The Dynamics GP Blogster

In part 2 of the series , I delivered a brief primer on the service architecture in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 and how you are able to consume services natively created with Dexterity. There are two types of services that can be created: services that wrap existing windows and forms functionality, i.e., creating a customer; and services that can wrap around existing sanScript procedures, i.e, retrieving customer information. The truth is, none of that stuff would be possible without the ability to interoperate with the Microsoft .NET Framework. Today, I'm going to show you some of the .NET interop capabilities built into Dexterity 14.0 and how these can enhance the user experience and your application integration capabilities. The example used in this post is based on my previous article, Building a COM Interop Assembly to use with Microsoft Dexterity , which showed how we had to leverage .NET's ability to expose an assembly via COM interfaces, so we could reference its metho...

Wrap Up Post It's time to close this chapter, but not without a few thoughts: 1. The Summit keeps attracting more and more attendees each and every year. This year, we maxed out at around 3,500 people which is quite a feat if you put it in perspective. My gut feeling tells me in a couple years we will be talking Convergence numbers and this will be mostly end-users! 2. I feel the Summit could take advantage of repeat sessions, similar to Convergence. Many topics were too similar in title and content, which could confuse the end-user when selecting a session to attend, given that each presenter (and presenter style) is different. 3. There aren't enough parties! Rock-n-Rave and FastPath alone cannot entertain 3,500 people -- on another note, after seeing Andy Snook rock the bass at the PBR St. Louis, I'm convinced that we could take advantage of a stadium or arena to make something big. 4. It's cool to hang out with Polino. They guy simply knows when to rela...

Friday, October 17, 2014 Ok, what just happened last night, ugh! Day 2 was quite the day (and the night!). However, the Summit was coming to an end and it was almost time to close the curtains on what I personally reckon to be a very successful event. This meant participating in the last networking huddle event, which had tables organized by roles; visit the Expo one last time to say bye to ISVs who tirelessly worked to bring some of the best products to market; and attend maybe a session or two going throughout the day. After the networking huddle, it was time for the Ask the All Stars session which, as its now traditional, is preceded by the GPUG All Star nomination and award. I have to say that this year I was fortunate enough to have been nominated, but felt short by one vote... just messing! GPUG All Stars, Shawn Dorward, Belinda Allen, and Aaron Back The new All Stars mingled with the previous year crop to take questions from the audience in attendance a...

Thursday, October 16, 2014 With Day 1 behind us, Day 2 brought a lot of expectations as it was officially a full day of sessions. Yes, that meant a lot more sessions than even the day before. My day started out with Mariano's Toolbox Series: The Support Debugging Tool at 9:45 AM. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to have over 60 people in this session, given the night before was Rock-n-Rave. The cool thing is, I just had two or 3 people who had been to the party. After my session, I met up with a few folks over at the Mekorma Hub to discuss how their sessions were progressing. Then, we head down to the Meal Hall for lunch and to participate in the networking huddles. Networking Huddles My afternoon session, Mariano's Toolbox Series: Upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 at 2:00 PM was also received well with over 40 people in attendance. However, these Summit events are all about the spirit of the community. My good friend Kitty Geiger (myappsanyw...

Wednesday, October 15, 2014 After a jammed pack Academy Training day on the previous day, Summit Day 1 begins with a little stroll from my hotel down to the America's Center Convention Complex . On the way there, I cannot help but to snap a picture of the now very famous Runner Fountain at Kiener Plaza, which happened to be running a pink to red tone in support of the Cardinals . The Runner Fountain at Kiener Plaza (in front of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) This is probably one of the most sought after shots for any photographer (which I'm not!), so why not. The Runner Fountain in front of historic Old Court House and Gateway Arch At the Convention Complex, the day opened with the keynote session where Andy Hafer and Hal Howard provided some great input into the growth of the Summit event over the years. Andy also welcomed the more than 47% of first time attendees to Summit and jumped into some of the key stats that made this the largest summit in th...

Tuesday, October 14, 2014 After a successful Partner Connections event , Tuesday brought and "All you can digest" Academy Training day, with 100s of sessions across all products. Unlike at the Tampa Summit, this year I did not participate as a trainer and rather decided to spend most of the morning catching up on work and prepping for my first session on Wednesday. In the afternoon, I attended a presenters prep round up meeting at 4:00 PM local time, carried out at the Mekorma Hub. GPUG Director, Kim Peterson welcomed all new presenters and provided last minute instructions to the group. Presenters Prep Round Up meeting with Kim Peterson After the meeting, it was time to visit the Expo which would be opening its doors for the first time. I have to say, I was pretty impressed by the final product, since just a day before, the place was still being, literally, put together. It's amazing that 100s of ISVs and sponsors were present, displaying their products a...

Monday, October 13, 2014 Summit is now gone, but I wanted to take some time to recount some of the events as I saw them happening. First, I wanted to congratulate the Dynamic Partner Connections team for an excellent event hosted at the Renaissance Hotel. The location could not be anymore upscale and clearly was a great way to get things started. As I was strolling along the corridors of the hotel with MVPs Joris de Gruyter and John Lowther, we ran into some of the awesome Dynamic Communities folks. From left to right: Michelle Spitzer, Mark Rhodes, Joris de Gruyter, John Lowther, and Liz Hallen Most of the topics at the Partner Connections day revolved around leadership and various NAV and SL topics - since the Summit itself tends to be dominated by AX, GP, and CRM, I guess this was a good thing. Midday came along and it was time for Q&A with Hal Howard, former Microsoft executive and new Executive Director of Dynamics Communities. Many questions coming from t...

My journey to St. Louis, MO begins today. As it's customary, I will be writing articles on a daily basis, if possible, to narrate the events of the day. I have a busy schedule , with presentations on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (I just took on a new session on Friday at 2:15 PM called "Testing, Testing, & More Testing" related to upgrades). Please follow me on Twitter @dgpblogster , or The Dynamics GP Blogster on Facebook , and of course right here on this blog for more info on the event and those little behind the scene moments. This year, the Summit is expecting a record breaking 900 attendees and is growing to be THE EVENT to attend after Convergence. If you have not signed up to be a GPUG member, what are you waiting on? Until next post! MG.- Mariano Gomez, MVP Intelligent Partnerships, LLC http://www.intelligentpartnerships.com/