#CONV15 – Convergence 2015 Atlanta – Day 1 – Dynamics GP Session

So, now we are here at Sidney J. Marcus Auditorium for the Microsoft Dynamics GP Product Roadmap and Strategy general session.

I sat right down the front so I could heckle the presenters… It is in my job description. Someone has to keep them on their toes.

The session started with everyone’s favourite non technical person, Errol Schoenfish (#IfErrolCanDoIt).

 
Errol Schoenfish

Errol took us through a demo of the upcoming Time Management App, by deciding (in advance) what days he would be sick on (after a public holiday) and then taking some additional annual leave. This new self service app would be released on all major platforms.

Time Management App for Windows, iOS and Android

Next up was the MVP Shootout, a challenge of one-upmanship between Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) Mark Polino and Mariano Gomez. Each time one would mention the cool benefits of a new feature in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015, the other would raise the bar with an even better new feature.

MVP Shootout

Mark Polino MVP and Mariano Gomez MVP

Mariano even explained Service Based Architecture in under 30 seconds

Then as Mark and Mariano are finishing up and congratulating each other, Belinda Allen MVP surprises us by coming on stage to cover the new Business Intelligence features of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015. [Edit] Okay, I knew it was going to happen as I was at the rehearsal. :-)

Belinda Allen hijacks the MVP Shootout

Where to find the MVPs … if you didn’t know already

It was great to see Mark, Mariano and now Belinda being part of the official proceedings. Microsoft needs to continue harnessing the enthusiasm of the MVPs and other community members.

After the MVP Shootout, Errol hosted demos from Jennifer Ranz and Jodi Christiansen as well as have Jason Eden from Dynamics GP customer Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) come on stage and tell us how running Microsoft Dynamics GP in cloud has helped their organisation. RREAL supply Solar Power systems to people in need to help fight fuel poverty. It is a smart, eco friendly way to help families rather than just giving cash handouts.

Jeff Trosen then joined Errol on stage to cover the Microsoft Dynamics GP Product Roadmap as well as the features for the next Dynamics GP 2015 R2 release.

Errol Schoenfish and Jeff Trosen

Microsoft Dynamics GP Roadmap

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 R2 Features

The final section of the session was with Errol and Chad Sogge and discussed the next generation of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client. By removing the dependency on Silverlight and using HMTL5, the next web client will be able to work on any browser and any device that supports HTML5.

The next generation web client

Errol using an Apple iOS tablet to access the web client

Chad using a Samsung Android tablet to access the web client

An example screen from the next generation web client

The room was packed with a lot of excited Dynamics GP users, customers and partners

And on that bombshell, the session ended and it was time for lunch.

Day 1, to be continued …

David

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.