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The MSDW Podcast

The MSDynamicsWorld.com (MSDW) podcast explores news, ideas, and events in the Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM community.
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Now displaying: August, 2018
Aug 29, 2018

We welcome back Gus Gonzalez, founder and CEO of Elev8 Solutions and a Microsoft MVP, to chat about his recent article discussing Microsoft's decision to open up access to the Dynamics Learning Portal, or DLP, making it free for partners and customers with premier support. The article generated some responses from readers, so we dive into the DLP discussion in more detail, taking on those issues as well as more of a comparison of what DLP offers versus other types of training and why more open access to DLP should serve as a competitive advantage for Microsoft in the marketplace.

Show notes:

  • 2:00 – Reviewing the history of DLP for partners and
  • 6:30 – Who's writing DLP content anyway?
  • 8:45 – How to sign up for DLP access and what you'll find inside
  • 13:30 – Why make DLP free when it was already relatively inexpensive for partners?
  • 17:15 – Is DLP really free for partners and premier support customers?
  • 23:00 – The idea behind producing "Two-Minute Tuesday" educational videos
  • 24:15 – Why there is still a need for independent training in addition to DLP
  • 34:00 – Why training remains such a hot topic – as a free and paid service
  • 37:50 – The connection between DLP and Microsoft certifications
  • 40:00 – Finding the balance between training and prepping for exams
  • 41:15 – Why Gus developed the Black Belt training series and why it has changed over time
Aug 22, 2018

On this episode we talk with Josh Greenbaum (@josheac) of Enterprise Application Consulting. Josh has covered Microsoft and other major players in the enterprise business solutions space for many years now and was at Microsoft's recent Business Applications Summit as part of an analyst briefing that coincided with the event.

Josh chats with us about the state of Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations in the context of the competitive landscape, and he shares his latest new perspective on where some of the technology cycles are at more broadly in areas including citizen developer trends, integration, and automation.

Show notes:

  • 1:40 – Impressions on the revealed data about the Dynamics 365 user adds and implementation times
  • 10:00 – An inflection point in the market, and how D365FO faces the competition and nails their validity in the market.
  • 12:00 – Pressure to deliver cloud projects quickly and successfully
  • 14:00 – Faith in the extensibility drive?
  • 22:00 – Buyer advice – where the big problems and opportunities exist today (and how LCS fits in)
  • 25:30 – Why Microsoft has an opportunity to differentiate from Google and Amazon on cloud solution management
  • 29:30 – AI and process automation – where is that segment of the market today?
Aug 17, 2018

On this episode our guest is Julie Yack, a Microsoft MVP and Dynamics 365 CRM expert. When she's not helping to lead Colorado Technology Consultants, you're like to find Julie active in another role in the Microsoft ecosystem like organizing the XRM Virtual community, training customers, or participating at a conference.

On this episode, we talk conferences, training, including the new online training venture Julie is involved with, and keeping up with the Dynamics 365 product roadmap.

Topics include:

  • Thoughts on the inaugural Business Applications Summit
  • The history and evolution of XRM Virtual
  • Golden rules of running a user group
  • Application lifecycle management concerns in the D365 CRM community
  • A new online training venture – 365DotTraining
  • Why in-person training is Julie's favorite format
  • Diving into LinkedIn SalesNavigator and its integration to D365 – with Microsoft and other partners
  • The evolution of Microsoft Social Engagement, why it's worth a try, and its automation possibilities
  • Watching project service automation mature
Aug 3, 2018

With the publication of its hefty new release notes document for fall 2018 release wave, Microsoft has made it clear that business applications partners and customers will stay busy through October figuring out what and how to prioritize their learning and deployment decisions across Dynamics 365 solutions, PowerApps, Flow, and Power BI.

On this episode of the podcast we check in with Steve Mordue, a Microsoft MVP and founder of RapidStartCRM to talk about where the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem finds itself coming out of a busy two weeks in July that included the Inspire 2018 partner event and the new Business Applications Summit.

We discuss the events themselves and what some of the highlights will mean for customers. We also discuss key decisions that will start impacting Dynamics 365 partners in the near term like Microsoft's commitment to twice yearly updates, the maturing PowerApps development model based on XRM, and progress on the Unified interface that is quickly broadening its reach on the D365 customer engagement apps.

Aug 1, 2018

The MSDW editorial team brings you another news roundup edition of the podcast, this one following two big events – Inspire 2018 and the Microsoft Business Applications Summit. We look back at the headlines from Las Vegas and Seattle, respectively, and more. Topics include:

  • Inspire's lack of drama
  • What the newly revealed D365FO customer stats could mean for the product
  • First impressions of the MS Business Apps Summit
  • The Power platform's role in shaping the future of D365 apps
  • New salary survey data
  • D365FO dashboards, reporting, and data sync
  • Real talk on Business Central/NAV from SMEs
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