Podcasts about dynamics crm

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVMFULL SHOW NOTES https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/678  We dive deep into the journey of Wim Coorevits, Microsoft's Community Lead for Business Apps, exploring his evolution from Belgian developer to global Microsoft innovator and the changing landscape of business applications.TAKEAWAYS• Started career as a developer in a marketing agency, discovering his passion for bridging technology and business• Became a .NET trainer surrounded by MVPs who inspired his community involvement• Earned MVP status in the Dynamics CRM space through sharing knowledge and expertise• Transitioned to pre-sales, leveraging broad Microsoft technology knowledge to solve business problems• Joined Microsoft as a Partner Technology Strategist before making the leap to product marketing• Relocated from Belgium to the US for a role with Office 365 before finding his way to Power Platform• Became known for creating demos shown "on every single stage in the world" during Power Platform's early days• Now leads the Business Apps community team overseeing evangelism, community forums, advocacy programs, and events• Team builds demos for keynotes and major events, focusing on real customer scenarios rather than fictional companies• Currently developing an event tiering strategy to objectively determine how to support the many community events worldwideToday, Wim's team not only builds the demos you see in major keynotes and launch events but also manages the forums, advocacy programs, and community engagement that sustain the vibrant Business Apps ecosystem. His insights into how Microsoft determines which community events to support and the challenges of scaling community engagement provide a rare glimpse into the strategy behind Microsoft's community presence. This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world. DynamicsMinds is a world-class event in Slovenia that brings together Microsoft product managers, industry leaders, and dedicated users to explore the latest in Microsoft Dynamics 365, the Power Platform, and Copilot.Early bird tickets are on sale now and listeners of the Microsoft Innovation Podcast get 10% off with the code MIPVIP144bff https://www.dynamicsminds.com/register/?voucher=MIPVIP144bff Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge We've helped 1,300+ people across 70+ countries establish successful careers in the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem.Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!Support the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM FULL SHOW NOTES https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/675The conversation takes a fascinating turn as we explore the future of meetings in a hybrid world. Jeff Hardison shares insights from Calendly's research showing growing excitement about AI's role in making meetings more effective, while also noting the pendulum swing between asynchronous communication and the irreplaceable value of human connection.   Scheduling software Calendly has evolved from a simple time-finding tool into a comprehensive platform for building meaningful business relationships with over 20 million users worldwide.TAKEAWAYS• Calendly was founded by Tope Awotona, who wanted to solve the problem of coordinating meetings across different schedules and time zones• The platform has expanded beyond basic scheduling to offer team-based coordination, automated notifications, and integration with payment systems like Stripe• Calendly positions itself as "neutral Switzerland" between different platforms, integrating with Microsoft, Google, Zoom, Teams, and various CRM systems• 54% of people surveyed are excited about AI's potential role in making meetings more effective• The future of meetings will balance asynchronous communication tools with synchronous human connection• Video communication skills are increasingly essential as remote work and freelancing continue to grow• Microsoft-specific integrations include Outlook, Teams, Dynamics CRM, and Power AutomateCheck out the Calendly for Microsoft webinar and integration page to learn more about connecting your Microsoft ecosystem with Calendly's scheduling capabilities.This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world. DynamicsMinds is a world-class event in Slovenia that brings together Microsoft product managers, industry leaders, and dedicated users to explore the latest in Microsoft Dynamics 365, the Power Platform, and Copilot.Early bird tickets are on sale now and listeners of the Microsoft Innovation Podcast get 10% off with the code MIPVIP144bff https://www.dynamicsminds.com/register/?voucher=MIPVIP144bff Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge We've helped 1,300+ people across 70+ countries establish successful careers in the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem.Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!Support the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

Send me a Text Message hereFULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/616Curious about the transformation from traditional development to low-code/no-code solutions? Join us as we sit down with Drew Poggemann, a Microsoft MVP and Director of Solution Architecture at Heartland Business Systems (HBS). Drew brings his expertise from Appleton, Wisconsin, to share his captivating journey from applied mathematics and computer science to mastering the Power Platform. Discover how his love for food, family, and outdoor sports intertwines with his professional life, and how a pivotal influence from MVP colleague Aiden Cascala set him on a new path. Listen as Drew reveals the strategic moves in pre-sales and solution design at HBS, emphasizing the power of Dataverse and Power Apps to elevate businesses from basic to premium licensing.In this episode, we also dive into Drew's career highlights, including his impressive contributions to the Dynamics CRM and Dataverse forums that earned him the MVP title in April 2022. From early days tackling COBOL and JCL at Schneider National to leading major ERP implementations, Drew's story is a testament to the importance of mentorship and embracing new challenges. We also explore the rapid advancements in AI and Microsoft's innovative approach to integrating AI-driven co-pilots across their suite of products. Join us to gain insights into the evolving tech landscape and the future of business solutions.OTHER RESOURCES: Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP  Support the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

Send me a Text Message hereFULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/611  What if the tools you use every day could be seamlessly integrated to transform federal operations? Join us as we welcome Ed Williams, a Senior Solutions Architect at AndWorks, who shares his extraordinary journey from soldier to Power Platform expert. With a passion for revolutionizing data management and reporting, Ed unveils how Power BI and CRM systems are enhancing efficiency within the federal government. He also offers a glimpse into his personal life, filled with family adventures in Maryland and a love for Old Bay seasoning. Embark on this exploration of how strategic applications on the Microsoft Power Platform are reshaping the landscape of enterprise deployments.Ever wondered how complex data security needs are met with the Power Platform? We tackle this and more, delving into the shift from the platform being perceived as a tool for citizen developers to one capable of addressing intricate data concerns. Ed and I highlight the importance of leveraging built-in features like auditing and security controls, and the hurdles of licensing management. We share practical insights into automating license allocation using auto-claim policies and structuring licenses around O365 teams for smooth transitions in large enterprises. Our discussion promises to enrich your understanding of security and governance within the Power Platform ecosystem.Discover the power of fusion teams working in harmony to streamline project management with the Power Platform. We explore how multidisciplinary teams can leverage custom-built tools to manage workflows and integrate various applications effectively. From fostering collaboration among developers, analysts, and change managers to stepping beyond familiar technologies, we underscore the necessity of embracing diverse tools. As we reflect on the evolution from Dynamics CRM to the Power Platform, I emphasize the importance of remaining open-minded to meet complex project needs. Embark on this journey to unlock the full potential of the Power Platform as a transformative connective hub for your enterprise. OTHER RESOURCES:Ed Williams' Blog: Automate The Mundane90 Day Mentoring Challenge 10% off code use MBAP at checkout https://ako.nz365guy.comSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

Send me a Text Message hereFULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/575 Unlock the power of data transformation in our latest episode as we chat with Scott Sewell, a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, who shares his journey from the bustling streets of Manhattan to the serene landscapes of Tennessee. Scott's evolution from a Dynamics CRM expert to a Power BI advocate provides a fascinating backdrop for our discussion on the significance of turning transactional data into impactful reports. Discover how these insights can engage decision-makers and highlight the real value within Dataverse.We delve into the transformative potential of Microsoft Fabric, a unified platform that streamlines data management by integrating SQL servers, data warehouses, and analytics tools. By reducing complexity, Fabric allows businesses to concentrate on configuring tools to meet specific needs. We also cover the current lifecycle of Fabric, from its preview phase to general availability, and provide an overview of its user-centric licensing model. Scott's insights draw a parallel between the evolution of Fabric and the impactful changes seen in the Power Platform, reinforcing the importance of innovative data solutions.Finally, we explore the interplay between AI, Fabric, and Dataverse. Scott sheds light on how structured data sources are essential for efficient AI model training, making it easier for businesses to create intelligent models that can predict outcomes and identify patterns. We also touch on the democratization of AI tools, ensuring advanced technologies are accessible to more users. To wrap up, we share our anticipation for the upcoming Power Platform Conference in Vegas, where networking opportunities abound and the latest advancements in data management will be unveiled. Tune in for a wealth of knowledge that promises to enhance your business processes and decision-making.OTHER RESOURCES Author of The CRM Field Guide: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B009ITN8M6/about?ingress=0&visitId=79d0a409-1a38-425f-980c-fcc47ec2858a  Power Community: https://events.powercommunity.com/speaker/scott_sewell/CRMrocks: https://crmrocks.com/2023/01/14/power-bi-and-dataverse-with-scott-sewell/   90 Day Mentoring Challenge 10% off code use MBAP at checkout https://ako.nz365guy.comSupport the Show.If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

About Ryan Pollyniak: Ryan Pollyniak is a Cloud Transformation Executive at Western Computer, a Microsoft Gold Partner specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Cloud solutions. Ryan is a seasoned sales professional with a rich background in the Microsoft Dynamics space. Before joining Western Computer in 2015, Ryan spent significant time with an ISV (add-on solution) in the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem, working closely with partners to sell products to companies using Microsoft Dynamics. Catering to medium- to enterprise-sized businesses, Ryan is well-versed in ERP and CRM strategies and is heavily involved in the Microsoft Dynamics Channel. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Ryan.In this episode, Nancy and Ryan discuss the following:Understanding ISVs in the Microsoft Dynamics Space Aligning sales and marketing strategies for successPrioritizing ideal prospects and avoiding shotgun approaches The importance of transparency and alignment in sales conversationsCritical strategies for ensuring customer satisfaction in complex engagements The role of CRM in organizational successKey Takeaways: Building that network in a closed ecosystem is a continuous act. You can never let your ego or feelings get in the way of treating people correctly because they will come back around.If you sell people things that they don't need, it'll come back to bite you.We're not satisfied if we don't have a satisfied customer at the end of an engagement."And there's a great book out there called Essentialism that focuses on how well some organizations have done that in the past to great effect. So, when taking that line of thought, you want to ensure that your marketing messaging and target audience align with the projects you want to bring in as an organization and what you want your salespeople to follow up on. Otherwise, you end up with a shotgun approach of, you know, getting all kinds of leads in terms of high volume and high quantity, but maybe not particularly the type of companies that you would want to be working with. And that leads to your salespeople getting frustrated, sorting through endless low-value leads. There's a huge cost to that organization." – RYAN"I don't try to convince people very much, which sounds a little bit silly in a sales scenario, but I'm not a big believer in really trying to persuade as much as I am trying to help prospective clients understand once I've identified that we have a good fit and I understand what the client is looking for. It's really about explaining that and making sure that they understand why I am in the position I'm in with all my experience in this industry and why I think the solution is a good fit. And I've had people tell me right out of the gate, 'We're trying to narrow down prospective vendors. Give me the short story; why should I go with you guys?' And I say, my answer to that, Nancy, is, and it takes people back sometimes, is, 'I don't know that we are the right fit yet. Can we talk a little bit more?'" – RYAN"Be honest with people and do what you're good at. Don't try to be all things to everyone, and keep yourself organized in your CRM. That's critical. If your boss is asking you to update CRM or if you're the boss and you're asking people to update CRM, I'm a big believer in systems. Nobody—I can't speak for everybody, but I can't keep everything straight in my head or on paper. I need systems, I need reminders, I need processes. And I think any good salesperson is going to follow those. Any good sales organization will have best practices established in terms of how to use the system and get the most out of it. So don't fight CRM. It is there to help." – RYANConnect with Ryan Pollyniak:LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/microsoftdynamicssolutions/Western Computer: https://www.westerncomputer.com/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/547 Embark on a thrilling journey with our guest Francesco Musso, a Power Platform maestro from Bolton, England, whose story unfolds from vibrant nightlife entrepreneur to a master of Power Pages. Francesco's expertise is not just shaping the digital landscape but also weaving the rich tapestry of his Sicilian roots into a professional narrative that embraces food, family, and fun. His shift from Dynamics CRM to customer-centric portals is a tale as rich and diverse as the flavors of his heritage, underscoring the transformative impact of Power Platform solutions on modern business.Uncover the breakthroughs that Power Pages has brought to businesses, like a recruitment firm that flipped the script on their operations, turning the financial crisis into a launchpad for innovation. Francesco's approach to marrying client vision with cutting-edge technology is a masterclass in customer engagement, proving that tailored solutions are the keystones of success in this dynamic digital arena. The conversation is a treasure trove of best practices, from the art of showcasing platform capabilities to aligning with your client's wildest dreams for their projects.In the realm of freelancing, Francesco is a navigator through the complexities of value-based pricing strategies and the logistics of managing global collaborations with grace. His insights are a beacon for those venturing into independent contracting, highlighting the significance of community, networking, and platforms like LinkedIn in crafting a thriving international client base. Get ready to be inspired as Francesco shares his playbook for a successful freelance career, peppered with anecdotes of cross-time zone project management, and the strategic cultivation of professional relationships that catalyze repeat business and global connections.AgileXRM AgileXRm - The integrated BPM for Microsoft Power PlatformSupport the Show.If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

In this podcast episode, Tom Arbuthnot and Chris Goodwill discuss the impact of AI on contact centers and the opportunities it opens up for innovation and improvement in content centers.AI will have a significant impact on contact centers in terms of driving efficiencies and improving customer experience.Quick wins in the B2C space include using chatbots for simple tasks like waste collection or ordering recycling bins.Digital transformation is essential for contact centers to drive better customer experiences and satisfaction.The use of AI in contact centers can lead to cost savings, skill changes, and job opportunities in different areas.Microsoft has introduced Dynamics Contact Center platform and Digital Contact Center platform (DCCP) to provide contact center solutions.Dynamics Contact Center platform is tightly integrated with Dynamics CRM and offers voice and omni-channel capabilities.Partners and customers need to understand the options available, leverage the best solutions, and stay open to the evolving contact center market.Thanks to Ribbon, the sponsor of this episode, for your continued support and making it possible for us to produce content like this. 

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/477 Get ready to unlock the secrets of scaling and standardizing Power Platform Apps with our guest, Ryan Jones, a Partner Director of Product Management at Microsoft. Imagine managing thousands of apps like a farmer tending to a herd of cattle, instead of doting on them like beloved pets - that's what we unravelled in our enlightening chat with Ryan. We navigated through the transition from Dynamics CRM to the Power Platform, underlining the increasing necessity for Power Platform to be the go-to for building apps.  We dug into the world of managed environments and how these can transform the way tasks are automated across various environments. From the unique needs of production, development, and citizen development environments to the invaluable role of the COE starter kit and managed environments in meeting these needs - it's all about streamlining processes and boosting efficiency. Moreover, we highlighted how the Power Platform community offers invaluable tools that make managing the Power Platform a breeze.  We didn't stop there! We ventured into the realm of Artificial Intelligence and its role in governance within Microsoft. Ryan shared fascinating insights into how AI assists administrators in understanding the apps, workflows, and releases being built within their environment. Plus, we touched on an important aspect - data security and how Microsoft ensures responsible and compliant use of AI. Tune in to discover the Power Platform's potential and how investing in managed environments can result in a significant return on investment for your organization. AgileXRM AgileXRm - The integrated BPM for Microsoft Power PlatformSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/474 Get ready for an engaging fireside chat with Mahender Pal, a groundbreaking Principal Consultant at Himbap and Dynamics CRM MVP since 2010. He has the honour of being the first MVP from India in the Dynamics CRM space and his story is an enriching one. From a humble beginning in the world of technology in 2007, Mahender's ascent to an MVP in 2010 is a testament to his relentless passion and unwavering dedication. Join us as he recounts his fascinating journey, sharing insights into his personal life, love for travel and cooking, and the invaluable resources he leaned on to elevate his career.As we venture deeper into our conversation with Mahender, we uncover his perspective on the profound impact of Microsoft Dynamics CRM marketing. He unravels his motivations for penning his first book and the overwhelming response it garnered. Listen keenly as he deciphers Packet's promotional strategy for his books and his take on the dynamic evolution of the Dynamics CRM space. He also reveals his current endeavours in building custom applications on Dataverse for customers and the arduous task of juggling book writing with family responsibilities. This is an episode ripe with wisdom from an industry stalwart - an indispensable listen for every aspiring MVP.OTHER RESOURCES: Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP  90-Day Mentoring Challenge - https://ako.nz365guy.com/ AgileXRM AgileXRm - The integrated BPM for Microsoft Power PlatformSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM can individually bring a lot of great functionality, helping improve and streamline business processes. But how well do they integrate with each other? Both being Microsoft products you'd expect seamless integration, however, that hasn't always been the case. We'll be exploring what integration challenges we've come up against previously and what limitations users could expect, as well as how integration has moved on with more recent software updates. Learn more about what out-of-the-box integration is available with Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 CRM and what you'll need developer help with. We'll explain what functionality you can expect and what licences you'll need to get your integration set up. Listen today and get started with Dynamics 365 CRM and Dynamics 365 Business Central integration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/441 Goloknath Mishra shares his experience in Singapore, where he enjoys exploring different places, particularly Little India for its vegetarian food options. Tune in for an engaging conversation with Goloknath about technology and learn the vital aspect of career growth and success. Goloknath shares his experience of building solutions on the Power Platform and how the platform has evolved over the years.  Goloknath talks about the Singapore community around Dynamics 365 and his involvement with it over the years.    The importance of having a clear vision and mission for your business, and how to define your ideal customer and target market. Goloknath talks about the various line of business applications he has seen built using Dynamics and the Power Platform. Goloknath explains that his area of expertise is in Dynamics CRM, but he has also delved into the Power Platform, which he finds to be an interesting and low-cost platform for building a line of business applications. A discussion about the future of the Power Platform and how it can be used to create even more innovative solutions for businesses. Goloknath encourages listeners to explore the platform and see what it can do for their organizations. OTHER RESOURCES: Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP  90-Day Mentoring Challenge - https://ako.nz365guy.com/ PAD in Udemy - https://www.udemy.com/course/introduction-to-power-automate-desktop/ AgileXRM AgileXRm - The integrated BPM for Microsoft Power PlatformSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

Episode 120: Markus Erlandsson and Heidi Neuhauser have a chat with Jason Gumpert from MS Dynamics World about the state of Dynamics CRM and Power Platform in 2022 where the three of us talk about Government, Digital Contact Center Platform, Viva Sales, Release Notes, changes in the partner program and more… Bio Jason is the … Continue reading State of Dynamics CRM in 2022 The post State of Dynamics CRM in 2022 first appeared on CRM Rocks.

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/416 An introduction about the family and life of Geoff Ables, what they do for fun and hobbies. Geoff's learning experiences as MVP; when and how his journey started.  Find out more about c5insight and the company's history. Geoff's story and journey into writing the books Dynamics CRM 2011 Administrator Bible and The LUCK Principle. The process of writing the books and how did it come about? Geoff's observations when it comes to Microsoft's technology. BOOKS & RESOURCES MENTIONEDC5insight - www.c5insight.com Adoption Survey System: www.adair.app  The LUCK Principle Book: www.gotluck.link/book Revenue Engineering Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997680326/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_TEZR5Q9430XKFQ11NPN4 Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP 90-Day Mentoring Challenge - https://ako.nz365guy.com/ AgileXRM AgileXRm - The integrated BPM for Microsoft Power PlatformSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/392 Venkata Subbarao Polisetty's life background, interests and what he does when not working. With Venkata's choices of careers, how did he end up in Information Technology? Venkata's first project that got him into Dynamics CRM. The key part of being part of the Microsoft Business Applications. Venkata's focus or areas where he is working on Microsoft Business Applications MVP journey of Venkata and the nomination process. Blogging and community involvement of Venkata Venkata's experience as a speaker in an event. If given a chance, what feature Venkata will add to Power Automate? What did Venkata discover about the MVP program that he didn't know before becoming one? Benefits of becoming a Microsoft MVP. Recommendations to people considering becoming a Microsoft MVP OTHER RESOURCES: Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP  90-Day Mentoring Challenge - https://ako.nz365guy.com/ AgileXRM AgileXRm - The integrated BPM for Microsoft Power PlatformSupport the show

Details In this CRM Audio podcast episode Elaiza Benitez talks to Luke Hopton based in Jersey, United Kingdom, and Matt Ngan based in Toronto, Canada. Elaiza, Luke and Matt previously worked for the same Microsoft Partner in New Zealand where Luke and Matt were CRM Developers. Since then, both of them have moved away from being Dynamics CRM developers and Elaiza talks to them about their decision and what they're doing now in their current roles. Elaiza also quizzes them to see how much they remember about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 as a developer. Note: Elaiza refers to Dynamics 365 as Dynamics CRM in this podcast episode to avoid confusing Luke and Matt. When Luke and Matt were developers, it was called Dynamics CRM at the time. What we talked about Background to how Luke, Matt and I know each other.   Matt and Luke introduce themselves.   Matt worked for a product company in London that specialized in Wealth Management where Dynamics CRM was the platform and he now lives and works in Toronto for an HR software company that has nothing to do with Dynamics CRM.   Luke moved to a Senior .NET developer role before leaving New Zealand and then moved to London in 2015 where he joined two other product companies. Eventually he moved home to Jersey and is now a Solution Architect where he works with RegTech (Regulatory Technology) solutions – due diligence and KYC (Know your Customer) for Wealth Management companies.   The decisions Luke and Matt made to move away from being a Dynamics CRM Developer.   That last Dynamics CRM version Luke and Matt worked with was Dynamics CRM 2013, possibly Dynamics CRM 2015 for Matt.   Matt talks about the frameworks and tech he is using now.   Both Luke and Matt talk about applying what they've learnt in their time as Dynamics CRM Developers in their roles now.   What they use for source control now.   Matt talks about the differences in Application Lifecycle Management for product development compared to consultancy projects. What Luke and Matt use for source control these days.   Who would be in their search results when Googling for issues experienced in Dynamics CRM and tools used.     Who showed Matt the ropes in being a Dynamics CRM developer - Rex Wessels, Sophie Khun-Hammond, Maryse Botros, David Brown mentioned.   Elaiza quizzes Luke and Matt on their knowledge of being a Dynamics CRM Developer Question 1 – Matt Question 2 – Luke Question 3 – Matt Question 4 – Luke Question 5 – Luke Question 6 – Luke Question 7 – No one Question 8 – Matt What Luke and Matt miss about New Zealand.

Gemma Milne talks with Chris Cognetta, CongruentX's Chief Technology Innovation Officer, about how cloud environments can help companies align their technology and operations to improve customer experiences and the importance of focusing on business outcomes, especially how these topics relate to CRM solutions. Topics of discussionWhat is driving the majority of digital transformation initiatives currently? (02:52)How cloud can create competitive advantage or improve customer experiences (03:59)How CRM fits into hybrid environments and the opportunities that combination can create (11:56)What to expect from a “grown up” CRM solution (18:59)Balancing the needs of customers with the risk of overcomplicating your technology stack (20:55)Perspectives on cloud security and privacy (27:06)How edge computing and IoT are driving cloud innovation (29:41) About Chris Cognetta:Chris Cognetta is CTIO of CongruentX. A Microsoft MVP for more than nine years, Chris has helped more than 250 Dynamics 365 Customer Experience and Azure customers move their on-premises solutions to the cloud. As CTIO of CongruentX, Chris and his organization provides customized CRM solutions that align technology and operations to improve customer experience and business outcomes. Chris is also one of a select few Microsoft Dynamics MVPs in the world and frequently speaking at events, webinars, and community user groups. As CTIO, Chris leads product innovation initiatives and helps turn vision into reality for CongruentX, as well as his clients.Learn more:https://www.congruentx.com Dynamics 365 Migration CommunityConsidering the cloud? Accelerate your Dynamics AX or Dynamics CRM journey by connecting with Microsoft migration expertise and resourcesLearn more:https://aka.ms/d365mc Sponsor linkDynamics 365 delivers next generation ERP and CRM business applications, helping employees at every level reason over data, predict trends, and make proactive, more-informed decisions. Request a live demo of Dynamics 365 today:https://aka.ms/AA8vns5 Contact usEmail: connectedandready@microsoft.com Follow us on social mediaTwitter: https://twitter.com/msftdynamics365LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/microsoft-dynamicsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJGCg4rB3QSs8y_1FquelBQ

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/331An introduction about Ryan Maclean A conversation about Ryan's Dynamics CRM journey Ryan talks about his experiences and what led him to his current role  Discussion about how Ryan funds his projects and licensing with Microsoft  Ryan's thoughts about creating a Center of Excellence within his business that focuses on using Power Platform  The tools that Ryan use that helps support him  Ryan shares his relationship with Microsoft  In line with his experience as a customer working with partners, Ryan talks about how partners create a better experience for the customer Music CreditsI dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, MorusqueSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/nz365guy)

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When we covered Power Platform in the first episode of this series, you mentioned that Power Apps were a component part of the Power Platform, and that they could be used to build and deploy customized applications. CP: Indeed I did and yes, they can. I talked specifically about the iPhone and how the expression “there's an app for that” entered our everyday language when it comes to mobile devices and then, how the Power Platform or Power Apps in particular, really brings to the fore the expression “there's a business app for that” right now. UK: OK, so when it comes to these apps, or “applications,” what does Power Apps provide that means a partner should start to take notice and get to know more about what they are? CP: Yes, so Power Apps provides today what is known as a “low code” developer environment that can be used to build custom applications or “apps” for business needs. There are different types of Power Apps including Canvas Apps and Model Driven Apps as well as other things branded under the same product family. Both Model Driven and Canvas apps sit nicely on top of the Microsoft Dataverse, but there are also hundreds of pre-built connectors that can be used to consume data from, or push data to, other systems. UK: Right Chris so, when you say other things branded under the same product family, what exactly do you mean? CP: Yes, of course. So, Microsoft acquired a company called Adxstudio back in 2015 primarily to strengthen their web self-service product portfolio and there's a product now known as Power Apps Portals which is the modern-day equivalent of Adxstudio Web portals. The original product was built by the Microsoft ISV partner natively on top of what was Dynamics CRM. It became Dynamics 365 Portals and then more recently Power Apps Portals. UK: OK, so that's the history of that product, but what do these Power Apps Portals actually provide? CP: Well, although they've been rebranded and have technically evolved over time, the concept of these portals hasn't changed. In general, they provide a way to give access to data, anonymously if required or, through secure sign in to protected information stored within an organisation. So, to give you an example here, if you were a membership organisation and you wanted to provide a website for people browsing to access anonymously to encourage them to consider joining, you could use Power Apps portals to do that. And then, for any members that had already joined, you could also use it to provide secure access to additional content repositories or personalised member areas. UK: Right, that is clear. Then also Chris, what is the difference between a Canvas App and a Model Driven App? You have mentioned both, can you help me understand why they are different? CP: Yes, I can of course. So, model driven apps are designed and built on top of the Dataverse. Microsoft's own first party apps such as Dynamics 365 for Sales or Customer Service are examples of Model Driven apps in their own right. And, one of the things that Power Apps provides is the ability for anyone to create a model driven app that can leverage the same user interface as those first party applications. You can also use the same capabilities to enforce business logic and then publish apps easily for consumption in a way that is almost identical to how those first party apps are published. Usually, you would start the creation of those apps with a structured data model in mind, hence, “model driven” apps. Canvas Apps start from the opposite end of the design thinking. They provide a blank canvas, onto which you can drag and drop pre-built controls, and then use Excel like expressions known as Power Fx to define logic and work with data. You can share them natively or embed them so that they can be consumed from other places such as Teams, SharePoint or Power BI.

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/325Talks about Thomas Sandsør's life - background and origin. As the leader of a team, discover how Thomas grows great talent, making sure that his staff are continuing to learn the technology that is relevant to Power Platform and Dynamics CRM. A conversation about Thomas' career background Learn more about Thomas' journey into becoming a Microsoft MVP The opportunities that opened to Thomas since becoming an MVP How did Thomas start blogging? Being a Microsoft MVP and as a former Partner Technical Strategist at Microsoft The impact of becoming a Microsoft MVP on Thomas:            - Life            - Career            - Benefits            - Power Platform and Dynamics CRM Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/nz365guy)

FULL SHOW NOTES https://podcast.nz365guy.com/323A conversation about Ryan Maclean's life and familyTalks about the company Ryan works for - Hymans Robertson and what he does. A conversation about career choice - End-user vs Microsoft Partner. The goal and difference between working as a Partners and End-user Customers Talks about Ryan's Dynamics CRM and CRM background. A brief discussion about Ryan's career background. How the community forum helped Ryan with what he does. What does Ryan enjoy the most working with customers? The benefits of working with end-users or customers. Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/nz365guy)

There's someone who works at Microsoft who has been involved in the release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 (previously known by different names) since its Beta version. He led the creation of the first version of the product, then the creation and release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, 4.0, and then responsible for taking it Online! And I believe that understanding this person's role in the history of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is important if we are trying to see where the product is going in the future. Links shared during this episode: A Brief History of Microsoft Dynamics: https://www.nigelfrank.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-microsoft-dynamics/ Release waves of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/released-versions/dynamics-365ce Microsoft Dynamics 365 On-Prem (v9.X) Lifecycle: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/dynamics-365-for-customer-engagement-apps-version-9-onpremises-update Microsoft Launches Dynamics CRM Online: https://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/207401175/microsoft-launches-dynamics-crm-online.htm Microsoft appoints Nadella to lead Microsoft Business Solutions: https://news.microsoft.com/2006/09/12/microsoft-appoints-nadella-to-lead-microsoft-business-solutions/ Reinventing Business Processes: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reinventing-business-processes-satya-nadella/

The family of Wan Li Zhu emigrated to America seeking new opportunities. Wan Li benefited from high-quality public education at Bronx High School of Science and went on to a perfect grade-point average at MIT. He studied under renowned quant wiz Andrew Lo and was poised for a career on Wall Street but was lured away by the prospect of hands-on responsibility for product features at Microsoft. After a prodigiously successful stint, during which he was involved in building and marketing Dynamics CRM, Microsoft’s fastest-growing product, he went to Harvard Business School. From HBS he was recruited by early-stage VC firm Fairhaven Capital.  The firm, known for its expertise in web security and digital advertising, now sees promise in various applications of artificial intelligence starting with self-driving technology. Wan Li is deeply engaged in bringing on the next generation of winning investments at Fairhaven Capital. Despite a busy professional life, Wan Li Zhu has found time to advise startups and to co-found MIT Angels in Boston. I learned a ton from my conversation with this wise, yet unassuming early-stage VC and angel.  HERE'S A LIST OF THE TOPICS COVERED: Wan Li Zhu Bio Studied with MIT Professor Andrew Lo – Used Natural Language Processing to Assess Market Sentiment Why Wan Li Zhu Went to Microsoft – Three Years at MS – Shipped Three Versions of the Product Wan Li Zhu Connects with Fairhaven Capital through HBS Resume Book Fairhaven Capital Is Thesis-driven – Attentive to Market Trends that Could Create Large Opportunities How the Fairhaven Capital Portfolio Is Doing What Wan Li Zhu Looks for in a Startup Investment Experienced Founders Can Actually Time Markets TVision Came Via MIT Angels – Measuring Engagement of TV Viewers AirFox – Enabling Wireless Carriers to Offer More Affordable Data Plans MIT Angels Company PathAI’s Deep Learning System Is Better at Detecting Tumor Cells than Human Pathologists Latch – Enterprise-grade Keyless Access System for Apartment Buildings The Investment Wan Li Zhu Regrets Not Making Wise VC Wan Li Zhu Continues to Be Very Bullish on AI

Daryl LaBar and Jonas Rapp, co-hosts of the XrmToolCast join Neil Benson to answer the questions about how to document complex systems when asked to "devise a roadmap for migrating a Dynamics CRM 2013 and a CRM 2016 environment into a single Dynamics 365 online environment ."A documentation tools masterclass from two experts in the field who discuss what tools to use for on-premise implementations when Snapshot! for Dynamics 365 can’t be used.ResourcesDaryl LaBar on LinkedInJonas Rapp on LinkedInXrmToolCast PodcastSnapshot! for Dynamics 365XrmToolBox Plugin Registration ToolXrmToolBox Web Resource ToolXrmToolBox Attribute Usage InspectorXrmToolBox Metadata Document GeneratorUse Visual Studio Code to search for 'Xrm.'XrmToolBox Power Apps Solution Checker for XrmToolBoxEntity relationship diagram generation tool in Visio 2016 SDKXrmToolBox Entity Relationship Diagram GeneratorUML Diagram Generator for XrmToolBoxVisio Document GeneratorDiagrams.netServer Trigger Explorer from CDS.ToolsAmazing Applications podcast page on LinkedInAmazing Applications podcast page on PodchaserScrum for Microsoft Business Apps online course at Customery AcademyAgile Foundations for Microsoft Business Apps free online mini-course at Customery AcademySupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/amazingapps)

Episode 96: Markus Erlandsson talks to Jukka Nirranen from Forward Forever about the current state of Dynamics CRM in 2020 and what highlights that has happened in the last three years. Jukka starts with talking about what has happened with Microsoft Teams and how Dataverse is now part of the platform, the second stop is … Continue reading State of Dynamics CRM in 2020 with Jukka Niiranen The post State of Dynamics CRM in 2020 with Jukka Niiranen first appeared on CRM Rocks.

Note: This episode is sponsored by Avanade. Learn more about Power Platform at Avanade here. Venkat Rao, Power Platform go to market lead for North America at Avanade, joins us for a conversation following up on his recent five part article series on the Power Platform and its role in supporting the evolution of business applications. (Check out parts one, two, three, four, and five.) Enterprise-grade systems like Dynamics 365 applications are here to stay. But, Venkat believes, thanks to low-code tools, organizations can now expect to give more responsibility back to their workers as they plan the future of their enterprise investments. Much of Venkat's writing has dealt with newcomers to the Power Platform, and he explains that embracing the tools here requires the acceptance of concepts and practices like running a Center of Excellence. He also reflects on recent customer successes in areas like  managing the return to work, mixed reality, and initiatives to empower citizen developers. Show Notes: 1:30 - Making sense of Power Platform and how to approach it for the first time 5:00 - Thinking about low-code and no-code solutions as a technology segment 7:30 - The importance of considering complex software requirements when evaluating low-code solutions 9:30 - Venkat's evolving professional focus, from Dynamics CRM to Power Platform 14:30 - What it looks like to scale up Power Platform initiatives across an organization 18:00 - The frequent challenge of bringing a Power Apps deployment back under control after rapid spread 21:00 - The Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE) starter kit - Venkat's views on its usefulness 24:30 - How organizations build upon the CoE starter kit 27:00 - How Power Platform and HoloLens 2 work together 33:30 - Is RPA mundane or amazing? 36:00 - Looking ahead: New technology Avanade clients are excited about

David Mochrie, a Power Platform consultant at Magnetism in Auckland, asks, "Should we have a standard set of user stories for Dynamics 365?"A long time ago, I tried to make it easy to write detailed user interface design specifications for Dynamics CRM using a wireframe prototyping tool called Axure RP Pro.I spent hundreds of hours building replicas of hundreds of Dynamics CRM screens that I planned to reuse over and over again in my specifications.But it didn't work out that way for me.And I don't think a standard set of user stories would work out for David, either.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/amazingapps)

"We're not looking for a Sales solution", said the person on the other end of the phone call. I have heard this many times. While those of us in the Power Platform arena know that Sales is only one of the business problems we can solve with the tools today, many still think "Sales" when they hear Dynamics 365. Once more from the top I have previously explained some of the evolution of what was formerly known as CRM, at least as it relates to Microsoft's offerings.... but I will try once more in super-layman's terms. Up until just a few years ago, Microsoft had a product known as Dynamics CRM. It was a Sales focused solution, primarily aimed at Salesforce.com as the market leading competitor. Originally only available as an on-premise product, meaning it was installed somewhere on machines you owned or controlled, it became available as a SaaS offering in 2011. As a SaaS offering, this meant that it was now running from machines that Microsoft owned and operated, and the application was made available for you to use via a web browser. Not dissimilar to how you use LinkedIn, Facebook or even Salesforce. This is essentially what Cloud means. The Salesforce Clouds Salesforce, which also started as a Sales focused Application, although cloud from the very beginning, started to see opportunities in adjacent markets quite a while ago. They created some new "Clouds", there came the "Sales Cloud", "Service Cloud", "Marketing Cloud" and more recently, the "Commerce Cloud". Clearly redefining what CRM, and Salesforce was, to encompass a much broader spectrum of business solutions. Microsoft followed suit. Clouds vs Apps Where Salesforce created distinct "Clouds" for their expansion, Microsoft created distinct "Apps". The difference in approaches is not easy to grasp, but fortunately, it is not important to grasp either. Looking at it from the Microsoft side, their Dynamics application had spread out some to include some post-sale capabilities, primarily around servicing activities. While Dynamics was always highly customizable, it was delivered with a very specific kind of business model in mind. First, it was assumed that you sell things, directly to customers, and most likely those customers were businesses (B2B). It was also assumed that you had some sort of incoming Leads from somewhere, and that your sales process began there. It was assumed that your made contact with these "Leads" to determine their interest, and if interested, you would convert them into "Opportunities, together with an Account and Contact record. While at the Opportunity stage, it was assumed that you would create "Quotes", and in order to create Quotes, it was assumed that you needed a Product Catalog. Once a Quote was accepted, it was assumed that you would create an "Order" and close the Opportunity as "Won". Once the Order was fulfilled, it was assumed that you would want to create an Invoice to get paid. Now that the "thing" has been sold, it was assumed that you would want to offer some kind of post-sale support with Case Management, and of course you would want SLA management for your support staff. Microsoft made a lot of assumptions about how a business would work in their Dynamics CRM offering. In my 20 years in CRM, I never met one that fit. Bending and Molding I am not sure if it was there from day one, or if it came along later, but the XrM capabilities are what made Microsoft's Dynamics CRM a viable product. Dynamics' XrM capabilities were similar to Salesforce's Force.com capabilities. Basically they both gave the ability to customize the offerings... significantly This was a good thing because neither of their offerings fit any customer. The general public was seeing basically Sales solutions offered by Microsoft, oblivious to the fact that they could be completely customized into something totally unrelated to sales. It was even tougher for Salesforce to shake the "Sales" only stigma, since it was baked into their name. You would have thought that Microsoft could have taken advantage of this opportunity, but until recently, the product was lead by a bunch of idiots, who were so focused on catching up with Salesforce, they missed the clear opportunity to just pass them. Back to customizability: over the years, customization became a very big business. Working with skilled Partners, customers were taking the products offered by Microsoft and turning them into completely different things, like Member Management solutions for Associations, or Grant Management solutions for Non-Profits, or Franchise Management solutions, etc, The list is endless of what has been done to "CRM" with the XrM customization capabilities. Breaking shit apart Several years ago, Microsoft embarked on a journey to separate their Dynamics capabilities, first from each other, and then from their underlying platform. It's a long story, that is still ongoing, and I have written about it several times in the past, so I will cut to the chase here. Dynamics CRM is no more, instead we have several Apps that carry the Dynamics brand. Dynamics 365 for Sales, Dynamics 365 for Service, Dynamics 365 for Marketing, etc. Sounds eerily similar to Salesforce's clouds. In the same time frame of releasing these finished applications, Microsoft also made the underlying platform that they are all built on, available as a separate product. Again, Salesforce was there first, with a "platform only" offering quite a while ago. More on that shortly, but Microsoft also kept building on their apps, adding intelligence and a whole slew of capabilities. Sadly, the original  "assumptions" that Microsoft made about how businesses operate, still dominate their offerings, but luckily XrM is still available to make them actually fit. Power Platform Microsoft's "Platform-only" offering is called the Power Platform. Think of it as a smorgasbord of ingredients, but there is no finished stew. If you want a finished stew, then you could look at Microsoft's "finished" apps. But in my experience, all of those required significant tweaks to the ingredients to get right for anybody. "Tweak" is probably not the right word... decapitation is probably closer. This is not a knock on Microsoft's first-party apps at all. As aspirational showcases of modern technology, they are pretty awesome. But most customers I run into have neither the time, patience, budget or need for much of that "aspiration". This customer needs to go straight to the Power Platform. In most of the cases I can recall, we spent more time modifying the first-party apps to fit customers needs, than if we had just started from scratch. So, in almost every case, that is what we are doing today. Long Live the Platform Microsoft's Business Applications Group is on the odd position today of potentially eating it's own head. When you hear them discuss the Power Platform, it is with great zeal that they talk about its capabilities to solve "small" problems. There is clearly a concern about cannibalization of their first-party apps coming from the platform, either by customers or ISVs. While they continue to position Power Platform as a solution to small problems, the only reason it could not solve the biggest problems that exist today, would be artificial limitations that Microsoft may place on it, to protect their first-party apps. As we continue to solve bigger customer challenges with the platform approach, I sense a tightening coming from Microsoft. Is Dynamics 365 Dead? My co-host on our weekly live show, and good friend, fellow MVP Mark Smith, once publicly proclaimed "Dynamics 365 is Dead". This sent shockwaves through the community at the time, (Somehow I even got blamed for it), but he was only voicing what a lot of us were thinking, the day Microsoft made the decision to open the platform. So is Dynamics 365 Dead? That's a good question... I know for myself, a customer has to have a pretty specific need, that is only met by one of Microsoft's pre-made apps, before I would suggest even looking at them. However, Microsoft continues to invest heavily into capabilities and marketing of their apps. I am sure it would be quite a financial blow to Microsoft's Business Applications Group if everybody dropped their pricey apps, and built their own on the inexpensive platform. But I, for one, am mostly suggesting they at least explore just that. Interestingly, I seem to recall Microsoft telling their partners a few years ago, that moving to the cloud was going to hurt partners a bit financially in the short term, but it was the future.

Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by DXC Technology Organizations with on-premises Dynamics ERP or Dynamics CRM solutions probably understand that moving those workloads to the cloud requires planning. But with so many variables, no two cloud journeys are exactly the same. Today's podcast guests, Chris Lavelle and Heather Palmieri from DXC Technology, join Microsoft MVP Rick McCutcheon to share their experiences planning and delivering cloud migrations of various types. The process always starts with a conversation to understand the business goals and the current application environment, Lavelle and Palmieri explain. Listen in as our guests discuss their experiences working with customers to move a Dynamics ERP or CRM solution to the cloud and what kinds of plans, expectations, and decisions lead to success. If you have questions you can get in touch with our DXC guests at dxcexclipse@dxc.com or by calling: +1 877-651-6193. Show Notes: 3:00 - How to start the conversation 5:00 - Who on the user side needs to be involved in the process from the start? 6:15 - How can an organization estimate the time their migration will  take? 7:45 - Following a project planning methodology to develop a fact-based approach 10:30 - Why legacy system migration usually includes unknowns that make expectation management a challenge 15:15 - Estimating the time required of the end user organization to keep a cloud migration moving forward 17:45 - How to prepare your organization for the commitment required on a cloud project. 19:30 - Supporting an organization's ERP or CRM usage after moving to the cloud 21:15 - How to use cloud migration as an inflection point for our business

Episode 89 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and 12-time Business Applications MVP Joel Lindstrom (@JoelLindstrom), a Principal Architect for Power Platform at Hitachi Solutions, Microsoft Certified Trainer, and podcaster based in Greer, South Carolina. Joel is the creator and editor of CRM Audio, the leading Dynamics CRM podcast (crm.audio), is an editor and frequent contributor to the Hitachi Solutions blog at http://us.hitachi-solutions.com/blog/ and is the co-creator of the CRM Tip of the Day blog which you can find at www.crmtipoftheday.com. Recorded in April 2020. In this episode, Joel and I talk about the beginnings of the Dynamics CRM platform, and its role in the Business Applications and Power Platform ecosystem. As a 12-time MVP, Joel has been there from the beginning, and is one of the leading community voices on CRM as well as the Common Data Service, which is Microsoft's premier data repository for the Power Platform. We talk about the evolution of the Dynamics space, growth of the Business Applications category, and some of our observations from the MVP community. You can watch this entire episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/ynwsyJ_S1qE

Microsoft just released the 2020 release wave 1 plans for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. On this episode we talk with Microsoft MVP Malin Donoso Martnes for her perspective on updates coming to the D365 Human Resources (formerly Talent) and Marketing apps. Malin has worked in the Dynamics CRM and D365 Customer Engagement space for several years, first on the customer side and now as a consultant based in Oslo. We discuss the new features of Human Resources, how to position the application alongside Dynamics 365 F&O and Project Service Automation, the role of Power Automate, and more.   You can follow Malin on Twitter or LinkedIn, and on her blog.   Show notes 2:00 - First impressions of the Dynamics 365 HR plans for 2020 wave 1 and why country-specific requirements are so important. 4:30 - The partner opportunity around Dynamics 365 HR 6:45 - Managing entities in the CDS, and how the HR app's architecture has evolved 9:30 - D365HR compared to the HR module of Dynamics 365 F&O 14:00 - Outlook on Dynamics 365 Marketing in the new release wave 17:00 - Deciphering Microsoft's language on upcoming marketing features 20:30 - More on Malin's professional background 23:30 - On getting back up to speed with Dynamics 365 after an extended leave 27:00 - How Malin creates her blog posts, with help from reader questions 28:00 - Upcoming events and plans

EY Kalman, also known as the CRM Ninja, joins me in this episode of Scrum Dynamics to reveal the critical factors behind the success of his Dynamics CRM project at Orbis Investment Advisory. Listen in as he reveals his critical success factors on this project.

In Scrum Dynamics 34, I chat with Andrew Bibby about his successful Dynamics 365 project at Devon Financial Services*. Andrew is a Microsoft Business Applications MVP with over 12 years’ experience implementing Dynamics CRM and Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement for several Microsoft partners and through his own company as an independent project advisor. The CRM project at Devon Financial Services was a five-year business transformation programme to improve the efficiency of their financial advisors by digitising paper-based client on-boarding and sales processes. Andrew’s role as an independent project advisor to assist the customer and their Microsoft partner to achieve the project’s outcomes. Listen in as Andrew highlights several critical factors to the success of the CRM project at Devon Financial Services: The value of using an independent project advisor especially, if you’re a Microsoft customer with insufficient capacity or previous experience implementing Dynamics 365. Use a proof-of-concept to mitigate technical and business risks early in the project. Don’t change Microsoft partner (if you can help it). Get the right people on the team. Using Azure DevOps as a single source of all requirements and work tracking. Consistent executive sponsorship. An emphasis on change management, not just with the users, but also a communication effort within and across the project workstreams. Having a co-located project team to improve daily communications. Requirements are fundamentally important.

  In this roundup, the MSDW editorial team looks back at top stories from recent weeks. We discuss: Mixed reaction from partners after Microsoft decision to end internal use rights Why many organizations still run Dynamics CRM on-premises The implications of PowerApps Portal Establishing corporate governance for Flow and PowerApps Early impressions of AI Builder Understanding when to use Flow or LogicApps Finance with Microsoft Dynamics ERP in Russia …and more!

It seems that many people are confused about where Dynamics 365 Business Central fits into the landscape. Is it an ERP... a CRM... is it for SMB... Midsized...Enterprise? Is it part of the Power Platform? At the risk of annoying my BC Partner friends once again, I will take a stab at it. Origins It would be helpful to know the origins of Dynamics 365 Business Central "BC", to understand how it came to it's current position, and then I'll discuss it's current position. Once upon a time, there was a product called Navision that Microsoft acquired. There is more to that story, but that is all that is relevant here. That product, since shortened to "NAV", is still alive and well and in use by many businesses around the world. Several years ago, Microsoft started their shift of Business Applications to the cloud, following the tremendous success of Office 365 and Azure. The first product to make that move was Dynamics CRM, and at the time it was launched as "Dynamics CRM Online". Dynamics CRM was not the only business application in the stable, it was just the first to go SaaS. Other products included Dynamics GP, Dynamics SL, Dynamics AX and Dynamics NAV, each of which were different flavors of Enterprise Resource Planning or "ERP". Enterprise Resource Planning is a pretty vague term. It could include human resources, supply chain management, sales activities and many more, but all of these activities revolve around a General Ledger in an ERP system. GL, AR and AP are the common denominators for each of these systems... and every business must have these components. All enterprise sized companies have an ERP, and most Midsized businesses do as well. Smaller businesses may have a solution like Xero or Quickbooks, that fills this purpose at a smaller scale for simpler needs. Many Midsized businesses are also using these simpler products... some successfully, and some who have outgrown them and are considering an ERP. Darwin Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection was not conceived for software. But similar rules apply. Basically the strongest will survive. What was strong yesterday, may not be strong tomorrow as the environment changes, and when previously strong players do not adapt, they are replaced by new strong players. This was what drove Microsoft to the cloud in the first place... seeing other players adapt, and become leaders. So Microsoft adapted as well, and given their war chest, they were able to adapt very quickly to a SaaS model. But along the way choices had to be made. One of those choices was, which ERP solution(s) would take the SaaS path. Shifting an on-premise product to SaaS is no small feat, and requires a significant investment. Having four on-premise ERP solutions, it was obvious that all four would not go SaaS. Microsoft drew a line across their customer base, dividing Enterprise on one side and everybody else on the other, and decided to pick one ERP for each side that would go SaaS. Why not just pick one? Well, I didn't have a vote, but I wrote about that here. Regardless, Microsoft selected AX for the Enterprise and NAV for... everybody else. It was pretty hard to argue AX as the Enterprise choice, but there was some debate about NAV vs. GP. GP is much bigger in the US, but NAV is actually bigger globally, so that decision made the most sense.... unless you were a GP partner. Cloudification I won't go into the cloud journey for AX, instead I will focus on the journey of NAV... which actually starts with CRM. Several years ago, Microsoft had an idea to create a specific offering for SMB called "Business Edition". It would be a scaled down version of the Enterprise CRM solution, better suited for the needs of Smaller businesses. Shortly into that initiative, the decision was made that this would be the best place to start the SaaS journey for NAV as well, and thus began the project code-named "Madeira". Given the SMB target segment, this was going to be positioned as a Quickbooks/Xero competing product. Understand that this was well before the idea of a "Common Data Service" was even on the future roadmap. BTW, another product that got it's start in the Business Edition effort was Dynamics 365 for Marketing. About a year into the "Business Edition" effort, Microsoft decided that the path they were on, was not going to reach the original goals as intended, and the goals had shifted as well. CRM itself was heading down a path of componentizing its parts, and separation from its platform... this ultimately led to what we now know as the Common Data Service. But what about "Madeira" and Marketing? Dynamics 365 for Marketing continued it's journey as an independent application, no longer bound by the "Business Edition" limitations. And Madeira? Microsoft Launches Business Central! Project Madeira, similarly became unbound from the Business Edition limitations, and was launched as an independent application called Dynamics 365 Business Central. There are a lot of side routes that this took that I won't go into here. Today, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is one of the fastest growing SaaS Business Applications in Microsoft's stable. A far cry from my earlier predictions that it would never see the light of day. Maybe the product owner at the time, Marko Perisic, made it successful just to prove me wrong. Nevertheless, it is on fire. So where did it go? Moving Uptown Once the Business Edition tag was removed, Marko quickly pivoted BC from a Quickbooks/Xero compete, into a product those customers could move up to as they outgrew them. While the CRM side of the house was going through a massive evolution into what we now know as the Power Platform, Marko was able to stomp on the gas pedal. BC was evolving at a faster pace than any other product, partly because it was in a lane by itself. Weekly updates were the norm, and the new northstar became NAV on-premise parity. A goal that I believe has been largely met. SMB might be a fine market, but this thing could go way beyond that... in some cases even standing toe-to-toe with AX for some enterprise customers. So what exactly is BC? What is Business Central? At it's heart, Business Central is a SaaS ERP. "Manage your financials" is at the top of the product's page of capabilities. As you would expect from an ERP it has the GL, AP and AR core functions, but it is much more than that. Like everything Microsoft is doing in Business Applications today, BC is infused with A.I. The next listed capability is "Automate and secure your supply chain", that sounds pretty "enterprisy" to me. Next up is "Sell Smarter and improve customer service", so BC also includes some CRM capabilities. After that is "Keep projects on time and under budget", so we can add some project management capabilities to the list. The last item is "Optimize your operations" for inventory and warehouse management. Clearly this product has grown up quite a bit from its humble "Business Edition" beginnings, and there is a growing number of partner extensions (ISVs) to extend the capabilities even further. The pricing is pretty straightforward, at least in comparison to the Customer Engagement applications. There are only three flavors: "Essentials" at $70/user/month, "Premium" at $100/user/month, and "Team Members" at $8/user/month. To figure out which licenses you need, you can review the licensing guide. You can also sign up for a free trial here. From the Pros Since I am not an expert on Business Central, I reached out to two guys who I know are knee-deep in the product for their thoughts. Andrew King is a Partner at WebSan, a Toronto based Business Applications partner. Since WebSan supports both Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement "CE" as well as Dynamics 365 Business Central "BC", I thought he would be a great guy to contrast the two. Andrew shared that there is some confusion in the market, "The products are as different as Golf and Baseball, but we frequently see customers asking about the product that does not meet their needs. Like BC for CRM needs, or CE for Supply Chain. Would they work? I guess if you like playing golf with a baseball bat". James Crowter is the Managing Director of Technology Management, a UK based Business Applications partner. Technology Management also supports both Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement "CE" as well as Dynamics 365 Business Central "BC", and has a long history with NAV. James talked about the amazing pace of innovation, "I can talk to a new customer in the morning, and have them using BC by the afternoon, which is amazing! For the right customer requirements, BC is a no-brainer... but not for sales workloads, there is not even a workflow capability (for sales), which is a key component for sales!" What Business Central is not? Both Andrew and James agreed that while Business Central is an awesome solution, it is not really a very good Sales tool. Both agreed that they would typically position Customer Engagement for any CRM type requirements, and they often position both products for a true end-to-end solution. They both had some choice words for the Sales Capabilities of BC, and clearly neither one had any interest in activating those, but instead would bring in Customer Engagement for any customers looking to transform their sales processes. So I guess it boils down to, what it is that you are trying to transform. If you are looking to modernize your financial processes, including supply chain and inventory, or have outgrown Quickbooks or Xero... Dynamics 365 Business Central is an excellent option, and you could reach out to Andrew or James for more guidance on that. If you are looking to modernize your sales or service processes, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is the clear way to go, and Andrew, James or myself can help you explore that further. But are these the only Microsoft options? Other Big and Small Options If your ERP requirements are really big, and include things like HR management, you might look at Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. This is Microsoft 's enterprise-grade ERP. Again, we have seen Business Central get into some pretty big businesses, but F&O is the next step up. Conversely, if your sales or service requirements are fairly basic, you may find that Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement is a pretty big hammer to start with. In that case, you might want to explore RapidStartCRM, our PowerApps based CRM solution. It is an excellent option for small businesses or enterprise departments, built on the Power Platform and running on CDS so you can never outgrow it. Hopefully I cleared up some confusion, but if I actually made you more even confused than before... please keep that to yourself.

Neil recently presented a live session on YouTube for the Dynamics 365 Community Corner. He recorded this special version of his presentation for the podcast covering: His first Dynamics CRM project using Scrum at Premier Medical Group How and why he switched from Microsoft Dynamics SureStep to Scrum after publishing the functional requirements document The horrors of basing a project plan and statement of work on a requirements specification The definition of Scrum as a framework, not a prescriptive methodology Scrum is one of several agile frameworks borne from the Agile Manifesto How to describe Scrum in five minutes covering the five events, three roles, three deliverables and its principals and values The top 10 benefits of Scrum for Dynamics 365 customers and project teams 26 tips for successfully implementing Dynamics 365 using Scrum

This episode of Scrum Dynamics is brought to you live from the Dynamics 365 User Group Summit EMEA in Dublin, Ireland. In this session, Neil covers the basics of Scrum and best practices for each of Scrum’s roles, events, and deliverables from his Dynamics 365 and CRM projects over the last ten years. He also highlights the lessons learned from his first Scrum for Dynamics CRM project at Premier Medical Group.

Ramon Tebar on the MVP ShowSubscribe on your favourite player: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Sticher | Tunein | Soundcloud | Full Show notes can be found here: https://www.nz365guy.com/47 MVP Show notesIn this Episode Being a 7-time MVP and moving to London from Spain to try a different professional experience Living in London 10 years later Learning to speak English and overcoming challenges in public speaking Food and wine to try in Alicante, Spain Finding interest in .net way back in college Becoming a Microsoft Student Partner Transitioning from .net to Dynamics developer Realizing the important things in an implementation beyond just development Best practices Ramon TebarMicrosoft Business Applications MVPSoftware Engineer specialised on Microsoft Technologies with experience in large projects for different industrial sectors as developer, consultant and architect. I enjoy designing and developing software applications, it is my job and one of my hobbies. I’m interested in design patterns, new technologies and best practices. Making those part of the ALM process is a great challenge. During the last years, I have specialised in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. I customise and extend the platform to provide tailored solutions and integrations based on service-oriented architectures and messages queuing. Motivated by community events and contributor in blogs, technical books, open source projects and forums, I have been awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) on Dynamics CRM since 2012.

What if I told you that you could invest $6,000 in your marketing and get a ONE MILLION percent return on investment? Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? This is exactly what Ryan Bonnici did during his time at HubSpot, and what he is planning on repeating now that he's taken on the role of CMO at G2 Crowd. This week on The Inbound Success Podcast, Ryan shares exactly what he did to deliver unheard of results and how you can do the same thing for minimal investment. His approach is simple, accessible and something that any business can replicate quickly with a bit of out-of-the-box thinking and the help of a web developer. Listen to the podcast to find out how Ryan helped HubSpot generate $64 million in revenue from a $6,000 marketing investment - and what it takes to get similar results for your company. Transcript Kathleen Booth (Host): Welcome back to The Inbound Success podcast. My name is Kathleen Booth, and I'm your host. This week my guest is Ryan Bonnici, who is the CMO at G2 Crowd. Welcome Ryan. Ryan: Hey, Kathleen. It's so great to be here. Ryan and Kathleen recording this episode Kathleen: Yeah, I'm excited to talk with you today. Before we jump in to our topic, tell our audience about yourself. About Ryan Bonnici Ryan: Absolutely. So, I'm the chief marketing officer at G2 Crowd, and I've been here for, gosh, a little under a year now. G2 Crowd is the world's largest business intelligence software reviews platform. We do a lot of different things, but ultimately, we help millions of buyers every month find the best software and services to use for their business because, I think we all know, just like you and I right now Kathleen, are speaking on software to make this call happen. Software really fuels business today. You can't really run a business without software, even if it's a top of the line. So, software's huge. It's a $4 trillion industry each year. And so, yeah, we're right in the heart of that, and it's a really fun place. A little bit about me and background, gosh. I started my career at Microsoft doing consumer marketing, loved that, and then I moved to a company called ExactTarget, which was an email marketing service provider that folks might remember. It was acquired by Salesforce a couple years ago for two and a half billion I think. I was at Salesforce then for a couple of years leading their APAC marketing team - Asia Pacific marketing - which was fun so, got a lot of experience with link building, marketing, and demand generation in different regions and launching in new countries, and no cross language fun. And then from Salesforce I moved to HubSpot, where I was doing a similar role leading their APAC marketing, and then I moved over from Australia to HQ in Boston and was leading their corporate marketing. So running everything from all of their social media accounts, to all of their PR strategies, to their campaigns, so all things digital and brand marketing really. So, that was a crazy time and a really fun time, I mean HubSpot was an amazing company. And then I moved to G2 Crowd late last year and have just never been happier Kathleen. I just love this role, I love this company and it's been such a crazy year. When I started, there were five marketers on the team and now I have thirty marketers. I've hired like 25 people since the start of the year. And the team's just like- Kathleen: Wow. Ryan: ... Yeah crazy growth. I've hired a lot of people over the last decade, but never have so many people, so quickly ... and it was kind of a whirlwind, but we hired some amazing people and we had to relocate a lot of different folks from different places. I'm really happy and excited and so really happy to be here with you. Kathleen: Yeah you know it's interesting. I've been familiar with G2 Crowd for a long time. Before I was at IMPACT, I used to own my own digital marketing agency that I had for eleven years and we were HubSpot partners, so I certainly reviewed HubSpot on G2 Crowd, as well as a number of other software platforms. But where I really found G2 Crowd could be extremely helpful for me, both at my agency and then at IMPACT when I first joined, I was on our sales team, was in a sales capacity. We were looking to sell marketing services and we always did marketing on HubSpot. It just so happened that that was our platform of choice. So, inevitably, when I would be talking to a prospective client that didn't yet have a marketing automation software platform and I would mention HubSpot, the question would always come up, "Why HubSpot, why is it so great?" And I always found that the most powerful thing that I could do, instead of signing HubSpot's phrases or sending them to a page on my site or HubSpot's site - I mean I of course did all that - but the most powerful thing was to be able to just say, “Here's this third-party review site. Look at how it's ranked. This is completely impartial and you can compare and contrast it against everything else here.” That was the thing that always seemed to seal the deal for people, because as much as you can establish yourself in a position of trust as a sales rep, they're never going to trust you quite as much as the thousands of other people out there who've reviewed the product. So, it's a great platform. Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. It's a great platform. Software is kind of going through this really interesting renaissance and progressing growth, and I think that if you think maybe back twenty or so years, software was in its infancy and it was really clunky and it was typically very enterprise focused, with a long sales cycle, and complex, long implementations. I remember when I was at Microsoft, which was only ten years ago, the implementation time for a Dynamics CRM, which wasn't in the cloud back then even, was just very different to how technology is today. I mean all people that have bought software, have been burned by software that they were told will do one thing, and then when they get it, they realize that it actually doesn't do that. So yeah, I think marketers, we do a really good job at marketing products and sometimes we do too good of a job whereby I call it vaporware. It's like software that a product marketer has made look really pretty on the site, but the reality is that the product doesn't actually exist today. That's what I love about moving from software companies to now, you know, G2 Crowd, where we're really impartial to your point and we're this marketplace that helps connect buyers with sellers. It's a really fun place to be. Kathleen: And I will say the other thing about marketers, is that we do have a little bit of 'shiny object syndrome' when it comes to software. I'm responsible for my company's marketing software spend and I get a case of angina every time I look at the recurring monthly expenses of that budget, so I'm constantly trying to figure out, do we really need this?  Ryan: Yeah. Kathleen: Being able to vet those expenses before they come on, is fantastic. So, you came on to my radar when somebody said this is a guy who is able to generate - what was it? - 64 million dollars in revenue, from a six thousand dollar marketing budget. Somebody said that and I was like, “That is someone that I need to interview.” Because that's like the perpetual challenge as an inbound marketer right? Every company of course has a goal for their marketing, but not every company has a budget to match their goal. It's that old 'champagne taste on a beer budget' kind of conundrum. And so, when I heard that, I thought, “Wow. There's got to be some really great lessons to be extracted here, that really anybody could use.” Because six thousand dollars is an amount of money that's incredibly acceptable for the vast majority of my listeners. So, let's start at the very beginning. Where were you when this happened? What were the goals that you were going after? Who was the audience?  How Ryan Generated $64 Million in Revenue from a $6,000 Marketing Spend Ryan: So, this all started in early 2016 and at the time I was living in Sydney Australia, which is where I'm from originally as you can probably tell from my accent. I was with HubSpot for about a year at this point. I always find this as a random side note that when you move to a new company, I feel it takes the first six months to just learn the basics of the company like how things work, how the strategy works, like get programs up and running. It was kind of at that one year mark where I was finding really cool, creative ideas that maybe will surpass what others in the organization are thinking. I don't know why, I'm just an ideas person. I love thinking outside the box and doing fun things. And so, at that year point I was starting to get to know the business and I was hitting all of my goals really easily. I had an amazing team under me, and our goals at that time were to drive marketing qualified leads to the sales team. So, that was kind of the core goal. And one of the things that I always said to my team was that generating MQLs isn't that much thought, it's pretty basic. You create content, that content converts to a lead, and then you write an email to them saying ... we would send emails every Tuesday and Thursday, and they would have a download for the person. And then there'd be a follow up CTA of like, “Hey, you've enjoyed this email marketing ebook, would you like to chat with someone from HubSpot who can help you assess your email marketing strategy.” So very value ad ... and helps when you have a sales team that understands this approach. They do a really good job of actually adding value to the person while also obviously trying to prospect them and see if they could buy HubSpot's tools. So we'd been doing that for a while and we started to consistently hit our goals, and I think to me, in any job that's when the fun begins, once you've worked out, "Okay, I know what I need to do to hit my goals." Hitting the goals is typically the boring part. It's the creative testing outside of the standard that you can have a lot of fun with. So, the team and I sat down ... and I remember just thinking back, we kind of sat down and said, "Okay, so the people that buy from HubSpot are businesses, typically small businesses, but businesses of all sizes can use HubSpot." And so, we said, what are some of the things that business people do? Because we kind of exhausted the typical things that marketers and sales people do, right? So, as we were sitting down, we're thinking that, okay, where a business starts, like let's just think of a very early stage business. What does someone do? They buy the domain name, they probably buy Google apps, or maybe in the minority they buy Windows or Microsoft 365 for their email. And then, they get business cards and then they set up an email signature for their Gmail. And that's stuff that everyone does at every company. When I joined Microsoft I remember ... I vividly actually remember designing my email signature and looking at other people in the org, and copying and pasting what they had. And, I noticed that at HubSpot that was the same and everyone had different email signatures. And so, this is I think what I try and teach people to do, that we I think did well at HubSpot, and I've had my team do as well here. When you have an idea about content to create that you think your buyer persona might like, don't just create it because you have a gut instinct or you know they will like it. Use a tool like SEMrush or Ahrefs to actually work out whether people searching for this term in a high volume. And so, we looked at it and the search terms "email signature" and "email signature generator," they both have combined on hundred thousand plus monthly searches in the US alone I think. Globally it was much larger than that. And we were thinking about it like, what better to create than an email signature generator because all the things that go into creating an email signature are the things that typically go into a lead form - you know, your name, your job title, your cell phone number, your email address, et cetera. And so, we worked with a HubSpot partner in Sydney - there's a guy called Ken that runs it and I still work with Ken today, he's building a tool for me right now at G2 Crowd, which is gonna drive lots of leads in the traffic for us here. Which is a secret for now, but I'll tell you about it when it's live. Kathleen: We'll have to do another episode. Ryan: We'll have to do another one when I complete it and have results. I've done this a few times now, and it's never not worked for me yet. And so, yeah we made it, it took maybe a month or two to build, six thousand dollars like ... crazy cheap money. I had a rockstar on my team, her name was Alissa, and she, over the course of the first month of launch, she looked at generating links to our email signature generator from other sites that ranked highly for that term. And then, yeah, gosh, from when we launched it like I think in April 2016 till about August 2016, we were generating upwards of 50 thousand organic visitors a month. Kathleen: Wow. Ryan: And it has something like a 50 to 70% conversion rate to lead, which is crazy high for a landing page. But, this wasn't like your typical landing page, this is a tool, and anyone that clicked through kinda knew what they were getting into. And yeah, so over the course of two or three years while that was up and running, I emailed this friend recently, maybe a couple months ago, my colleague who is on the ops team over at HubSpot ... “Hey, like can you give me the latest stats for the tool, I wanna see how it's doing.” And yeah, it's still consistently the number one organic lead source driver to HubSpot. It generates something like 50 thousand monthly leads, and 64 million dollars in net new source revenue. So, these are people that weren't in HubSpot's database before they came organically through ... found it through the tool, then started getting nurtured by HubSpot and then became customers. Kathleen: That's incredible to me because I have worked with HubSpot long enough to know that it has this mammoth contact database. Sometimes I feel like the entire world is in HubSpot's contact database. Ryan: Yeah. It's about seven million contacts I think. Kathleen: ... it's a huge number. And so, it's pretty incredible that such a high percentage of the leads that were generated through this were brand new. When- Ryan: Yeah. Well it makes sense if you think about it cause this is kind of a different topic than the persona, that we would normally always create content that marketers were actively looking for. But, I think what we realized on the inside was that marketers are just people in business, they search for other things. That's where I think most businesses go wrong. They only think about offers where the content or free tools are really close to their offering. When I went to my boss at the time - that was HubSpot's CMO, Kip Bodnar, who I just absolutely adore, loveliest, smiliest human ever and one of my best mentors - he thought it was a stupid idea, and he was like, “No, that's crazy. That's going to attract really low quality people to our site and generate low quality leads. It has nothing to do with marketing.” And I just fundamentally disagreed, and I had my own budget, so I still went ahead with it. And I remember five months before I left, him saying to me like, “It was really good that you made that tool.” Because the year before I left, they were really struggling. They were hitting their goals, but it was really tight. They hacked through a lot of proactive campaigns, and I remember him saying like, “If it wasn't for that tool. That tool is making up like 25% of our total leads being generated every month. Thank you.” And I was like, “Oh, that's a good feeling.” Kathleen: Yeah. Now, to that point. So, that was kinda gonna be my question. When you build something like this, I imagine that there are a fair number of leads that come in that probably aren't great leads. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff because if really what you're doing is just generating email signatures - I assume you're asking for basic contact information - so you don't know a lot about that contact. Are you enriching that data using a third-party tool to figure out is this a good fit for us or ... what do you do to get that information? Ryan: Yeah. Good question. So we had a very long list of optional things that people could put into their email signature. If anyone listening here wants to check it out, if you literally search email signature, you'll see HubSpot's email generator ranks like first, second or third on Google depending on when and where you're searching from. But, we ask a lot of different things. You'll see some options as well, like would you like to add a social link, would you like to add a banner image, a headshot, et cetera. Regardless of what they actually gave us, once they clicked the button they would get a visualization at the time of doing that of what their signature looked like, and they could edit that. When they wanted to download it to go to their email or to their Office 365, they clicked a button and an iframe/JavaScript popup would pop up and would say, "Hey. Thanks so much for this. One more step, we just need to know a few more things." And depending on what they had told us, like if they'd given us the email address and phone number, then those fields wouldn't be shown, obviously. But the key questions that we ask are never on the form because we wouldn't get any signatures, was how many employees do you have? Do you sell ... What was the question? Do you sell services? Are you a marketing agency? And then there was one more question, was what CRM do you use? So it basically was like the final form fields from your typical HubSpot lead form. And the reason why we use those is because when you have five thousand, five million, seven million contacts in your database, that was the way we would filter them between different sales teams, different geo's, different verticals things like that. And so actually, once they'd given us that information, that was all we needed to then nurture them accordingly. And we just had smart nurture set up ultimately, so yes. I'm sure a lot of low quality leads did come through that tool. But that's kind of part and parcel of in their marketing is that you're going wide so you're gonna be getting your ideal target for sure, but you're also going to get people that aren't there. But I think that's key to our velocity and growth, when you go after everyone in that kind of an instance as opposed to just going after a small segment. Because all the students that like the email signature, that wanted to set up a fancy Gmail signature when they were going out to look at job hunting, now, all of them know about HubSpot. They're all in the database. They're all learning. They, maybe five percent of them, become marketers later in life. Now, they've got HubSpot. It's a long game, this idea. This isn't a quick win kind of strategy. Content is not about that. But it's the most sustainable and long-term way, obviously, to grow your business.  Kathleen: So talk me through what happened after somebody hits submit. You mentioned then they get nurtured. Give me a sense of how you take the lead that converts on something that and shepherd them through a journey that ultimately leads them to a point where you're encouraging them to enter a sales funnel. Obviously, that's a delicate thing to navigate, so I'm curious to hear about how you manage that. Ryan: I guess I don't know, to be honest. To be honest, most companies over-engineer and over-complicate journeys, in my opinion. If you're giving high value, high quality content, it doesn't actually need to be as personalized, I think, as people think. Because we had so many contacts in our database, we knew what kind of content worked really well for new leads. The moment any lead came into HubSpot, regardless of whether it came from the email signature generator or website grader or a standard ebook, naturally they would always get a kickback email immediately that said, "Hey, thanks so much for using email sig generator or downloading an ebook. Here's a link where you can go back to that resource. And PS, if you would like to learn more about HubSpot's marketing automation software, you can click here." We would always have in everything that we did a fast-forward link, if you will, to basically allow people that were interested and ready to buy to do that, and that would push them to a standard MQL page to book a demo. If they didn't click that, then they would just go into the standard onboarding / nurturing of all new contacts. I don't know the exact format and content of these, but one email might say, "We're HubSpot. We create all this great content, and we have these free great tools." And the second email might say, "Hey, would you like to subscribe to our blog?" And the third email might say, "Hey, here's one of our most popular downloads. It's a free infographics template with a hundred different templates that you can use to make infographics at your business". They were very general downloads, right, but really high value in a sense that they were things that anyone could get a value out of. And then once they moved through that, each of those conversion points would always have a MQL offer within it. So, if they clicked through the landing page and downloaded the templates, they would get a kickback email, or on the thank you page, saying, "Hey, would you like to learn more about how you can accelerate your marketing in other ways? Click here." Kinda just went, then, from that normal flow, if that makes sense, Kathleen. Kathleen: Yeah, it does. And I have to laugh because I know Kip. He's great. He is very smart, as you say. And I did notice that they must be now drinking the Kool-Aid of this whole concept, because in the last few months, I saw that they released the out-of-office message generator. Ryan: I created that. Just let me put it out there. So, I actually- Kathleen: Nice. Ryan: Yeah. I'm so happy to see that go live 'cause I started building that, it would've been in ... It was the start of 2017. So, email sig generator started crushing it at the end of 2016, start of 2017. Worked with Ken, the same guy, to build that. We got it to kind of like an MVP stage where it functionally was working, but the landing page hadn't been built, and we hadn't worked out the quirky responses for different things. And I remember before I left, pinging it to - 'cause at that point in time, the team I had moved onto was no longer the one that did that kind of creative stuff - I think I forwarded it to the HR team to say, "Hey, this could be a cool recruiting tool for you. People that are looking to take holidays use it." And so I think they then ... I don't know. It took them a year or so since they left for them to then finish it off. I'm sure this wasn't a high priority, and it wasn't someone's dedicated role. But yeah, I saw them bring that out. I've been meaning ... I have it in my to-do list to try it out, 'cause I wanna see where it got to in the end. But yeah, I remember doing that. The big thing that I tried to teach my team was, "Hey, you wanna try and work out a way to make the tool give you the info that you need in your lead form." So, you would ask a question like, "What industry are you in?" in our normal lead forms. In my mind, I thought, okay, cool, a really creative way we can ask that question for this tool, I was gonna say, was we should say, "Hey, we wanna personalize your email signature, and every industry is different. Some are more corporate and boring, aka finance, and some are more creative and fun, aka marketing. Tell us what industry you're in, and this will help us personalize your out-of-office message." And I don't know if they actually built that into it or not yet. I need to check it out and see if that was there. But yeah, so, we did that. And then one tool I wasn't involved in but was always on the list was the invoice generator. They launched the invoice generator a little bit after I left. I think they launched a business card generator, which was just basically a re-skin of the email signature generator, but basically now it's a straight out visual that you would print as opposed to something you paste into your Gmail.  I also created a free tool for my own personal website. I have a website, executiv.co. It's basically a site where I curate content from executive coaches and just experts in their field to help other executives that are moving on up in their career to learn from folks that have already been there. And personally, I'm big into reading books to help me get better. I remember a few years ago reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, I think his name is. Really good book, a lot of execs have read it. There's this assessment in the book that I really liked. It's basically like, "Hey, answer these 25 questions, and we'll tell you if your team is functional or dysfunctional." And so I converted that into a, I don't wanna say a tool, 'cause it's more simple than that. Basically it's other questions, a lead form to give me your email address, and then I ask you, "Does your team do this?" yes, sometimes, no. There's 25 questions like that, and they then click a button at the end that says view analysis. And then they get an email with their score. And in the email, it says, "Hey, these score results will be better if you can share this with your team and get your team to do this as well." And so I created this free tool two and a half, three years ago, and I still get thousands of net new leads through it every month. Because what happens, it's crazy. Someone at Microsoft will do it, and then they'll get my kickback email that says, "Hey, why don't you share this with your team and see what they think." And then you'll see if one person comes in from a new company, and then 10 or a hundred net new leads will come in from that same company. And then that gets shared to someone else, and then the same thing that happens. It has this really interesting virality effect. I don't need to generate any press for it because people are always reading the book. So that's Five Dysfunctions of a Team assessment, and I'm the only one that has a free tool for the assessment. I haven't touched that website, literally, or published any blog posts on it in three years, and it still generates thousands of leads a month. It's crazy. Kathleen: What I find really interesting about this is we've talked now about three different tools. We've got the email signature tool, the out-of-office generator. Those are in one category targeting individuals, individual leads. And then you have the one on your website which, as I listen to you talk about it, it's striking me that that is a very good example of a type of tool that somebody could build if they were interested in doing more account-based marketing. Because obviously with account-based marketing, you're looking to saturate as many contacts within a certain organization as you can, and you've got a tool that has that built into it. So, that's really interesting. Ryan: It's pretty cool, yeah. It's pretty cool. The way this business works, I work with executive coaches in different cities. And when leads come through from different people, I have them sorted by geo, and then I can connect executive coaches with people that indicate that they have dysfunctional teams. So, the executive coach comes in and trains them. It's a really nice way for me to make passive income without doing anything. Obviously, they come to me for assessment, and then I connect them with executive coaches. I function like a matchmaker in that I make money from every time I match make someone from the coach. So, it's a genius, on the side kind of thing. I shouldn't say genius. It's incredibly simple, which is, in my mind, what is so cool about our tools and so genius about them is that they're really basic. And the point is most people just don't know how to think about their persona, right? So, executive coaches want to find people that need help, and people that need help read help books around leadership. So, this beautifully connects them. I just love getting in the mind of a buyer persona and working out what they're looking for online. Kathleen: Let's dig into that for a second, because I think if somebody listening is sitting here thinking, "Okay, I wanna do this. This seems like a great idea," the first thing standing in their way is how to conceptualize the tool itself. So, can you spend a second and just walk me through the thought process that you go through or how you approach this to figure out what is that right tool for the audience you're targeting? Ryan: Totally, totally. Why don't you select a persona or someone that you want me to attract, and I'll just do it live on the spot. So, you can say- Kathleen: Cool, okay. Ryan: Maybe create a company. It could be a legal firm or it could be ... You choose, and then I'll think about it and go live with you and try and work it out. Kathleen: Sure. Well, let's use my company as an example. That's an easy one. So, we're targeting marketers. Ryan: Okay. Kathleen: And they can be anywhere from mid to senior level marketers who run marketing for a company. So, they're the in-house person generally leading the marketing team. Ryan: Okay, cool. That's kind of easy, though, just 'cause a lot of the tools that I've created in the past are for marketers from my experience at HubSpot. Kathleen: I'm throwing you a softball. Ryan: Yeah, that's a real softball. In that instance, what I would be thinking about is okay, so I'm trying to attract a lot of marketing managers. And you're selling the marketing services, is that right, Kathleen? Like, you wanna be their agency and help and support, yeah? Cool. Kathleen: Yeah. Ryan: So, the easy thing for you to do that most people would do, which won't work as well, is create content about why you need a marketing agency to help. Now like this, I would say that you should have that, obviously, on your side for people that you attract through other content to then help them see that and work out why they should use you. But before that, to get more people to your site, I would be thinking about, "Okay, marketing managers - what is something that they need to do?" They manage marketing budgets. What's something that's hard about marketing budgets? They have to hire people, so marketing job titles, marketing job descriptions. They might be going to Google and searching for marketing job descriptions to work out if they're hiring their second marketer or third marketer, who that would be. They might be going online and searching for marketing templates or marketing greetings. I would be thinking about that, and then I would be going to your SEMRush, your Ahrefs and saying, "Okay, I put in those keywords." And then I would start to look at that and all related keywords, and then I would just go through them from top to bottom from which has the most following to the least following. And then I would start to identify which ones could be tools. So, marketing job descriptions I know is one. Marketing salaries is a big one. Maybe you create a tool that allows a person to select their job title, and it shows them the estimated salary - things like that. Like how to become a CMO, they might search for. I'm trying to think of other tools. I already have created so many of these tools for marketers. Kathleen: I always thought that ... It's funny. So, I used to work with clients in all different industries. I always thought that a great tool would be an RFP builder, so like, if you wanna try to build an RFP for marketing support services. Go in, and there's prebuilt modules that you can choose and drop in, and then it spits out your complete RFP. You could do that for so many industries. Ryan: Totally. Kathleen: It could be network engineering RFP or construction RFP or what have you. Ryan: Totally. You know that thing I told you that I was working on? That's literally it. Kathleen: No! Ryan: Yeah. If you think about it, it's perfect for us because our site replaces the RFP process. So, who better to attract to the site than someone that's old school still and thinks they need to do an RFP? So, we're actually building an RFP generator for different industries that customizes the questions and the outputs. You're onto it, Kathleen. You've got this. Kathleen: Great minds think alike, Ryan. I'm telling you what. I used to, prior to my career as a marketer, I did government contracting in international development. Ryan: Nightmare stuff, those contracts. Kathleen: Totally different sector. So, I used to have to respond to RFPs, and I always thought no one in their right mind who has to write an RFP ever wants to write it from scratch. So, everybody is working off of something, right? Ryan: Totally, yeah. So, the way it's starting is they come to our site, and they're gonna select "Are you looking for a content marketing agency? Are you looking for content marketing software?", et cetera. And then from there, it'll personalize the questions we ask, et cetera. And it will just spit something out. But then it also says, "Hey, did you know that G2 Crowd has live data from X many companies itself (insert the name of the RFP thing that you're doing)? Click here to learn who is the number one based on customers like you." It pushes them straight into our review process. Which then, we wanna obviously then be the matchmaker to find them and connect them to the best supplier for what they need. That's how we make money, right? We don't care where they go to, 'cause we make money regardless, but we wanna connect them to the best person for them. Kathleen: Love it, love it. Well, I obviously think it's the best idea ever because I came up with it, too. Ryan: Yeah, exactly. Good job. Should we split the commmission? I think we should. Kathleen: Yeah, absolutely. I didn't have to do anything, but I will 100% take half of the credit. The other question I have is if somebody is listening, and they are thinking they might want to do this, the first thing, like we just said, is figuring out how to get to what that tool should be. But then the obvious next challenge is how do I build it? And most companies that I have spoken with don't have somebody in house who could be like, "Yep, I'm just going to build that tool." Walk me through anything you need to consider when you're looking for somebody to build it for you. And you talked a little bit about how much you spent building these things. Is it $600, $6,000, $60,000? What are the elements that most affect how much you're going to have to pay for something like this? Ryan: Yeah. So even at HubSpot when I was there we had a 200 person marketing team, and we didn't have the resources ourselves in house. So I definitely don't think you need to do it in house. I think for this kind of a thing, the thing that makes it expensive is if it's very complex, and simply just because the more complex the tool is, the longer hours of development you need to basically buy from the agency. So like if you need an email signature generator it's pretty basic, right? You're allowing a text field for someone to insert text, and then you are just showing them that same text, but in a more stylized way. So pretty basic kind of like, rules, and if they want to change the color, you just change what the color looks like of that text, so pretty simple. Also I'd probably say that, in general, I think they would cost more than six grand, maybe they'd cost like, on average, 10 to 20 grand. I think we got a really good deal partly because this partner wanted to work with us, because they thought it was a cool idea and wanted to be a part of that. So let's say the RFP generator that we're building right now is costing around 30 grand, so quite a bit more. And that's just because it's much more complex, and the applets need to be very custom based on what the person says, and we're pulling in live data. That was one thing that the email signature generator couldn't do. So the complexity would change, so like if you want to create an image, something that creates images, or outputs a media file, that's gonna be more expensive probably. If you wanted something that outputs something basic, then it's very easy, so that would be the main thing I would be thinking about. The process of building it though is pretty simple. So what I'd typically do is I'd get a pad, a small pad or a big pad, and I'll literally just get a pen and draw out the pages of the app, so like what the home screen would look like, and then what the first page of the app looks like, and what the buttons will be, and that will evolve over time, but I just create that and I turn that into photos into like Google Slides, and then I share that with different developers and say, "Hey, this is the tool I'm trying to build, this is the goal of it, it needs to be built on HubSpot." Then I would literally find out from different developers who get what we're trying to do, who can do it, but then what are the different costs, and then I kind of go from there. Kathleen: Yeah, so it definitely sounds like the costs can vary. I guess in terms of if somebody's listening and thinking, "Well, is it worth it for me to do it?" it comes down to the costs per lead, and it sounds like the example you have from HubSpot, the cost per lead is like so infinitesimally tiny. Ryan: That's the other key is that you need to then work out before you build it, part of the validation process is is there enough demand to pay this back? So when I say demand, is there enough monthly searches around this topic specifically, and also how competitive is that topic? So that's the other thing to think about is I speak at conferences all around the world really often, I love keynoting, and I talk about this a lot. The big thing I say is that you probably shouldn't be doing this if you are just starting out. If you're just starting out, start with a blog, get a blog up and running. You need to build domain authority. Because if you don't have domain authority, a tool's not gonna rank, you know, realistically, unless it's a brand new thing. So the five dysfunctions of a team, my personal website, Executive.co, has a very low domain authority, and I mentioned I haven't blogged for three years, but it still ranks number one, because not that many people have created tools for that. No one has, sorry, so it's the first thing that comes up. So you can start with this strategy from the get go, assuming it has a domain authority maybe under 20 or 30, but if it doesn't, sorry, domain difficulty, like difficulty score under 20 or 30. So I've been thinking about that, but this should just be supplementary to your content strategy, just be another thing you're doing, in my mind. Kathleen: That makes sense. You gotta tackle the building blocks first before you can get fancy. Kathleen's Two Questions Kathleen: Well this is so interesting. I love the strategy, I feel like it's definitely something anybody could do, especially given that it's pretty easy to outsource the development of it. Shifting gears for a minute, so there are two questions that I always ask my audience, and I love hearing these answers because I always learn something new when I ask them. I'm particularly curious to hear your answers because you have such an interesting background. You're at G2 Crowd now, you've worked at HubSpot, at Salesforce, at Exact Target, at Microsoft. You've written for - I looked at your LinkedIn profile - you've written for Entrepreneur Media and Business Insider, et cetera. So you have such an interesting diversity of marketing experience. The question - this is a big buildup - the question is, company or individual, who do you think is doing inbound marketing really well right now? Who is a great best practice example? Ryan: There's a few folks. So inbound's a pretty broad term. I think some people that are doing inbound or content marketing well - like attracting audience, which is what inbound is, I guess, at its essence - on social, I think that you've obviously got your big media companies, like your Buzzfeeds, but they do a great job at working out what are the exact formats for content that are really sharable, so they all go viral. I think Gary Vaynerchuk is a really interesting person. He's a little bit annoying, I think, but certainly, no offense, Gary, love you long time. But, he gets the whole idea of being controversial and saying things that are shocking and that gets people sharing his content. He's also a master at persona-based marketing. So he does his rants and he selects a specific persona for each rant. He'll choose marketers and have a rant about why marketing is broken. He'll choose the education industry and do a rant about why schools are broken, and because he gets really specific in his rants, those personas then share - like people in education, teachers - will share his content like really crazily viral because it's so targeted to them. When marketers see his rant about marketing, they'll do the same thing, like "Oh my god, I can so relate to this," et cetera. So I think he does a really good job at inbound marketing when it comes to social. I'd say like in terms of web content, like in owned channels, like website blog, I think that G2 Crowd is doing a really good job now. The team has grown blog traffic in the last year by like 50% month on month, so we really approached it with a new strategy here after I joined and the team has just been rallying behind it and we've got 10 content marketers now, so they're doing an amazing job with everything we just talked about, but less so in the context of tools, more in the context of just content, so working out what our different personas want, and validating that with search volume research, and then creating content around those topics, and clustering it as well, in the same way that HubSpot thinks about content clusters, content hubs. Who else? HubSpot's obviously doing really, really well. There's a lot of different companies, there's so many, gosh. I think Drift is doing a great job, so Dave Gerhardt over at Drift is doing really cool LinkedIn content - a lot of good LinkedIn videos at the moment - which go quite viral because LinkedIn still doesn't have a whole lot of video content. So if you're one of the first people to move on a platform when they launch new format or content, typically you can game the algorithm because they want to get more of that content on there. Kathleen: Yeah. Ryan: Yeah, I don't know, got a quick list of some of them, but I'll think more and let you know if there are any others that come to mind. Kathleen: Yeah I had Dave Gerhardt on as a guest, and he talked about his LinkedIn takeover strategy with video and how it worked is really interesting, and I have to laugh because he's done a few videos since then of when people send him swag in the mail - the unboxing videos. And the greatest thing ever was, so he did a few unboxing videos, and sort of drew out their swag and unboxed it. And one guy sent him, the swag was an actual branded box cutter, because he was like "You're unboxing all of this stuff, you need a branded box cutter." Ryan: I remember seeing that, that's freakin awesome. That is very, very smart. Kathleen: So, second question, obviously digital marketing is changing so quickly, how do you stay up to date and keep yourself current on everything that's going on? Ryan: Yeah, that's a great question. So I think to be really good at digital marketing, first, you kind of just need to be in the trenches, and you need to be playing with digital and living in digital form. So that's kind of why a lot of people on my team will come up and ask like, "Hey, you know I want to get better at digital marketing, should I do a course?" I'm like, "No, do not do a course with anyone." Digital marketing changes every other freakin week. Even if they have Snapchat in your course or something, in a month's time the content will be old, because they'll change the platform, so just don't bother with that. The way I stay up to date, and I think the way I try and encourage my team to stay up to date, is I just block out time every day on my calendar to check Product Hunt and to check G2 Crowd to see the new platforms that are being published. And so I find between G2Crowd.com and between producthunt.com, that gives me a really good pulse on what technologies are new and growing and people have liked, and so that helps me kind of work out cool ideas and strategies because the challenge of digital marketing is it's hard to think about cool, creative cutting edge strategies if you don't know what new technologies are available. So thinking back, a nice win where I had with that, two years ago, it would have been the start of 2017, I ran an experiment with my team when I was in Sydney with the marketers in HubSpot, and what I did was, we sent out an email like we always did for an ebook download, and 50% of the people who came to our landing page, I swapped out the form with a Facebook messenger bot download. This was before Facebook Messenger bots were a thing, and I found basically this developer in India who created this hokey little tool to do it, and ChatFuel and all of those folks weren't around then, or maybe they were, and people didn't know about them. Anyway, what we found was that there was a higher drop off in terms of conversions on the landing page, so people were more willing to do their email address than Facebook Messenger just because they were used to email, but what we found was the conversion flow once they'd become a Facebook messenger subscriber was crazy high. What we would do is once people had subscribed by Messenger, instead of sending those people another email the following week with the new offer, we would send them the new offer via Facebook Messenger. And I wrote a big blog post actually I think about this on the HubSpot blog after we did this, but what we found was that we had a 90% open rate on Facebook Messenger, and a 50 or a 70% click through rate, I can't remember, one of the two, click through rate. And it makes sense, right? If you think about it, when you get messages on Facebook Messenger, and I get a little red circle, I check it immediately because it's not a branded channel. It's not a channel that you're used to getting branded messages from. So if you have something there, you typically think, "Oh, okay this is a friend." But they'd opted in to Facebook Messenger alerts, so they'd always open it 90% of the time, and then 50% of the people would click through, so it was able to actually convert far more many people to MQL than email was. So fast-forward. I remember sharing those results with our CEO, and our CTO Don Mesh, and saying "Hey, this is seriously cool shit. A we need to be doing this for all of our landing pages, and B, we need to build this technology into our tool for marketers," and then I think, gosh, eight months later, HubSpot acquired motion.ai, which was one of the worlds leading bot platforms out of Chicago, actually, which is where I am based out of G2Crowd. So it's cool that my ProductHunt stalking and learning about new tools allowed me to have that really interesting experiment that had great results and led me to kind of take Hubspot down that journey or the start of the early stages anyways. So I still am always on ProductHunt every day and I'm always testing out new things and flicking links to my team saying "Hey, check this out, we need to try this." So that's kind of how I think I I started out. Yeah. Kathleen: Yeah it's great, it's a great platform. Well, all of those are great suggestions, and I'm definitely going to check those out. I will include links to all of that in the show notes, as well as to the email signature generator, the out of office generator, all of those tools. Ryan: Cool, and I'll send you a link as well, Kathleen, because I wrote a really in depth blog post on the email signature generator and how we created it, and I screen shotted a lot of my research as well, so for folks that want a really specific step by step process and folks that don't believe me on the ROI, I've got all the screenshots of the stats so they can see that as well. Kathleen: That's fantastic, I would love that. I'll definitely include that as well. [Read Ryan's blog here] If somebody has a question, wants to learn more about G2Crowd, wants to reach out to you, what's the best way for them to find you online? Ryan: Yeah, I mean, I'm a social ho, so I'm on every channel. I think I use the same handle on every platform, so it's just my name, Ryan Bonnici. That's b-o-n-n-i-c-I. Feel free to connect on LinkedIn or Twitter or Instagram, I respond to everyone that messages me, as long as they don't say, "Hey" or if they don't hate on me. If they disagree with what I'm saying that's okay. I love the discourse. Kathleen: Great, well I'll include that in the show notes as well, and with that, thank you so much, this was really fun and interesting, and I loved meeting somebody else who also thought of the RFP generator, now I know this thing's got legs, I'm looking forward to seeing it finally come to life on your site. So we'll look forward to that. If you're listening and you found some value in this conversation, I would really appreciate if you would give the podcast a review on iTunes or Apple Podcast or the platform of your choice. And if you know someone doing kickass inbound marketing work, tweet me at WorkMommyWork because I would love to interview them. Thank you Ryan. Ryan: Thanks Kathleen, thanks everyone!

I've been thinking about this episode for a while. I wanted to take some time and talk about those confrontational situations that happen once in a while during Dynamics 365 Implementations and what is the best way to manage them or diffuse them. Years ago when I was a "young Solution Architect" I was lucky enough to be mentored by someone who had been working with Dynamics CRM since its Beta days, and who I consider the best in the world at dealing with confrontation in Dynamics 365 Implementations. So, when I thought about recording an episode featuring the Top 10 confrontational situations we find on Dynamics 365 Implementations, I knew I had to get him on the show. His name is Patrick Lewis, and he joined me on this episode to talk about how he deals with these situations: The project lead on the customer side was not involved in the sales process and now wants something different The executive sponsor of the project is on the IT side and none of the users care what he/she thinks because they are sales people You realize that a task that is needed on a project will take twice or three times to accomplish than what was calculated before stating the project You find out that someone assigned to your project team does not have the necessary skills or experience to perform tasks assigned to her/him The customer was told something by your sales team before they signed the contract that you know it’s impossible now that the project started, and the contract is signed. Time wise or functionality wise. Dysfunctional organizations where the business and IT hate each other The customer is taking forever to get their data Personality conflicts/people who bring personal issues to work The awkward situation where Microsoft functionality gets dropped between the sales process and project completion Working with ISV vendors that are unresponsive or have poor collaboration Special thanks to Joel Lindstrom for suggesting some of these situations. You can reach Patrick at: patrick.lewis@fullscope.com Links:  businessThink: http://a.co/cQ7P6xP Sandler Selling: http://a.co/8Z5URUt The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: http://a.co/glaaVpZ    

In this episode (sponsored by D365UG/CRMUG) hosts Britta Rekstad and Matthew C. Anderson discuss Goals and Goal Metrics, Rollup Queries. Thanks, Garry, for submitting the question that inspired the topic of today's show! Discussed on the show Goals on docs.microsoft.com Dynamics CRM 2011 Goal Management: Understanding Goal Criteria Dynamics CRM 2011 Goal Tricks What's New in CRM 2011 Session 2: Goal Metrics and Goals To infinity...and beyond!! What's on your mind? Have a question you'd like answered on a future podcast? Submit one by visiting implementthis.org

In this episode (sponsored by D365UG/CRMUG) hosts Britta Rekstad and Matthew C. Anderson discuss Goals and Goal Metrics, Rollup Queries. Thanks, Garry, for submitting the question that inspired the topic of today’s show! Discussed on the show Goals on docs.microsoft.com Dynamics CRM 2011 Goal Management: Understanding Goal Criteria Dynamics CRM 2011 Goal Tricks What’s New in […] The post Goal Entities in Dynamics 365 – Ep 17 appeared first on Implement This.

Nous discutons avec Nicolas Plourde des modèles de programmation disponibles pour Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Nicolas Plourde: Nicolas Plourde travaille dans l'industrie des technologies de l'information depuis plus de 7 ans en tant que consultant, développeur et passionné de gestion du cycle de vie des applications. Au cours des 5 dernières années, il s'est spécialisé dans les technologies Microsoft, notamment dans les technologies Dynamics CRM, au sein desquelles il a perfectionné les compétences de développement Web et d'apprentissage des données d'entreprise. Liens Chaîne YouTube Azure Rocks! de Guy Chaîne YouTube Le Cloud en 5 Minutes de Frank Boucher Blog de Nicolas Sparkle XrmToolbox

On this episode (sponsored by Inogic) hosts Britta Rekstad and Matthew C. Anderson take a trip down memory lane, talking about older versions of Dynamics 365 (Dynamics CRM). It’s easy to forget how far the platform has come, sometimes, and there’s nothing quite like a chance to work with an older version of the product […] The post Older Versions of Dynamics (and Upgrading) – Ep 10 appeared first on Implement This.

Episode 56: Markus Erlandsson talks to Mohamed Mostafa from TechLabs about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)  and how that can impact Dynamics CRM. The discussion starts with Mohamed describes what GDPR is and what the intent with the regulation is, when do GDPR apply and why I should care. Mohamed goes on to talk about … Continue reading GDPR and CRM with Mohamed Mostafa

The family of Wan Li Zhu did not see a future in China. His parents, persecuted by the one-party state, came to America when Wan Li was ten years old. China’s great loss became America’s brilliant gain. Wan Li benefited from high-quality public education at Bronx High School of Science and went on to a perfect grade-point average at MIT. He studied under renowned quant wiz Andrew Lo and was poised for a career on Wall Street but was lured away by the prospect of hands-on responsibility for product features at Microsoft. After a prodigiously successful stint, during which he was involved in building and marketing Dynamics CRM, MS’ fastest-growing product, he went to Harvard Business School. From HBS he was recruited by early-stage VC firm Fairhaven Capital. The firm, known for its expertise in web security and digital advertising, now sees promise in various applications of artificial intelligence starting with self-driving technology. Wan Li is deeply engaged in bringing on the next generation of winning investments at Fairhaven Capital. Despite a busy professional life, Wan Li Zhu has found time to advise startups and to co-found MIT Angels in Boston. I learned a ton from my conversation with this wise, yet unassuming VC. Here is a list of some of the topics broached: Wan Li Zhu Bio From Persecution in Communist China to Bronx High School of Science Studied with MIT Professor Andrew Lo – Used Natural Language Processing to Assess Market Sentiment Why Wan Li Zhu Went to Microsoft – Three Years at MS – Shipped Three Versions of the Product Wan Li Zhu Connects with Fairhaven Capital through HBS Resume Book Fairhaven Capital Is Thesis-driven – Attentive to Market Trends that Could Create Large Opportunities How the Fairhaven Capital Portfolio Is Doing What Wan Li Zhu Looks for in a Startup Investment Experienced Founders Can Actually Time Markets TVision Came Via MIT Angels – Measuring Engagement of TV Viewers AirFox – Enabling Wireless Carriers to Offer More Affordable Data Plans MIT Angels Company PathAI’s Deep Learning System Is Better at Detecting Tumor Cells than Human Pathologists Latch – Enterprise-grade Keyless Access System for Apartment Buildings The Investment Wan Li Zhu Regrets Not Making Wise VC Wan Li Zhu Continues to Be Very Bullish on AI

Our greatest fan, Andrew Shough, pronounce like "cough" according to his dad, finally came onto the show and wowsers... He has an Engineering Degree, is a dev and knows SharePoint and CRM. Why did we not get him on sooner. He shares his wealth of knowledge about SharePoint and CRM with us. Added to that, we cover the latest news, including a very popular feature, Product Find of the Week which in this week's show is Lanteria, an HR product for SharePoint. AND!! You can now find us on TuneIn!! Woot!

Nous discutons avec Salim Adamon de la plateforme Microsoft Dynamics 365, de ses modules et des améliorations par rapport au Dynamics qu'on a connu il y a quelques années. Salim est un entrepreneur, consultant en technologies de l’information avec un intérêt particulier pour les solutions technologiques permettant d’améliorer la productivité et la rentabilité des entreprises. Depuis près de 10 ans, il se concentre sur la mise en place de systèmes de gestion de la relation clients (CRM) basé sur la plateforme Dynamics CRM/365 ainsi que l’ensemble de produits et outils de l’écosystème Microsoft. Il a été impliqué sur une trentaine de projets dans les industries différentes tel que les ressources humaines, les finances, le gouvernement et la santé. Il a reçu chaque année depuis 2014, la reconnaissance de Most Valuable Professional (MVP) de Microsoft pour ses contributions dans les communautés en ligne et dans l’est du Canada. En 2014, il a fondé la compagnie de Services technologiques Sadax, qui se bonne pour objectif de fournir à des clients des solutions CRM complètes. La compagnie offre ses services au Canada, aux USA et également en Afrique de l’Ouest.  Compagnie : Services Technologiques Sadax Liens Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog de Salim

Can you help a charity move to the cloud? Carl and Richard talk to Jeremy Pitman of Microsoft Philanthropies about the new offering to provide $5000 worth of Azure credit to any qualified non-profit organization. The offering includes tools like Office 365 and Dynamics CRM - things that are pretty straightforward to implement. Even using Azure to set up a WordPress blog is simple - but what if you want to lift-and-shift an existing charity website? Perhaps .NET Rocks listeners could be helping their local charities to make this a reality! Beyond the basics, the cloud offers great new capabilities in analytics that can make charities even more effective! Public cloud for public good!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/net-rocks/donations

Can you help a charity move to the cloud? Carl and Richard talk to Jeremy Pitman of Microsoft Philanthropies about the new offering to provide $5000 worth of Azure credit to any qualified non-profit organization. The offering includes tools like Office 365 and Dynamics CRM - things that are pretty straightforward to implement. Even using Azure to set up a WordPress blog is simple - but what if you want to lift-and-shift an existing charity website? Perhaps .NET Rocks listeners could be helping their local charities to make this a reality! Beyond the basics, the cloud offers great new capabilities in analytics that can make charities even more effective! Public cloud for public good!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/net-rocks/donations

Julie Yack is a Colorado-based Microsoft Dynamics CRM MVP serving clients across the globe, providing training, implementation, analysis and insight for companies wanting to take their service to the next level. Julie's blog, www.julieyack.com, addresses pertinent topics of the day, ranging from Dynamics CRM to technology in education to travel to voting rights. Julie is an accomplished author and publisher with several books on different technologies under her belt. Julie is a community leader, nationally, locally and online, serving on education committees and curriculum boards in Colorado and as a founding member of SouthColorado.net and xRMVirtual online. She knows how important it is to have your voice heard and has been honored to speak to elected officials at the US Capitol and to the Executive Staff at the White House on topics of technology legislation and the importance of STEM education in our k-12 schools. Julie loves to spend her free time traveling with her husband and kids.

Episode 44: Markus Erlandsson talks about tools to improve your productivity when developing for and administrating your Dynamics CRM organization Links: Software Development Kit for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SDK Download, XrmToolBox, XrmToolkit (Crm Solution Manager), Diagnostics tool, Trace Reader

Episode 42 where Markus Erlandsson talks to Gretchen Opferkew and Alex Fagundes from powerobjects about what’s new in Dynamics CRM 2016 and Update 1. Gretchen talks about learning paths and how you can learn faster. Alex talks about mobile client and sorts outs options for going offline and working with activities. Discussion continues with folder level tracking, … Continue reading What’s new in Dynamics CRM 2016 and Update 1 with Gretchen Opferkew and Alex Fagundes

With over 450 million fans spread out across the globe, how could Real Madrid create meaningful connections with its extraordinary fan base? This was the unique challenge Microsoft was issued and through Microsoft Cloud solutions consisting of Azure, Dynamics CRM and Power BI, Real Madrid was able to embrace a truly innovative digital transformation throughout its entire organization. Join Blain Barton and Mike Downey as they take us through Real Madrid’s unique fan experience based on technological solutions delivered by Microsoft.[1:35] Can you give us an overview of Microsoft and Real Madrid's relationship?[4:55] How can Microsoft technologies help Real Madrid better connect to their fans?[5:20] Can you describe the Fan Engagement Platform for us? How does it work and what technologies was it built with?[7:30] Let's talk about the video platform experience. What are we doing there?[12:00] How about the cross-platform app that was created --- how was that built?[17:59] What's next for Real Madrid and Microsoft?______________If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information:Websites & Blogs:Blain Barton's BlogVideos:(Part 1) To the Cloud! What the Cloud can do for your Business(Part 2) To the Cloud! Getting Started with Office 365(Part 3) To the Cloud! Storing your files in the cloud with OneDrive for Business(Part 4) To the Cloud! Keeping track of customers with Microsoft Dynamics CRM(Part 5) To the Cloud! Managing Devices in the Cloud with Microsoft Intune(Part 6) To the Cloud! Building and Running Servers without the Hardware(Part 7) To the Cloud! Understanding Server Manager(Part 8) To the Cloud! Running Windows Applications Remotely(Part 9) To the Cloud! Giving Users Access to Third-Party Applications(Part 10) To the Cloud! Building a Website for Your Business(Part 11) To the Cloud! Building a Windows App Using Windows App Studio Follow the conversation @MS_ITPro Become a Fan @ facebook.com/MicrosoftITPro Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS

With over 450 million fans spread out across the globe, how could Real Madrid create meaningful connections with its extraordinary fan base? This was the unique challenge Microsoft was issued and through Microsoft Cloud solutions consisting of Azure, Dynamics CRM and Power BI, Real Madrid was able to embrace a truly innovative digital transformation throughout its entire organization. Join Blain Barton and Mike Downey as they take us through Real Madrid’s unique fan experience based on technological solutions delivered by Microsoft.[1:35] Can you give us an overview of Microsoft and Real Madrid's relationship?[4:55] How can Microsoft technologies help Real Madrid better connect to their fans?[5:20] Can you describe the Fan Engagement Platform for us? How does it work and what technologies was it built with?[7:30] Let's talk about the video platform experience. What are we doing there?[12:00] How about the cross-platform app that was created --- how was that built?[17:59] What's next for Real Madrid and Microsoft?______________If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information:Websites & Blogs:Blain Barton's BlogVideos:(Part 1) To the Cloud! What the Cloud can do for your Business(Part 2) To the Cloud! Getting Started with Office 365(Part 3) To the Cloud! Storing your files in the cloud with OneDrive for Business(Part 4) To the Cloud! Keeping track of customers with Microsoft Dynamics CRM(Part 5) To the Cloud! Managing Devices in the Cloud with Microsoft Intune(Part 6) To the Cloud! Building and Running Servers without the Hardware(Part 7) To the Cloud! Understanding Server Manager(Part 8) To the Cloud! Running Windows Applications Remotely(Part 9) To the Cloud! Giving Users Access to Third-Party Applications(Part 10) To the Cloud! Building a Website for Your Business(Part 11) To the Cloud! Building a Windows App Using Windows App Studio Follow the conversation @MS_ITPro Become a Fan @ facebook.com/MicrosoftITPro Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS

With over 450 million fans spread out across the globe, how could Real Madrid create meaningful connections with its extraordinary fan base? This was the unique challenge Microsoft was issued and through Microsoft Cloud solutions consisting of Azure, Dynamics CRM and Power BI, Real Madrid was able to embrace a truly innovative digital transformation throughout its entire organization. Join Blain Barton and Mike Downey as they take us through Real Madrid’s unique fan experience based on technological solutions delivered by Microsoft.[1:35] Can you give us an overview of Microsoft and Real Madrid's relationship?[4:55] How can Microsoft technologies help Real Madrid better connect to their fans?[5:20] Can you describe the Fan Engagement Platform for us? How does it work and what technologies was it built with?[7:30] Let's talk about the video platform experience. What are we doing there?[12:00] How about the cross-platform app that was created --- how was that built?[17:59] What's next for Real Madrid and Microsoft?______________If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information:Websites & Blogs:Blain Barton's BlogVideos:(Part 1) To the Cloud! What the Cloud can do for your Business(Part 2) To the Cloud! Getting Started with Office 365(Part 3) To the Cloud! Storing your files in the cloud with OneDrive for Business(Part 4) To the Cloud! Keeping track of customers with Microsoft Dynamics CRM(Part 5) To the Cloud! Managing Devices in the Cloud with Microsoft Intune(Part 6) To the Cloud! Building and Running Servers without the Hardware(Part 7) To the Cloud! Understanding Server Manager(Part 8) To the Cloud! Running Windows Applications Remotely(Part 9) To the Cloud! Giving Users Access to Third-Party Applications(Part 10) To the Cloud! Building a Website for Your Business(Part 11) To the Cloud! Building a Windows App Using Windows App Studio Follow the conversation @MS_ITPro Become a Fan @ facebook.com/MicrosoftITPro Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS

Episode 40 where Markus Erlandsson talks to Kristie Bylos from ClickDimensions about the value of marketing inside Dynamics CRM. Kristie talks about what the integrated story is with Dynamics CRM and ClickDimensions, how to start automating. What kinds of values can I expect and the ROI of that. Success stories and pitfalls to avoid. Links: ClickDimensions, Idea conference, … Continue reading The Value of Marketing inside Dynamics CRM with Kristie Bylos

In this episode, we discuss Dropbox building their own cloud and moving away from AWS, Marc Benioff's commitment to making sure the Salesforce Tower includes mindful spaces, using encrypted fields in Salesforce, the recently announced Salesforce Field Service Lightning, and Oracle's financial results.The Epic Story of Dropbox’s Exodus From the Amazon Cloud EmpireSalesforce takes on ServiceMax, Microsoft and Oracle with new field service productMicrosoft Corporation Takes on Salesforce with Dynamics CRM 2016 UpdateSalesforce.com storage fail causes lengthy outageSalesforce-Microsoft love grows with SalesforceIQ-Outlook integrationSalesforce Launches New Platform For Financial AdvisorsOracle claims both Salesforce.com and Workday are behindDump Oracle and get a free license for Microsoft SQL ServerHere's the email Larry Ellison just sent to employees about a big change at OracleKeep All Your Customer Data with BigObjects (Pilot)

In this episode, Jeremy Thake speaks to Humberto Lezama Guadarrama about Office add-in commands in Excel/Word/PowerPoint. Weekly updates Angular 2 Beta Angular 2.0 and the Microsoft Graph Matter Center for Office 365 is now available in GitHub Office 365—monthly Dev Digest for December What’s New for Developers in SharePoint 2016 What’s New for Developers in SharePoint 2016 – Update 1Invalid Client Secret when Publishing Azure AD Secured Apps Things to know when creating subscriptions via the Microsoft Graph API https://github.com/iozag/sharepoint-build-tasks Show notes Connect 2015(); add-in commands in the Office Ribbon (Public Preview) Introducing Office 2016 add-in commands Preview for Word and Excel Got questions or comments about the show? Join the O365 Dev Podcast on the Office 365 Technical Network. The podcast RSS is available iTunes or search for it on “Office 365 Developer Podcast” or add directly with the RSS http://feeds.feedburner.com/Office365DeveloperPodcast. About Humberto Lezama Guadarrama Humberto is a senior program manager at Microsoft on the Office extensibility team where he oversees user experiences and security of Office add-ins. Before Office, Humberto worked on Dynamics CRM and SharePoint developer experiences and before Microsoft he worked on a variety of IT stints ranging from designer, programmer, project manager and everything in between. On his personal time, Humberto enjoys hiking, building gadgets, watching lots of movies, traveling and doing all sorts of silly things with his wonderful kids and awesome wife. About the hosts Jeremy is a technical product manager at Microsoft responsible for the Visual Studio Developer story for Office 365 development. Previously he worked at AvePoint Inc., a large ISV, as the chief architect shipping two apps to the Office Store. He has been heavily involved in the SharePoint community since 2006 and was awarded the SharePoint MVP award four years in a row before retiring the title to move to Microsoft. You can find Jeremy blogging at www.jeremythake.com and tweeting at @jthake.   Richard is a software engineer in Microsoft’s Developer Experience (DX) group, where he helps developers and software vendors maximize their use of Microsoft cloud services in Office 365 and Azure. Richard has spent a good portion of the last decade architecting Office-centric solutions, many that span Microsoft’s diverse technology portfolio. He is a passionate technology evangelist and frequent speaker are worldwide conferences, trainings and events. Richard is highly active in the Office 365 community, popular blogger at www.richdizz.com and can be found on Twitter at @richdizz. Richard is born, raised and based in Dallas, TX, but works on a worldwide team based in Redmond. Richard is an avid builder of things (BoT), musician and lightning-fast runner

Episode 33: Markus Erlandsson talks to Jukka Niiranen from Digital Illustrated about the state of Dynamics CRM in 2015. Starting with looking backwards on all that happened. Then looking into the future with CRM 2016. Links: State of Dynamics CRM 2015 blog post Jukka’s links: MVP Page, LinkedIn, Surviving CRM Blog

Episode 32: Markus Erlandsson talks to David Berry about TypeScript, JavaScript and the new WEB API in Dynamics CRM. David explains why you should use TS and what the benefits are. Links: http://www.typescriptlang.org/ http://definitelytyped.org/ http://github.com/borisyankov/DefinitelyTyped/tree/master/xrm Azure AD Authentication Library for .NET Davids links: LinkedIn, MVP Page, CRM Blog

In this episode, Jeremy Thake and Richard DiZerega talk to Humberto about Office UI Fabric. Weekly updates LESS SharePoint add-ins with Mixins by Sonya Madsen Index web property bag using JavaScript object model-AngularJS in SharePoint online by Vipul Kelkar Microsoft Cloud Show Episodes 093 Developers SharePoint is not a platform SharePoint is a service by Andrew Connell and Chris Johnson Architects: SharePoint is a Platform, Treating it as only a Service is a Mistake by Doug Ware IQParts Cloud App Compatible Web Parts using AngularJS and Bootstrap by Doug Ware Using the SharePoint Client Object Model in AngularJS apps by Doug Ware Working with the converged Azure AD v2 app model by Richard DiZerega Building Office 365 Applications with Node.js and the Azure AD v2 app model by Richard DiZerega Office Dev Show Episode 9—Getting Started with Cross-platform apps by Richard diZerega Using Office UI Fabric in SharePoint add-ins by Chaks Open XML SDK Intro by Ryan McIntyre Microsoft Cloud Road show SPLive360 Nov 16-20 Show notes Office UI Fabric blog post announcement UserVoice Entry Got questions or comments about the show? Join the O365 Dev Podcast on the Office 365 Technical Network. The podcast RSS is available iTunes or search for it on “Office 365 Developer Podcast” or add directly with the RSS http://feeds.feedburner.com/Office365DeveloperPodcast. About Humberto Lezama Guadarrama Humberto is a senior program manager at Microsoft on the Office extensibility team where he oversees user experiences and security of Office add-ins. Before Office, Humberto worked on Dynamics CRM and SharePoint developer experiences and before Microsoft he worked on a variety of IT stints ranging from designer, programmer, project manager and everything in between. On his personal time, Humberto enjoys hiking, building gadgets, watching lots of movies, traveling and doing all sorts of silly things with his wonderful kids and awesome wife. About the hosts Jeremy is a technical product manager at Microsoft responsible for the Visual Studio Developer story for Office 365 development. Previously he worked at AvePoint Inc., a large ISV, as the chief architect shipping two apps to the Office Store. He has been heavily involved in the SharePoint community since 2006 and was awarded the SharePoint MVP award four years in a row before retiring the title to move to Microsoft. You can find Jeremy blogging at www.jeremythake.com and tweeting at @jthake.   Richard is a software engineer in Microsoft’s Developer Experience (DX) group, where he helps developers and software vendors maximize their use of Microsoft cloud services in Office 365 and Azure. Richard has spent a good portion of the last decade architecting Office-centric solutions, many that span Microsoft’s diverse technology portfolio. He is a passionate technology evangelist and frequent speaker are worldwide conferences, trainings and events. Richard is highly active in the Office 365 community, popular blogger at www.richdizz.com, and can be found on twitter at @richdizz. Richard is born, raised and based in Dallas, TX but works on a worldwide team based in Redmond. In his spare time, Richard is an avid builder of things (BoT), musician, and lightning fast runner.

Episode 26: Markus Erlandsson talks to Elaiza Benitez from Myriad IT about Modelling Security in Dynamics CRM. What are all the options and what can you do your self? Elizas vlogg explaining Hierarchy Security and corresponding blog post  

Episode 25: Markus Erlandsson talks to Jonas Rapp from Cinteros about developing plugins in Dynamics CRM. Where you start. How the execution pipeline works. What pipeline stages you have to choose from. When and how to use images. Tracing service, ILMerge, Sandbox. What is the recommended path? All questions answered in this episode! http://jonasrapp.cinteros.se/ http://jonasrapp.cinteros.se/2012/07/execute-server-side-code-from-javascript.html … Continue reading Developing Plugins in Dynamics CRM

Episode 24: Markus Erlandsson talks to Brad Burks about Marketing in Dynamics CRM. The conversation starts with the size of the marketing teams, then goes to what’s the purporse of marketing getting new customers or growing the existing. What are you offering and how you are offering it. What channels to choose. Links: Using ClickDimensions to create Emails … Continue reading Marketing in Dynamics CRM

Episode 23: Markus Erlandsson talks to Jukka Niiranen about Who is the Customer? The conversation starts with the lifecycle perspective and who could be your customer, who are your customer and who is no longer your customer. How do you then model that in Dynamics CRM and how do you think about leads vs customers. … Continue reading Who is the Customer?

Episode 22: Markus Erlandsson talks to Gretchen Opferkew and Tad Thompson from PowerObjects about new in Dynamics CRM 2015. The discussion starts with what Gretchen and Tad are looking forward to. The number of codeless features in Dynamics CRM grows and how the upgrade path is. Links: http://www.powerobjects.com/blog/ http://www.powerobjects.com/microsoft-dynamics-crm-2015/

Episode 20: Markus Erlandsson talks to Pablo Peralta from CRM Gamified about gamification inside Dynamics CRM. The discussion starts with a leaderboard product called Hurrah. Then the talk about how to model the game and give users quick feedback. Links: Pablo Peralta Linked In, Twitter. http://crmgamified.com/

In this episode, we discuss Microsoft expanding availability of Dynamics CRM to other countries, the lunacy of performance reviews, some big updates about SKUID, Oracle’s acquisition of TOA, Salesforce launches Sales Reach, a few thoughts on Salesforce joining BSA, and a discussion on how Salesforce uses open source.Delivering on the promise of the Microsoft Cloud for Business – Microsoft Dynamics CRM expands availabilityIncentive Pay Considered Harmful (Performance Reviews)Skuid hires Mike Duensing as CTOSkuid CommunityOracle Buys TOA TechnologiesSalesforce.com launches Sales Reach for real-time selling and marketingSalesforce.com's trademark infringement is anything but social, lawsuit claimsSalesforce.com Joins BSAHow We Use Open Source at Salesforce.com – Part 1Open Source at Salesforce.com – Part 2: How We ContributeSalesforce.com’s New Open Source Releases – Part 3 Download MP3 (50.2 MB, 01:09:42)

Nous discutons avec Salim Adamon de la plateforme Dynamics CRM. Dynamics CRM est un logiciel de gestion de la relation client développé par Microsoft. Tel quel, le produit se concentre principalement sur le secteur des ventes, du marketing, et du service (help desk), mais Microsoft commercialise Dynamics CRM comme une plateforme de xRM et encourage les partenaires à utiliser son API propriétaire (basé sur Microsoft .NET) pour répondre aux nombreuses exigences de gestion de la relation client. Bio: Consultant en informatique et développeur de solutions avec un intérêt particulier pour les solutions d'entreprise, depuis les quatre dernières années, Salim se concentre sur la conception de solutions basées sur la plateforme Microsoft Dynamics CRM. En 2014, il a reçu la reconnaissance Most Valuable Professional (MVP) de Microsoft. Il a participé à divers projets avec des rôles allant d’architecte à celui d’analyste d'affaires en passant par programmeur Microsoft .Net. Il est passionné de technologies et aime la musique et le sport. Vous pouvez suivre son parcours sur son blog. Liens: Microsoft Dynamics CRM Microsoft Dynamics CRM Community

Marks talks to Carsten Groth about Bussiness Process Flows inside Dynamics CRM 2013, what to do and what not to do. Links: Carsten’s blog http://bpfhelper.codeplex.com/

While still in Barcelona, Markus talks to John Grace from North 52 about their Formula Manager for Dynamics CRM. Links: http://www.north52.com/

Markus talks to Duco Boer from Wavextend about their producs for Dynamics CRM. Links: http://wavextend.com/en

Episode 1: Markus Erlandsson talks to Gustaf Westerlund from CRM-Konsulterna about the existing and lacking tool support from Microsoft.

Steve outlines a seven step CRM buying process, Sam explains the value of riding along with a sales rep, present state vs. future state, why to avoid RFPs, SAP misses earnings target, Microsoft announces new pricing for Dynamics CRM. Hosts: Steve Chipman & Sam Biardo