Convergence 2006 EMEA Thoughts

Convergence 2006 EMEA is going on now in Munich. I expect a lot more NAV and AX news, since both of these products have a stronger European presence, than GP. Mary Jo Foley is covering the Dynamics space as usual. She's one of the few journalists who really spends some time in the Dynamics space. Mary Jo has a piece on the new Dynamics (not so live) services where she discusses new hosted options for the Dynamics products.
The new option "will enable Microsoft customers to subscribe to a partner-hosted version of Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions on a monthly basis, helping reduce deployment time for businesses that need a new solution immediately," according to Microsoft's press release.
Also Satya Nadella, the new Dynamics Head Honcho, has some blog entries around EMEA. Most of this stuff is just on the fringes of GP, much like the celebrated snap-ins from earlier this year. Ten months later there is yet to be a GP, SL or NAV snap in, though there are a some for AX and CRM.
No, I'm not in Munich. I'm still in sunny Florida but with an expected crowd of 2,500 for the first Convergence in Europe, that size bodes well for the continuation of Convergence EMEA.
Finally, when I looked at some of the promotional materials, I noticed that Dynamics SL is conspicuously absent. No love for the Solomon folks? Not enough presence in Europe? What up with that?

Convergence 2006 EMEA

Microsoft's Convergence 2006 for Europe, Middleast and Africa is November 6-8 in Munich, Germany. Bill Gates is scheduled to speak on Monday, November 6th. You can get more details here.

Convergence 2006 CPE is HERE!

Yahoo! Oh, wait, wrong online service. Yippee!!! In a post Convergence email the MS team has provided CPE credits for Convergence. Here's a snippet from the email:

Interested in CPE Credits?
You asked, we listened. Due to attendee demand, we’re providing a form which you can use to file for CPE credits. Click here to download the form to file for credits following the requirements of your state board.

I've confirmed that the CPE is form is there and it's for real. Up to 25 hours of CPE if you went to Convergence 2006! I bashed MS pretty hard in the blogs over this so now I'm going to give them some credit. To the Convergence 2006 team, great job in making this right!

My One Post Convergence Gripe - No CPE!

Hopefully someone at MS will read this. I have one post Convergence gripe. Microsoft didn't offer Continuing Professional Education (CPE) at Convergence this year. Even worse, they didn't communicate whether or not it was offered. No one at registration, attendee services, etc. had any idea. I got a different story from everyone. I blogged about it here and I've gotten comments like this one from Ken Hunt:

I was told at the registration desk, and was extremely annoyed, that Microsoft had not filed for CPE approval this year and would not be offering CPE for this Convergence. If a Microsoft staffer is reading this, I would appreciate either a confirmation or correction of this information. Also, if you are not offering CPE, that is something that needs to be prominently highlighted in your literature for Convergence; this would affect my decision on whether or not to attend (Note: CPE had been offered in all previous Convergences I attended). I was left with the feeling that Microsoft had pulled a "bait & switch" routine on me.

So maybe I can help clear up for MS why this important. A lot of us are accountants. We're not conference junkies. Those of us who need CPE are usually balancing a heavy workload with the educational requirements. We have to pick an choose how we spend our time to get those credits. In the past, Convergence was a great way to improve our tech knowledge on financial systems we use and get CPE. There will be people like Ken who won't come without CPE. If you're dealing with financial folks, it's the price of entry. But if you're not willing to pay that price, TELL US UP FRONT. Yes, I'm yelling for that little part. It's good to yell once in while.

Convergence Quick Takes

After this I'm off to the airport and home to sunny Orlando. Here are my rapid fire quick takes:

• Great focus on community. Doug's closing session brought it all together.
• If you blog it, they will come. I can't tell you how many people said they saw me on the screen, or subscribed to the blog, or hunted me down to say hi. So what are you doing to get listened to?
• Make the sessions shorter. 1 1/2 hours is too long. Focus them to 45 min. with 15 minutes of Q&A. An hour is just about right and the questions are always great.
• I want Kimberly Tripp for the SQL stuff next year. Nobody does SQL tuning and tips like she does. But you'll need a big room. She's a great speaker. Bring her in and I'll pick up one of her meal tabs.
• Why isn't Dwight Specht an MVP? He's forgotten more about GP than I ever knew, and at one time, I thought I knew a lot. How do I nominate him?
• Robert Scoble needs to have the Fabulous Matt G on Channel 9. I sent Scoble an email and he's up for it. How do I get these two guys together? Satya? Doug? Bill? Somebody fly Robert to Fargo.
• The instructor led sessions were a hit. Long lines, tickets, sold out performance. I did check and as of yesterday, there were no reports of scalping. Maybe thats how I can pay for Convergence next year, hmm...

What I heard from people:

• San Diego, Orlando and Vegas are the top 3 suggestions for the future of Convergence
• The speakers in the sessions were of all over the map in terms of quality - focus hard on that.
• The busing between hotels worked, but it's really convenient if you can come down from your room and straight to a session. Yeah I know, that's easier with a 100 or a 1,000 people.
• Everyone was impressed with the size of Convergence this year.

I'll probably have a few more thoughts on the plane and post-convergence wrap up, but all this blogging is wearing me out. I'll be back to a more reasonable once or twice a week when I get home. Please don't take any of these comments as negatives. This was very good Convergence, we just always want more because that's what customers do!

Burgum Banged One Out of the Park

Doug Burgum hit one out of the park today. No Marco Polo, no flocks of birds. We got to see the real Doug. He talked about how his background and childhood have have shaped the values of Great Plains and now Microsoft Dynamics. Doug successfully linked the small town dynamics of Arthur, North Dakota to the community being built around Dynamics. I had a hot dog with Doug once at a Tech Ed. He's a nice guy and that really came out today. Maybe Bill should take a lesson from Doug!

Satya Nadella showed off all the community things I blogged about just a minute ago. Thank God somebody is finally pushing Newsgroups, Suggestions and MVP's. Satya you are right on point! Give us an expanded ability to follow the newsgroups via RSS! Yeah, I'll add it to the suggestions.

Satya also showed off the sandbox, snippets of shared code for Dynamics. Unfortunately, there's no SNAP items yet for GP, so I'll have to keep watching it over time.

Update: I corrected Doug Burgum's home state from Montana to North Dakota. I knew that but apparently there was a bug in my mental code. I've applied the service pack and fixed this post.

The Power of Community

People Ready. Community. Those were the themes for Convergence 2006. Community requires participation. You don't interact with your children or your boss once a year, why should Microsoft only get your feedback once a year? It's important to let Microsoft hear from you at more than just Convergence. I've heard your questions in sessions, I know you're not shy. I'm guessing you just don't know how to make yourself heard throughout the year.

So how do you do that? 2 options are:

1) Newsgroups
2) Blogs

Newsgroups - the Great Plains newsgroups are easy to use. You can find them here. Newsgroups are great for asking questions, getting advice, and finding support. You can also make suggestions for Microsoft on features and vote for or against suggested features. When it comes to Dynamics, every year is an election year. Go Vote!

Blogs - Blogs create community. They are typically one voice with lots of opportunity for response. In a simple metaphone, imagine a newspaper opinion piece with unlimited letters to the editor and a chance for other papers to respond with their own editorials, each with unlimited letters to the editor as a response.

Read a blog. Heck read mine. Start a blog. Give me your ideas. Tell me I'm off base. Tell Microsoft they got it right or they missed the mark. Just don't sit there silently!

How do you start? Take a look at the links on the bottom left at convergencebloggers.net or take a look at these:

Blog Readers: My MSN, Google, My Yahoo!, Bloglines, Newsgator. I know you've heard of some of these.
Blog Creators: MSN Spaces, Blogger

Look, this is pretty simple. Microsoft will listen to their customers. If I'm the only customer blogger at Convergence again next year, I get a disproportionate voice. I'm ok with that, my needs will get met. You, however, will have to shout louder to get heard. So speak up!

Live Blogging Doug Burgum

I've come to like hearing Doug Burgum. I find his talks entertaining. Not always enlightening, but he tells a good story. My first experience with Doug was the infamous Marco Polo speach in 2000 I think? I still don't remember the point, only marvelling at how far out of the way he went to make it. Has Microsoft tamed the wild Burgum? We'll see how he does today.

Convergence Lessons: Pace Yourself!

I finally wore out this afternoon and skipped a session to spend some time in the Expo during a quieter period and just recharge. Texas is big, this convention center is big and the blisters on my feet are big.

Vendors, however, have to be happy that people are lining up to get into the Expo as soon as it opens. It's a nice big expo this year with lots of vendors. And if you're not filling out evals, you better hurry. I keep winning prizes for filling out evaluations.

GP9 Inventory

There are some nice things in GP9 and 10 coming for inventory. Stock Counts seem to be unchanged but there is better visibility around Cost Adjustments. 2 stage transfers are available now with field service but may be in the core for v10.

Some of the holes from previous versions have also been filled in. Cost adjustments GL's can are now created automatically instead of just getting a recommendation to key an entry.

Hey, that's Bill Gates!

For those not paying attention previously, I'm at Covergence, Microsoft's ERP and CRM annual conference. Bill Gates just finished his keynote. I didn't live blog the keynote because my seat was too tight to pull out the laptop.

Other people will cover the specifics, you should be able to get the whole speech off the web. I wanted to give a few impressions. I've never seen Bill live, but I've heard him speak remotely so I had an idea what to expect. He was pretty heavily scripted but some of the new devices he showed off really got oohs and aahs from the crowd. Things like a touchscreen big screen with web parts, huge, very cool, desktop monitors and a table that functions as an extened screen and interface for a mobile device. Toys create buzz, even for accountants.

We did see that some of the desktop parts coming to Windows Vista will include financial parts tied to Dynamics. So you can have maybe, sales data, live on your destop in a little window without having Dynamics running.

I hoping for a little more of the real Bill during the Q&A. We got a little and it was bit odd. He talked about his daughter's desire for a bunny and how they used the web to steer her away from a bunny and to a better "Pet Experience". I'm not sure if he was trying to be funny but but it freaked out a few people near me. Kids have pets, not "Pet Experiences". Parents have "Pet Experiences" when the dog throws up on the bed but I don't think that's what Bill was going for. It did come out in some other anecdotes, that his kids humble him. Kids seem to have that effect, as do pets.

All in all I think we got a speech in the new trend of talking to a broader audience not just the one in front of you.

Upgrading to GP 9.0

Warning: This was a nitty gritty session. Excutives and Salespeople need not apply! The Upgrading to GP 9 session was very good. Down and dirty. Not exciting, but clear and concise. The Q&A afterward was great. Here's some key things I learned:

1) The first service pack is due end of April. Partners should be looking for a wave upgrades after that.
2) Macros and Integrations may not update. Test those heavily!
3) The "push" installer will only install GP apps at this time, not 3rd parties or customizations unless 3rd parties are also using the msi installer. This is version 1 of the new install/update process. Expect this to be refined improved over time.
4) The install will automatically set the recovery model to simple as part of the install.
5) FRx 6.7 is the latest, you should be fine.
6) 7.5 won't run on SQL 2k5 so you should update GP first then update the database if you are doing both.
7) If you are going from 8.0, there wasn't a straight answer but it seemed to be up to you as long as you are on the SP that allows 8.0 to support SQL 2k5

SQL Reporting Services Full

The SQL Reporting Services session was full. I was late and the room may have been too small, but it's good for Microsoft's Business Intelligence push that so many people are interested. The theater has a good number of people learning about updating to 9.0. This also good, considering that the theater is most of the way to Oklahoma!

Shout Out to Some Old Friends

I've got some old friends here at Convergence that I haven't said Hi to yet on the blog, so this is a shameless plug.

The folks from Haas Outdoor and Mossy Oak are here and their just a great bunch of people. If you're into all things camo or if you just have a daughter starting to date and want some gear to hide in the bushes with, these are the people for you. Their tackling CRM to add to their GP install so they've got a full plate at Convergence. Say hi, if you see them.

Michael Johnson from Gibson Guitars is here. He's a really bright guy who manages to be nice at the same time. If you play, find Michael. He can tell you how a guitar makes it's way through GP.

Bob McAdam is here from Trucks.com. I've seen him from across the room but I haven't hunted him down yet. If you see Bob, tell him I owe him a drink.

Huh, that's a weird dynamic, (no pun intended). Hunting gear, trucks and guitars. Theirs a country song in here somewhere.

One more. Davis Sooknanan is here from Road Town Wholesale in the British Virgin Islands. If you sail, you know the British Virgin Islands. If you eat while you sail, you should know Road Town Wholesale.

All these folks are great people and people I call friends. Friends who don't write or call enough but don't ask for money! If all about community and people, here's a few good ones to say hi to.

Sunday Lunch

I had lunch with a few customers who are old friends, a partner, a customer who used to be a partner. I'm disguising the names so nobody hits me over the head later. A comment in the general session about shrinking software margins struck a nerve with partners and former partners alike. Improved installation of GP and easier customization via Extender also has the potential to cut into partner margins. Microsoft has a delicate balancing act going on here. Lots of people have built their businesses on MS and partners are still smarting from the failed MS-Siebel collaboration from several years ago. MS CRM 3.0 may finally be the product to get partners past this open wound but MS needs to be careful not to open any new wounds.

SQL Server 2005

I'm in the What's New In SQL Server 2005 session, since I was at one of the regional launch events, not much is new for me, buuut, it's a nice refresher. I'm an accountant so I have to work to scrape up the time to play with SQL 2005 and my time has been kind of limited. But I have played with it and I like what I see. I really like the new Reporting Services features geared toward power users. Microsoft often focuses on developers to the detriment of power users and this brings power users back into the fold.

GP9 Overview

Based on the GP 9 overview, these are the compelling reasons for US to upgrade from 8.0 to 9.0:

• Available enhanced Audit Trails (extra cost)
• Available electronic sign off (extra cost)
• New Payables check batch window and streamlined payables processing (free)
• Home page, connection to Outlook is nice.
• Installation improvements
• Mass deployment (Outlook, SMS, or Group Policy)
• New set up checklist
• New GP webservice for Integration (Developer Toolkit)

Some other things I like but which don't specifically apply to TransitTV are:

• Extender (Extra cost)

Your mileage may vary. I've talked to a number of people on 7.5 and an upgrade to 9.0 will give them a lot of 8.0's benefits as well ,such as undoing JE's.
The Developer Toolkit for GP is a great idea. The ability to use VS2005 to extend GP and avoid Dexterity has the ability to be huge. Anything that opens up GP to more developers is a good thing.

Live Blogging Jeff Raikes

Doug Burgum introduced Jeff Raikes and managed to stay nicely on point without drifing off into Marco Polo stories. Nice job Doug.

Jeff is continuing the People Ready theme that Microsoft articulated last week. One irony, in his New World of Work section, Jeff mentions three core points,

• One World of Business,
• Transparency and
• Always On, Always Connected.

Well, in the interest of Transparency, there's no WiFi in the keynot hall, so there's no Always On, Always Connected. OUCH! The devil really is in the details.
Jeff however is doing a good job of articulating how all the different pieces inter-connect to automate processes. Something that I think on a lot of people's minds. We're really starting to see how all of these pieces tie together tightly with Office/SQL Server and Sharepoint.

As I look at our organization and talk to people in other companies, it seems that many companies are now over the core implementation hump and are looking a new extensions - BI, reporting, CRM, etc. It feels like Jeff is on target with customers.

15 Seconds of Fame

Hey, I won a High Sierra computer bag for being the first customer blogger! Hmm... write a few words, win a prize, pretty cool. I also filled out an eval from yesterday and won a t-shirt. I guess I've gotten my 15 seconds of fame. (In Andy Warhol's world everyone got 15 minutes of fame. But this is the internet world so I'm down to 15 seconds!)

Ask Bill G.

I just stumbled across the Ask Bill Gates portion of the Convergence website. I have a question, but I'm not sure Bill is the guy to answer it. But if you want to ask Bill a question, email me an I'll post it or go here:

https://www1.msconvergence.com/Wizard/ask_billg/wp1.aspx

My question is: Past Convergence conferences have provided CPE credits for those who want/need them. (I suspect there is more than a few CPA's in this crowd) Is that being done this year? No one at the services or registration desks are to be able to give me an answer so I thought I would post this here.

Anyone, anyone, Bueller, anyone?

I'll have to ponder my questions for Bill G. "Can I have 5 million bucks?", seems like such a self serving question. I'll try to come up with a better one.