Six years ago, I wrote a post that was directed at IT Directors/Managers, about the need for them to re-imagine their roles in the face of the then rapidly growing cloud thing. Today, the role that needs to be re-imagined is that of Microsoft Business Applications Partner. Between Microsoft and …
So I have actually been having a little fun with the “Steve Reads his Post Podcast”, and decided to see if I might take it further. But I didn’t want it to be “just another podcast”. I thought it might be fun to just call somebody out-of-the-blue with the record …
As I was writing my last post on Re-Thinking, I got an email from some off-shore developer, offering to assist us with any “Dynamics CRM Online” projects we may have. Based on this pretty big clue, I put on my pompous know-it-all hat, and blasted him for offering his ancient …
Recently, I found myself looking in the Google Play Store for a mobile app to solve some issue. I found several options that were close, but none met my need perfectly. My choices were: a) continue to live with an unmet need, b) Use one of the apps that was …
Dynamics 365 for Marketing – The Giant Stands Back Up Back in April, I wrote a post called “Dynamics 365 for Marketing – A Giant Tripped by a Grain of Sand” about Microsoft’s new Dynamics 365 for Marketing Application. It was not a favorable post. Regardless, Microsoft added us to …
As an experiment, back in February, I thought I would try using the LinkedIn “Create an Article” feature, to see how it compared to just posting to LinkedIn from my own blog. I can confidently report that the test was a huge failure. Anyone thinking of using LinkedIn’s “Create an …
Sometimes people ask me where I come up with post ideas, here’s one way. I saw a LinkedIn post today from a recruiter, suggesting the use of “freelancers” for Dynamics 365, and presumably other Microsoft Business Applications. While freelancers may have a place in the process, there are some very …
There seems to be quite a bit of confusion lately about Dynamics 365 and PowerApps, particularly now with Model-Driven PowerApps. Microsoft’s #FreightTrain, seems to have become a #BulletTrain of innovation, and sometimes things like “naming” and “explaining” lag behind. Let’s see if I can unpack this one. Warning, this is …
Mobile phone apps ruined everything. As a result of minimal processing power and small screen size, mobile app developers had little choice but to keep things basic. Given that mobile devices are used by everyone on the planet, including a lot of people who are not particularly smart, mobile apps …
Dynamics 365 Customers and Partners have had a few changes pushed to them in recent years. Dynamics 365 was evolving at a pretty rapid pace since it hit the cloud, and when James Phillips took over the team, he took both of his feet and smashed the gas pedal. It’s …
There is no need to panic…yet. Procrastinators can freely ignore this post, for now. But if you are one of those people who hates scrambling at the last minute, then maybe this will interest you.
I was chatting with another Dynamics 365 partner the other day. He was talking about his existing customers, and how once deployed, configured and tweaked etc., he did not do much follow-on work with them. He was however, spending tremendous effort trying to get new customers. I thought, “I think …
Microsoft recently announced the availability of the Common Data Service (CDS), as a platform, accessible with a PowerApps P2 license. A few folks got kind of excited, many others said “So what?”, and most have no idea what I am talking about right now. But our firm has bet the …
It was less than a year ago… I was asking Dynamics 365 leaders about the possibility of Dynamics 365 being offered as a “Naked” platform. The strategy, that has been successfully employed by Salesforce.com for years, did not seem like it was on Microsoft’s radar. I was told “Never gonna …
I happens much more often lately. The Microsoft Business Solutions Team releases a bunch of brand new stuff in a huge wave. As I watch partners, including ourselves, attempt to wrap our heads around these new concepts, I can’t help but wonder… if the top partners are confused, how does …
It should be news to no one that Microsoft’s Business Solutions are exploding with new capabilities by the minute. An enormous amount of money and effort is being brought to bear to push the envelope, raise the bar, and then raise it again. The advancements have been nothing short of …
I recently wrote a couple of posts about Dynamics 365 for Marketing, that some may have deemed negative. I, like many other partners and customers, had a few issues with it. But make no mistake, I am a huge fan of the offering, and I am confident those hiccups will …
There has been quite a bit of chatter in the channel lately about this new “Citizen Developer” role that Microsoft is attempting to better support. Not surprisingly, many “real” developers have been none to pleased with the idea. I thought I would try and unpack this sticky-wicket a little bit.
Microsoft recently announced Dynamics 365 Business Central, the official name for the product that was code-named “Tenerife”. This is the long anticipated, fully “SaaSified” version of “Full” NAV, and it is available now. At the same time, Microsoft also announced a new Customer Engagement option, Dynamics 365 Sales Professional, a …
One of the things Microsoft would probably love to be able to do, is to reduce the number of versions of its products that are in use today. It has to be a complete support nightmare for them, as well as a huge internal cost. Of course Microsoft created this …
