Chris de Visser, North American GM at Sana Commerce joins the MSDW Podcast to discuss a new report measuring B2B businesses’ attitudes around e-commerce and digital transformation. Among the findings was importance of customer experience in B2B and companies’ attitudes toward investing to achieve digital transformation. The discussion includes findings from Sana’s report and the broader outlook for eCommerce in the Dynamics 365/ERP channel, including trends around integration, different industries, and the challenges of B2B versus B2C commerce.

Show Notes:

• 4:00 – What is the spectrum of e-commerce deployment and architectural models today?
• 7:00 - How do you describe B2B e-commerce maturity today?
• 13:00 – How divergent are B2B and B2C today?
• 16:55 - Will consumer experience today shape B2B ecommerce expectations?
• 18:30 – Industry-specific needs and opportunities for improvement
• 23:10 – What’s driving investment in digital transformation today in the context of Dynamics ERP & CRM solutions?
• 25:40 – Differences in the e-commerce market in North America versus Europe
• 27:30 – What business goals drive e-commerce planning?
• 30:50 – The value of sticking with standard, updated software and avoiding customization

Pablo Peralta joins us this week to talk about his current endeavor, Comunidad365, and about the business, technology, and community changes over time that have helped him reach this point in his career. 

Show notes:

• 1:45 – Pablo’s background
• 4:00 – On being an entrepreneur in the Microsoft channel in Uruguay
• 11:00 – The need for a place for Latin American and Spanish Dynamics CRM professionals to form a community
• 13:00 – On the need for native language communities and support for Dynamics CRM/365
• 18:45 – The evolution of Comunidad365 from forum to education resource
• 22:30 – Spanish language training needs
• 25:00 – What types of content are Comunidad365 members most interested in?
• 28:40 – How does Microsoft fare with translating D365 for Latin America and making the latest available?
• 33:40 – Does a CRM forum help improve the D365 sales prospect’s impression?
• 37:45 – Upcoming plans for Comunidad365
• 42:00 – Learning about and teaching an expanding product like D365 Customer Experience apps.

Leon Tribe is a Microsoft MVP who is serious about Dynamics 365 and CRM, but still enjoys having some fun with the industry in which he has made his professional home. So when he isn't busy delivering complex enterprise solutions to customers, he might be found breaking down a new analyst report or simply trying to break the latest technology.  

Leon is the author of a long-running CRM blog, and his recent writings provided a great starting point for this conversation on Microsoft, Salesforce, agile projects, Flow, and more. 

Show notes: 

• 2:40 – Analyzing the latest trajectories of sales force automation vendors from Gartner and Forrester
• 6:45-7:45
• 8:40 – Tactics Salesforce uses to compete with Msft, and the value debate
• 11:35 – Salesforce earnings analysis, which Leon provides quarterly.
• 17:00 – Lessons learned from setting up and playing with Microsoft Flow
• 29:50 – Running a longterm scale Dynamics 365/CRM project with agile methodology
• 45:20 – Other things Leon is involved with, including Microsoft Tech Summit and CRM Saturday

In this week’s Microsoft and Dynamics Channel news roundup, we’ll look at some compelling Azure news – why are Microsoft and SAP cozying up? We look at VMWare migrations, along with an outsider’s view on what NAV developers are excited about, GDPR regulations, standing up a Dynamics 365 practice in a hurry, the bumpy road to becoming an ISV, and more.

Notes

• 0:50 - Microsoft upgrades to S/4HANA on Azure – raising eyebrows in the channel, but this partnership makes sense
• 09:27 - Microsoft’s Azure Migrate tool may enable "frictionless" VMware migrations, but it certainly rubs VMware the wrong way
• 17:31 - What had developers enthused at NAVTechDays 2017 in Antwerp?
• 20:12 - User sentiment on GDPR compliance with Microsoft Dynamics 365 – a live survey reveals more concern with customer compliance than internal uers
• 27:30 - Is there a “buyers’ strike” on Microsoft Dynamics 365/CRM for SMBs? MindsUnited explains.
• 29:11 - SaaSplaza on how to accelerate the NAV channel's cloud journey, and why that’s imperative
• 29:50 - The risks, rewards and roadbumps of becoming a Microsoft Dynamics ISV
• 31:32 - The career-changing rewards and prestige of Microsoft MVP status, as told by Mexico’s first Dynamics 365 MVP
• 33:51 - A look ahead at upcoming coverage