It is virtually impossible to escape “the cloud” if you are in a leadership position at your company, but the conversation too often revolves only around “why” and not ̶…
Month: August 2016
How do you know when to move your ERP to the cloud?
The cloud is no longer “something we’re thinking about”. Software as a service has become the near norm in 2016 with everything from office products and CRM to ERP, PSA and supply chain solutions being moved to the cloud. Of course, there are many flavors of cloud to keep things interesting. We have multi-tenant public clouds, private clouds and even hybrid clouds. We’re more than familiar with terms like “software as a service” (SaaS) as well as “platform as a service” and “infrastructure as a service” (PaaS and IaaS, of course).
Does familiarity make the decision any easier when deciding whether or not to fundamentally change the way we deploy, manage and pay for something as mission-critical as our ERP system?
How do you know when it is time to embrace the cloud?
The fact is, you are already. Very few companies have escaped the move to cloud. Services like…
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Gartner Magic Quadrant Lists Microsoft as a Leader in Sales Force Automation for CRM Online and On-premises
Dynamics CRM online and on-premise solutions have once again been recognized as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation.
Gartner Magic Quadrant Lists Microsoft as a Leader in Sales Force Automation for CRM Online and On-premises
SBS Group has been a long-time supporter of Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a cost-effective solution that helps our customers compete more effectively. We’re proud to see that in August 2016, Gartner has added both the on-premise and online versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to the leaders quadrant in their latest Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation.
The study included 19 CRM products from 17 different vendors. The only other CRM solution included in the coveted “Leaders” quadrant was Salesforce. While Salesforce is a powerful CRM solution, we have seen how Microsoft’s vision for CRM in context with Dynamics AX, Office 365 and other Microsoft products makes for an enterprise solution that just cannot be beat. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 launching this year, the opportunity and business value for Microsoft customers is set to grow significantly.
About the Gartner Magic Quadrant
Gartner is well-known for their “Magic Quadrant” reports where technology…
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All About the Kicking, Punching, Biting and Fighting of Distribution Software
A few years back, I was invited into a panel discussion at distribution conference at which all the best known distribution software companies were represented. The moderator asked us this question:
“Are most distributors on board with implementing a new ERP, supply chain or other distribution software solution to help them grow and improve future performance?”
My answer was:
“Regardless of the reason, distributors go into new distribution software acquisition and implementation kicking, punching, biting and fighting – reluctant every step of the way.”
Half of the people in the room decided right then that I was the “doomsday guy”. The other half rolled their eyes as if I were just saying this for shock value. So, why did I say this? Because it is true.
I’ve worked for, with and around distributors throughout my entire career. I’ve spent time on each side of the table, both as a buyer and a…
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Making sense of the Common Data Model and Microsoft PowerApps in Dynamics 365
When Microsoft Dynamics 365 was announced a few weeks ago, the Common Data Model and other Microsoft productivity services such as PowerApps and Microsoft Flow were a significant part of this, along with the unified offering of Dynamics CRM and Dynamics ERP cloud services under this umbrella. The solution stack diagram below for Dynamics 365 depicts the positioning of these various elements in Dynamics 365.
In my earlier post I mentioned about the release of the public preview of the Common Data Model last week. Now that the public preview of the Common Data Model is available, let us try to make sense of these together and see what are the possibilities using the CDM and Microsoft PowerApps.
In today’s post, we will create a simple example mobile app using Microsoft PowerApps and the Common Data Model database.
Log in to Microsoft PowerApps at the URL https://powerapps.microsoft.com. You can use the PowerApps…
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Public preview of Common Data Model, a Core component of Dynamics 365 is now available
When Microsoft Dynamics 365 was announced last month at WPC 2016, the Common Data Model was one of the core components of this new Cloud business solution offerings from Microsoft. I also explained in brief about the Common Data Model and the role it plays in Dynamics 365, in my earlier post.
Yesterday (8th August 2016), Microsoft announced the Public Preview of the Common Data Model and it’s integration with Microsoft Flow and PowerApps, which are new cloud services from Microsoft ,that creates automated workflows between apps and services (such as collecting and creating data, synchronizing files or even getting notifications) and creating intelligent business apps respectively. Refer to the blog post below.
https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/flow-and-common-data-model/
The Common Data Model and what you can do with it using Microsoft Flow, Power Apps, Power BI and more for your CRM and ERP (Dynamics AX / Project Madeira) data are very promising.
You can start exploring…
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New Video Release: Using Guided Tasks to Accelerate User Adoption (3 min 8 sec)
This brief video demonstration is for current and prospective Microsoft Dynamics AX customers seeking an enterprise solution which drives seamless user adoption.
When selecting a new ERP solution, it is important to factor in the time it will take for its every day users to adopt. It’s not easy to switch between ERP solutions – buttons are in different places, page layouts are different and short-cuts can require different key strokes. Change can be confusing and affect a user’s confidence.
On AXIO powered by Microsoft Dynamics AX, guided tasks assist users in completing tasks they feel uncomfortable completing on their own. Step-by-step instructions appear on the screen, guiding users through different task processes. By integrating guided tasks directly on AXIO, users don’t have to toggle between two screens or look up how to enter a certain type of project. This enables users to continue their work flow, complete tasks quicker and…
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Microsoft and LinkedIn – What’s in store?
On June 13th, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. It marked Microsoft’s largest acquisition ever – they paid a premium of $192 per share. It was a ‘big time’ deal for two companies with incredibly popular and recognizable brands. After the initial shock, experts began to dissect the deal pointing out that Microsoft had probably bought LinkedIn at the height of its power. In the two quarters before the deal, LinkedIn took a significant drop in valuation, stock price and earnings. However, Microsoft must have seen something in LinkedIn that they could take advantage of.
Read the official announcement.
The acquisition of LinkedIn presents a whole new industry for Microsoft. At the time of the deal, both companies pushed that the acquisition was a coming together of the World’s Leading Professional Cloud (Microsoft) and the World’s Largest Professional Network (LinkedIn). The acquisition surely signals the market entrance of…
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Will Dynamics 365 do for ERP and CRM what Microsoft Office did for Word, Excel and Project?
By now, you have likely heard all about Microsoft’s surprising announcement to bundle their flagship ERP and CRM solutions with Office 365, Cortana Intelligence, Azure IoT and PowerBI under the Dynamics 365 brand. Should we really be so surprised?
Microsoft has a long history in ERP solutions, but not nearly as long as their history in office productivity solutions. Some would say they invented the concept, if not all of the components. Today, well over a billion people use Microsoft Office around the world (according to Microsoft). That’s something like 1 in 7 people on the planet. Man!
Check out these stats from WinBeta.org:
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How do…
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smay772 