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The MSDynamicsWorld.com (MSDW) podcast explores news, ideas, and events in the Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM community.
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Now displaying: 2023
Mar 30, 2023

This episode is sponsored by Formpipe.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 projects have the potential to impact organizations both in terms of the quality of internal operations and their customer-facing activities. On this episode, Formpipe’s Commercial Director Mike Rogers and Business Solutions Consultant Soren Hjorth join us to share their recent real world experiences working with Dynamics 365 customers. As they explain, solving business document challenges can deliver Dynamics ERP and CRM users with a range of benefits that not only achieve immediate goals but also position them for future needs.

 

We also discuss some news of the day: Microsoft's recent announcements of Copilot capabilities for Dynamics 365 apps, Power Platform,  Microsoft 365, and beyond. As AI tools scour an organization's content and data, proper access to business documents will be a critical pre-requisite.

 

Show Notes:

  • 2:00 - Why so many Dynamics clients are focusing on deploying connected business systems
  • 6:15 - First impressions of Microsoft's Copilot previews and what an AI engine means for document management and structured data
  • 11:30 - Why automation is such a popular topic for vendors and customers
  • 14:30 - Why integrating Formpipe Lasernet with other ISV solutions that work with Dynamics
  • 17:00 - The influence of Power Platform on business application strategy
  • 19:00 - Recent industry-related customer stories, including
  • 24:30 - A brief update on Formpipe's document management platform

 

For more information on Formpipe and its document management solutions for Dynamics, please visit: www.formpipe.com or please check out Formpipe content on MSDW.

Mar 22, 2023

This episode is sponsored by Cavallo.

 

On this episode we hear from Cavallo vice presidents Bob McAdam and Joe Alt for the latest guidance on the company's Dynamics GP solution roadmap and partnerships. GP users looking at both the Cavallo Salespad roadmap and their latest partnerships should find comfort in the ecosystem's future, including in the opportunities to modernize order management and build more integrated and automated systems. 

 

Cavallo's Salespad continues to evolve, both in terms of the core offering and with new partnerships and connectors, Joe and Bob explain. We discuss the addition of more granular controls over orders coming from e-commerce systems. And Cavallo's new partnership with WennSoft (formerly Key2Act) will benefit customers who want better integration of order management with job costing and service management.

 

Looking ahead, Salespad Desktop is evolving to offer customers a more modular set of capabilities, Joe explains. And the company's spring event plans include a pre-day at DynamicsCon Live in May and their own Panels 2023 event later in the year in the company's home town of Grand Rapids.

 

Show Notes:

  • 2:30 - The Salespad product roadmap
  • 5:00 - Why the partnership with Wennsoft (formerly Key2Act) makes sense and how the solutions align for customers in areas including job costing, service management, and inventory management
  • 11:30 - Why GP customers have built their solutions around advanced solutions
  • 12:30 - How the GP roadmap drives Cavallo's product planning
  • 15:15 - More details on Salespad's GP roadmap
  • 19:00 - More plans for connectors and automation
  • 21:30 - Cavallo's plans to offer Salespad Desktop capabilities in more individual modules, including process analytics

 

For more on the DynamicsCon pre-day, visit https://cavallo.com/scottsdale. If you have other questions about what you heard today, please email joe.alt@cavallo.com.

Mar 2, 2023

This episode is sponsored by Resco. 

Resco.net CEO Andrew Lorraine joins us to break down what’s next for mobile workers in 2023. We discuss the technology trends with long term potential, how to maximize your mobile worker experience, and Resco’s new developments for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 community. 

Show Notes:

  • 1:30 - Andrew's career journey at Resco and becoming CEO
  • 2:30 - Highlights of the last year at Resco
  • 5:30 - How customers have faced Microsoft's changes to the D365 Field Service mobile app
  • 8:00 - Industry and technology trends for 2023 that Andrew is focused on
  • 12:30 - Has Power Platform accelerated opportunities for ISV solutions?
  • 15:30 - How to help customers find ways to differentiate through technology
  • 17:00 - Resco's approach to D365 apps and Power Platform going forward
  • 20:30 - Company outlook for 2023: product management, client management, and beyond

Test drive the Resco Mobile App now. Get a feel for key functions, and use sample data - there is no need to upload your own. Get the app:

 

Feb 24, 2023

MSDW and MSCN Editors Jason Gumpert and Eamon McCarthy Earls discuss recent developments in the Microsoft channel, highlighting recent news and features, as well as ongoing trends and upcoming Microsoft Dynamics events.

Show Notes:

Feb 15, 2023

This episode is sponsored by Provance.

 

Power Platform is rapidly maturing as an application development platform, giving professional developers more ways to use it to build advanced solutions. For Microsoft ISVs, those advances have opened up opportunities to build first class solutions for on the platform where they can overlay their unique technology and expertise.

 

In the area of ITSM and ITAM, Provance has launched its own Power Apps-based solution, ServiceTeam ITSM. Two experts from the firm, Jennifer Grassen and Brian Field, join us to discuss the company's approach to Power Platform, some of the challenges they have solved with ServiceTeam ITSM, and how Provance's work in the Microsoft channel has informed their own work to take their ITAM and ITSM vision further.

 

Show Notes:

  • 2:00 - What Provance is doing in the ITAM and ITSM space today and how Brian and Jennifer got involved in the space.
  • 3:30 - Working as a specialized vendor in the Microsoft ecosystem, including the decision to get involved with Power Platform
  • 5:30 - How ServiceTeam ITSM has evolved to help more parts of an organization than just IT
  • 10:00 - Why does Power Platform make sense for the future of ITSM at Provance?
  • 13:30 - Doing ITSM and ITAM product planning alongside Microsoft's technology roadmap
  • 18:30 - The benefit to customers of building on Power Platform benefit customers?
  • 22:00 - What's exciting in Microsoft's roadmap as it relates to Provance's plans?

 

For more information on ITSM and ITAM Solutions from Provance, visit Provance.com

Feb 13, 2023

The Canadian National Dynamics 365 CE/CRM User Group has a long tradition of bringing members of the community together, both virtually and in-person. The group paused its activities during the pandemic, but they are back with new events, new plans, and a new organizing platform with the support of Dynamics User Group (DUG).

 

Two of the organizers of the Canadian National group, Microsoft MVPs Malcolm McAuley of C5 Insight and Rick McCutcheon, update us on building new momentum among Canadian users and how they see the group moving forward at both a regional and national level.

 

Group members come from a variety of organizations, Rick and Malcolm tell us. Often these users are the lone CRM experts in their organizations, so the connections to other users can be invaluable when planning how to enhance skills and learn about new technology.

 

Malcolm and Rick also discuss the challenges of offering content that resonates with others while also working toward their goal of increasing the volume of meetings, aiming for a monthly cadence. Malcolm also explains what the group has planned for the future, like more roadmap guidance, additional perspective on related Microsoft products, and helping foster direct connections between members.

Feb 7, 2023

This episode is sponsored by Evenica.

 

Manufacturers have made a lot of progress on their e-commerce journeys in recent years, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce offers some interesting ways for these companies to achieve sales and broader customer experience goals. Our guest, Stefanie Richter of Evenica, explains how manufacturers are approaching commerce  plans today and how those decisions influence technology investment.

 

Stefanie shares her takeaways from this year's NRF BIG Show, a retail-focused event that also offers interesting perspective for other industries. And she tells us about some specific Dynamics 365 Commerce scenarios Evenica is working on with clients, making the product a hub for the organization that brings together ERP and CRM.

 

Show Notes:

  • 1:00 - An introduction to Evenica and their role in the Microsoft channel
  • 2:45 - What the manufacturing industry is doing with e-commerce broadly today?
  • 4:30 - What are manufacturers' priorities when Evenica works with them?
  • 6:30 - NRF BIG Show takeaways and the expectations of B2B digital commerce experiences
  • 8:30 - How Dynamics 365 Commerce adapts to different industries
  • 10:30 - Do we still need to talk about "e-commerce" and isn't it all just commerce now?
  • 11:30 - How Evenica positions D365 Commerce to clients
  • 13:30 - What it means to position commerce as a hub for ERP and CRM while maximizing customer engagement
  • 14:30 - How Evenica is engaging with manufacturers and other industry-focused partners in the Microsoft channel
  • 17:45 - Extending the capabilities of D365 Commerce for more specific manufacturer needs

 

Evenica specializes in Dynamics 356 Commerce implementations, and they have a growing portfolio of their own IP that extends and amplifies the capabilities of Commerce. With a unique industry-specific approach, Evenica is able to offer custom solutions for brands in retail, manufacturing, healthcare, beverage & cannabis, government and more. For more information, please visit evenica.com.

Jan 26, 2023

This episode is sponsored by KwikTag by enChoice.

 

The world of work has changed in recent years, and today's AP departments find themselves working to meet both the performance demands of their businesses and the career interests of employees.


Our guests on this episode, Mary Miller and Sean Fitzgerald of KwikTag by enChoice, share their perspective on recent research on the impact of remote work and the implications on enterprise software investment. They share their own experiences working with companies to embrace the digital world and making sense of the marketplace and their employees' needs.

 

We also discuss why the profile of a company adopting AP automation is changing and the outcomes that finance departments are seeking from their software investments.

 

Show Notes

  • 2:00 - New findings on the sentiment toward remote work
  • 6:00 - The priority of AP before and after Covid and a real customer's experience ramping up quickly
  • 11:15 - Customer and employee expectations of an AP automation project today
  • 15:00 - Perception vs reality of what kinds of organization invests in AP automation
  • 19:15 - How a single dad managed AP during the pandemic while working from home and making time for his children
  • 24:30 - Implications of AP technology investment for companies moving ERP to the cloud
  • 30:00 - Why Business Central customers want solutions that allow them to be more proactive on budgeting, planning, analysis, and process improvement
  • 35:45 - Looking at the hiring and talent retention landscape

 

KwikTag by enChoice leads digital transformation as the one system for AI-powered invoice capture and workflow automation. With 20+ years of experience in the Dynamics community, KwikTag offers intelligent, cloud AP automation solutions for Dynamics GP and Business Central that provide a completely digital, touchless workflow and automatic transaction creation in your ERP. Visit kwiktag.com to learn how AP automation could benefit your business.

 

To learn more about the reasons companies are automating accounts payable, read this whitepaper: 5 Reasons Companies Are Automating AP. Watch this video to learn how a company using Dynamics GP transformed their AP process as a result of the pandemic and the work-from-anywhere era: Customer Spotlight: American Software.

Jan 9, 2023

This episode is sponsored by Formpipe.

Formpipe’s Business Solutions Consultants Soren Hjorth and Stefan Kristiansen join us to discuss commonly seen document management requirements in the Dynamics community. As more customers modernize from on-premises to cloud ERP solutions, their requirements and expectations for document automation often change, our guests say. Organizations today want greater speed, universal access and control, and better integrations, among other things. We also discuss what's new at Formpipe, including the next major version of Lasernet and some of the forward-looking plans of Dynamics customers looking to document management more holistically.

Show Notes

  • 2:00 - What are customers asking for frequently today (more performance, better flexibility and responsiveness to requirements)?
  • 9:00 -  The role of paper printing in today's business (especially in the US) and how businesses are moving away from paper
  • 10:30 - How to find speed gains in the document automation and printing process
  • 11:30 - Changes in customer requirements in recent years
  • 13:30 - Customer expectations today for a document management solution: better understanding of what solutions can provide
  • 16:00 - How to scope and prioritize document management needs to get the most out your investment
  • 18:30 - Learning about what an organization does well in their Dynamics system today
  • 22:00 - What's new with Formpipe Lasernet today -  app integration, scanning, adding applications
  • 25:15 - Working together with the Power Platform
  • 27:45 - What's new at Formpipe - planning for the new release, hosting options, integrating marketing goals

For more information on Lasernet for Dynamics and Formpipe, please visit: www.formpipe.com or please check out Formpipe’s content on MSDW.

Jan 2, 2023

Dynamics ERP veterans Tanya Henderson and Steve Endow join the podcast to discuss their new ISV venture focused on the Dynamics 365 Business Central market, Blue Dragonfly. They also talk about their overall career journeys from a focus mostly on Dynamics GP a few years ago to now working primarily with Business Central. They bring some unique observations to what's happening in the BC space, including their outlook on how AppSource is changing, the differences in how Microsoft seems to run its BC R&D organization compared to the old GP team, and how the global community interacts more or less 24x7 around the world. They also offer some interesting ideas for what it takes for other GP professionals to get up to speed on BC.

Links:

Show Notes

  • 1:45 - How Tanya and Steve each got their start with Business Central
  • 5:45 - The origins of their new ISV business based on Business Central: Blue Dragonfly
  • 9:30 - The decision to develop new ISV products for the BC space
  • 13:00 - Blue Dragonfly's first product, recurring billing
  • 16:00 - Developing product ideas and plans
  • 17:30 - The per-tenant extension opportunity in BC
  • 22:00 - The decision to commit to BC: architecture, licensing, marketplace, administration, and more
  • 25:15 - AppSource experiences as a BC ISV - why current standards can cause concerns for some apps
  • 29:15 - Best practices for an ISV in an app-centric Business Centric world
  • 33:00 - Using Azure services for optimal cloud-based solutions
  • 36:00 - What to look ahead to in 2023 and the community's influence
  • 42:00 - Microsoft's adoption of GitHub and the broader agile transformation of BC
  • 44:45 -  Preparing to work with partners and customers in 2023 on products and services
  • 50:45 - Steve's multi-year effort to gain expertise in BC
  • 52:15 - 2023 conferences where you can hear from Tanya and Steve
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