Microsoft NZ Dynamics Team Blog

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 Now Available here in NZ!

2012-10-02T01:37:00Z

We are pleased to announce that Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 is now available here in New Zealand!

With deep investments in new capabilities and improvements across all areas of the product, this is the most significant release yet in the history of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The feedback from our early adopter customers and partners has been really positive, and we couldn’t be more excited about getting this product out into the market and putting it to work in your customers businesses.

With this release, we’ve focused on building what we’ve come to call “a business solution from Microsoft.” By this we mean a solution that combines comprehensive ERP capabilities for small and midsize businesses together with a simple, intuitive user experience, insightful business intelligence and reporting tools and deep ties into Microsoft’s portfolio of products. The result is an ERP solution that’s easy to use, works seamlessly with your existing productivity tools, and is quick and cost-effective to implement.

We’ve seen some great outcomes from customers already up and running with the new product. For example, Flemming Warrer Jensen, Managing Director of Dixie, a fashion company in Denmark, shared that “With Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 all in all, our inventory management has become 20% more effective. Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 has been optimal in helping us to streamline processes– and using the time gained on customers.”

We’ve also done a lot of work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV to give you the power of choice - Choice about which client, device or browser your people use to connect with the system. And choice about where and how you deploy the solution—whether that is on-premises or in the cloud. For our partners that build industry and custom solutions on top of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013, we’ve made a big investment in improving the “hostability” of the solution. What does this mean in practice? It means you’re up and running faster because partners can deploy and manage Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 in a more streamlined way. It also means that performance
is significantly faster.

Last but not least, we’ve localised Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 for 15 markets: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Ireland, and United States. Other localised versions are on the way, but we don’t have dates to share yet. Anyway, that’s just an overview of what’s new. I hope that you’re as excited as our early customers and partners are about the new product. Check out the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 product site here for more information.

View the New Zealand Media Release on Scoop.

New Statement of Direction for Dynamics AX!

2012-09-12T19:57:27Z

Hi everyone

This has recently been published on PartnerSource and CustomerSource. Download your copy now!

Management Reporter 2012 Training Courses

2012-09-07T02:56:00Z

The New Zealand Dynamics team have arranged for some technical training on using Management Reporter 2012, the financial reporter that customers get when they purchase Dynamics AX, Dynamics GP or Dynamics SL. These courses will be at Microsoft Auckland in October November, and will be as follows:

1) A Half Day course on Setup and Configuration of Management Reporter 2012. This will include the following:

Brief technology overview
Navigation | Toolbars | Menus
Setup and Configuration:
- Building Block Groups
- Companies
- Security (Users/Groups/Companies)
- Report Groups
Generating and Viewing Reports
Understanding/Managing the Report library
Differences between FRx and MR:
- Report Writing
- Report
  Generation
FRX to MMR migration - Tips and Tricks

2) A Full Day course on writing Management Reporter reports. This will effectively be course 80255 (Report Design in Management Reporter 2.0 for Microsoft Dynamics ERP) as this hasn’t really changed in MR 2012.

Each course will be run twice, giving you flexibility in deciding which one you can attend. The costs will be $150 for the half day course, and $300 for the full day course.
Registration is available online for Dynamics Partners now via the Partner Learning Centre, which you can get to by using the following links (or by searching in the PLC):

Setup & Configuration: Morning of Tuesday 13th November - https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=818478

Setup & Configuration: Afternoon of Tuesday 13th November - https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=818479

Report Writing – Wednesday 14th November - https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=818480

Report Writing – Thursday 15th November - https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=818481

You will of course need to bring a laptop with a virtual machine loaded which contains one of the Dynamics ERP systems with MR 2012 loaded up to the latest service pack, plus for the Report Writing course it would be handy for you if you bring along a copy of the training manual that you can download from PartnerSource following the link above, or CustomerSource.

If you are a Dynamics Customer and wish to attend this course, please email Sue Driscoll who will see if there are places available for you, as you do not have access to the Partner Learning Centre.

Updated to change Dates from October to November.

Get Ready for Dynamics NAV 2013!

2012-09-03T20:55:35Z

By now I expect you all know how the licensing works for the new version. :). Well on PartnerSource we now have our "Product Readiness Library" page, which contains fact sheets, PowerPoints, references to blog posts and more! Check it out here so you're ready for the release of this exciting product in October!

Are your customers considering a CRM purchase? Check out the CRM Buyers Guide written by iStart New Zealand

2012-06-22T02:57:00Z

If you’re having conversations with your customers about CRM, then show them this great CRM Buyers Guide written by iStart.co.nz. The guide highlights all the functionalities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM/xRM. In particular, Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers great functionality, ease-of-use, and can be used in all organisations – small or large. Microsoft Dynamics CRM has a range of customers who have adopted this solution over others across Australia and New Zealand and is one of the only solutions who offer a range of options to deploy. Take a look and share with your customers!

Dynamics AX Licensing Guide for New Zealand

2012-06-19T06:19:00Z

Hi everyone

I have just published my licensing guide for Dynamics AX 2012 for New Zealand partners. It's been a long time coming! If you'd like to get a copy, please email me.

Happy reading!

Dynamics Content at WPC 2012

2012-06-19T01:20:46Z

If you are attending Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto next month then have a look at the Dynamics specific content we have available for you.

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/newsevents/events/conferences/2012MicrosoftWorldwidePartnerConferenceJuly8122012.htm

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 Beta

2012-05-15T20:56:05Z

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 Beta is now available for download on PartnerSource. Note - this is the software, not a Virtual Machine.

You can also read about it on MSDN - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh173988(v=nav.70).

New Statement of Directions for Dynamics GP and Dynamics NAV

2012-05-06T22:13:23Z

Earlier this month, these were added to PartnerSource and CustomerSource. These include details of the next releases - Dynamics GP 2013 and Dynamics NAV 2013.

Here are the links - enjoy!

Statement of Direction for Dynamics GP on PartnerSource and CustomerSource

Statement of Direction for Dynamics NAV on PartnerSource and CustomerSource

Trust issues between Dynamics AX Virtual Machines

2012-04-26T23:11:00Z

Hi everyone

If you have installed the AX2012-B and AX2012-C Virtual machines, then not used the B or C ones for over a month, when you log into them again you will probably get the error "The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed."

This is because the link between the B (and/or C) and the A machines from a domain trust point of view must be done within 30 days, or it expires.

The solution is actually quite simple. Using B as an example - as this is what happened to me, when I went onto B to install Management Reporter 2012:

First - if you logged out of B before you last saved it, you won't be able to sign on. So change your network settings for that VM so that it doesn't use the private "AX2012" network adapter. Now you can Connect and log in. Change the settings back to use the private network (or you won't be able to connect to AX2012-A). The good thing is you can do this while the VM is up and running, and you're logged in, without any issues.

Once logged in to B, go into your computer Properties, and in your Computer name, domain and workgroup settings area, click Change settings. You will see it is in the domain: contoso.com. Click Change, then move it to a workgroup, DO NOT REBOOT, then move it back to the contoso.com domain. It will (naturally) ask you for an Administrator user and password on that domain. Enter that, reboot, and all is now fine - you can now remote desktop to this VM.

New Virtual Machines available on PartnerSource & CustomerSource

2012-04-26T21:02:58Z

Hi everyone

Just in case you missed it, there are some new Virtual Machines (VMs) that have been loaded onto PartnerSource and CustomerSource that you can take advantage of to see our Dynamics ERP products working with other Microsoft technologies. With our products requiring 64-bit technology you will need Windows Server 2008 64-bit as a minimum to run these Hyper-V images. Note they are generally set to use 8GB memory so at least 12GB or 16GB is preferred. If you only run Windows 7 there are other non-Microsoft tools you can use to run these, but I'm hanging out for Windows 8 which will have Hyper-V in it!

Dynamics AX - on this page in PartnerSource are two new VMs, one for Commercial Industries (includes process & lean manufacturing, professional services and retail), and one for Public Sector. The demo data has been tidied up and there is a PPT you can download which explains which companies are setup for which industries. Here is the same page in CustomerSource.

Dynamics GP - on this page in PartnerSource is a new VM, which includes a Dynamics GP Demo Scenario Builder tool, written by Tom Dooley, one of our Microsoft Dynamics GP experts. You can see more details by checking out this YouTube clip.

Download and enjoy!

Dynamics AX 2012 Trade & Logistics Courses

2012-02-23T22:53:30Z

Hi everyone

We have scheduled the three recommended courses for the Dynamics AX 2012 Trade & Logistics certification. These will be run at Microsoft, Auckland, in April.

You can register via the Partner Learning Centre to attend them. Follow the links below to find out more!

Course 80305 - Supply Chain Foundation (2-3 April) - register here.

Course 80306 - Distribution and Trade (10-12 April) - register here.

Course 80339 - Bill of Materials (23-24 April) - register here.

If you need more information, just let me know.

Dynamics NAV - Directions EMEA Conference in Rome in April!

2012-01-21T02:50:45Z

Hi everyone

For all you Dynamics NAV partners wishing to find out more about the up coming Dynamics NAV "7"- there is a conference for you to be held in Rome, Italy, in late April. I'm hoping to go and it would be great to have a NZ contingent there! As far as I know this is probably the only conference like this we'll get before the launch, but if it proves as valuable as the Dynamics AX Tech Conference which I went to last year in the US, it will be GREAT!

Directions EMEA is an event organized by Partners for Partners - this event is held on April 25-27, 2012 in Rome. The event is aimed at both VAR and ISV partners –
there are tracks for sales, business, consultants, technical training as well as guided hands-on labs. You should go there to get up to speed on Microsoft Dynamics NAV
“7”, networks with peers and engage with Microsoft. You can meet Microsoft’s Development Teams, product group, partner teams, support teams and country
representatives. This is your unique opportunity to share market input and customer feedback with Microsoft.

Registration is now open. Please make the effort to be there. Please bring colleagues and key members of your team. We recognize the investment in time and expenses that this represents. Microsoft will be doing all we can to ensure you get a great return on this investment. We know that the Directions Committee will be doing the same.

Visit the event web site or our event page on PartnerSource where we will keep you updated on the event. Unfortunately the Wednesday is ANZAC Day, which is not a recognised holiday in Europe…but I'm sure we can party up somewhere that night!

If you do register, let me know!

Dynamics AX 2012 Benchmarks

2011-11-11T00:32:18Z

Hi everyone

In case you're interested, there are some performance scale/benchmark documents available on CustomerSource and PartnerSource.

Some of the highlights of the “Day in the Life” Benchmark:

5,200 Concurrent Users.
1+ Million Lines per Hour across 10+ workloads.
Hardware price point of less than $100K (including the disk subsystem).

The CustomerSource link is here and the PartnerSource one here. Happy reading!

Sure Step 2012 is released!

2011-11-10T01:56:00Z

Hi everyone

The latest release of our implementation methodology for Microsoft Dynamics solutions, Sure Step 2012, has been released. This includes new content for both Dynamics CRM 2011 (on-premise and online) and Dynamics AX 2012.

So how can you access Sure Step 2012? There are three ways -

Online Version - access all new content here (CustomerSource or PartnerSource access is required).
Client Version - Partners can download the latest release from this link on PartnerSource
Client Version - Customers can download the latest release from this link on CustomerSource.

Dynamics AX 2012 Financial Courses in 2011

2011-10-11T21:22:00Z

Hi everyone

I will be running the three standard Financial courses recommended for the Financials Certification in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 in November & December this year. These courses are currently open to NZ partners only who need to register via the Partner Learning Centre, however if any NZ customers are interested, please contact me, and if we have spaces I'll let you know.

The latest Readiness Guide (Version 7.0) is now also available on PartnerSource.

So, onto the courses. They will be held at the Microsoft Office in Auckland, cost is $300 per person per day.

80219 – Financials I in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on 7-9 November – register here.

80220 – Financials II in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on 6-8 December – register here.

80302 – Fixed Assets in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on 13-14 December – register here.

It's so exciting in the Dynamics world!

Dynamics ERP User Groups

2011-09-28T19:18:02Z

Recently, a group of Dynamics AX Users in New Zealand decided to join the worldwide Dynamics AX User Group and start the New Zealand Chapter. The committee has been setup and we have our first meeting today!

But did you know - the AX User Group is just one of the Dynamics User groups available. This body also runs the Dynamics NAV User Group, and the Dynamics GP User Group!

Basic Membership is free or you can opt to pay a subscription for more benefits. Partners as well as customers can join (and even Microsoft people!). I urge you to check them out!

At Microsoft New Zealand we are committed to supporting our user groups. If you're a Dynamics NAV or Dynamics GP user and you'd like to help start the New Zealand Chapter, please contact me or anyone else in the team. If you're a Dynamics AX User and you are not yet a member, join up!

Dynamics AX 2012 - Technical Conference in Nice, France in November 2012

2011-09-22T00:37:56Z

Building on the success of our previous Tech Conference in Redmond back in January 2012, we are running another 3 day Conference in Nice, France in November.

This is quite different to the last conference which was of course all about a product not yet released, this is more about implementing and getting the most out of this fabulous product. It's targetted for Technical people, so if you are intending to implement Dynamics AX 2012 (as a Partner or Customer) this will be great conference to attend.

Conference Dates:
Mon 14^th - Wed 16^th November 2011

Location:
Nice Acropolis, France

Sessions:
Keynotes, Breakouts, Chalk Talks and Instructor Led Labs

Registration prices will be the following:

Early registration - €999 – Deadline is October 14, 2011
Regular registration - €1499

We will have over 40 people from the Dynamics AX R&D Team there, so it's a great opportunity to get loads more information and knowledge about Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012!

Check out http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/DynamicsAXtechnicalconference2011/

New E-Learning on Dynamics for Customers and Partners

2011-09-21T20:43:00Z

Hi everyone

For those of you who are interested in learning more about our Dynamics products, a reminder that we not only have the courseware available for you on PartnerSource and CustomerSource, but there are also lots of these available as E-Learning. You can also download these and run them at your own time.

Some examples you might be interested in -

Management Reporter - our General Ledger Reporting tool replacing FRx.

Dynamics AX 2012 - 12 courses not including "What's New" are available.

Dynamics CRM 2011 - 7 courses not including "What's New" are available.

Dynamics GP 2010 - 12 courses are available.

Dynamics NAV 2009 - 8 courses not including "What's New" are available.

Check them out and learn something new today!

Dynamics AX - new roadmap now available!

2011-08-07T21:35:48Z

Hi everyone

With the exciting release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 comes a new Roadmap and Statement of Direction giving the vision into the future! You can get yours from PartnerSource or CustomerSource.

I've been going around various places delivering What's New training - covering Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and of course New Zealand. It's been very exciting seeing the reaction to this new version - over 1200 changes, with huge improvements in lots of areas such as the Enterprise Portal.

I hope you all enjoy the read!

Increasing Sales Productivity through CRM by Paul Bowkett

2011-05-05T04:11:00Z

Most companies these days are familiar with the value of a CRM system in relation to storing relevant client data and details, but there are other functions of CRM that people are less aware of. For example, an effectively functioning CRM system can be used to generate sales and increase staff productivity.

According to a recent survey by The Economist, there is a clear link between implementing technology to support customer service activity and increases in sales productivity. They go on to say that of the 59 respondents who had implemented new technologies over the past 12 months, 44 said customer service productivity had increased as a direct result.

Putting in the technology isn’t enough though. There are four key elements to consider when you implement a CRM solution to ensure increased sales and productivity.

The system has to be:

Tailored – the technology must be adapted to the specific requirements of the customers for each individual industry. This means companies can tailor their offers directly to specific customers.
Efficient – customer service staff must have rapid access to customer information to help differentiate their company in the minds of customers.
Process-oriented – the new system needs to reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks and allow salespeople more time to sell.
Integrated – social media tools such as Twitter can co-exist with CRM to provide information directly to customers. Research shows an integrated approach to customer service can transform the value of this function and help to improve productivity in this area.

Although some of these points may seem obvious, companies are still struggling with the problem of how to integrate new information sources into their customer support programme. This challenge is greater for small businesses that may have less technology skills in-house and fewer staff to monitor the constant chatter on the social media and blog sites.

Companies may feel safer with more traditional means of communication such as email and phone calls, but chances are your customers are already actively using these social media tools and find them more compelling than traditional forms of communication. These channels can give companies valuable insight into customer opinions, likes and dislikes, as well as providing opportunities to drive the conversation and further engage with existing and potential customers.

An effectively functioning CRM programme allows your organisation to gather valuable information about the needs and spending habits of your existing customers. This in turn allows you to anticipate their needs and design offers that will appeal to them, as opposed to limiting the focus to bringing in new customers. If you know what they are likely to want, then it is so much easier to provide it for them.

For companies such as Kordia, the benefits of a CRM system were realised almost instantly. They embedded all their manual forms into the system, saving time on manual uploads and allowing staff more time to focus on customers. The system gave Kordia, complete visibility of their sales pipeline, the ability to track customer communications and prioritise customer needs resulting in an increase in sales.

Another company that increased sales productivity with CRM is telecommunications retailer, Orb Communications. A recent CRM upgrade has allowed staff to obtain an instant 360 degree view of any customer at any time, enhancing their customer service and the ability to cross-sell, which delivered measurable sales wins almost instantly.

“Giving our teams the tools they need to win new customers, as well as the ability to measure performance has already proven invaluable, and we have seen a significant return on investment through improved customer retention rates” – Matt Evans, Orb’s General Manager of Sales and Marketing.

It’s a bit of a paradigm shift from thinking about CRM as a reflective system that looks back into what a customer has done in the past, to a proactive system that looks forward and thinks about what a customer is likely to do in future. CRM should be seen as more than a customer data storage solution; it is a proactive marketing tool and can be used to increase the productivity of many different parts of an organisation.

Join the Customer Relationship Management discussion in the NZ CRM Forum on LinkedIn to find out more information on CRM and sales productivity.

Getting Ready for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 (April 2011)

2011-04-28T00:50:44Z

In August this year (we expect) we will be launching our latest version of Dynamics AX, which is Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Right now, customers and partners can download a virtual machine which has a beta image of the software installed. This was the one created for Convergence which was in Atlanta, USA earlier this month.

Partners can go to the Launch Portal on PartnerSource to see lots of information about what's coming up and go here to download the new image. Note that you will need Hyper-V to run this - which means Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and a nice powerful laptop... or a server you can connect to.

Keen customers also have the same opportunity to download this on CustomerSource. What's New training material has also been uploaded and there are even some videos to watch!

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 is out!

2011-04-27T21:17:32Z

Although slated for General Availability on 1st May, the Microsoft Dynamics GP team were so excited that they released this a few days earlier than planned. :)

A 44 page "What's New" document, available on microsoft.com - gives details of the over 50 new features, business intelligence enchancements, and the release of Business Analyser.

For more information, check out PartnerSource or CustomerSource.

Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 is out!

2011-04-27T21:08:57Z

For all of you Solomon fans (which was renamed to Microsoft Dynamics SL back in 2007) - the latest release, Dynamics SL 2011, has just been released! This includes new and exciting features such as an enhanced user interface, creating projects from Sales Orders automatically, opening multiple companies at the same time (with a company colour logo shown on each form to remind you of which one you're in), a new Quick Query module, web services with Microsoft Excel, a connector to Dynamics CRM 2011 and much more!

Find out more on CustomerSource and PartnerSource.

Dynamics NAV - AU & NZ Facebook Page

2011-04-06T22:21:55Z

For all you Microsoft Dynamics NAV fans out there - even if you still call it Navision :) - there is now a Facebook page where you can participate in for the Australian & New Zealand community! Check out www.facebook.com/=!/DynamicsNAVAUNZ.