Kevin Machayya is a 15-year veteran of Microsoft and Great Plains Software. He has held various roles in technical support, customer service, and sales operations. For the last 11 years, Kevin has focused on the Microsoft Dynamics partner channel through partner account management, readiness, marketing, resourcing/staffing and development programs.
Connect with the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Community on:
A quick and simple reminder regarding the expiration of these offers at the end of this month. Please review complete terms and conditions.
Cloud Easy Offer —Talk to Your Customers About the Cloud Today The Cloud Easy offer lets your customers earn partner subsidy dollars on their Microsoft Online Services subscription purchases—dollars they can apply to additional software licenses, subscriptions, or services. Offer ends May 31. Terms and conditions.
Big Easy Offer 10 —Help Your Customers Update Their IT It's the right time to talk to your customers about upgrading their IT to use new features and functionality in Microsoft products that help increase operational efficiency, data management, productivity, and collaboration. The Big Easy Offer 10 covers a wide variety of popular Microsoft on-premises software. Offer ends May 31. Offer terms and conditions.
--Kevin
Very big congratulations today to all of our exceptional Microsoft Dynamics WPC 2013 award winners and finalists! Your commitment and dedication to Microsoft and the Microsoft Dynamics technologies is unmatched, and we appreciate your strong efforts throughout FY13.
For a complete list of all Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards 2013 winners and more information on our winning partners go to Digital WPC and the Microsoft News Center.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Winner: PowerObjects Finalist: CRM Partners Finalist: Customer Effective Finalist: Navantis
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Winner: eBECS Finalist: GMCS Finalist: Hitachi Solutions America Ltd. Finalist: Tribridge
Microsoft Dynamics Cloud
Winner: eSavvy Finalist: SMB Suite Finalist: Tribridge
Microsoft Dynamics Industry
Winner: mcaConnect Finalist: V.R.P. Veri Raporlama Programlama Bilisim Yazilim ve Danismanlik Hizmetleri Ticaret A.S. Finalist: INFOMA Software Consulting GmbH Finalist: HSO International
Once again congrats to all and enjoy your WPC 2013 experience in Houston, TX next month!
It’s official! The Microsoft Dynamics GP Team invites Microsoft Dynamics GP VARs and ISVs to attend the Technical Airlift 2013 in Fargo, ND on September 18-20. Once again the event is hosted by GP Partner Connections (GPPC).
Technical Airlift focuses deeply in the product and sales cycles, but also gives attendees a unique look into what’s coming and future plans – beyond what you’d get at other events. If you’re a developer, presales consultant or implementation consultant for Microsoft Dynamics GP, you don’t want to miss this event!
Technical Airlift offers attendees a forum to:
· Discover what’s all-new for Microsoft Dynamics GP in Friday’s “What’s Coming” session · Gain knowledge and best practices about Microsoft Dynamics GP · Make more connections within the Microsoft Dynamics GP community · Engage with Microsoft staff · Earn CPE credits · Learn more about GP Partner Connections
Additional information can be found on the Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP Blog.
Visit PartnerSource to find some great fiscal year-end guidance from the Microsoft Dynamics Operations Team. They have provided answers to the following questions which I’m sure will likely pop up for your partner organization as we head toward the end of June.
· What is the number one thing you need to remember for June close?
· Where can you find all the answers you need to have an easy June close?
· What are the top 5 top tips to help you prepare to ensure a successful and smooth year-end?
The Microsoft Dynamics Regional Operations Centers will be working hard to ensure you experience seamless order processing for the coming fiscal close this June.
Where can you find Microsoft Dynamics CRM content? It’s constant question we hear.
We know that Microsoft Dynamics CRM has many sites and that searching for and locating documentation and resources can be a challenge.
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Product Management Team has recently created a new page on PartnerSource with the goal to help you navigate our websites and in-product help, and to understand when to use each resource.
These resources not only apply to your own partner organization, but customers and prospects as well. Access the page today and share the information with your key stakeholders and Microsoft Dynamics CRM community.
The Microsoft Dynamics GP team has recently announced the availability of the latest Business Portal release for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013.
Learn more information by visiting the Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP Blog, and Microsoft Dynamics GP Support & Services Blog.
Kati Quigley, WPC Experience Ambassador, has shared a new promotion to assist you with cost savings on WPC 2013 conference registration. Here’s a snippet from her original blog post…
Networking is an absolutely crucial element of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. At Microsoft, we recognize that an enormous amount of effort goes into starting your partner-to-partner networking early and maintaining a large network—and so we want to reward you! Next week, we’re offering a Refer- a-Colleague discount where you could earn up to a US$1,000 refund when your friends or colleagues register for WPC. WE WANT TO GIVE YOU A $100 REFUND and your friend or colleague a $100 discount. Here’s how: For 48 hours only, from 7 a.m. PST on Tuesday, May 14 through 7 a.m. PST on Thursday, May 16, you can receive a US$100 refund for each friend or colleague you refer who registers for WPC. Refunds will be provided for up to ten (10) unique, individual referrals, up to a maximum of US$1,000. But that’s not all: your referred colleagues will also receive US$100 off of the full registration price for a 2013 WPC all access pass, which means they will only have to pay US$1,895.
Networking is an absolutely crucial element of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. At Microsoft, we recognize that an enormous amount of effort goes into starting your partner-to-partner networking early and maintaining a large network—and so we want to reward you! Next week, we’re offering a Refer- a-Colleague discount where you could earn up to a US$1,000 refund when your friends or colleagues register for WPC.
WE WANT TO GIVE YOU A $100 REFUND and your friend or colleague a $100 discount. Here’s how:
For 48 hours only, from 7 a.m. PST on Tuesday, May 14 through 7 a.m. PST on Thursday, May 16, you can receive a US$100 refund for each friend or colleague you refer who registers for WPC. Refunds will be provided for up to ten (10) unique, individual referrals, up to a maximum of US$1,000. But that’s not all: your referred colleagues will also receive US$100 off of the full registration price for a 2013 WPC all access pass, which means they will only have to pay US$1,895.
Please review Kati’s full announcement on Digital WPC to understand how to capitalize on this one-time offer, including complete terms and conditions.
In an ongoing effort to enhance our customer offerings, Microsoft is transitioning all subscriptions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to the Microsoft online services environment. The Microsoft online services environment uses the same platform as Office 365 and other Microsoft online services products, resulting in a unified experience and simplified account management. By Q1 2014 the old billing platform of CTP will be retired and all customers will need to be transitioned successfully onto the new billing platform.
Please register on the Partner Learning Center to attend a partner web seminar scheduled for Wednesday, May 22 at 9:00AM PT focused on the program.
Visit PartnerSource for more information regarding the Transition program.
I noticed this interesting initiative included in last week’s US MPN newsletter so I thought I’d pass it along in case you missed it.
Immigration reform and STEM education are both critical to the future of the U.S. technology sector. Congress is now debating these issues, and your views are important. Get the latest update from Voices for Innovation, and learn how you can help strengthen the tech workforce.
Voices for Innovation (VFI) is a community of IT professionals, including Microsoft partners, engaged at the intersecting points where government, citizens, and IT businesses share concerns. We stay informed - and voice our ideas and concerns - about governmental issues that affect our businesses and the technology sector as a whole. VFI is supported by Microsoft.
Guest post by Josh Richards, Marketing Program Manager, Merit Solutions
Kati Hvidtfeldt has moved on to lead application program management for Microsoft Dynamics NAV. With the discontinuation of Kati Unplugged, we will continue to give partners perspectives on the benefits and challenges of offering cloud-based solutions to their customers.
This week, we are continuing our theme of why differentiation is important to partner success in the cloud. Josh Richards from Merit Solutions explains how the company identified the Life Sciences opportunity in the cloud, a key to Merit’s longevity and success.
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At Merit Solutions, we’ve been working with Life Sciences companies since our company’s founding in 1999. Many of our senior consultants and engineers have been working within the industry for more than 20 years. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to be able to work with companies around the world that create products and offer services that improve the lives of millions.
Why did we find opportunity in Life Sciences? In short – FDA compliance!
The Life Sciences industry is often considered a leader when it comes to the utilization of new, innovative technology to drive major advancements in product R&D. However, we’ve found that when it comes to inventory, manufacturing, and supply chain management business processes many companies are still buried in paper.
Regulatory reporting and FDA compliance requirements have historically driven Life Sciences organizations to work manually with paper. However, industry executives began to realize how paper-driven processes can cripple their organizations through operational disorganization, inefficiencies and associated costs. At the same time, the FDA and other governing bodies began seeing the potential risks associated with electronic systems and automated critical processes.
Once considered an option for only the largest enterprise organizations, ERP software started trickling down into the SMB space. Electronic systems are viewed as a strategic asset for organizations that want to remain competitive by quickly adapting to change and accelerating business performance. However, given the risks and potential hazards associated with product deviations and non-conformances in the Life Sciences industry, the FDA stepped in and issued stringent requirements around the use of electronic systems. Compliance requirements like 21 CFR Part 11 have forced Life Sciences companies to look beyond out-of-the-box ERP systems. Merit Solutions seized the opportunity in Life Sciences as the situation unfolded.
The same holds true today as it did 13 years ago: to be able to compete and win in Life Sciences and other heavily regulated industries, you need to bring more than “vanilla” ERP. Partners that are successful in the industry have answers to questions about 21 CFR Part 11, CAPA, Systems Validation, Electronic Batch Records/Device History Records, and more. Not only that, but they have experience and evidence to support any claims of industry expertise. It’s very hard to accumulate all of this for partners that take a horizontal, catch-all approach.
How does all of this tie back into the Cloud ERP discussion?
As the Life Sciences industry becomes more competitive, as the “patent cliff” reshapes the pharmaceutical landscape, and as venture capital continues to bolster the industry—more than $6.5B was invested in Life Sciences companies last year—there are many companies with one foot still in the research lab, poised for rapid growth. Many of these companies have little to no revenue coming in, but once production starts they will soon be subject to the same regulations that large enterprises face.
These companies experience initial sticker shock when they consider the integrated business systems that multi-billion dollar firms employ. A cloud ERP deployment model “levels the playing field” for these companies, giving them access to leading enterprise ERP like Microsoft Dynamics AX, without the large upfront costs. They can license the same deep industry functionality, but in a subscription-based pricing model that gets them online quickly, enables scalability for rapid growth, and still supports the stringent compliance requirements they are subject to from the FDA and customers.
At Merit Solutions, we believe that many organizations are at a point of profound transformation that won’t be sufficiently addressed via “vanilla ERP,” paper-based processes, or a patchwork of disparate business solutions. That's why we’re committed to helping clients be ready for what’s next with a comprehensive range of integrated solutions and a complete vision for the future.
A recent study conducted by IFS North America and Mint Jutras found sixty-seven percent of enterprise executives surveyed require industry-specific functionality. Vertical opportunities are there for the partners who seek them out and have the resources to act on them.
A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Merit Solutions is AMR Research Industry Certified in Process Manufacturing for Microsoft Dynamics AX. Merit helps customers transform their businesses through process optimization, change management consulting, and innovative IT consulting and development services.
For a customer-facing perspective related to this topic, including supporting demos, see the on-demand webinar Pam recently presented with Microsoft Dynamics Partner Technical Advisor Craig Crescas, “Your Business Looking Forward: Competing and Growing Your Business,” from the Microsoft Dynamics ERP series for SMBs.
To learn more about how to incorporate cloud-based solutions into your business plans visit the Microsoft Dynamics ERP Cloud page on PartnerSource. Go to www.microsoft.com/dynamics/growyourbusiness for resources that demonstrate to customers how Microsoft Dynamics ERP cloud, hybrid and on-premise solutions can benefit their businesses.