The Dynamics GP Blogster

Hi everyone! I know, it's been a while since you've heard from me, but my contributions to the Microsoft Dynamics GP community go beyond just blogging and attending events. I've been involved with the development of the next generation of Microsoft Dynamics GP exams and certification process, which is been quite a rewarding experience and certainly a time consuming one. I have always been a firm believer that certifications are an important part of a professional career development, whether you are a partners, a consultant, or a customer, hence, I've spent quite some time over the past few months working with the good folks of the Association of Dynamics Professionals  in a counseling capacity to bring new guidelines and a certification process that will be industry worthy. But as many of you already know, this is the kind of stuff I really enjoy, but we cannot do this by ourselves, so here is where you come in: I NEED YOUR HELP! The main goal is to build a set of e...

Hi everyone and welcome to Microsoft Convergence 2015 from the beautiful city of Atlanta, Georgia, my hometown. I really like that Convergence has called Atlanta home 4 out of the past 5 years - it also makes it pretty convenient for me to attend while sleeping in the best hotel in town: my home! Microsoft Convergence 2015 welcome banner at Georgia Wold Congress Center After not much convincing, David accepted my invitation to stay to be a guest for the duration of Convergence. As such, my jobs is to also make sure we get to and from the convention center on time for the numerous commitments we have this week. On of those commitments involves attending the PreGame 2015 event hosted by Dynamic Partner Connections , held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel. If you are familiar with this Downtown Atlanta landmark, you will remember it was severely damaged during the 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak  and having to replace over 5600 windows during the renovation process. ...

November 13, 2014 After a good 3 days of conference sessions (both attending and delivering), I have to say this event has been very special to me. Being able to catch up - yes, catch up! - with old (and not so old) time friends is probably one of the best experiences of this particular reIMAGINE 2014 event. At Hector International Airport (FAR) Gate 1 As I sat at Gate 1 at Hector International Airport, looking out at the snow dusting collected on the tarmac (a stark reminder as to why I don't live in these latitudes), I reflect back on days past to highlight the following: 1. You MUST begin learning about Service-Based Architecture in general, now! The truth is, I spoke to numerous developers during this event and the one question that kept coming up was, " Where do I go to learn all this stuff? ". It took me some time to get acclimated to these style of services, but frankly, you need to build on your past experience. After all the current Web Services mod...

November 12, 2014 As the saying goes, " All good things must come to an end " and it was no different for the reIMAGINE 2014 conference. However, we still had to get through the day with the closing session, and couple breakout sessions we were responsible for. After the fantastic keynote speech by Doug Burgum and some really fun partner hosted events at the local bars on the previous day , it was just natural to wake up with an appetite, so I was down early for breakfast - then again, so was everyone else! Breakfast gathering Breakfast preceded the closing session, which was once more MC'ed by Jesse Byam , who was going around the room asking folks about the highlights of their conference experience, all the while eating their breakfast. Jesse and I had a chance to interact on my own experiences and I have to say, all the Service-Based Architecture sessions I attended were the biggest takeaway for me. After Jesse got the entire room pumped, ...

Oh goodness, what happened last night ? Well, it's true that if you are going to party into the wee hours of the morning, you must still get up to go to the conference and so I did. Today was the first full day of breakout sessions, but David and I won't start our first session until the afternoon. I got up and downloaded  Project Siena for the live demo I would be conducting during our session on building a Windows 8.1 App so I had just a few hours to learn the product. After obtaining the GP service XML configuration file from my buddy Kevin Racer the day before, the idea was to replicate the demo Kevin and Errol conducted on stage during the General Session. David and I met at the Microsoft Campus around 10:30 AM and sat for a bit to go over some of the logistics of the interaction between the two of us during the session. As with all our presentations, the improv factor helps more with having a fun and relaxed time. So David went off to ...

November 10, 2014 After my pleasant trip to Fargo on the previous day , it was time to check in and complete the registration process with the lovely ladies from Dynamic Communities . It helps to have a reputation in the community as my badge was handed to me without showing an ID. Registration Desk After registration and catching up the Dynamics Community folks I was off to get some breakfast. I quickly caught up with some of the most special people who have a big hand in making these events happen. Amy Alley, Shanna Hensch, Andy Hafer After grabbing some food and making it to my table, I caught up with my co-presenter  David Musgrave , with whom I would be reviewing and fine-tuning the last bits of our presentations. The 11,000 miles separating us do not always cooperate with making things smooth from a delivery perspective. At the table, I also had a chance to catch up with MVPs Belinda Allen and Leslie Vail, while also sharing some stories with Sheila Jeffers...

November 9, 2014 Typically, there's nothing exciting about a flight between Atlanta - Minneapolis - Fargo, except this time, I was able to appreciate the art exhibit displayed between T gates and concourse A at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport. Foreground: TRAVELING FAMILY By Amos Supuni Born 1970 Malawi Background: GALACTIC DANCER Tapfuma Gutsa Born 1956 Harare, Zimbabwe This permanent collection of twenty contemporary stone sculptures from Zimbabwe debuted in 2001 and is one of the largest publicly owned and exhibited collections of its kind. Located in the pedestrian corridor of the Transportation Mall between the T Gates and Concourse A, it features twelve of Zimbabwe's top artists. Though the Art Program chose these sculptures for their intrinsic beauty, the themes explored by the artists also seem universal. The works delve into the importance of family, humanity's relationship with nature and desire to be spiri...