Microsoft Innovation Podcast

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/86New feature release for FetchXML Builder on XrmToolBox Market reception to the FetchXML Builder tool Road map of things that Jonas wants to add to the tools he creates Background on other tools created by Jonas: Plugin Trace Viewer, Auto Number Manager, Bulk Data Updater, Latebound Constants Generator, Related Records Analyzer Family life living in Sweden Journey to becoming an MVP How consultants change the way they learn in the era of constantly new content that is very targeted around the technology The story behind his passion for American footballMicrosoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/85Building applications and getting them on AppSource, company background How CloudFronts pick up new business and clientele Staffing and resources of CloudFronts global offices Handling a marketing story and ensuring the company consistently picks up their next engagement/projects What inbound marketing looks for CloudFronts Handling customers who need consultants to work on-site Importance of Microsoft events and key events that CloudFronts make sure to attend Challenges CloudFronts faced as an ISV as well as how Microsoft engages with ISVs and managing their relationship with Microsoft CloudFronts’ experience with AppSource and their journey since AppSource came to market Creating an ISV solution for other companies How Art and Anil came to work together Working with Anil and how they’ve built the synergies to come to market with a product Sales Opportunities Snapshot (SOS) – what it is, its methodology, history Why extend Dynamics 365 with SOS rather than go into Sales or any other apps  How AppSource affected customer interest How to get the SOS training – the soft-skill parts of using the app, rather than just how to technically use the app Neil Benson and Scrum for Dynamics – Check out this past Episode: Dynamics 365 Implementation Methodologies with Neil BensonBooks MentionedThe Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a DayResourcesCloudFrontsSOS for D365Neil Benson Scrum for DynamicsTechnical Sales Development Sales Opportunity Snapshot for Dynamics 365Blue Designs Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/84• Personal background – origins, living in Prague and Slovakia• Career journey to becoming a CRM professional and specializing in Dynamics 365• Being an MCT and activities around being a certified trainer• Activities done within the user group• Working on Power platform and day-to-day activities around Dynamics 365• Thoughts on the market size for Dynamics 365 in the Czech Republic• Microsoft data center being used for Microsoft in the Czech Republic• Recommendations for places to see in Prague• Technology areas focused on for the rest of 2019• Being nominated as a Microsoft MVP• Biggest value in becoming a business apps MVP• Thoughts on Forms Pro vs Voice of the Customer• Things to look forward to in the April release• What motivates him to keep engaging with the communitySupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/83Brief background about Solgari and how the company came about Professional background – from corporate finance to IT, career highlights Setting a company on the right footing in the ISV industry Voice as a channel – what it is and the sophistication around what it is, and security level Choosing Microsoft over other big companies in the ISV industry Chat as a channel – tackling third-party solutions, working in the Asian market Go-to-market services – Microsoft’s involvement, segmenting your market, engaging with Microsoft partners and/or customer, Channel Integration Framework, Dynamics 365 integration Engaging with Microsoft – Should you engage with a Microsoft subsidiary or the head office? Engaging with the right partners Nature of AppSource listing – inquiry, trial version, etc. Ensuring good support for a trial user on AppSource – human touch + digital experience Perspective on where the future is going, specifically around AI Advice on somebody considering wanting to become an ISV with Microsoft RESOURCESSolgari FinTech Microsoft Go-To-Market Services Channel Integration FrameworkMicrosoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/82Being multilingual and learning languages, living in different countries to work, and family work Living in Italy, Italian food, favourite dish Recommended attractions for people visiting Southeast Italy Running his newsletter Dynamics Weekly Involvement in the Dynamics 365 community Speaking engagements in Milan and London Career background, working for a Nordic company eCraft and working remotely Staying productive and motivated when working remotely Overcoming motivation problems Interests outside of work Journey to becoming an MVP Why it’s essential to participate in forums  The most challenging thing to do in Dynamics from a developer perspective Possible changes in the plugin arena and what Microsoft is changing in the Power Platform Future learning pursuits as regards the Power PlatformBooks & Other Resources Mentioned Dynamics WeeklyMicrosoft Dynamics Forum Microsoft Field ServiceMicrosoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/81Professional and career background, working in Dynamics and the field of business applications. Personal background – family, interests outside of work What has kept Shane in the industry for 20+ years Experience – building IP over the traditional SI type business What constitutes a successful team and the key roles for a strong SI type business to start within the Dynamics or Power Platform space Key resources at the bid process Key ingredients in building winning teams How to create a winning culture in the team and achieve the next level of game or goal in the practice Engaging with Microsoft as the vendor  The value that accolades/awards play in winning new business Process in validating whether an opportunity is legitimate or not and whether it’s one you can pursue Working and engaging with staff and ensuring that the right voice has come through at the right point — constructing a team, so people know when to say nothing or when to jump in Key roles in sales engagement and what makes a successful sale Role of presales in winning an opportunity; presales vs BDM/sales role Changes in the past 10 years – buying behaviours, engaging in sales How change management is critical in the successful implementation of projects Keeping a team up to speed on the cutting edge of learning skills in Dynamics Thoughts on competing with Salesforce and creating an appetite for adopting Microsoft business apps suite among clients ResourcesPresales Technical Specialist Accreditation Microsoft Public Sector: Public Safety and National Security Partner of the Year 2016 Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/80Elaiza's passions, living in Melbourne, becoming vegan Being an MVP for the first time and looking forward to attending her first MVP Summit Journey to becoming an MVP Changes since becoming an MVP Winning women in tech award The story behind her YouTube channel Producing her videos – staging, camera, recording/editing software, equipment, post-production, etc. Audience reaction to show title “WTF” Having a timeline on how many days she has strung together without touching the old workflow tool Books & Other Resources Mentioned  Paul and Ashlee Culmsee YouTube channel MVP Summit 2019 Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/79Personal, career and business background Current focus/projects as ISV Thoughts on outsourced vs in-house staff business model, building a business in a remote island and regenerating the Isle of Wight Journey to deciding the position that they’re going to take in the market Thoughts on building what customers want Dealing with struggles that ISVs have no control over Most challenging aspects in the first 3 years of starting an ISV and having a bumpy start Challenges they have had to solve and how the challenges have changed over time in relation to customer base Marketing the benefits of their solution so that it attracted customers from around the world Raising capital and how to go about it when scaling the business Addressing market segmentation Microsoft partnership – what it means, dealing with changes, etc. Software publisher vs ISV Advice to ISVs and how they should engage with Microsoft Using the partner list and engaging with the Partner channel Books The Essential Business Guide to GDPR: A business owner’s perspective to understanding & implementing GDPRThe New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, Newsjacking, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly – Resources Mentioned  MyCRMPartner Network Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/78Personal and professional background — working in India and now in Singapore for PowerObjects and working in different roles Journey to becoming business applications professional Process and journey in writing a technical book Challenges in writing a technical book, investments in time and ROI, working with publishers and self-publishing Future plans – podcasting, pivoting to Power platform, custom machine learning scenario, etc. Path to becoming a Microsoft MVP, disadvantages, downsides, etc.Books & Other Resources Mentioned  Deepesh’s blog Mastering Dynamics CRM 2016 Dynamics 365 Application DevelopmentMicrosoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTEShttps://podcast.nz365guy.com/77Professional and personal background Living in Fairbanks, Alaska – childhood, the Northern lights, appreciation for nature Travel experiences and favourite destinations Career journey and working in Microsoft What comes with the role of overseeing Business Application Partner Ecosystem, focusing around customer engagement Having a fresh look at how Sales is going within Microsoft Thoughts on how partners/practices that have traditionally done Dynamics based implementation are evolving moving forward Thoughts on Dynamics becoming broader and practices having mastery in different workloads What Microsoft Readiness is looking going forward and create a system of “drinking from the firehose” Changes in the way Microsoft Partner Network type function and what these changes are in the calendar year How Microsoft deals with Partners feeling of being abandoned by Microsoft after the Dynamics group was moved to Enterprise Women in technology, a roundtable discussion with women during Dynamics 365 Saturday in Scotland “All the Voices” — what inspired the piece and her thinking around it Thoughts on equality and inclusion in tech Thoughts on diversity and inclusion coming through STEM Books Mentioned“The Broken Earth Trilogy” by N. K. Jemisen  ResourcesERPMicrosoft Partner Network Microsoft ReadinessMicrosoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith