Inge Magne Bruvik - Community Spotlight

My career with the product we know today as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central really started almost 35 years ago back in May of 1987. I was in high school and I was hired for a part time job in an accounting company partly owned by one of my teachers. The accounting software we used there was PcPlus. For those who know the whole story behind todays Business Central product,  you will recognize PCPlus as the first software that the founders behind Navision took to the market. From that point on my work has almost solely been focused around business software. 

When Navision was launched in the Norwegian market, I was among the first to start working with the product in Norway.  After Microsoft acquired Navision in 2002, I was among the first in the world to run Navision with Microsoft SQL server as the database engine in a really large Navision implementation.

Over the years I have worked for both Microsoft Partners and end user organizations, and found both very rewarding. I have done both consulting work and developed customized code. So when people ask me if I look at myself as a functional consultant or a developer, I find it impossible to categorize myself. My formal title at CGI Norway where I work now is senior consultant, but I usually end up saying that I live and breathe Business Central.

I find it very motivating to see solutions I have worked on being adopted in the organizations I work with. I always try to empathize that there is a big difference between simply delivering a solution to a customer and to see it really being adopted and functioning for the best of the organization. I am privileged to have been able to learn a lot about different organizations and their businesses during the years and I hope to be able to do that for many years ahead.

 Microsoft acquired some great business software 20 years ago and today it is easy to see that the product has grown and developed in a great way under the Microsoft and Dynamics umbrella. For me it is especially rewarding to observe that even the latest versions of Business Central have managed to keep some of the “DNA” that can be traced all the way back to the PCPlus software I first learned 35 years ago.

 Last year's focus on transitioning to cloud software as a service comes with both great challenges and opportunities. And for people like me who always love to learn new things – I could not be in a better spot. In the spring of 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, I completed my first Business Central project based on Business Central online in combination with both Azure functions and elements of the Power platform. The project stretched over 3 countries and two continents. It was all completed without a single physical meeting with the client organization. Seeing all the pieces come together was a great feeling!

"I have always loved to take part in training of both end users and colleagues. So contributing to the community comes as a natural consequence of that. The Dynamics community in general and the Business Central community in particular are strong and filled with a lot of highly knowledgeable and competent resources who are both willing and able to share and contribute. I think my knowledge and my experience have a place in the community. I try to play an active part in the forums and also through my blog – “Business Central explained”. I have also given speeches on the Norwegian Dynamics User Group events and taken part in other community members YouTube channels. The positive feedback I get from it is very satisfying and rewarding. During the years I have learned a lot from the community and now it is my turn to give something back. Helping others is also a great way to remind myself that I always need to keep growing and maintaining my own knowledge. Our Dynamics and Business Central community is, and will continue to be a strength that both customers and partners benefit from."

Inge Magne Bruvik, Senior Consultant MS Dynamics 365 Business Central

We are excited to recognize Inge Magne Bruvik as our April 2022 Community Spotlight honoree! He's been a valuable contributor of suggested and verified answers in the forums, a top 10 blogger, and we appreciate his support! Follow his community blog - Business Central explained - or connect with Inge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imbruvik