul's early experiences as a Microsoft MVP
32:40 - What's next in the Philippines Dynamics community
36:30 - New and upcoming technology Paul is excited about: Adaptive cards, Teams, and more

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Microsoft has noticeably ramped up efforts to offer a path for its on-premises SMB ERP customers on Dynamics NAV, GP, and SL to Dynamics 365 Business Central. Some technical tools already exist to help migrate data to the cloud, and there is a roadmap for more to come. And Business Central partners are armed with favorable licensing conversions and special offers for these existing customers. While many SMB ERP customer will be well suited to a future Business Central solution, others will be best served looking elsewhere. Staying in the Microsoft family, Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations is the logical option for organizations with multi-company, multi-currency, or other complex needs that their current ERP is struggling to fulfill. Some may end up looking at other third party options.

Our guests on this episode, Karen Riordan of Menlo Technologies and Peter Joeckel of TurnOnDynamics walk us through some of the reasons today's on-premises SMB ERP customer may be tomorrow's SaaS enterprise ERP customer - or not.

Show Notes:

2:00 - Karen's background in the ERP channel
3:00 - On being challenged to think about more than just Business Central for today's GP customers
5:00 - When a GP customer should stay on GP
7:45 - Microsoft's advantage by improving GP to BC cloud migrations
11:00 - The importance of master data cleanup
14:00 - Why GP customers may not be aware of the extent of the customization and ISV add-on solutions in their ERP
18:30 - Consolidating legacy systems
20:30 - Why leaving GP ought to be a move to the cloud in some form - whether BC, F&O, or another

See also: Peter and Karen's new article on the options that GP customers can consider when evaluating their on-premises GP solution's future.

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Ingram Micro Cloud

Microsoft partners have no choice but to adapt at a time when coronavirus has raised so much uncertainty in the world. But while some firms are facing massive risk, others continue to thrive, engaging their clients and fostering a constructive position in the ecosystem.

To understand more about how partners should face the challenge of marketing during an unprecedented crisis, we're speaking on this episode with Shark Chobot, chief transformation officer at Neural Impact, a sales and marketing consulting firm that applies behavioral economics, neuroscience and persuasion psychology to the customer acquisition process.

On this episode we discuss how partners are adapting to change today, including the impact on the sale, service, and delivery of Microsoft technology, from productivity tools to cloud services to ERP and CRM.

To learn more about today's sponsor, Ingram Micro, and their partner services please visit https://microsoft.ingrammicrocloud.com/dynamics/.

Show Notes:

2:00 - What Neural Impact is hearing from partners today
5:00 - Should partners bother investing in marketing activities right now? And what's not working?
10:00 - The impact of mass marketing in the current climate
15:30 - How can marketers get started changing their marketing stance?
18:00 - Identifying new revenue opportunities
21:30 - New programs Sharka is working on with Ingram Micro

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Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by PowerObjects.

The Power Platform has evolved into a collection of services underpinning everything about Microsoft's Business Applications suite. First-party apps like Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Service are really Power Apps now, but so are the thousands of custom applications, automated processes, and dashboards built by and for customers.

Our guests on this episode are Avni Pandya, Merlin Schwaiger, and Dave Kuntz of PowerObjects and they will be discussing how organizations that use the Power Platform should approach critical components of any development project like user adoption, app development, and data protection.

They also share lessons from the field about learning how to use tools like Power Apps and Power Automate, mitigating risk, and some success stories.

Learn more about PowerObjects' training on organizational adoption and governance of Microsoft’s Power Platform.

Show Notes

5:00 - How to begin understanding the Power Platform
11:30 - Protecting your data.
19:00 - The benefit of a common database to build upon
22:00 - Assigning responsibility to your users for building, with guardrails
23:30 - How to encourage use in places with resistance?
27:00 - A story of the benefits of modernizing a carpet company
33:30 - A key benefit of asking your team to help define the apps they need: ownership
34:45 - The limitations of the citizen developer's skills and involvement
36:00 - Other app examples

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Editor's Note: This episode of the MSDW Podcast is sponsored by Avanade.

Larger enterprises have transitioned to remote work in response to the coronavirus, and it has forced IT managers to re-evaluate their traditional methods for mobilizing, managing, and delivering a successful technology project.

To understand the delivery challenges of an ERP project in today's environment, we speak with David Misakian, delivery management group lead at Avanade. David discusses recently completed and ongoing client work and explains how his teams are navigating the current challenges successfully.

Topics include:

Client concerns arising from coronavirus
Interesting use and the rapid uptake of Teams
Whether risk management has changed
Observations on successfully transitioning to remote work
Project ownership
Agile development for ERP
Perspective on planning an F&O project today

To learn more about how Avanade helps organizations upgrade, integrate and maximize their ERP technology investment visit https://www.avanade.com/en-ca/solutions/business-applications/finance-and-operations.

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