You, Me and Dynamics GP
Mark Rockwell of Rockton software has been a fixture in the GP community for a long time. One of his newer ventures is ISV Central. ISV Central is a central repository of sorts for GP. It includes a searchable list of third party add-ons for the entire Dynamics line, the ability to rate software and the ability to manage your registration keys across multiple vendors. He's passed on some information I'd like to share.
Currently, independent software vendors (ISV) (that is, not your reseller (VAR) but the person who makes your add on software) have access to VOICE. VOICE is the portion of CustomerSource that holds customer data on things like reg keys, seats, etc. (It's all this explaining that makes me reluctant to post this!)
ISV's use the data in voice to verify things like your version number to ensure compatibility, your renewal date to synchronize support date renewals and your VAR to ensure that they get paid. (Not all software add ons go through the VAR.)
Per Mark, Microsoft Legal has proposed shutting off ISV access to VOICE. Mark contends that this will increase the burden on resellers who will now have to answer ISV questions about their mutual customers. Mark also contends that this will ultimately reduce customer service because of communication snafus.
I work for a VAR and would prefer to let them take their own public position on this so I'll leave it this way:
- If you're an ISV or a VAR, consider your position on this and if you feel strongly one way or the other, shoot Mark an email at markr at isv-central.com (you know how to fix that to make it work, I don't want Mark to get spammed)
- If you're a customer, your first reaction is probably, why do I care? If you think that this could ultimately impact your customer service, email Mark and tell him you care. If not, go have a bagel on me and cross this off the list of things to worry about.
- If you want to see more or fewer postings like this, leave a comment.
