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Interview Pin Wang

Pin Wang, the AX MVP from Australia who has been an MVP for the past 2 years. What was your first job in Microsoft Dynamics? I joined Systems Advisers Group in Sydney, Australia in 2008. Systems Advisers Group Australia is specialised in Dynamics AX Finance, Mining and DMS area etc. Initially, I was working as Dynamics AX Infrastructure Consultant. Subsequently, I have developed my skills in Dynamics AX and BI development. Who has been your biggest influence/s in Microsoft Dynamics? There are quite a lot of people I should mention. Stephen Madeisky gave me the opportunity to jump into the Dynamics AX area after I got my MIT degree in university. Steffan Engholm, Technical Consultant team manager, gave me the training in Dynamics AX infrastructure area. Nitin Sharma and Fred Shen, Technical Consultant team manager, gave me the training in Dynamics AX development area. What has been your biggest achievement/s in Microsoft Dynamics? My biggest achievement in Microsoft Dynamics is being a Microsoft MVP in 2010 and 2011. Getting certified in Windows 2008 MCITP, SQL Server 2005/2008 MCTS, Dynamics AX 2009 MCITP and SharePoint 2007 MCTS also help me contribute my skills to Dynamics communities. What is the best thing Microsoft has brought to the community? The Dynamics team in Microsoft has created a few blogs and share the latest news and information. Users can get useful information from those blogs when troubleshooting issues in Dynamics AX. It saves users a lot time. The Microsoft Dynamics Forums also help Dynamics users share the information and solutions. People posting the errors in the Dynamics Forums can get the solutions and suggestions from other users around the world. It saves users a lot time as well. Microsoft makes the contribution in Dynamics community as one of the evaluations in Microsoft Dynamics MVP award. It makes Dynamics users be happy to share the information with other users. Why should an end user purchase Microsoft Dynamics? Well-developed development platform in Dynamics AX provides end user easily to improve and create new functions. Object-oriented architecture means it is easy to maintain. Providing a basic business function speeds up the development progress. Tightly integrated with Office, Outlook and other business applications, SharePoint, BizTalk, AD Easy to learn development system makes enterprise have the independent development skills rapidly. What are the biggest challenges facing Microsoft Dynamics in the ERP market today? Lack of Function specialists. What do you want to see happen with Microsoft Dynamics in the future? Dynamics AX cubes requires developers to modify the code based on the user license. It takes long time to compare the license and remove the attribute from SSAS tables, dimensions, measures and cubes. Even there is a Cube tool released by Microsoft, users still feel painful in configuring it. I would prefer all the cubes and dimensions can be built depending on the user’s license. Microsoft released Document doesn’t provide enough information of the products, especially when Microsoft releases first version of document. Before releasing the hot fixes, Microsoft …

Top Convergence Tweets

  Microsoft #dynamics on the #windows8 platform. Showcase presented at the #conv12 - Amazing breakthrough through unified user interface  Paul Rybski   @Martintenvoorde LinkedIn sales navigator for #MSDYNCRMcoming to Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace next weekhttp://twitpic.com/8yjfgz #Conv12 CRM Partners   The @QuriusNL #Kinect demo with Metro UI build bij @Beaker73 got some “cool” & “wow” remarks at #conv12 #nav13. Awesome!  Jeroen van Gent   @CRMhobbit, @CRMwarrior, @HPappsServices thx for the reception tonight at #conv12. All that fun and we didn’t end up in the electric chair  Grant McLarnon NEWS: Microsoft announces #NAV2013 and #GP2013 at #CONV12http://bit.ly/y2GA4c  Socius   Time for some zzzz – long evening of vid editing and posting re:#conv12 finally over.  Dennis Howlett   Dynamics CRM and LinkedIn connection “This is taking Premium linkedIn and wiring it into CRM.” #Conv12  Robert Scott   Want to see #workflow in action in #Dynamics #AX 2012? Come to session CSAX30 on Wednesday 1:30PM #CONV12 #erp  Karl Tolgu ‏   Can hardly believe the energy in Houston. Being immersed with such awesome customers and partners ROCKS #conv12  Fred Studer   #conv12 Microsoft Dynamics looks to the cloud – Beta News – Dynamics AX 2012 R2 is on track for similar release. Dyn…http://ow.ly/1iaAWP  ClickLearn ApS    How I know I am getting older – I am not sure I can do another evening out at #conv12… you guys are rather impressive!  Bill Patterson   It was a great day talking with everyone and meeting with partners, clients and Microsoft. Love #conv12 time for rest though  Brandon George ‏   W³? (Whoah wait what?) NAV7 is now NAV2013? Wtf? #CONV12  Herr Berkische ‏   “An upgrade should be a non-event”. Quote from@gregkaupp IDNAV06. #NAVUG #CONV12  Lewis Rosenberg   Tim Tams yum yum @Dev4DynamicsGP #conv12  Dorothy Jarry People are connecting anywhere, anytime that has changed the dynamics of business and technology – Turner #conv12  seth fineberg ‏ Kevin Turner keynote #conv12, Microsoft $9billion R&D. $3b higher than next competitor. Top 1 or 2 highest R&D of any company in world.  ERP Software Blog ‏ Over 10K people from 50 different countries at #Conv12  Barcy Cordrey   Any device ERP is a real need. Contact me to find out how we can help you with this. #conv12 #mobileerp  Brandon George ‏ #CONV12 Business trends: financial turmoil, geopolitics, people, technology in the cloud #MSDYNCOMM #GPUG  Mariano Gomez Kevin Turner – 1.5 billion people use Microsoft’s products ever day. Wow! Wonder how many are #NAVUG members #conv12 pic.twitter.com/JVbWbSQ2  navug Microsoft will invest more than $9b USD in R&D with record earnings and record revenue growth for the most recent year #conv12  Kevin Sterneckert   Why a Large-Project Drilling Company Stays Loyal to Dynamics SLhttp://shar.es/pukIV #conv12 #msdynsl  ronda cooke   Rock and Rave vs. The Spot at Convergence? http://gp.rosebizincblogs.com/2012/03/rock-and-rave-vs-the-spot-at-convergence.html via @rosebusinesssol #conv12  RoseBusinessSolution    Nice work Convergence logistics team. Midafternoon shuttle trip to hotel and back quick and easy! #conv12  Bill Westrick ‏   Continue your CWR Mobile CRM learning post #CONV12. Attend a webinar -http://bit.ly/GHmw3z-or sign up for a FREE http://trial-bit.ly/GEMdJ1  CWR Mobility ‏  Maritime ERP for liner companies, ports/terminals Dynamics AX 2012 http://bit.ly/8fNDWV #conv12  Flexship ‏    “@whymicrosoft: Wondering what was previewed at #Conv12 this week? @GeekWire gives a good overview: http://ow.ly/9QoD7” #in  Sam Kitots ‏   #CONV12 Party Panda Heads Missing! At SPOT party …

Convergence Round UP

  “Convergence, the annual get together of those in Microsoft Dynamics who enjoy networking and drinking” Not our words but those of a Microsoft PAM who we should probably not reveal his identity. Some years it could be said that Convergence has been a damp squib but not 2012. Houston Convergence has been busy, full of announcements, fantastic speakers, some unexpected events and for our Microsoft PAM so very worthwhile networking and yes even the odd cool one. Those who were in the hall to watch Kirill Tatarinov, Fred Studer, Kevin Turner and Colin Powell could not have failed to have impressed, the enthusiasm that Microsoft has for Dynamics seems to now be as passionate as ours. There was potentially too much information to garner a theme from the event, but the main thrust would appear to have been optimism, the numbers whatever they are, sales, market share, new clients are all up and the future looks very bright. But the biggest number of all was Half a Trillion dollars This is the potential market for the cloud. Kevin Turner has stated that by 2020 the cloud market could be as high as half a trillion dollars, given that the current market is worth $40 billion this represents a huge jump. It is true that a lot of this will be a switch from on premise to the cloud but still the market is due to increase at a more rapid rate than any other technology breakthrough that we have seen in Dynamics. The roadmaps for NAV 2013 and GP 2013 are now in place and show that a full cloud presence is available. It does look as if Dynamics AX is still waiting for the next roll out to gain the full cloud presence. These announcements have shown that Microsoft is quickly playing catch up especially as with a walk around the exhibition stands showed a large number of exhibitors that already cloud ready and deploying NAV, GP and AX in the cloud. This is clearly a market that is growing not only in an exceptional way but at almost light speed. NAV and GP will be shipping in the final quarter of this year. What is clear from the speakers and the events that Microsoft put on is that Microsoft are prepared to spend big to ensure that the Azure cloud becomes the dominant factor within the cloud market place.  The advantage that Microsoft have over the other ERP platforms is the success of Dynamics CRM already running on the Azure cloud and making a huge success with further cloud based data enrichment coming through next quarter, with a leap in the social media abilities and connectivity’s coming through again in the final quarter of this year. There was more good news in the potential delivery of the cloud with Microsoft confirming that there will be private clouds as well as one run by Microsoft and others run by Microsoft Partners, be they ISVs or VARs, as well …

Interview Vjekoslav Babic

Here are the thoughts of Vjekoslav Babic the very popular co-author of “Implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009″, the first book on the latest realease of business management solution formerly known as “Navision”.  Author of NAV Insights column and Editorial Advisory Board member at MSDynamicsWorld.com What was your first job in Microsoft Dynamics?   My first job was a technical consultant with Adacta, a Dynamics President Club partner company from Croatia. My primary responsibilities were SQL Server (those were the early days of SQL Server Option for NAV) configuration, optimization and maintenance. From there, I learned about everything else Dynamics.   Who has been your biggest influence/s in Microsoft Dynamics?   My biggest influence was my colleague and friend, Robert Mohorčič, with whom I spent nearly three years working on common projects. Initially he was my mentor, and he introduced me to the secrets of Dynamics, he helped me build my own understanding of what best practices were, and he way always motivating me to take new challenges and see things from different perspectives. I still miss working with him.   What has been your biggest achievement/s in Microsoft Dynamics?   It was the development of Stratus Client, the first generic web client for Microsoft Dynamics NAV which enabled users to have the RTC experience in the web. As a product in the market it wasn’t such a big success as it was a spark that has ignited the avalanche of activity, resulting in Microsoft deciding to build the native web client for NAV.   What is the best thing Microsoft has brought to the community?   In Dynamics, I still believe Microsoft is struggling with the community. They are balancing between the needs of partners and the threats of competitors finding out too early about the biggest advances in Dynamics, and this is completely understandable. Microsoft is not investing much directly into community but is doing their best to support those, like me, who are investing their time and effort in developing the awareness and promoting Dynamics. I couldn’t pinpoint something specifically that Microsoft has done that is more worthy than something else, but I would say that their participation in independent conferences, such as Directions, and especially last year’s Mibuso NAV TechDays, is great.   Why should an end user purchase Microsoft Dynamics?   Because Dynamics products are the most user-friendly and intuitive products out there. It hurts me sometimes when I see competing products, and ways where they are reinventing the wheel. Microsoft’s products seamlessly blend into Windows and Office environments and don’t have users think of the products and how to use them, but of their work and how to achieve their goals. Dynamics products are no different, and Dynamics NAV is the simplest (from user perspective) ERP there is.   What are the biggest challenges facing Microsoft Dynamics in the ERP market today?   Transition to the Cloud is what Microsoft is struggling in general, and it might be an even bigger challenge in ERP world. …

Spreadsheet Heaven

2012 Top 100 Nominations

This is your chance to nominate those that have influenced you for The Microsoft Dynamics Most Influential People Top 100 List for 2012 You can nominate by sending an email to top100@dynamicsworld.co.uk or through Twitter using the #dwtop100 tag or through the Facebook and LinkedIn pages. March 22nd Nominee Reasons Nominated Brian Ryssel Vittrup Nominated x 1 Sebastian Waksmundzki What an architect what a man x 1 Guillaume Durand Nominated x 1  Steve Bredall I would like to nominate Steve he has influenced me x 1 Christian Espinoza Everything he does at Avanade is done with excellence X2 Joe Tews His use of sharepoint within Dynamics is leading the charge for others to follow x 2 Amer Atiyah my nomination is @ameratiyah for #dwtop100. A freelancer, an AX Blogger and a solution architect… popular in #ArabAXWorld x 1 Henrik Marx Larsen His work at Logica has taken us to other levels x 2 March 21st Nominee Reasons Nominated Jesper Dyhr From Columbus x 1 Onur Namli The very best AX Developer in Turkey x 1 Larry Lentz MVP and prolific tweeter x 3 Brian Gailica Marketing for Microsoft in regard to CRM there is nobody more on message x 1 Tracy Kinsey One of the best Microsoft Dynamics CRM sales and delivery experts who helps to get the deals done x 1 John Stulak I nominate the GP legend that is John Stulak x 1 March 20th Nominee Reasons Nominated Joel Lindstrom One of the best bloggers around x 1 Laura Robinson Her work at Microsoft within the social CRM team is fantastic and her blogs are fantastic x 3 Jason Ferguson TheCRMGuy on Twitter shines a light on what is the most important elements of CRM across the market x 1 Kevin Turner Anyone who listened to his convergence address cannot fail to think he is not influencing what happens in Dynamics x 2 Jehanzeb Javeed xRM and CRM genius x 1 Ricardo Nunes One of the best European Trainers x 1 Hong Liu CRM expert who has helped me a lot X2 Ian Cowan For his ability to lead x 1 March 19th Nominee Reasons Nominated Maurice Ghosn very professional, easy to work with project manager. He has good project management skills and has all the required CRM dynamics technical background to supplement the project management skills. He definitely adds value to the organization. x 1  Pernille Whited working with Pernille over a number of months on a high profile SharePoint 2010 project. Pernille led the project from the Microsoft perspective with a great deal of dedication and dexterity. x 2 Giridhar Raj Singh Chowhan I would like to nominate Giridhar Raj Singh Chowhan for top100 dynamics influentital people. The reason would be his wonderful insights into AX which he shares through his blog (http://www.msdynamicsAX.info/ ), his linkedin Group (Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012) discussions and for sharing his knowledge online/offline. x 12 Julian Bacon Doing the business for Charteris on a daily basis it is fantastic what can …

In-memory technology

In-memory technology takes complete sets of data from the disks and puts it directly into RAM.  Moving data as close as possible to the processors means potential bottlenecks are avoided, and the larger the organisation the more bottlenecks exist, LANs, WANs, IP, data centres, data warehouses, and dare I say the cloud, even the application that’s doing the processing and analysing. The concept and various solutions have been around for years, there are several options for the various in-memory approaches OLAP (Cognos, Actuate), ROLAP (MicroStrategy), Inverted Index (Endeca), In-memory Associative Index (QlikView, TIBCO), and at the lower end In-memory Spreadsheet (MS PowerPivot).  Last years latest release of SQL Server also included “the ultimate in-memory OLAP BI solution in the marketplace.” A key restraint has traditionally been cost, disks are cheaper than RAM, and although this is becoming less of an issue the real reason for in-memory’s current popularity is the arrival of 64-bit processors which has greatly increased the amount of data that can be stored in-memory, we sometimes forget that 64 bit isn’t double 32 bit, it’s by the power of 2, or about 18 exbibytes of addressable memory.  So now In-memory is cost effective, an ideal use of 64 bit capabilities and so apparently it’s time has come!   Hence the very public spat between Oracle and SAP recently which helpfully provided additionally coverage of SAP’s recently launched HANA offering and soon to be releashed Exalytics from Oracle Oracle has had enterprise scale in-memory technology for years, as Ellison said “I don’t think SAP is equipped to compete with us in the database business, we’ve been working on in-memory technology for a decade. They just brought this out of the lab”.  This maybe true, but, SAP have had HANA in the Lab for about six years, it’s the Chairman’s pet project which included ‘hot housing’ students from Potsdam University, has had lots of road shows and also a big budget so its had a good life so far, also as someone at SAP pointed out Ellison spent 10 minutes out of a 45-minute call talking about HANA, which is quite a bit of time spent on a product that’s apparently not a threat.   While, SAP and Oracle are entertaining us with handbag fights in public they have yet to give a good business case to dump a whole data warehouse onto RAM, various scenarios include giving executives instant data, or faster access to customer data for telesales and customer service or faster inventory on the factory floor and apparently studies show that people trust information more that when they receive quickly!  But all these scenarios ignore the human element, executives are late for work, go to lunch and play golf, customers put off calling their insurance company or utility or get put on hold, factory managers sometimes finish their tea-break before accepting deliveries or need to finish a conversation.  So, it might be worth remembering that In-memory is only instant once the data is created, but that …

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