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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: December, 2020
Dec 15, 2020

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

Dec 14, 2020

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 onetwothree, 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
Dec 8, 2020

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
Dec 1, 2020

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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