Ben Riga's Deep Shift : Dynamics

Tweet, Tweet

benriga — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:48:44 GMT

The team organizing convergence have set up a Twitter feed. If you want to follow along you’ll find them at MBSConvergence. If you plan to attend and want to tweet while you’re there, the hashtag will be #MBSEVENTS.

While I’m on the topic, I’d like to pass along a couple of Twitter desktop apps that I’ve found pretty cool. I’m currently bouncing between Witty and Blu. Witty seems to have much more features but is not that great to look at. Blu, on the other hand, is unbelievably cool looking. If there is one great example of how design can transform an experience, Blu is it. The one big thing I miss with Blu is the ability to resize the main window. I find it to be just a little too small.

BTW, If you’d like to follow me on Twitter my tag is benriga.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Convergence,Twitter,Witty,Blu

Using Touch in Line-of-Business Apps

benriga — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:28:53 GMT

I was mesmerized by this simple but cool Microsoft Surface demo at last fall’s Convergence conference in Copenhagen. Lachlan Cash was kind enough to let me post the video here as a great example of how touch can transform visualization and manipulation of complex line-of-business information.

The demo during Kirill Tatarinov’s keynote session shows top-down heat-map visualization of the bins in a warehouse. The color-coding gives an immediate view into the status of the warehouse with blue showing cold (i.e. bins with low pick rates) and red showing hot (i.e. bins with high pick rates). Multi-touch is fully supported on Surface allowing multiple warehouse staff to collaborate while manipulating the data to optimize the warehouse for fast picking.

It’s not clear to me that we’ll see many Surface devices in warehouses as that’s not the initial target market. On the other hand, as Kirill mentions at the end, this type of innovation gets much more interesting with the new Windows Touch technology in Windows 7. I can just imagine 60-inch multi-touch displays becoming the control centers of warehouses in the not so distant future. I hope that this sparks some ideas for how you might use touch in your line-of-business applications using either the Microsoft Surface or Windows 7.

Resources:

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Dynamics,Microsoft Surface,Windows 7,Multi-Touch,Microsoft Convergence

The Urge to Converge

benriga — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:52:51 GMT

The Dynamics partner team has set up a great Convergence resource site for Dynamics partners. It contains a comprehensive set of through-partner marketing templates and assets, plus a downloadable PDF guide with “A to Z” planning tips and tools.

The value of Convergence can be a huge for a partner. These are tough times and it may be tempting to cut costs by not attending conferences. Convergence is designed to help you make the most of your time to network with potential partners and customers and build your business.

As a proven revenue generator, Convergence 2009 New Orleans should be considered a marketing opportunity rather than an expense. Convergence has the proven power to drive and close business, build client relationships, demonstrate customer appreciation, and build credibility.

Partners consistently cite the opportunity to develop relationships with their customers as the most important benefit of attending Convergence. Whether it’s getting to know customers better, spending time with them in a less formal setting away from the pressures of day-to-day business, or the opportunity to organize business meetings with potential vendors and partners, independent software vendors (ISVs), and Microsoft team members, the networking value of Convergence is tremendous.

If you are thinking about Convergence have a look at the site and be sure to download the Partner Guide to help you make the most of the opportunity:

Complete Guide To Convergence for Partners (Requires PartnerSource Access)

For additional information about Convergence 2009 New Orleans visit the conference home page.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Dynamics,Microsoft Convergence,Microsoft Partners

PDC PDQ CRM ERP… OMG IDK

benriga — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:22:35 GMT

I finally got myself registered for PDC last week.

I noticed that we’ve now published a few Dynamics sessions. These look to be really interesting. Since PDC is the conference where we talk about the future of the Microsoft platform, I’m anxious to hear what Andy Bybee and Humberto Lezama Guadarrama have to say on the future of Dynamics CRM.

I also noticed that Adam Wilson and Matt Humphrey will be talking about the Dynamics Online Commerce and Payment API. That one sounds interesting.

The Dynamics products sit at the very top of the Microsoft stack so that there are, of course, a ton of other sessions related to the future of technologies that are currently built in or soon will be ;) .

I would love to get together with others while in LA; especially ISVs and VARs that are developing on Dynamics or thinking about it. If you’re going to be at PDC and would like to get together to chat about Dynamics, CRM or anything else drop me a line via the email link above.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft PDC,Dynamics,Dynmaics CRM

Reporting and Analytics in Dynamics AX 2009

benriga — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:05:44 GMT

I spent some time with Manoj Nuthakki on the Dynamics team chatting about how we take full advantage of SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) in the recently released Dynamics AX 2009. AX 2009 ships with 10 SSAS cubes out of the box so includes tons of pre-built KPI's and reports all built on the SQL Server BI platform.

Manoj walks us through how reports and charts are built in Visual Studio including conditional formatting or custom business logic in C# while pulling metadata and data directly out of AX. The reports are easily put into the AX 2009 rich desktop client and the enterprise portal web client (built on SharePoint). With the role center integration a developer can build reports, charts and KPI's that appear only for the appropriate roles. Since AX is an international product, localization is built right in.

Reporting and Analytics in Dynamics AX 2009

Technorati Tags: Dynamics,Dynamics AX,SQL Server,SQL Server Analysis Services,SQL Server Reporting Services,SSAS,SSRS

ISVs gaining access to PartnerSource

benriga — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:41:47 GMT

I posted the link to the Dynamics CRM Statement of Direction a short while ago. It is located on PartnerSource which requires registration. Typically this is for partners that resell a Microsoft Dynamics product.

I recently discovered a way for ISVs who do not resell Dynamics products to gain access to this resource.

The Microsoft Dynamics ISV Developer Registration Agreement provides ISVs that do not resell or intend to resell Microsoft Dynamics® products directly to end customers with access to PartnerSource and to the development and demonstration licenses and registration keys for their choice of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur Solution, or Microsoft C5.

For Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur Solution: you also need to sign the ISV Developer Registration Add-on addendum for your region.

For Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM: Licenses and SDKs for are available at the MSDN Premium Subscription level. Use this agreement only to obtain access to PartnerSource.

If you resell or intend to resell Microsoft Dynamics products directly to end customers, do not use this form. You need to sign the Solution Provider Agreement and related Product Addendum.

I wish there was a little less friction to get this sort of material. I know we’re working on that. I hope this helps a few ISVs out in the meantime.

Download details: Microsoft Dynamics ISV Developer Registration Agreement

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Microsoft Dynamics,Mcirosoft Partner

Interesting ISV Solutions and Sessions at WPC

benriga — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:27:15 GMT

Nikhil Hasija reached out and showed off a few ISV partner solutions that will get showcased at WPC next week. I’m passing this information on as the solutions look pretty cool.

A new solution from Mitchell Humphrey looks quite interesting. Mitchell Humphrey built a Citizen Relationship Management solution based on CRM in record time. They were able to build a solution that enables governments to better service the needs of their citizens. They were able to get their solution to market fast because they made a big bet on the CRM platform. They were already building on the Microsoft platform but had only used ASP.NET in the past. The CRM platform provided them more of the tools they needed to get the job done faster. Nice!

If you have ever looked at Solution Selling you know that it is a fantastic way to get a repeatable sales process that works into an organization. A big part of getting that process in place is getting it into the hands of the sales person in a way that they will use it. Mondo has taken advantage of the extensibility of the Dynamics CRM platform to build the process right into the tool. They use the brand new shiny Silverlight to provide the optimal end-user experience. They also provide a community site that accompanies the solution. Click the screen shot above for a closer look.

CourseMax already had a solution to manage some of the aspects of online training. They’ve deeply integrated that solution into the Dynamics CRM platform and federated content among the two systems. By embedding the aspects of the original solution (community, ratings, blogs) into the CRM platform they built something much bigger adding other capabilities like Live Messenger and Virtual Earth integration. Click the screen shot to the left for a closer look.

These ISVs will be strutting their stuff at WPC next week at the following sessions. I’ll definitely try to make it to these.

Expanding Your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Business through Software + Services (DYN007)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-demand services create possibilities for entirely new business models and opportunities. Attend this session to explore how you can develop a reliable annuity stream by reselling, configuring, customizing, and supporting Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Developing and going to market with your ISV solution (DYN010)

Attend this session to more deeply understand the market opportunity and how to design, develop and go-to-market with industry and vertical solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

See you next week in Houston.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Dynamics CRM platform,CRM,Microsoft WPC

A Dynamics Map to your Success

benriga — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:57:49 GMT

While on the topic of WPC, I thought I’d pass along the agenda the Dynamics team has put together for Dynamics partners. This document lists all the various keynotes, breakouts, parties and pretty much anything else you’d want to know about WPC if you’re high on Dynamics (this is legal in Houston, BTW :)).

You’ll find this in PartnerSource which requires a log in. The PDF document is here.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference,Microsoft WPC,WPC

Dynamics AX 2009: A chat with Hal Howard, Mike Ehrenberg, Sukumar Rathnam

benriga — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:16:49 GMT

A couple of weeks back the Dynamics AX team announced general availability of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. While the team was basking in the glow of a job well done I grabbed a few folks for a chat. In this Channel 9 video I sit down with Hal Howard, Mike Ehrenberg and Sukumar Rathnam. Hal is the General Manager for Dynamics ERP (he runs the R&D for all ERP products at Microsoft). Mike is senior architect for the entire Dynamics team. He’s also a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer. Sukumar is Architect for Dynamics AX.

In our short chat we talk about a lot of different topics. Of course, Dynamics AX is an ERP product and there are numerous new features for customers using the product (literally hundreds of new features actually). For this chat we focused completely on the ISV and SI developer experience. Dynamics AX 2009 takes a major step forward in integrating itself into the Microsoft stack. That includes deep integration of web services with Windows Communication Foundation, process workflow with Windows Workflow Foundation, storage, reporting and business intelligence with SQL Server, a brand new role-tailored user experience in either a rich client built entirely in .NET or a web client built entirely in SharePoint/ASP.NET, and finally tight integration of unified communication with Office Communication Server/Office Communicator. I definitely need to dive into some of these in more detail. Look for more Ch9 videos on these topics soon.

I think Sukumar said it best: “Grab Windows Server 2008; Go get SQL Server 2008; Get Visual Studio 2008, Add AX 2009 and go party with it. Go write some code.”

BTW, this is my first Channel 9 video where I’m behind the camera. That’s especially evident at the very beginning of the video. :)

Let me know what you think in the comments below or in the Channel 9 video comments.

Have a look at the video here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/benriga/Hal%20Howard,%20Mike%20Ehrenberg,%20Sukumar%20Rathnam%20chat%20about%20Dynamics%20AX%202009/

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Microsoft Dynamics,Dynamics AX

Dynamics CRM platform at PDC

benriga — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:38:13 GMT

The PDC team have been slowly releasing details of some of the sessions for the upcoming conference. Lo and behold there’s session up there for CRM. It looks like we might have something to say at PDC about the next release. Now would probably be a good time to register for PDC as it usually gets sold out pretty early.

CRM/Dynamics: Developing Business Applications

Developers will learn how to build business applications that integrate with Office applications, Windows Workflow Foundation, and SQL Server analytics through the Microsoft Dynamics CRM application foundation. This session will show developers how to develop business applications and package them to run as a service or on a customer's server.

PDC2008 Sessions Overview

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM,Dynamics CRM platform,Microsoft PDC

Office Developers Conference – Demoing CRM Online

benriga — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:18:33 GMT

Back in February I had the opportunity to demo CRM Online to a few thousand developers during Kurt DelBene’s keynote at the Microsoft Office System Developer Conference in San Jose. Girish, a team member, has been working on a cool new CRM demo and I was able to show a few snippets of it. I’ve posted the video so you can have a look at the demo where I show some of the customization possibilities in CRM and then some scenarios around SharePoint and Microsoft Office integration. It’s pretty short at 8 minutes or so. Have a look below. You can see the rest of the keynote on the OBA Central site but unfortunately it’s kinda small postage-stamp sized. BTW, this is only a small part of the demo so I’m sure Girish will have a lot more to say (and show) on this. Stay tuned.

I’ve used the Silverlight Streaming service so you’ll need to have Silverlight installed to view this. If you do have Silverlight installed just go ahead and click on the video above. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,CRM,Dynamics CRM,Microsoft Office,Office Developerd Conference,ODC 2008

Dynamics AX 2009: The ‘Halo’ for Microsoft’s app platform

benriga — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:53:34 GMT

I almost snorted my tea across the room when I read this one. :) Pretty funny quote, I think.

ZDNet: Dynamics AX 2009: The ‘Halo’ for Microsoft’s app platform

The great news, of course, is that Dynamics AX 2009 is now generally available. The team put a lot of hard work in to this release. There are thousands of new features here and there’s some really good stuff related to the Microsoft stack and especially good stuff for .NET developers. I’ve got my video camera out and have been visiting a few friends in building 110. Look for some interesting Channel 9 videos coming soon.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Dynamics,Dynamics AX,ERP,SCM

Reading the right CRM blogs

benriga — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:59:11 GMT

A while back I was asked for a list of blogs that track the progress we’re making on the Dynamics CRM platform. Of course, I have my own blogroll of people that I follow but it occurred to me that would be a useful resource for the CRM community. Now that Dynamics CRM and AX have shipped, I have a little bit of time while I’m in planning mode for the next bunch of good stuff coming soon.

So I’m starting a project to collect the list of blogs worldwide that post on a regular basis on any and all things related to the Dynamics CRM platform and development. Since I’m not really focused on the CRM applications I’ll stay away from end-user or customization focused sites although I may add those later.

I’ll continue to update this post and place a link to it on my home page so that it’s always one-click away from here. Ideally this would be on MSDN or Channel 9 so I’ll look for a permanent home for this at some time but for now I’ll maintain this manually. What I’d really like is to have a wiki site so that the Dynamics CRM community could maintain this list.

If you have sites that you think belong on this list post them in the comments and I’ll update the list as I get them.

Updated: May 30, 2008

Community Blogs

Blog

Microsoft Employee Blogs

Blog

Technorati Tags: Dynamics,CRM,Blogroll,blogs,development,platform,Dynamics CRM platform

PDC Registration is now live

benriga — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:43:52 GMT

This morning we went live with the 2008 Professional Developers Conference aka PDC 2008 web site. Registration is also live with a nice discount for early registration. If you want to learn about the future of the Microsoft platform this is the absolute best conference for that.

This is the conference where we unveil the big important stuff. .NET, Windows XP, and Windows Vista are all products that were first previewed at PDC. This year the focus is on Services, Windows, Mobility and next-gen developer tools. Uh, huh, just that. :) Of course, I’m sure there’ll be lots of other little surprises as well.

Services is the part that’s got me excited. We’ve been busy and there’ll lots to talk about. Dynamics fits in well here. In particular, Dynamics CRM and it’s focus on building out across on-premise, partner-hosted and our own CRM Online

I know that we have a lot of conferences going on and you have to choose wisely. Here’s an overview of the three big Microsoft conferences:

PDC is the conference about the future of the Microsoft platform
Tech-Ed is the conference for getting deep technical training on current generation products. This conference has now been split into a developer conference and an IT professional conference.
MIX is the conference for those focused on development and design of consumer web sites.

I hope to see you there.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,PDC,Dynamics CRM

A preview of Dynamics AX 2009 Enterprise Portal with the Dynamics team

benriga — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:17:31 GMT

Dan over on our Channel 9 team sat down with some of the folks from the Dynamics AX team to chat about Dynamics AX 2009 which should release quite soon. In this video we see some of the cool stuff that’s coming with Enterprise Portal built on SharePoint and ASP.NET.

A preview of Dynamics AX 2009 with the Dynamics team

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Dynamics AX,Enterprise Portal,SharePoint,ASP.NET