Day One NAV General Session at Microsoft Dynamics Convergence

The first day of Convergence is always a thrill; excitement is high, everyone is curious about what is to come, and there is a lot of discussion of what will be announced. Like all years, 2015 has not disappointed. There were plenty of great announcements and excitement at the Keynote with Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, delivering much of the news. I particularly loved the demo “a day in the life of a salesperson” that Julia White did. Her presentation of the wide variety of tools that are now available to us all to work in a cloud first, mobile first world was realistic and inspiring all at once, and in particular the section showcasing use of the Surface Hub was really great. If you want to see it yourself, you can view it through the new Convergence video library, where key sessions are being made available 24 hours after the conclusion of the session.

While it is always exciting and inspiring to be a part of the shiny new future Microsoft shows us every year, I actually look forward to the NAV general session more than any other session.

I anticipate getting a quick check in on the road map as well as in the numbers on the install base, enjoy seeing what new demos there might be, and getting a few nuggets on what might be coming for the next version.

Jesper Lechance Raebild did a great job of guiding the attendees through all of that with his typical dry humor, and put up a few demos, some of which impressed the room, and some of which did not.

We also go to see some nice customer stories, showcasing new NAV capabilities and focusing in on Cloud First, Mobile First.

It was also nice to hear Marko Perisic address the group with a message on how the newer upgrade paths will truly be more like an oil change to your car instead of engine repair. Marko did also give us view of what they can tell us about ‘Corfu’, the next NAV release, revealing that workflow, document management and OCR, e-services integration, and enhanced finance functionality will be upcoming improvements to the product as well as continued effort to streamline and simplify the UX across all clients and align with Office 365 and Windows 10.

The final treat of the session was the offer by sponsor 1ClickFactory to provide a copy of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 Tablet Client. Anyone can sign up at http://nav2015demo.azurewebsites.net. It’s a great way to get your hands on a copy of the tablet client in Azure and try it out. I tried it myself today on my Surface Pro 3 and was able to get it up and running in only a couple of minutes and now have a copy to play with until the offer expires on March 30, 2015.

It’s Convergence time! What NAV sessions should you choose on Thursday, March 19th?

I’m thrilled to be attending Microsoft Dynamics Convergence for my 7th year in a row in 2015! As an experienced Convergence attendee, one question I get every year is: What NAV sessions should I attend? I always say, “Take advantage of EVERY session”, so this week, I’ll be sharing my NAV session picks for Convergence week to help you out.

Thursday, March 19th

Our illustrious Convergence planners must be giving us a break this morning by waiting to start the keynote until 9:30. David Finn’s session on cybersecurity promises to be enlightening as he shares how Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit “is committed to identifying and disrupting cybercrime across the globe”. Make sure to get a big cup of coffee and join us at Digital detectives: Protecting data, commerce and privacy in the age of cybercrime.

I always love to hear customer stories of how they’ve used NAV successfully in their businesses. The 11:00 time slot has three separate sessions that showcase customers telling their NAV stories. Take your pick between Effective program management of your Microsoft Dynamics NAV environment or Microsoft SQL Server AlwaysOn for your business or Learn from your peers: Get ready for your Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade. No matter which of these you choose, you’ll be sure to get some great insight directly from customers.

And speaking of customer stories, the session at 2:00 is a sure winner! Lessons from your peers: What we learned during our upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV has a panel of four customers who will share winning strategies as well as the gotchas they experienced with a recent upgrade.

Your one last chance to soak in some knowledge is here! Attend the 3:30 session for Tips and Tricks: Training resources for Microsoft Dynamics NAV to get a list of online NAV resources for training.

Keep following Dynamics NAV Financials during Convergence week, March 16 – 19. I’ll be live blogging and tweeting the entire event to keep you all in the know about what’s going on in the world of Microsoft Dynamics NAV!

It’s Convergence time! What NAV sessions should you choose on Wednesday, March 18th?

I’m thrilled to be attending Microsoft Dynamics Convergence for my 7th year in a row in 2015! As an experienced Convergence attendee, one question I get every year is: What NAV sessions should I attend? I always say, “Take advantage of EVERY session”, so this week, I’ll be sharing my NAV session picks for Convergence week to help you out.

Wednesday, March 18th

The morning kicks off with a 9:00 deep dive session, Microsoft Dynamics NAV in Microsoft Azure Galleries, promising to show us all how we can set up an instance of NAV 2015 on Microsoft Azure and working in Office 365. If you’ve wondered what NAV looks like in the cloud, here’s your chance to try it yourself!

Make sure to get a seat for this next session early, it will fill up! I can never resist a good tips and tricks session and Microsoft Dynamics NAV: 60 tips and tricks in 60 minutes at 11:00 promises to be the popular NAV session of the week. Pay attention in this session for the tips you can take back to the office with you to share with your team – you’ll be a NAV hero!

The NAV User Group (NAVUG) says the 2:00 session is Guaranteed to improve your life: The Microsoft Dynamics NAV User Group! If you haven’t gotten to know this group yet, here’s your chance. They’re an amazing group of people who are all working collaboratively to share knowledge about NAV and support each other, make sure to check them out!

The 3:30 session promises to impress with Tips and tricks: RapidStart Services for Microsoft Dynamics NAV. It never hurts to brush up on the basics, but I’m betting we’ll see some nice extras on how to use this tool effectively.

The start time for the Convergence Celebration is 8:00. This year promises to be a great time like every year. Come enjoy the music of OneRepublic, some great food, and even more networking time!

Keep following Dynamics NAV Financials during Convergence week, March 16 – 19. I’ll be live blogging and tweeting the entire event to keep you all in the know about what’s going on in the world of Microsoft Dynamics NAV!

It’s Convergence time! What NAV sessions should you choose on Tuesday, March 17th?

I’m thrilled to be attending Microsoft Dynamics Convergence for my 7th year in a row in 2015! As an experienced Convergence attendee, one question I get every year is: What NAV sessions should I attend? I always say, “Take advantage of EVERY session”, so this week, I’ll be sharing my NAV session picks for Convergence week to help you out.

Tuesday, March 17th

The 9:00 general session on SMB success in a mobile-first, cloud-first world looks promising to see what Wayne Morris has to share about top tech trends that are effecting our businesses now. The rest of the morning is devoted to time to explore the Microsoft Solutions and Expo Experience. Make sure to visit some vendors and grab some networking time at the role-based roundtables during lunch.

The afternoon sessions start at 2:00 and I predict the session on How to prepare for an upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 will draw a larger crowd this year than in years past, as we continue to see more companies interested in moving to more recent NAV versions.

The 3:30 time slot offers two deep dive sessions that’ll be a tough choice. If you brought a team member with you, now is the time to divide and conquer in order to be two places at once for Deep Dive: Integration with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 with Freddy Kristiansen and Deep Dive: Reporting in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 with Claus Lundstrom.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the NAV User Group (NAVUG) session, also held at this time. The user group is an essential tool for you and your business! If you haven’t gotten a chance to learn what this group is about, attend this one because, as the title says, it’s Guaranteed to improve your life: The Microsoft Dynamics NAV User Group!

In the evening, take advantage of some free time to have dinner with the people you’ve met and enjoy the experience of talking with other people who are passionate about using Microsoft Dynamics products in their jobs, just like you do!

Keep following Dynamics NAV Financials during Convergence week, March 16 – 19. I’ll be live blogging and tweeting the entire event to keep you all in the know about what’s going on in the world of Microsoft Dynamics NAV!

It’s Convergence time! What NAV sessions should you choose on Monday, March 16th?

I’m thrilled to be attending Microsoft Dynamics Convergence for my 7th year in a row in 2015! As an experienced Convergence attendee, one question I get every year is: What NAV sessions should I attend? I always say, “Take advantage of EVERY session”, so this week, I’ll be sharing my NAV session picks for Convergence week to help you out.

Monday, March 16th

The Convergence Opening Keynote starts bright and early at 8:30, so make sure you’ve grabbed some breakfast beforehand and  get a good seat. This year is especially notable with the Keynote being done by Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella, but I look forward to the inspiration we all take away from powerful future looking demonstrations, strategic messaging, and the feeling of community that are the hallmarks of this grandiose session to start off the week.

The NAV General Session follows at 11:00 and this year we’ll see some new faces and hopefully some new demos! This is a great session to get a better feel for the new release cadence of the product and what changes are coming for all of us. Prepare to be inspired as Microsoft shares success stories with us of customers already using the newest version released only six months ago.

After a break for lunch and some networking at the industry-based roundtables, at 2:00 attend Why customers choose to implement Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure. This session promises some customer insights as to “what they have gained by running their business solution in the cloud”.

The 3:30 time slot is a tough one with Marketing Provocateur Seth Godin doing a session up against NAV Provocateur Freddy Kristiansen. As much as I love Seth Godin, if I were a developer, I’d be headed over to the session on Developing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 to see what Freddy’s got up his sleeve this year!

Round out the day at 5:00 with a Tips and Tricks session on Business Insight for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 to see some great examples of interoperability between NAV and Microsoft Office including more than seven specific examples of NAV working hand in hand with other applications.

The Convergence Experience Reception begins at 6:00. Make sure to attend – you’ve earned it after a full day of learning and it’s a great place to chat with all the new people you’ve met today!

Keep following Dynamics NAV Financials during Convergence week, March 16 – 19. I’ll be live blogging and tweeting the entire event to keep you all in the know about what’s going on in the world of Microsoft Dynamics NAV!