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.
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Registration has recently opened for this year’s edition of the Microsoft Dynamics AX Summer Institute. Microsoft Dynamics Summer Institute is focused on young professionals brought into our partner organizations. The program not only takes successful attributes from the standard Fast TrAX program but augments with an introduction to ERP, accounting and distribution definitions & principles, scenario based case study and Consulting 101.
As my colleague, United States Microsoft Dynamics AX partner readiness lead, Sara Gjerdevig, explains: Our approach this year coupling on demand and distance learning as a precursor to the In Person Learning (IPL) that takes place. In addition, we are focusing the IPL on hands on case studies and small group projects to really drive the learning experience and collaboration with peers forward.
Upcoming courses are scheduled for May 28 through June 28, and July 1 through August 2. These classes will be held in Fargo, ND.
Visit PartnerSource for complete details including program objectives and course outline.
--Kevin
We are delighted to invite you to the next Microsoft Dynamics CRM & CSA Partner Operational Community training. Register today!
The call is scheduled for Thursday, April 25 at 12:00PM PT.
In this session, you'll learn more about:
Did you miss the last session focused on Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online transitions to the Microsoft Online Service environment, and CSA program updates? The recordings and resources can be viewed on PartnerSource.
Guest post by Pam Misialek, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Dynamics ERP
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.
Pam Misialek has worked across Microsoft Dynamics GP product roles—from sales to support, and consulting to product marketing—for 17 years. This week, Pam shares her insights into the Microsoft Dynamics GP differentiators that can help your small business customers compete and grow.
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As a Microsoft partner, you’ve likely encountered a lot of customers struggling to compete and grow their businesses with older systems and backward-looking accounting software. In helping your customers make the right choices, it’s important to give them insight into what makes Microsoft Dynamics ERP different from other solutions, and why these differentiators matter.
When businesses are looking at growing, they face a number of challenges—and the key to selecting the right ERP solution has to do with making sure the business is free to work on the challenges around competition and growth, rather than the challenges of learning and managing new software.
By helping customers change the way that they search for new solutions through expanding their search beyond just features, partners can help them make the right choice for their business giving them more value. There are three important factors to point out.
Simplicity
Software demos often focus on features. But the right solution is about more than features and functionality. It’s about making it simpler for the people who use the software every day.
On average, companies that have an accounting system or business solution use only about ten percent of the functions because they’re just too complicated. Customers need to consider whether people will be able to effectively use the software to do their jobs, will have to spin cycles on learning to use and maintain the software—or will need to hire someone else that knows how to use it.
It’s what’s behind and inside Microsoft Dynamics GP that really makes it easy to use. We are a culture that demands technology to be simple and intuitive. It’s not just a generational understanding, but even older people are now able to ramp quickly on new technologies like smartphones. These expectations drive where software is going, and how we design our products. Role-based home pages came out of research on more than 2200 customers to discover how they navigate and use software. Users can select exactly what they want to see on their home pages, so even casual users can get more out of the solution without having to go to power users to get what they need. And because Microsoft Dynamics ERP products leverage the familiar Microsoft Office user experience, users are up and running quickly.
More than accounting
With Microsoft Dynamics ERP it’s more than just getting a new accounting system. It’s really about bringing in other technologies businesses use every day and getting more value from using them together. It’s a solution that runs the entire system so your customers can focus on growth and competing.
In our research with prospects and Microsoft Dynamics GP customers, the number one reason people move from one software to another is reporting—and they always say they want more. They know the information they need is there but they don’t know how to get to it.
But what they really want is answers to their questions. “Am I going to meet my forecast for the following year?” “What are my most profitable product lines and channels?” Customers need flexible and easy-to-use reporting to answer those questions, based on the trends in their business.
Microsoft is a leader in business intelligence and reporting, and customers expect more from a Microsoft solution. All the research that’s been put into Microsoft Excel, SQL Server and the full range of Microsoft products help us deliver ERP solutions that give customers more from their investments.
Cloud—On the customer’s terms
Positioning a business for competition and growth is not just about replacing an accounting system. It’s about giving people a new way to work and be more productive. People are demanding to work in a different way. They want to work on mobile devices, and be “at work,” even if they’re at home. For businesses, offering this kind of flexibility makes people more productive.
And of course cloud implementations enable customers to scale back on infrastructure and house IT.
But not all businesses should move everything to the cloud. For example, a lot of customers want their sensitive financial data on premises, where they can keep control of it. But they want to have other software in the cloud so they don’t have to support the on-site infrastructure. They want to be able to say “yes” to employees when they want to work at home, or work in a different way to make them more productive and empower the business. Microsoft gives customers the flexibility and power of choice: cloud, on-premises, or a hybrid of both.
With so many challenges and choices available, you can help your customers look beyond product features to recognize the strategic value of Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions It really is a business solution from Microsoft.
For a deeper, customer-facing perspective on 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.
Our Microsoft Dynamics AX product marketing team has recently rolled out a collection of storytelling resources for partners to tap into as you market and sell products and services that include Microsoft Dynamics AX.
According to the team, the resources are targeted at the following roles: CIO, CFO, Manufacturing COO, Retail Manager, HR Manager, Service Industries Practice Manager and Appointed Government Officials.
Think of these resources as an addition to your existing tool belt that will support you in telling great stories that align to your business strategy.
Please visit PartnerSource for more information and to download the new resources.
Special guest post from Zakia Ovington, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Technology Specialist.
Whether you are a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Demo Expert or a brand new Microsoft Office 365 partner there are many “FREE” resources available to show-off the seamless integration between both the products.
Build Your Own Microsoft Dynamics CRM+ Office 365 Demo—It’s Easy!
Yes, you can build an Office 365 + Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 demo environment from scratch by leveraging the Office 365+Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Guided Tour. This 10 step guided tour shows you how to integrate SharePoint Online, Outlook Online, Lync Online , Exchange to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. This guide makes it super easy!
Use a Pre-Built/Configured Demo—It’s Free!
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Demo Builder is an automated demo provisioning tool that enables Demoers to illustrate how our customers realize productivity, insight, and connection through tools such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Microsoft Office 365 (SharePoint Online, Lync Online, Exchange Online), and Windows Azure. The Demo Builder has great dummy data, fictitious sales, service and marketing personas and beautiful dashboards, charts, reports as well as several pre-built workflows. You also get several demo scripts to show off the integration. If you have little to no time to build your own configured demo…check out Demo Builder!
Send Microsoft Dynamics CRM Prospects to a Microsoft Hosted Weekly Sales and Admin Overview Webcast—It’s Fun!
Each week, the National Microsoft Dynamics CRM team delivers overview demonstrations to provide potential Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers and their partners with a hands-on walkthrough of key features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The demos are delivered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sales Technology Specialists. Send you customers to www.democrmonline.com to register for both the Sales Overview and Administrative Overview Demo.
Final word: TRY IT! Try any or all of the methods above and you will surprised at how easy it is to show off the Office365+Microsoft Dynamics CRM environment!
Partners participating in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Enterprise Academy United States BOGO Registration Offer will receive one training seat fee reimbursement for every two individuals registered for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Enterprise Academy between now and May 31, 2013 and that attend qualifying courses.
Offer is valid for Enterprise Academy courses held April 22–26 in Atlanta, GA and May 20-24 in Chicago, IL only. Register for the qualifying courses here.
Visit PartnerSource for complete offer Terms & Conditions. Reimbursements will be distributed to partners based on date of registration. First come, first serve. Offer will be limited to a maximum of 15 registration fee reimbursements only.
Microsoft Specialist accreditations recognize sales and IT professionals who demonstrate solution selling expertise for selected Microsoft workloads. If you have been preparing for an accreditation, or are considering getting one, this warm-weather incentive may help you meet your goal.
When you pass an assessment this spring, you will earn an accreditation and be automatically entered into our sweepstakes drawing for one of the following prizes:
· Two (2) grand prizes: Travel packages to The Fairmont Kea Lani on the Island of Maui · Ten (10) first prizes: $200 Teva gift cards · Thirty (30) second prizes: $50 Teva gift cards
This offer ends May 31, 2013. Please visit the MPN Portal for official rules and more information.
You are invited to join Microsoft Dynamics Operations on April 17 at 11:00AM PT for an important Live Meeting event. Session topics include:
· Improvements to tools, systems and processes · Microsoft SQL Server Runtime - Licensing Updates to Existing Customer Accounts · Inner Circle and Presidents Club and Key Messages from Convergence · Promotions, Tips and Important Reminders
The Dynamics Hour offers partners a monthly training opportunity where subject matter experts deep dive on one or two Operational topics. Register for this or other operational training events or see past recordings on PartnerSource.
Join the April 2013 Microsoft Dynamics Road to Repeatability call focused on content creation for inbound marketing.
According to a recent survey, 64% of business to business marketers are challenged with creating content to support their marketing strategies. It’s no wonder. Marketers face a growing need for content to feed their inbound marketing efforts and attract prospects. How do you create relevant, powerful content consistently? (And what does relevant and powerful content look like?) How much content do you need and what really works? We’ll take a deep dive and provide tips and tools you can use to keep the content flowing and new customers beating a path to your door.
This 60-minute session takes place April 17 at 11:00AM PT. Visit the Partner Learning Center to register.
There are a couple of upcoming web seminars scheduled for April and May dedicated to Microsoft Stack and Microsoft Dynamics integrations. These new events are targeted at Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners. We’ve held a few Microsoft stack events recently, and if you have other related topics you’d like us to address please provide a comment below.
Microsoft Stack: Learn the Technologies and Functionalities that make up this Comprehensive Solution April 22. 2013 – 11:00AM PT – Register on the Partner Learning Center
The sessions was well received at the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Industry Summit and requested by partners. In this web seminar you will learn:
· Analysts reports · Competitive differentiators · Value proposition points · Value benefits · Operational benefits · Microsoft Value Proposition
Master Data Services (MDS): The SQL Server Solution for Master Data Management May 22, 2013 – 11:00AM PT – Register on the Partner Learning Center
The emphasis on regulatory compliance, SOA, and mergers and acquisitions has made the creating and maintaining of accurate and complete master data a business imperative. This highly discussed topic will be covered and will include scenarios using these architectures:
· SQL Server Master Data Services (MDS) · Enterprise Services Bus using Microsoft BizTalk Server · Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector to synchronize ERP and CRM data
For this web seminar we’ll focus on a very well-understood and easily identified master-data items such as "Customer" and "Product”. We’ll also discover what master data management capabilities are included in Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM products.