The Msdw Podcast

Conferences play a key role in many Dynamics and Power Platform professionals' training plans. On this episode, Julie and Jason talk about the types of educational content that are gaining popularity at Microsoft-focused events, how sessions are selected, and how to get the most educational value out of the next event you choose to spend your time at.   Julie gives an update on planning for the next Power Platform 24 virtual event on March 20 and 21 and their call for speakers. We also talk about Jason's recent trip to the NRF Big Show 2024 event, why AI could become a bigger part of event attendees experiences soon, balancing structure and spontaneity in an event schedule, and whether session selection teams are doing a better job encouraging participation from a diverse range of presenters.   Show Notes:   6:30 - Push toward beginner content at events 14:15 - Julie's experience with conference session selection processes 18:45 - Planning your next conference experience and setting fair expectation

The latest updates to Metafile's AP Automation solution blend improving AI-based capabilities with their trusted capabilities around process and data efficiency. Company veteran Doug Bertram talks with Biz Apps Buzz host Amiee Keenan about his experiences watching the company's AI tools evolve before his eyes, with extraction and error handling capabilities improving almost before his eyes. Doug tells the story of a demo thrown off when the solution's AI engine learned to correctly interpret an invoice field that had been failing a few weeks earlier. And he explains how improvements in understanding documents raises the bar for AP fundamentals like automating 2-way and 3-way PO matching and for approving invoices without a PO.  To learn more about the latest updates from Metafile, contact them at info@metafile.com. About Biz Apps Buzz Biz Apps Buzz is the newest podcast series from MSDynamicsWorld.com, focusing on breaking news and announcements from Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform channel partners.

Julie and Jason are talking about goals and goal setting. While neither of them is a self-described goal setter, they both acknowledge that taking a goal-oriented approach can be a helpful tool for professional development.   Using the SMART(ER) model as a reference point, they talk through different ways professionals in the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform space can set goals for their own professional development. They note examples of various people in the Microsoft community who have modelled great goal-setting behaviors for the rest of us, and they identify tools and programs that listeners can look at for further guidance and inspiration.   References: All episodes of Biz Apps Classroom - https://msdynamicsworld.com/biz-apps-classroom Lisa Crosbie - https://www.youtube.com/@LisaCrosbie Mark Smith's mentoring program - https://ako.nz365guy.com/ April Dunham - https://www.youtube.com/@AprilDunnam Reskill program for Business Central partners - https://msdynamicsworld.com/story/microsoft-laun

This episode is sponsored by Vertex.   Larry Mellon , Tax Director – Chief Tax Office at Vertex, joins us to shed light on potential risks that businesses grapple with when they rely on their ERP's native tax functionality rather than a dedicated tax engine.   Larry tells us about his history with Vertex, working both internally and with both customers and jurisdictions on tax matters. He discusses some of the reasons why tax accuracy is so important to an organization and how any shortcomings can interfere with compliance, lead to audit risk, and affect staff allocation. He also explains the role a trusted tax engine can have in improving the auditor's role and optimizing staff allocation.   Show Notes: 1:00 - Larry's professional history at Vertex, in their tax office and working on the software 1:45 - Why does tax automation software differ from native ERP tools? 2:45 - Common challenges of accurate taxation 3:45 - Changing rules for sales and use tax assessment 5:30 - Top challenges in stayin

In our inaugural episode of the Biz Apps Buzz, host Amiee Keenan speaks with Cavallo’s head of strategic partnerships, Bob McAdam, about the company’s latest product updates. He shares updates on new solutions for Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics GP focused on business performance and profitability, as well as new integrations and enhancements. Topics include: Cavallo's Profit Analytics beta has begun  The debut of Profit Scan for Business Central Plans to combine Order Management Dashboard + Workflow for Business Central Recent enhancements and integrations to their Dynamics GP product offerings  About Biz Apps Buzz Biz Apps Buzz is the newest podcast series from MSDynamicsWorld.com, focusing on breaking news and announcements from Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform channel partners. The conversation is broadcast live on LinkedIn and YouTube, and the recording is then made available as a podcast. 

Julie Yack has years of experience with Microsoft certification exams, whether taking them herself, helping others prepare to pass them, and even helping Microsoft develop new ones. On this episode she talks with Biz Apps Classroom co-host Jason Gumpert about her certification experiences over the years, both good and bad, and what Microsoft has done to improve their approach in recent years by transitioning toward a role-based model and taking steps to make exams and exam prep somewhat more accessible.   Special offer: Listeners can support the podcast and get a discount on an annual plan for 365.training by visiting  https://365l.ink/MSDW.   Show Notes: 3:25 - Certification development is not a black box - what goes into it 6:30 - How Microsoft has shifted their approach based on community feedback 7:45 - Power Platform roles that align with certifications 9:00 - What will Microsoft do next to update its approach to certifications: roles, processes, and resources 10:20 - Interactive experiences o

We are kicking off our new podcast series, the Biz Apps Classroom, and our hosts, Julie Yack of 365.training and Jason Gumpert of MSDynamicsWorld.com, discuss how this project arose and where it will be going in future episodes. They chat about some of the training and learning themes influencing the Power Platform and Dynamics 365 landscape today and trade notes on recent conference experiences and Microsoft product announcements. Julie also shares some observations from her most recent classroom training work. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of the Biz Apps Classroom, where we will examine topics like the influence of AI, Microsoft certifications, training resources, classroom and teaching styles, the evolution of the Microsoft business applications products, and more. Special offer: Listeners can support the podcast and get a discount on an annual plan for 365.training by visiting https://365l.ink/MSDW. Show Notes: 1:00 – How to make sense about training in the Microsoft Biz Apps ecosystem today 3:30 – J

The analysts at Everest Group have published their latest ratings of systems integrators in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystem, and changes in the space reflect both product trends and attitudes toward enterprise software investment.   Our guest, Everest Group practice director Abhishek Mundra, discusses the factors that his time uses to assess service providers in terms of partnership with Microsoft, types of engagements, project outcomes, attitudes toward value realization, and more. And he explains why some firms have risen to become major contenders based on factors like geography or industry.   Learn more about the Everest Group report here.   Show Notes: 1:45 - Goals of Everest Group's assessment and the factors that impact it. 4:45 - What has changed since their last assessment, both in terms of Microsoft's portfolio and the provider results 10:30 - Why more global enterprises are deploying Dynamics-based solutions  13:45 - Emerging types of engagements 15:15 - What do customers say that

This episode is sponsored by enVista.   The speed with which Microsoft has introduced various Copilot capabilities has challenged even the most dedicated channel professionals to keep up. Updates across Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and beyond have signaled a new era at Microsoft, with the company's product teams all putting AI-based capabilities at the forefront of their planning and messaging.   To get more perspective on how Microsoft's Copilot brand and tools are evolving, we are joined by Nathan Bench and Hillary Schwartzbach of enVista. They have been paying attention to Microsoft's updates, both the new Copilot announcements and the adjustments and rebranding that are still going on. They offer perspective on the AI capabilities that Microsoft customers have responded most favorably to already in work scenarios like code development, meeting management, and sales. We also discuss the close relationship between deploying AI workloads and having a strong base of IT fundamentals in an o

This episode is sponsored by Wisefish.   Seafood companies face a unique mix of operational and production challenges related to sustainability, traceability, supply chain management, and cloud adoption. Our guests on this episode, Sigrun Dora and Ari Hróbjartsson of Wisefish, tell us about the ways that their company's seafood industry solutions, built on Dynamics 365 Business Central, address the needs of these companies.   Our guests discuss the history of Wisefish in the seafood market, the importance of sustainability and traceability in the industry today, the company's work in the Microsoft Business Applications channel, and how the company is positioning itself for the future through its partner program, roadmap, and go-to-market plans.   For the first time ever, Wisefish will be a silver sponsor at Directions EMEA from November 1-3, 2023.  Please visit their booth #S8 and discover how their solutions can help build a sustainable future in Seafood, and help Business Central partners gain business i

This episode is sponsored by Vena.   Organizations are rethinking the finance function and its potential to improve business-wide collaboration, decision making, and planning. In the Microsoft ecosystem, standard tools like Dynamics 365 Finance, Power BI, and Excel play a key role for financial professionals, but the office of finance often needs more specialized capabilities. Our guest, Rishi Grover of Vena Solutions, joins us to explain how the company is partnering with Microsoft to bring new offerings to market focused on the future of finance. He shares his perspective on advances across Microsoft's business solutions lineup and explains how Vena has partnered with Microsoft to offer Dynamics 365 customers new finance capabilities. He shares Vena's product roadmap, how the company is working with Microsoft Dynamics partners, and shares perspective on the implications of Microsoft's AI roadmap on the finance function.   To learn more about Vena’s Complete Planning Platform natively integrated with Mi

With the second annual Microsoft Power Platform Conference (MPPC 2023) now over, Microsoft MVPs Steve Mordue and Asif Rehmani joined us to review their experiences and observations at the event. Microsoft had positive numbers to share on growth in both customers and community, but it was the company's messaging on Copilot overpowered other announcements at the event. Nevertheless, attendees and community presenters were at the show to talk about a whole lot more than the latest AI hype. Steve and Asif tell us about some of the sessions and themes they took note of in areas including governance, security, DevOps, data management, updates to Fabric, and more. And they share their views on the balance Microsoft is trying to strike between splashy AI headlines and less exciting foundational improvements across the platform.   More from Asif Rehmani: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asifrehmani/ VisualSP.com   More from Steve Mordue: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevemordue/ SteveMordue.com

This episode is sponsored by KwikTag by Paymerang. KwikTag recently joined the Paymerang family, bringing together the firms' AP and payment automation services. Their combined solutions streamline invoice and payment automation to extract and match data, eliminating manual processes to reduce the risk of fraud. On this MSDW Podcast episode, Sierre Lindgren and Tiffany Allen of Paymerang join us to discuss how Dynamics GP and D365 Business Central customers use finance technology to fight fraud in AP automation. 66% of businesses have dealt with some sort of AP fraud event, they report, whether that be email, check, or wire fraud. Listen to this episode to understand what security measures you can take to fight AP fraud, from identifying top threats to adding layers of protection. Show Notes: 1:15 - What the acquisition of KwikTag by Paymerang means for customers 2:45 - Ways to safeguard sensitive financial information for Dynamics ERP customers 5:15 - Biggest consequences of ransomware attacks today

This episode is sponsored by Experlogix.   Configure Price Quote (CPQ) solutions are all about overcoming the challenges of a complex sales scenario. And when those sales relate to physical products, the ability to bring accurate engineering details to the customer without bothering the engineering team can be a benefit for all involved.   But there are other benefits to be gained from incorporating visualization technology into CPQ scenarios, and to help us identify them we welcome Jim Meyer, a product manager at Experlogix to learn about how they have approached this area of CPQ, specific ways that businesses get value from it, and why sales sees it helping their clients.   Jim tells us about what it takes to be a good candidate for the Experlogix 3D visualization offering and shares more details on the technology partnership that made this offering possible.   Show Notes: 2:00 - A new partnership to deliver 2D and 3D visualization 3:45 - Creative uses of product visualization in sales scenarios

This episode is sponsored by Data Courage.   When our guests, Tristan Threlkeld and Madison Hillend, talk about AI-enabled apps for Dynamics 365 Business Central, they aren't surprised to hear different responses from Microsoft customers and partners.   The Data Courage team will be at Summit North America 2023 in October to talk more about their two key solutions for Business Central, AI Item Intelligence and AI Customer Intelligence. They tell us about what attendees can expect from the team, and they update us on the work that has gone into building new solutions atop standard Business Central data models and business logic   More from Data Courage: We are excited to see everyone at Summit this year! Stop by Data Courage booth 2017 at Summit and learn how you can get Item Insights or Customer Intelligence with complimentary Power BI Dashboards free for 30 days. We would love to chat about all things AI too. Hope to see you there!

This episode is sponsored by Argano.   The team at Microsoft partner Argano attended the first Microsoft Power Platform Conference in 2022 and they are returning for the 2023 event in Las Vegas starting on October 3. In this event preview episode of the podcast,  Jon Rastia, senior director of innovation and technology at Argano joins us to discuss the team's experiences last year, the Power Platform roadmap, the evolution of the community, and more. He also shares a preview of a customer case study Argano will be presenting at MPPC 2023.   Learn more about Argano's presence at MPPC 2023 here.

This episode is sponsored by Resco.net.   Power Platform has influenced how Microsoft customers and partners evaluate how to extend or customize business systems, including for mobile scenarios.   Microsoft has adjusted its marketing around Power Platform over the years, with early emphasis on the citizen developers and no-code customization and now promoting its strengths as a development platform for everyone from business users to pro developers.   To help us get another perspective on the state of mobile business solutions in the Dynamics and Power Platform space, we are talking to Ben Mitchell of Resco, he leads partnerships and success in North America for the company. He updates us on how Resco sees their mobile solution development expertise aligning with the strengths and limitations of today's core Microsoft technologies. Customers still need to deploy advanced mobile capabilities that core Power Platform tools can't address, including under demanding conditions. He explains what some of those

The Microsoft Power Platform Conference returns for its second edition in October, and Microsoft's Heather Cook, who is also an executive producer of the event, joins us to talk about the conference and trends in the community. Heather joined Microsoft's Business Applications team in June of 2020 after working in the Microsoft Teams group, and she tells us about her efforts over that time, from supporting grassroots local groups to large centralized events like MPPC 2023.   MPPC will offer sessions for a range of interest, from technical to professional development to community. Heather tells us how MPPC fits into Microsoft's broader approach to supporting the Power Platform community, how newcomers are getting involved, and what else Microsoft will be doing in the coming months.    Show Notes: 5:00 - Evolution of the Power Platform community since Covid across products, events, and initiatives 8:00 - Heather's event experience and how she applied it when joining the Business Apps group in June of 202

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central veterans Robb Delprado and Steve Chinsky of Accelerynt attended Cavallo's recent PANELS'23 event and joined us as the event was winding down to discuss their impressions. We discuss Cavallo's Business Central product roadmap, the role of ISVs more generally in today's BC ecosystem, today's balance between investing in custom development (including Power Platform) and add-on solutions, and what an ISV like Cavallo, with its existing GP customer base, can teach NAV and BC veterans about the future of Business Central projects for organizations with on-prem ERP today.   Show Notes: 3:30 - Reaction to Cavallo's roadmap, focused on both Dynamics GP and D365 Business Central 8:00 - The challenge of planning for a Business Central implementation project 12:00 - The importance of exposing GP customers to a future with BC 14:30 - Customization versus packaged solutions for Business Central 22:30 - More about the BC 3 Amigos podcast 23:45 - Other impressions of the PANE