After a dozen Convergence events, you’d think we wouldn’t
get SO EXCITED about it each year, but we LOVE the unexpected jewels of
information we discover, the new channel members we meet, and the exchange of
experiences we indulge in! Here are our top 10 #CONV14 gems that stick out this
year:
1. Of
course, topping the list is the MANY features coming just around the corner
with the next release, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2. Although we’re
excited for the BIG ROCKS (Identity Management and Workflow enhancements), our
existing clients are thrilled to see LOTS of the smaller chunks such as: Copy/Paste
into GL from excel; reverse fiscal year-end close; the ability to
email batches of documents at one time; locking companies for maintenance;
default sort order on AP checks, and doc attach!
Screen Shot of how Identity Management changes:
Screen Shot of how Identity Management changes:
2. You’ll have to act fast for this one, but Arianna Huffington is offering a free copy of her book THRIVE (by Mar 21 @ 9PM EST) which candidly shares her challenges of balancing a career while raising two daughters – drawing on research and scientific findings in the areas of meditation, mindfulness, unplugging, and giving! I may write a blog on this alone, but Arianna Huffington and Biz Stone were keynote speakers on Wednesday evening! These keynotes are almost reason enough to attend Convergence each year. In the past few years we’ve also been treated to insights from General Colin Powell (Ret) and Kofi Annan (Former General Secretary of the United Nations).
3. With
Professional Advantage’s announcement that they have
added CDA Express (Company Data Archive) to their popular Collection’s
Management (CM) module, we are contacting many of our clients! This addition
will be a huge opportunity for many customers who haven’t taken advantage of
already owning CM but ‘opted in’ when it transitioned from Microsoft back to
Professional Advantage.
4. Next year we will see GP 2015 and again the
highlights include more improvements to the previously mentioned ‘ROCKS’, but
also include a Business Portal replacement. However, we know our
existing clients will immediately chew on the little nuggets for their users
like Multiple PO Prepayments; EFT Enhancements; SOP Line Items; and load
balancing.
5. It’s important to decompress and relax a bit with your
friends. After several days in town, Thursday night we were treated to the FUN
concert that even included a sing-a-long of “Can’t always get what you
want” (number 100 of Rolling Stone’s top
500 songs of all time).
6. A very popular budgeting solution for our clients is Dynamics
Budgets. They have recently added an Active Directory integration
for user setup; security filter set-up; login view & deletes; simple
user-defined dashboards; additional reporting capabilities; data tags
that can span databases and more!
7. If
folks couldn’t make Convergence, Microsoft has a LIVE Virtual Convergence
option so we could listen to some of the Keynote and General Sessions info
without paying for a registration. Check out the link to see the opening
keynotes and general sessions!
8. If Convergence 2014 attendees missed a session, or
just needed the notes, they can download the actual powerpoints from the “Schedule Builder”.
By filtering on the session type, product, or track, you can download the
details to share with other employees in your organization!9. By joining one of the Dynamics Communities (GPUG, CRMUG, AXUG, or NAVUG), you can gain access to all the User Group sessions from Convergence (and much more) loaded in the “Collaborate” areas of the individual websites. You did NOT have to attend the events to gain access to these resources. For instance, if you would like to see the highlights from the ALL-STAR session, you can go to the GPUG Collaborate Section and download our “Dynamics Idol” powerpoint (which includes screenshots and instructions) on the favorite tips shared during that fast-paced session.
10. The Microsoft Dynamics GP technology changes
will include the dexterity architecture being ‘exposed’ thru sanScript
logic as a service. So, this will pave the way for all kinds of integrations to
happen without having to get ‘into the code’ and use eConnect or Integration
Manager as it is currently and use Windows Services and the like instead.
**At
Collins Computing, we hold annual post-Convergence Collins Customer Webcasts,
along with monthly sharing webcasts to be certain our clients are up-to-date on
all tips, news, promotions, and highlights surrounding their Microsoft Dynamics
implementations. If you want to know MORE about any of the topic above, we
encourage you to check out our offerings and knowledge sharing techniques by contacting us anytime,
or following us on one of our social media connections, or watching a video
we’ve shared! And if you’re not too busy on April Fool’s day at 8:30am
PST/11:30am EST you can join us for a preview of how we take care of our
customers in a ‘mini-tips’ webcast. Let
us know if you want to attend our “The (GP) Doctor Is In” webcast!
