There are many ways that Microsoft has re-imagined its Dynamics application software; and even more reasons for users to gather at Emperors Palace on 22 and 23 April 2015 for the Microsoft Dynamics Re-imagine the Enterprise conference.
Marc Gower, Microsoft Business Systems lead, says the company has invested in making Dynamics more usable than ever.
“The system is very operational now, which makes it much more relevant,” he says. “Traditionally, companies were installing ERP systems that were really administration systems, helping them to manage finances and do reports, but not really useful for the rest of the business.
“What Microsoft has done is effectively inverted this model, making Dynamics an operations system with administration one of the results of that.
“Actually, it’s pretty exciting,” Gower adds.
The fact that the system is truly fully integrated makes the whole system easier to deploy and use, Gower says. “It truly is a fully integrated system. So, as each module comes out, the user gets if for free – all the modules are included in the system, and all integrated.
“This takes away a lot of the historical integration layers that people have battled with.”
In fact, Gower believes that Microsoft Dynamics could transform the way companies do business.
“Because it leverages the entire Microsoft stack, it becomes a part of the way people do business. So if you have Office 365 already, your users find it really easy to use Microsoft Dynamics because it is familiar. This means the adoption rate is much higher and the training time is much less.
“It also integrates with the whole Office suite, and it just works – that is probably what is most exciting.”
It’s probably this ease of use, ease of integration and ease of adoption that is helping Microsoft Dynamics to outstrip the rest of the ERP and CRM market.
“We have taken the approach to package as much best practice the system as possible. There are a lot of things that are standard in a business and by including this in the system, users can simply add users, identify and profile and then adjust it to their specific needs. This brings down the time and cost of implementation enormously.”
This pre-defined best practice extends beyond profiling users to reports, dashboard and security, all of which are built in and set to the optimum level for the user’s type of organisation. “From there you can differentiate your business, but the basics are all in place,” Gower says.
“This very new and simplified approach has made adoption way more successful, and companies don’t need to do as much training as before. In addition, if a user changes roles, it’s much easier to do – users learn principles which can then be applied in any role – which further drives up adoption and lowers costs.”
Online business and mobility are two trends that companies are looking to; and Microsoft has made huge strides in these areas.
“All of Microsoft’s systems are available in the cloud. So users can buy on-premise systems, buy cloud solutions or take a hybrid approach. What they opt for depends on their business requirements.”
In terms of mobility, Dynamics CRM features are available in a mobile application, and development in this area continues unabated, Gower says.
“We are seeing that ERP applications are being developed quite quickly. Users will soon be able to go to an app store, and simply download what they want. Not only do mobile apps generally require no training, but with mobility comes an enormous amount of choice.”
All of Microsoft’s Dynamics application include a mobile API, so users can develop their own complementary apps.”
With so much going on with Microsoft Dynamics, it’s not surprising that the team is planning a much more engaged and exciting conference in April.
“We are bringing out some really big guns to speak,” says Gower. “And we are going to have some really good, deep industry expertise available as well.”
More importantly, there will be something for everyone, with 60 sessions giving the conference fresh and interactive approach. “There will be a lot of 30-minute demo session – with no PowerPoint – that will really help delegates get into the systems and understand them.
“For partners and customers who want to get their money’s worth, they will find we are offering them a lot of sessions and a lot of choice.
“The bottom line is the “Re-imagining the Enterprise” conference is going to be exciting, interesting and engaging.”