The Digestible Dynamics Podcast

Streamlining Microsoft Support with Dynamics 365 and Copilot

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 14:48:45 GMT

In this conversation, Steve Kerr from the Microsoft Showcase team discusses the evolution of customer support at Microsoft, focusing on the transition to Dynamics and the integration of AI tools like Copilot. He highlights the challenges and successes of unifying support systems, improving knowledge management, and enhancing customer interactions through innovative technology. The discussion also touches on future developments in customer support and offers advice for organizations looking to implement AI solutions effectively.

About Our Guest

Steve Kerr is a Senior Technical Support Engineering Manager at Microsoft. Steve is known for his energetic personality and passion for technology. Steve has a background in customer service and support, having worked on various projects and initiatives at Microsoft. Steve's ambition is to become the first Steve Kerr that shows up in Bing search results.

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AI & F&O: The Future of Business Operations

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:58:28 GMT

In this episode, we connect with Beau Schwieso and delve into the transformative impact of AI on Microsoft's Finance & Operations solution. We discuss how AI enhances operational efficiency, automates tasks with pre-built agents, and offers custom solutions for unique business needs. The conversation also covers the revolution in accounting processes, the importance of data integrity, and the preparation required for successful AI adoption. With insights into the future of AI in business operations, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in technology-driven business transformation.

About Our Guest

Beau Schwieso is the Chief Operating Officer at Caf2 Code, where he plays a pivotal role in driving the company's strategic vision and operational excellence. He brings over 14 years of experience in implementing ERP solutions, specializing in both process and discrete manufacturing, finance, and advanced system configurations. He is the creator of the popular DynamicsDad blog, where he simplifies complex ERP concepts into relatable, actionable insights. Beau has a talent for making advanced topics like warehousing, Azure integrations, and production scheduling accessible, helping businesses maximize their D365 investments. He serves on the board of advisors for the Dynamics User Group and contributes to programming committees for major events like Summit NA and DynamicsCon. Additionally, he co-leads the Dallas D365 user group. Outside of his professional life, Beau enjoys writing late into the night, crafting witty dad jokes, and cherishing moments with his family.

For more insights from Beau, check out his blog: DynamicsDad | Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

About Caf2Code

Caf2Code is a dynamic company committed to empowering businesses through innovative ERP solutions. By prioritizing customer needs and blending their system expertise with the customer's industry knowledge, Caf2Code helps organizations optimize their operations and achieve their goals.

Renowned for its proficiency as a premier ERP, CE, and Power Platform implementer, Caf2Code equips clients with the tools necessary to maximize their D365 investments. Through a combination of technical skill and a deep understanding of business requirements, Caf2Code distinguishes itself as a leader in the ERP solutions space.

To learn more about Caf2Code - The Partner You Can Trust - visit their website: Home - Caf2Code LLC

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Project Sophia The Future of Business Intelligence

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 12:31:46 GMT

In this episode, Julie Strauss, Vice President of Project Sophia at Microsoft, introduces us to Project Sophia, a groundbreaking AI-powered business research canvas. Julie explains how Sophia allows users to engage with their data in a conversational manner, generating visualizations and suggesting next steps. The discussion delves into the various applications of Sophia, the importance of data quality, and how the tool personalizes user experiences. Julie also shares insights on the surprises and learnings from the project, emphasizing the need for good data and the potential for Sophia to evolve based on user interactions.

About Our Guest:

Julie Strauss is the Vice President of Project Sophia, a groundbreaking generative AI product at Microsoft. With over 20 years of experience in creating customer-centric experiences, Julie has a proven track record of leading various product missions across Microsoft. Her current project represents a new generation of AI-first application patterns, designed to revolutionize complex business decision-making through innovative approaches to discovering, visualizing, and interacting with business data across organizational boundaries.

About Project Sophia

Project Sophia is an AI-first business application designed to assist users with complex, cross-functional tasks by providing a new way to discover, visualize, and interact with business data. It features an AI-powered research canvas and large language model-powered blueprints, enabling users to create exploratory journeys and understand business data through AI-generated charts and insights. Project Sophia offers quick insights and recommends next steps, allowing users to start with a question and explore different options iteratively until achieving the best possible outcome. Currently available in the EU and US regions, Project Sophia is in preview and aims to revolutionize business decision-making.

To try Project Sophia while its still in preview visit: https://projectsophia.microsoft.com/

To provide your feedback on your experience with Project Sophia visit: https://adoption.microsoft.com/en-us/project-sophia/

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Data Strategy for Dynamics 365 + AI

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 14:32:55 GMT

In this episode, hosts Kayla Rohde and Bill Whalen are joined by Trey Johnson, Data Analytics Solution Specialist, and Daryl Moll, Data Engineering Director at Velosio, to delve into the intricacies of preparing data for AI adoption. The discussion covers best practices for ensuring data quality, security, and effective planning, while sharing success stories from various business sectors. The guests also explore the future potential of AI in enhancing business processes and decision-making, addressing challenges such as data integration and governance. Tune in to gain valuable insights from experts who are at the forefront of data and analytics solutions.

About Our Guests

Trey Johnson is a published author, speaker, and consultant with over 30 years of experience in business intelligence, data management, and analytics. As a Data Analytics Solution Specialist at Velosio, Trey leads the practical application of Microsoft Fabric and Power Platform, collaborating with internal teams and clients to deliver innovative solutions that drive data-driven insights and optimize business outcomes. His expertise spans operational leadership, team building, and leveraging Microsoft technologies to help organizations achieve their goals.

Daryl Moll is a seasoned technology leader with over 25 years of experience in IT, cloud architecture, and data solutions. As the Data Engineering Director at Velosio, Daryl specializes in generative AI, Microsoft SQL, Dynamics ERP and CRM, Power Platform, and Microsoft 365. With a deep understanding of public and private cloud technologies, virtualization, and Microsoft’s server platforms, Daryl drives innovative solutions that optimize business operations and deliver exceptional results for clients.

About Velosio

Velosio is a leading cloud applications services partner, specializing in helping companies modernize applications, simplify operations, and leverage data for better decision-making. With over 30 years of experience, Velosio offers a comprehensive range of solutions, including ERP, CRM, data analytics, AI, and automation. Their team of 450 business professionals and industry experts is dedicated to empowering clients to achieve their most ambitious goals through innovative technology and proven methodologies

Explore More from Velosio:

Learn more about Velosio on their website: https://www.velosio.com/

Unlock the power of data-driven insights and elevate your business's profitability and growth by downloading Velosio's expert guide, Leading with Purpose found here: https://www.velosio.com/go/data-driven-insights-for-business-leaders/?utm_medium=syndication&utm_source=digestible-dynamics-podcast

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AI Powered Engineering: Insights from Sinha Prasoon

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:34:55 GMT

In this conversation, Prasoon Sinha discusses the integration of Microsoft AI technologies in traffic engineering, emphasizing the importance of communication and the social impact of their projects. He highlights how AI and digital tools enhance project delivery, improve safety, and ultimately contribute to better quality of life for communities. The discussion also explores the future of AI in traffic engineering, focusing on augmenting human capabilities and leveraging global knowledge.

About Our Guest

Prasoon Sinha is the Global Director of Digital Solutions at Arcadis, with over 24 years of experience at the intersection of transportation and technology. He is a pioneer in leveraging AI, automation, and advanced data science to reimagine the delivery and operations of transportation systems. Prasoon has worked extensively with state DOTs and local agencies to assist with their digital transformation. His expertise in merging transportation engineering with cutting-edge technology drives impactful solutions that enhance safety, efficiency, and system performance.

About Arcadis

Arcadis is the world’s leading company delivering intelligence-driven sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. With a mission to improve quality of life, Arcadis addresses today’s most pressing challenges, including climate change, urbanization, and digital transformation. The company operates in over 30 countries, employing more than 36,000 professionals such as architects, data analysts, designers, engineers, project planners, and sustainability experts. Founded in 1888, Arcadis has over 135 years of experience in delivering integrated and holistic solutions across the full project lifecycle.

To learn more about Arcadis, visit their website: https://www.arcadis.com/

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Streamlining Operations with D365 & AI

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:26:16 GMT

As we shift into 2025, we're going to be diving deep into the world of AI and its impact on the Business Applications space. On today's episode, we'll be joined by Robbie Morrison, the visionary CEO of Velosio. Robbie is a renowned technology leader and expert system architect, celebrated for his innovative solutions that drive efficiency and growth. With a profound expertise in Microsoft Dynamics 365, cloud technologies, and infrastructure, Robbie is adept at navigating complex business environments and addressing critical challenges. His strategic implementation of scalable solutions has consistently transformed business operations.

Episode Topics:

What are some of the common business challenges you see organizations trying to solve with Dynamics & AI?
The end customer can be considered a major driving factor when it comes to organizations taking on a business transformation process. What are some of the ways you've seen adoption D365 impact the end customer experience, and how do you see AI tying into that impact?
How can organizations ensure a smooth transition and adoption of D365 and its AI capabilities?
How do you see the role of AI evolving in business operations over the next few years?

Useful Resources:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementation and Support | Velosio

https://www.velosio.com/go/tech-trends-executive-roundtable/

About our Guest:

Robbie Morrison is a visionary technology leader and expert system architect known for developing innovative solutions that enhance efficiency and growth. As CEO of Velosio, his deep expertise in Microsoft Dynamics 365, cloud technologies, and infrastructure uniquely positions him to navigate complex business environments. Robbie excels at addressing critical challenges, particularly for mid-market companies, by implementing scalable solutions that transform business operations.

Prior to leading Velosio, Robbie founded and steered multiple pioneering technology enterprises, including the inaugural Internet Service Provider in Northwest Georgia. His forward-thinking leadership and strategic foresight have consistently propelled transformative advancements and robust growth.

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"Service Anywhere" with D365

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 19:09:02 GMT

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, organizations are leveraging AI to fundamentally transform customer service operations. This shift is not just about adopting new technologies; it’s about enhancing how businesses interact with their customers. By utilizing AI-driven solutions, companies can streamline processes, provide personalized experiences, and proactively anticipate customer needs, paving the way for more efficient and responsive service.

On Today's episode, we’ll be joined by Jon Rastia, Argano’s Senior Director of Strategy, to delve into the concept of “Service Anywhere.” This innovative approach emphasizes the implementation of comprehensive AI-driven solutions designed to enhance customer service departments. We’ll explore current trends in customer service transformation, identify common pitfalls to avoid during these changes, and discuss the substantial business value that these AI-driven initiatives can bring.

Episode Topics:

Who is Argano?
What is Service Anywhere?
What are 3 Key trends you're customers are requesting?
What are some common pitfalls to avoid when considering a Contact Center/Customer Service transformation?
What's the business value customers are achieving with deploying Microsoft Dynamics CS/FS?
What's the #1 takeaway you'd like to share with the audience regarding AI in the Contact Center?

Useful Resources:

About our Guest:

Jon Rastia brings 25+ years of designing and implementing CX solutions, coupled with a record of outstanding leadership and success resulting in reduced costs, increased efficiencies, and improved ROI. Jon brings a deep knowledge of successfully applying modern technology in several industries; his experience includes the retail, manufacturing, insurance, and financial services.

As a former Chief Information Officer, he has provided technology vision and leadership developing and implementing large-scale, complex enterprise information systems supporting distributed and centralized business operations. His efforts leading teams have achieved more effective and cost-beneficial enterprise-wide business solutions.

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Wave 2 for D365 Customer Service

Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:51:24 GMT

No KJ, here's Kayla, and D365 Customer Service changes... oh my! We're back with a new season, new co-host, but with the same, great, digestible tidbits for Dynamics 365. This episode, we formally welcome Kayla as our new co-host, wish KJ goodbye and good luck. Kayla also shares what the big updates are for D365 CS for the Wave 2 Release.

Episode Topics:

Welcome Kayla!
What's new with CS

Useful Resources:

Blog release - 2024 release wave 2 plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform
Product documentation 2024 Wave 2 Release
Microsoft Release Planner for Customer Service

Who is Kayla Rohde?

Welcome to Digestible Dynamics! I'm Kayla Rohde, a Microsoft Business Applications Technical Specialist with a decade of experience in supporting business applications. Born and raised in the Midwest, I've lived in Nebraska, Iowa, and now call Minnesota home.

With an educational background in Business Systems Analysis, my passion lies in helping organizations understand and overcome their business challenges using innovative Microsoft solutions. The endless possibilities for solving business problems with technology is what excites me the most about my work.

When I'm not diving into the world of business technology, I'm a proud dog mom to two wonderful dogs, Diesel and Xena. I also love indulging in hobbies like reading, writing, painting, and learning new things—from ancient history to playing the guitar. I cherish spending time with family and friends and enjoy traveling. I'm thrilled to share insights and stories with you on this podcast. Let's explore the dynamic world of business applications together!

Connect with Kayla - Kayla Rohde | LinkedIn

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Microsoft D365 Contact Center

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 15:04:39 GMT

Microsoft has introduced Dynamics 365 Contact Center, a Copilot-first cloud contact center solution aimed at revolutionizing customer service. This innovative platform integrates generative AI to provide seamless customer engagement across multiple channels, including voice, SMS, chat, email, and social media. It offers advanced features like context-aware, personalized conversations, real-time sentiment analysis, and intelligent routing to ensure customers receive timely and accurate assistance. The solution also supports effortless self-service, allowing customers to resolve their issues independently through natural, human-like interactions.

The impact of adopting a digital contact center is profound for businesses. For instance, companies can experience a 31% increase in first call resolution and a 20% reduction in missed routes, leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty². Additionally, the platform's real-time reporting capabilities enable service leaders to optimize operations and reduce costs, further driving efficiency and effectiveness in customer service delivery.

***Editor's note: - To clarify Sree's point about Copilot Studio, Copilot Studio entitlements are included in D365 Contact Center, but not D365 Customer Service. If you purchase licenses for D365 Customer Service it does NOT come with Copilot Studio entitlements. That would require an additional purchase of Copilot Studio licenses.

Episode Topics:

What is D365 Contact Center?
Which type of customer would be a good fit for D365 Contact Center?
How does D365 Contact Center differ from our other CS offerings?
How can customers learn more and get started?

Useful Resources:

About Sree Yeggina

Sree Yeggina has over 15 years of experience in the technology space as an engineer, functional consultant, and sales enablement leader. Currently, Sree is the Global Director of Sales Readiness for Business Applications Customer Experience and Service categories where she passionately enables the world about achieving world class CX through end-to-end seamless customer engagement

Connect with Sree - Sree Yeggina | Linkedin

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From Lead to Signature with D365 and Docusign

Mon, 20 May 2024 16:48:27 GMT

Out of the box, Dynamics 365 can help organizations of various sizes across different industries solve business problems with technology. Whether that's improving seller efficiency and pipeline accuracy, or boosting CSAT by solving your customer service problems more quickly, or it's ensuring your field agents are better equipped to complete their work orders with a true customer 360 view, Dynamics 365 can help.

Another powerful aspect of the platform is its ability to integrate with Partner solutions that help augment dynamics 365 processes and workflows. For example, you can integrate Docusign with your existing D365 ecosystem to ensure more intelligent and automated document management

In this episode, we interview Suresh Jeevanani, senior director of Strategic Partnerships at Docusign to highlight the value of the D365 and Docusign integration and how organizations can use it today.

Episode Topics:

What do you do at Docusign do?
What is the value of a Docusign and D365 integration?
What does the Docusign integration feature within Copilot for Sales entail?
How can a customer get started?

Useful Resources:

About Suresh Jeevanani

Suresh Jeevanani is Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships at Docusign. He has over 2 decades of experience in the high-tech industry. He is passionate about bringing power to technology & technology ecosystems to help customers transform their businesses. He lives in San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and daughter. In his spare time, Suresh likes to play tennis and go road-biking.

Connect with Suresh - Suresh Jeevanani | LinkedIn

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Copilot for Service

Tue, 07 May 2024 14:51:42 GMT

Customer service agents face challenges such as access to relevant data and the right technological tools, with some juggling up to 10 different systems to address a single issue. Each step in the process of resolving customer issues is time-consuming and complex, with agents spending significant time researching cases and seeking out solutions. As customer inquiries increase in volume and complexity, organizations must find ways to streamline processes, reduce the workload on agents, and improve the overall customer experience.

This week on the podcast, we have Edgar Wilson II, Principal Program Manager for Customer Service Business Applications to highlight what Copilot for Service is and how customers can extract value from it.

Episode Topics:

What is Copilot for Service?
How is this different than D365 CS?
How can a customer get started?

Useful Resources:

About Edgar Wilson II:

"Hi, my name is Edgar Wilson, Principal Program Manager in the Dynamics 365 Customer Service group. I hold over 15 years of Dynamics experience having spent 7 years with prestigious implementation partners including Aderant, Customer Effective and Hitachi. During this time I worked as an architect and technical consultant implementing Dynamics in a variety of industries including Financial Services, Healthcare and manufacturing. I’ve been at Microsoft 8 years, holding a variety of roles in sales and engineering in the business applications group."

Connect with Edgar - Edgar Wilson II | LinkedIn

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The Evolution of Business Applications

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 19:24:25 GMT

What was your first interaction with technology? For our Guest, Greg Williams, VP of Strategy at Western Computer, it involved a green screen. Fast forward to the present, and he's helping organizations of various sizes implement business applications and AI technologies into their business processes to make drive growth, improve efficiency and enhance the employee experience.

Episode topics:

Given your extensive history and experience with Technology and business applications, how have they transformed since you started working with them?
Can you help our listeners understand how they should think about technology in the context of their existing business strategies?
What are the strategy pitfalls companies make when in regards to investing into a technology solution?

Useful resources:

About Greg Williams

With over two decades of experience in the realm of Microsoft Dynamics, I’ve been a trusted partner for businesses seeking streamlined operations. My expertise lies in the intricate dance of manufacturing and distribution, where I’ve orchestrated solutions that drive efficiency and growth.

🚀 Professional Journey:

Microsoft Dynamics Advocate: Since the late '90s, I’ve been in the trenches, unraveling complexities and optimizing processes for organizations.

Digital Transformation Enthusiast: My passion lies in guiding businesses toward a future where technology empowers them. Whether it’s automating workflows or embracing cloud solutions, count me in!

🔑 Skills at a Glance:

Microsoft Dynamics: From configuration to customization, I’ve navigated the Dynamics landscape.

Process Optimization: I thrive on untangling operational knots and making systems hum.

Distribution Excellence: Supply chains, logistics, and inventory management—my playground.

Connect with Greg - Greg Williams | LinkedIn

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Copilot Integration with M365

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:00:11 GMT

Within Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Customer Insights Journeys, Field Service, Power Platform and Finance, users can utilize Copilot within their flow of work in each of the respective solutions. A seller can use Copilot to summarize an opportunity with D365 Sales. A customer service agent can ask Copilot a technical question about troubleshooting a product and Copilot will answer it because it is connected to an existing knowledge base. But what if the user is using Outlook or Teams? Well thanks to the Copilot integration with M365, users can access Copilot that's connected to their CRM within Outlook or Teams to update records, access business-critical information, and more. Copilot meets the end users wherever they are to ensure it can empower them right from their flow of work.

Episode Topics

How can users take advantage of D365 Copilot and M365 Copilot together?
What will the cost be, and will users need a M365 copilot license in lieu of the D365 Copilot license?
What new advancements does D365 have coming that you can share?

Useful Resources

About Chris Stedman

Here's how Chris describes himself - "I am a Sales fanatic. With over 3 decades of experience in sales, sales operations, sales coaching, and sales strategy, I live for sales engagements and conversations! I am extremely passionate about the art of sales and the science of sales operations. Currently, as the Director of GTM strategy and motions for Business Applications at Microsoft, I focus on seller excellence, customer experience, and sales programs and automation. I reside in the great state of Minnesota, with my wife and two children. When I'm not selling or coaching, I enjoy MN Vikings football, Arsenal soccer, poker, golf, and hanging out at the lake. Please connect with me on LinkedIn!"

Connect with Chris - Chris Stedman | LinkedIn

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How ServiceNow Innovates with Technology

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:43:58 GMT

Technology innovation involves harnessing knowledge, expertise, and resources to develop innovative solutions that solve problems, improve efficiency, drive progress, and deliver value. Technology innovation can have various impacts, such as improving the quality of life, fostering economic growth and competitiveness, enhancing efficiency and productivity, addressing societal challenges, fueling scientific and technological advancement, and empowering and engaging users. This week, we have the opportunity to discuss how an enterprise organization thinks about and executes on innovation at ServiceNow with their Deputy Chief Innovation Officer, Kevin Barnard.

Episode Topics

What does a Chief Innovation Officer do?
How does ServiceNow drive innovation, and what role does Microsoft have in supporting it?
How can ServiceNow and Microsoft partner to drive innovation in the customer relationship management space?

About Kevin Barnard

Kevin is the Deputy Chief Innovation Officer of ServiceNow.

In his role, Kevin drives thought leadership and innovation, communicates ServiceNow’s vision and strategy, helps customers and partners see the art of the possible, and shares how ServiceNow can help the world work better for everyone. Kevin prides himself on being a technology innovator and digital transformation catalyst.

Prior to joining ServiceNow in 2017, Kevin spent 14 years in various technology leadership roles at General Electric Company. He started his professional life as a journalist before taking his interview and design skills to the IT world right around the time of Y2K. He has worked in startups, e-commerce and other web-based organizations.

Kevin enjoys coaching and mentoring developing leaders. He is also a 200-hr. certified yoga instructor.

Connect with Kevin - Kevin Barnard | LinkedIn

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D365 for the Gaming Industry

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 17:29:01 GMT

The gaming industry is a $200+ billion industry, with tremendous opportunity to grow. Being such a massive industry means plenty of customers. As such, it is hugely important for the customer experience to be optimized from the purchase, support and playing of a game. This week, we have a D365 and Gaming industry expert discussing how gaming companies are using D365 and realizing its value.

Episode Topics

What are some top digital transformation trends happening in the Gaming industry?
How are gaming companies using D365 today?
Can you please share a customer success story around a Gaming company using D365?

Useful Resources

About Justin Raphael

Justin is a sales leader in the mighty West-Midwest OU in the Business Applications STU focused on West coast (+Colorado, Nevada, etc). He's been at Microsoft for 11 years, starting in support (TAM, Support Seller, Support Sales Manager) for 6 years. He lives in Tacoma, WA and currently lives, breathes, and eats all things BizApps (in addition to having a vibrant family, a passion for triathlon training, and hustling his kids to various after school activities).

Connect with Justin - Justin Raphael | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you!

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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D365 Architecture and User Adoption Best Practices

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 15:58:23 GMT

Without user adoption, the perfect piece of technology is worthless. No matter what the analysts say about a platform, or how much AI is infused into it, if your end users are not utilizing a company's investment into a technology platform, like Dynamics 365, then they're just bleeding money. This week, our guest, Kayla Rohde, Solution Architect at Western Computer highlights some technology and user adoption best practices all organizations can implement today.

Episode Topics:

Can you describe your role at Western Computer and provide an overview of what Western Computer specializes in?
In the context of Dynamics, how are your customers incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI), considering its growing importance?
Could you identify common challenges customers face when implementing Customer Engagement (CE) and Field Service (FS) solutions?

Episode Resources:

About Kayla Rohde:

"Greetings! I’m Kayla Rohde, a D365 Solution Architect. I've been on an incredible journey working with D365 Applications for the last 8 years. I'm passionate about designing business systems that are efficient, user friendly, and scalable. My best work happens in a team environment where I can collaborate with other creative minds to come up with innovative solutions. Beyond my professional life, I embrace the joys (and dog fur) that come with being a dog mom to Diesel (German Shepherd -11) and Xena Warrior Princess (Aussie Doodle -3). In my free time, I enjoy running around with my dogs, yoga, reading, writing, sharing dad jokes and savoring life's little moments."

Connect with Kayla - Kayla Rohde | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you!Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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Leveraging NeuCare to Improve the HLS Experience

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 22:31:19 GMT

One of the industry clouds supported by the Microsoft Cloud is Healthcare. Within the USA, the US Healthcare expenditure reached $4.3 trillion in 2021 supporting the 304 million people who have healthcare.

It's undoubtedly a massive industry, and in today's market, technology is pivotal to an optimal provider and patient experience.

Some customers choose to build solutions, while others purchase solutions to help them improve their processes, regulation and overall patient experience. Today, we're going to be interviewing Riann from Neudesic who will educate us on NeuCare, a healthcare industry solution.

Episode Topics:

What is the Care Management Platform by Neudesic?
What are the customer benefits of using this platform?
Which D365 solutions are used to create this platform?
Benefits of buying vs building a solution

Useful Resources:

About Riaan van der Merwe

Riaan is a Senior Director in Neudesic's Business Application Practice, where he specializes in large scale deployment architecture and industry verticals. He has extensive experience in the healthcare and life sciences, hospitality, real-estate and financial service sectors, and is currently leading the development of Neudesic's community care management and credentialling solutions.

Riaan is passionate about interoperability, platform architectures and whole person care.

Connect with Riaan - Riaan van der Merwe | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you!

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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Copilot for D365 Field Service

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 15:51:29 GMT

According to some statistics published by Financesonline.com, field service management software can increase technician utilization by 47%, first-time fix rate by 22%, and customer retention by 11%. With the addition of Copilot to Field service, end users like dispatchers, field service managers and field technicians are empowered with an even greater boost in productivity, work quality and work satisfaction. There are many benefits to Copilot for Field Service, which is why we wanted to bring on a Dynamics 365 Field Service expert, Hector Garcia Tellado, Partner Director of Product Management for D365 Field Service at Microsoft, to discuss what Copilot for Field Service is and how it will benefit its users.

Episode Topics

What is Copilot for D365 Field Service?
How do you see it benefiting our FS customers today?
Which LOBs do you see benefiting from Copilot for D365 Field Service?

Useful Resources:

About Hector Garcia Tellado

Hector Garcia Tellado is a Partner Director of Product Management for D365 Field Service at Microsoft, overseeing product vision, roadmap and strategy. Prior to this role, he was the head of Product Management of D365 Remote Assist, a mixed reality application that allows better frontline worker communication; before that he held various PM roles in the Azure IoT organization. He also spent several years in IBM Software in their Lab Service teams serving the EMEA region. Hector holds an BS in Physics from University of Vigo (Spain) and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management (Cambridge, MA).

Connect with Hector - Hector Garcia Tellado | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you!

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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Understanding D365 Architecture

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 15:45:38 GMT

According to an article release by Zippia earlier this year, 94% of enterprises use cloud services. The concept of cloud services is pervasive not only in our professional world, but also in our personal world, from the things we do on our phone to streaming media. The cloud is everywhere.

Dynamics 365 is also a piece of cloud technology that enterprises of various sizes and across multiple industries are using today. Despite how common cloud technology is today, one common mistake or misstep companies make with Dynamics 365 is not being intentional with understanding its architecture.

Today, our guest, Brenda De La Torre, sheds insight into important facets of the Dynamics 365 architecture, how companies should think about their current cloud architecture when implementing D365 and some pro tips on implementing Dynamics 365.

Episode Topics

Before investing in Dynamics technology, what cloud architecture considerations are key and what strategies should companies considering to ensure a smooth integration into a company's existing IT infrastructure?
How has the architecture changed from when you first started working with Dynamics?
What are the common mistakes customers make when creating a D365 solution?
Please provide a use case of a successful D365 solution

Useful Resources

About Brenda De La Torre

Brenda has worked as a D365 + Power Platform Architect for close to a decade and since transitioned into a Partner Technology Strategist role at Microsoft serving as the CTO for Global Partners driving their technical roadmap and helping build transactable solutions. She hails from the Midwest (Wisconsin) and recently moved back with her husband, daughter, and dog! In her free time she loves exploring nature (hiking, biking, etc.) and helping people pursue a career in technology. Follow her Instagram @calledtotech for tech and career insights and news!

Connect with Brenda - Brenda De La Torre | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you!

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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Copilot for D365 Marketing

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 16:36:53 GMT

Welcome back to the Digestible Dynamics Podcast. For Season 5, we're going to kick it off with Copilot for Dynamics 365 Marketing. Copilot is a game-changer for marketers who want to save time, boost creativity, and deliver personalized customer experiences. Copilot works with Dynamics 365 Marketing and Customer Insights, allowing you to interact with your customer data using natural language, generate targeted customer segments, and write engaging email content with just a few clicks. This week's guest, Chandra Stevens, Principal Program Manager for Customer Experience at Microsoft, highlights how Copilot can take your marketing to the next level.

Episode Topics

What is Copilot for D365 Marketing
How do you see Marketing customers benefitting from Copilot?
What is Copilot for Customer Insights
How do you see CDP customers benefiting from Copilot?

Useful Resources

About Chandra Stevens

Chandra embraces all things pop culture and technology. As a recognized thought-leader with vast experience in emerging technology and experiential marketing practices, she is responsible for customer experience solution strategy and innovation that enable organizations to drive growth by knowing their customers, going beyond their expectations, and engaging in moments that matter. My objective is to combine art and science, cultural analysis, human-centric interaction, and technology innovation to build profitable and scalable business practices for our customers to be ready for what's next.

Connect with Chandra - Chandra Stevens | LinkedIn

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Is AI Overrated?

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 18:33:40 GMT

Research on Artificial Intelligence began in the 1950s and we haven't looked back since. Lately, there has been a tremendous amount of attention on AI, especially generative AI. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into GPT technology and is incorporating the technology into the Dynamics 365 platform through Copilot. On this episode, KJ and Kevin discuss whether or not AI is overrated. We address whether or not it is worth all the hype and different ways to think about AI for your organization.

Episode Topics:

Is AI Overrated
Different perspectives on AI
5 things to think about when it comes to AI

Useful Resources:

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Responsible AI: How to design ethical and trustworthy AI systems

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 15:00:24 GMT

Artificial intelligence is transforming every aspect of our lives, from health care to education to entertainment. But as AI becomes more powerful and pervasive, it also raises new challenges and risks. How can we ensure that AI systems are fair, reliable, transparent, and accountable? How can we protect the privacy and security of people who interact with AI systems? How can we foster inclusiveness and diversity in AI development and use? These are all great questions that our Responsible AI expert, Alejandro Gutierrez Munoz, Principal Applied Science Manager at Microsoft addresses on this week's episode.

Episode Topics:

What is Responsible AI?
Why should D365 customers care about Responsible AI?
What are Responsible AI best practices customers can follow?

Useful Resources:

About Alejandro Gutierrez Munoz

Alejandro is a Principal Applied Science Manager in Dynamics 365’s Copilot Applied AI team, where he leads a team of data scientists working on bringing AI to enterprise applications in the Dynamics 365 suite. Alejandro has been a privacy champion and most recently a lead responsible AI champion for the Business Applications and Platforms group. Alejandro has a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of South Florida with over 20 years of industry experience and a 13-year Microsoft career. At Microsoft, Alejandro has worked at multiple groups including Bing where he worked on Document Understanding, Index Quality, Adult Filtering, and Relevance teams. Prior to that, he worked for 7 years in the Insurance Industry as a business intelligence architect and software developer.

Connect with Alejandro - Alejandro Gutierrez Munoz | LinkedIn

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Copilot for Power Apps

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 17:35:51 GMT

Copilot for Power Apps is a next-generation AI assistant that lets you create apps by describing what you want in natural language. You don’t need to write any code or design any screens. Copilot will generate the app for you, complete with a data table and back-end logic. Copilot for Power Apps is powered by Azure OpenAI Service, which uses advanced natural language processing and deep learning to understand your intent and generate code. This week, we have a returning guest, Bryan Schafer, Senior Technical Specialist at Microsoft, to highlight the value Copilot for Power Apps is bringing to customers.

Episode Topics

What is Copilot for Power Apps?
How do you see customers benefitting from the Copilot experience?
How does Copilot for Power Apps differ from the existing AI features within Power Apps?

Useful Resources:

About Bryan Schafer

Bryan has been in the business applications space for over 13 years. He has been an end user, consultant, program manager software engineer and a solution architect. In those 13 years Bryan has worked across various industries and with organizations of all sizes. One of the accomplishments Bryan is most proud of is building pandemic response applications using the Power Platform during the height of the Covid-19 crisis. It was very rewarding to see technology help people in near real time.

Connect with Bryan - Bryan Schafer | LinkedIn

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Copilot for D365 Customer Service

Wed, 31 May 2023 20:55:57 GMT

According to a recent study by Microsoft, Copilot can help agents reduce their average handling time by up to 25%, increase their first contact resolution rate by up to 15%, and improve their customer satisfaction score by up to 10%. That's a huge impact on your bottom line and your customer loyalty. This week, our returning guest, Bill Whalen, Principal Technical Specialist at Microsoft, is going to highlight what Copilot for D365 Customer Service is and the value it brings his customers.

Episode Topics

How does Copilot for Customer Service work?
What are the use cases for Copilot for Customer Service?
What are the benefits of using Copilot for Customer Service?

Useful Resources

About Bill Whalen

Bill has spent over 20 years enabling organizations to better serve their customers and employees, find immense ROI and automate processes with software and technology. Besides tech, Bill also has a wonderful wife, 4 kids, bunch of pets and enjoys playing Xbox and Guitar.

Connect with Bill - Bill Whalen | LinkedIn

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How to Leverage the One Microsoft Cloud for D365

Tue, 16 May 2023 15:00:29 GMT

The focus of the Digestible Dynamics Podcast is to highlight the business value Dynamics 365 customers can realize through their investment into the Dynamics platform. However, we cannot discuss the value of the Dynamics 365 platform without talking about the One Microsoft Cloud, which encompasses Microsoft technology like Azure, Microsoft 365, Git Hub, Power Platform and Dynamics 365. The importance of the One Microsoft Cloud cannot be understated, which is why this week's guest, Bart Sneary, Principal Microsoft Technology Center Technical Architect and D365 expert is going to break down what the One Microsoft Cloud is and how it is valuable for Dynamics customers.

Episode Topics:

What is the Microsoft Cloud?
Where do D365 and Power Platform fit within the Microsoft Cloud?
Why should D365 and Power Platform customers care about the entire Microsoft Cloud?

Useful Resources:

About Bart Sneary

Bart Sneary is a dynamic and creative problem solver with decades of experience. He has the ambition to make any organization more efficient and effective. His experience is centered in the technology sector, particularly CRM solutions, but thrives on learning daily. He prides himself on being a clear communicator who works well in a team environment. Bart is currently a Principal Microsoft Technology Center Technical Architect that focuses on helping customers learn about the various ways they can leverage the Dynamics 365 technology and Power Platform.

Connect with Bart here - Bart Sneary | LinkedIn

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Using Power Platform for Onboarding Employees

Mon, 08 May 2023 15:00:27 GMT

The Power Platform is a versatile technology platform that utilizes a low-code platform to empower business users and citizen developers with the ability to create custom solutions to solve business problems. The Power Platform consists of five different product areas - Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Power Virtual Agents and Power Pages. While each product can be used individually, solutions can be constructed to incorporate multiple product areas as well as be connected to other Dynamics 365 solutions like Sales, Marketing and Customer Service for example. This week's guest, Colt Coan highlights how he built a custom onboarding solution that saved his company $1 million in operating expenses.

Episode Topics

How have you used the Power Platform to transform your organization's processes?
What was the motivation for using Power Platform?
What resources did you use to learn how to best utilize the Power Platform?

Useful Resources

About Colt Coan

Colt Coan is currently serving as a senior leader of digital innovation in the legal services industry. With 15 years of experience in technical, consultative, and leadership capacities across several different industry areas, his career has been focused on cultivating strategic and technological roadmaps, as well as architectural frameworks around the Power Platform, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365, all with the focus of uncovering, enhancing, and realizing opportunities for digital transformation and innovation.

Connect with Colt - Colt Coan | LinkedIn

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D365 for Wholesale Distributors with Sikich LLP

Tue, 02 May 2023 18:18:21 GMT

The Wholesale Distribution market in the US is a multi-billion-dollar market. These are companies that buy products from manufacturers and suppliers in vast quantities and then sell them at wholesale prices to customers, usually other businesses. Because the Wholesale Distribution business is primarily B2B, it's a prime use case for Business Applications, like the Dynamics 365 platform, and today our Wholesale Distribution Industry specialist and D365 expert, Lee House with Sikich, explains the value Wholesale Distributors are realizing with a connected platform.

Episode Topics:

How has implementing Dynamics 365 in your wholesale distribution business transformed your operational efficiency and decision-making processes?
Can you share specific examples of how Dynamics 365 has helped you to better manage your supply chain, inventory, and relationships with retailers?
Dynamics 365 offers a range of AI-driven insights and recommendations. How have these features impacted your forecasting and demand planning within the wholesale distribution space?
How has Dynamics 365's integration with other Microsoft products, such as Power BI or Azure, contributed to the overall success and growth of your wholesale distribution business in the retail sector?

Useful Resources:

About Lee House

Lee House is a Partner with Sikich LLP. He has more than 30 years of experience working with business applications (including ERP, CRM and Warehouse Management). Industries where he has worked the most include Distribution, Manufacturing and General Service. He specializes in business evaluations, software selections, business implementations, change management, business process assessment services and digital transformation planning & execution. Lee has been directly involved with Microsoft Dynamics since 2001.

Connect with Lee - Lee House | LinkedIn

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Azure OpenAI Fundamentals

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 17:14:31 GMT

OpenAi, Azure AI, Azure OpenAI… oh my! While Microsoft is a huge investor in the OpenAI company, it isn't a new venture for Microsoft. The Microsoft cloud has plenty of AI features that were accessible to customers prior to the OpenAI investment and partnership. This week's guest, Nick Brady, Senior Program Manager of Azure AI, is an expert in Microsoft AI and is going to break down the nuances between Azure OpenAI and OpenAI.

Episode topics:

What is Azure OpenAI
How is Azure OpenAI different from Azure OpenAI?
How do you see Azure OpenAI being beneficial for Microsoft customers?
Can you share a customer success story with Azure OpenAI?

Useful Resources:

About Nick Brady

Nick Brady is a technology professional in artificial intelligence (AI). He received his Bachelor's and Master's of Science from Purdue University's Knoy School of Technology, where he studied Management and Computer Science.

Currently serving as a Senior Program Manager within Azure AI Product Engineering, focusing on the Azure OpenAI Service. He has spent his career in the tech industry on emerging technologies and has focused on AI since joining Microsoft in 2018.

Nick regularly meets with Microsoft's most valuable and strategic customers and partners worldwide to help them understand and realize the full potential of AI and sharing his insights and experience in the latest trends and developments in the AI space. His expertise lies in helping organizations leverage AI to drive business value and innovation as well as its impact on business and society. He is also a recipient of the Distinguished Speaker Award in 2020 from the Microsoft Redmond Executive Briefing Center.

Connect with Nick here - Nick Brady | LinkedIn

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Copilot: The Next Generation of AI for Dynamics 365

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 19:45:45 GMT

On March 6, 2023 Microsoft made a huge announcement for Dynamics 365 users and introduced an interactive, AI-powered assistant called Copilot. The goal of Copilot is to help users across business functions such as sales, service, marketing, and supply chain. This week's guest, Ted Way, Principal Program Manager for Business Applications Applied AI Team.

Episode Topics

What is D365 Copilot?
ChatGPT is amazing. Why can’t you just connect a CRM or ERP to it?
How will Copilot impact D365 Customers
What if the CRM or ERP I’m using isn’t using LLMs?
What are other AI-powered features in D365?
Can you share a customer success of D365 customers utilizing AI?

Useful Resources

About Ted Way

Ted Way, PhD, is a principal PM lead on the Microsoft Business Applications Applied AI team. He is passionate about building AI copilots that help empower people and organizations to achieve more, such as creating flows in Power Automate with natural language. He received BS degrees in electrical engineering and computer engineering, MS degrees in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering, and a PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. His PhD dissertation was on "spell check for radiologists," a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system that uses image processing and machine learning to predict lung cancer malignancy on chest CT scans.

Connect with Ted - Ted Way | LinkedIn

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Exploring Generative AI and its Impact on D365

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 18:06:37 GMT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be all the rage these days. It's the newest shiny object in tech, and for good reason. There are so many beneficial use cases that will empower every person and every organization to achieve more.

But AI is more than just a buzzword, it's a complex piece of technology that has multiple facets to it. Today's guest, Dr. Walter Sun, the Vice President of Copilot AI, Business Applications & Platform group, breaks down what we need to know about generative AI and large language models, especially in the context of Dynamics 365.

Episode Topics:

Can you help our listeners understand what large language models are and how they're valuable to us?
How do you use large language models in business applications, and why should Dynamics 365 customers care about it?
What is Copilot for D365?
Can you please share some customer success stories around Generative AI and D365?
What's next for the future of AI?

Useful Resources

About Walter Sun

Dr. Walter Sun is the Vice President of Copilot AI, Business Applications & Platform group at Microsoft. He leads a team of engineers and scientists who are developing innovative AI solutions for various business domains. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech and a Master's of Science and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He has over 20 years of experience in the tech industry, working as a quant at Blackrock Financial Management, a senior codec engineer/scientist at Apple Computer, and a staff DSP engineer at 2Wire before joining Microsoft in 2005.

At Microsoft, he has worked on Windows codecs, Bing multimedia search, web search, web ranking, and Bing Predicts, which he started and led for several years. He also worked on Market Insights and Applied AI in the Business Applications group. He is an avid sports fan and enjoys applying sports analytics to predict outcomes and trends. He is an Advisory Board member at Georgia Tech and has been an adjunct faculty at Seattle University and an affiliate faculty at University of Washington.

Connect with Walter here - Walter Sun | LinkedIn

Editor's note: Walter joined Microsoft in 2005. We misspoke on during his audio bio/introduction and said "2003".

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Azure Communication Services for D365

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 18:12:35 GMT

The Dynamics 365 platform is part of the Microsoft Cloud, and at the foundation of the Microsoft Cloud is Azure. While Azure has many cloud computing services that empower organizations to utilize cloud technology, today we'll be focusing on Azure Communication Services. More specifically, our returning guest, Principal Technical Specialist, Jean-Paul Mehanna, highlights the value Azure Communication Services provides Dynamics 365 customers.

Episode Topics

What are Azure Communication Services?
How are D365 users utilizing ACS?
Is there any AI being infused into ACS + D365?
Please share a customer success story of ACS and D365.

Useful Resources

About Jean-Paul

Jean-Paul Mehanna is a Manufacturing Principal Dynamics technical specialist based in Boston.

He has been with the Microsoft Dynamics Team for the last 6 years and has covered Sales, Marketing, Customer & Field Service.

He’s well known in the Dynamics community for his work around OmniChannel and Sales Insights and is our guest today on the Digestible Dynamics Podcast to help us understand the value Azure Communication Services brings do Dynamics 365 customers.

Connect with Jean-Paul here - Jean-Paul Mehanna | LinkedIn

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How to Maximize Your Canvas Apps

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 18:11:56 GMT

The average number of apps on a phone is around 35 to 40 apps. Nowadays, it really feels like there's an app for everything. Even the most niche processes that exist within an organization may have its own dedicated app. Without a doubt, apps are here to stay. Sometimes a custom app needs to be developed, as well. But what if your Development team and IT department are unable to take on another project? Does the app development get postponed? Well, with Canvas Apps, your business users and citizen developers are armed with the tools to create a custom application without using code. This week, we'll talk about what Canvas Apps are, and you can get the most out of them.

Episode Topics:

What Are Canvas Apps
Data Connectors
Embedding Canvas Apps
AI Builder
Canvas App Templates

Useful Resources:

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3 Ways to Boost Productivity with D365

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 19:08:06 GMT

Technology is a tool that helps us be better. It helps us gather greater insights into our business, it helps us collaborate across departments and most of all, it helps us become more productive. With the Dynamics 365 platform, there are so many ways that users can leverage the technology to amplify their productivity. In this episode, KJ and Kevin talk about 3 of their favorite ways that Dynamics helps their customers be more productive.

Episode Topics:

3 Ways Dynamics 365 Boosts Productivity
Automation
PowerBI
Dataverse

Useful Resources

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Data Security Best Practices with D365

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 18:52:54 GMT

Data security is a vital aspect of any business that uses cloud-based applications and services. Data security refers to the protection of data from unauthorized access, use, modification, or disclosure. Dynamics 365 is a suite of cloud-based applications and services that help businesses manage their operations, customers, finances, and more. Dynamics 365 provides various features and measures to ensure data security for its customers like Role-based security, Encryption, and more. This week, we're interviewing Kylie Kiser, a D365 Security expert and Microsoft Business Applications MVP!

Episode Topics

What are the common security challenges companies face with D365?
What are some D365 security best practices that you recommend companies follow?
What are some of the most common mistakes customers make when implementing security with AI in D365?
How are you seeing AI make a difference in companies today?

Useful Resources

About Kyle Kiser

Kylie Kiser is a Power Platform enthusiast who has been working with Microsoft technologies for over 10 years. She is passionate about the community and shows this through blogging, presenting, and hosting events. She leads a thriving user group based in Washington, DC. Kylie is also a four-time Microsoft Business Applications MVP!

Connect with Kylie - Kylie Kiser | LinkedIn

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D365 User Adoption Best Practices

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 12:32:40 GMT

It's one thing to invest into the D365 platform. We may be biased, but it is a no-brainer. It's another thing to get all of your users to adopt the technology. A lack of user adoption can come from a variety of reasons. Some users may find the technology confusing or cumbersome. Others may prefer to keep doing things manually. Whatever the case may be, user adoption is a common issue across all organizations in various industries across all sizes. This week we have Asif Rehmani with VisualSP, to talk about how companies can improve user adoption.

Episode Topics:

What are the factors that affect user adoption with D365?
What are companies doing wrong with their user adoption initiatives?
What are companies doing correctly with their user adoption strategies?
Please provide a use case/customer success story for how VisualSP has helped a customer improve their user adoption and decrease their support ticket requests.

Useful Resources

About Asif Rehmani

Asif is the founder and CEO of VisualSP (https://www.visualsp.com). VisualSP is the creator of a Microsoft centric Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) that is being used by more than 200 organizations around the world to increase user adoption while reducing the end user support burden.

Asif has been a Microsoft MVP for 16 years as of 2023. He is hyper focused on helping organizations with their digital adoption and digital transformation efforts. Asif has been training, consulting and mentoring on technologies for more than two decades and has authored several books over the years for Wiley publications.

Asif has also been a speaker at conferences since 2006 on numerous topics. He resides in United States, but has performed speaking engagements in several places around the world such as Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, UK, Sweden, Ireland, Canada and more.

Connect with Asif Rehmani here – Asif Rehmani | LinkedIn

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D365 Discussions with the D365 Goddess

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Microsoft MVPs are a group of highly experienced and influential technical experts that provide guidance and support to the Microsoft community. They are recognized by Microsoft as a valuable resource for their knowledge, expertise, and passion for technology. MVPs have the opportunity to connect with other members of the community, share their knowledge, and collaborate on projects. In this episode, we speak with Dian Taylor, aka the “D365 Goddess, a 3-time Microsoft MVP who is as passionate about the Dynamics 365 platform technology as we are.

Episode Topics

Who is the D365 Goddess?
What do you enjoy most about D365? What do you enjoy the least?
Where are your customers finding the most success?
What are you most excited about with D365?

Useful Resources

Dian Taylor is a Microsoft Business Applications MVP and Director who specializes in D365 Customer Engagement technology and processes at RSM in Florida. In her role as a D365 Presales Engineer, she designs custom D365 demonstrations for prospects. Dian has been working with Dynamics 365 CE since 2011. Her prior experience in solution designing, implementing, configuring, and customizing several complex scenarios in various industry sectors has helped her build relevant customer demos.

Connect with Dian Taylor here – Dian Taylor | LinkedIn

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D365 for Critical Infrastructures with Arcadis

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:00:00 GMT

The critical infrastructure sector is comprised of a complex network of systems and facilities. Any unexpected disruption in one component of the infrastructure can have downstream consequences that can cripple an entire area. In today's digital world, organizations need to have the right tools for the right job at the right time. In today's episode, Prasoon Sinha, with Arcadis, breaks down the industry issues within the Critical Infrastructures space and how the Power Platform is helping companies tackle their challenges.

Episode Topics:

• What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the Critical Infrastructures Industry?

• How are customers using D365 in the Critical Infrastructures Industry?

• Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the Critical Infrastructures Industry?

• Please share a customer success story from the Critical Infrastructures Industry.

Useful Resources:

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. With sustainability at the heart of everything, Arcadis focuses on addressing important societal challenges around resilience, places, and mobility, ultimately improving quality of life.

Prasoon is the global director of Digital and Automation focused on improving mobility for the traveling public. With over 20 years of experience in planning and managing critical infrastructure, Prasoon has a proven track record of delivering business outcomes through the use of technology-driven Mobility solutions. Prasoon is a strategic thinker with a strong background in data analytics and customer experience. His passion is to make people’s life easier, better, and safer using the power of STEM.

Connect with Prasoon Sinha here – Prasoon Sinha | LinkedIn

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D365 for HLS with Hitachi Solutions

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 15:00:33 GMT

Here are some key trends in telemedicine that are happening right now as of 2022 (Source: Acutiy Knowledge Partners):

90% of the leading healthcare companies are developing or implementing telemedicine technology
64% of Americans are willing to have a video visit with a doctor
There has been a 38x increase in telemedicine since the pandemic

Patient care is only one part of the HLS industry. There's also the payer and provider experience, too. Regardless of the specific part of the HLS industry, there's no denying that the industry is transforming digitally. In this episode, we have Leah Bowling and Nick Spallitta with Hitachi Solutions to highlight how organizations are utilizing the Dynamics 365 platform to solve key industry issues.

Episode Topics

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the HLS Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the HLS Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the HLS Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the HLS Industry.

Useful Resources

Connect with Nick Spallitta - Nick Spallitta | LinkedIn

Connect with Leah Bowling - Leah Bowling | LinkedIn

Hitachi Solutions is a global cloud services systems integrator. We are a 100% Microsoft platform-focused organization, where our people and our customers are always top priority. Our mission “To contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products” — works in tandem with that of Microsoft’s “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” Our team of 3,500+ world-class professionals across the globe work together to innovate and build sustainable business modernization solutions that empower our customers. Always forward-thinking, creating an environment where companies flourish in the ever-evolving competitive landscape.

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D365 for RCG with TTEC Digital

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 15:00:11 GMT

The global retail industry in 2022 was worth $23 Trillion USD, and in 2022, there were over 2.3 billion online shoppers. That number has increased by 40% over the past five years. So it is safe to say that online retail is here to stay. That means that the digital customer experience is now more crucial than before. Customers expect companies to deliver personalized content and service. How can companies keep up with the new digital demand? In this episode, Brian Lannan, VP of Retail Experience for TTEC Digital highlights how retail organizations are utilizing Dynamics 365 to digitally transform their process and strategies.

Episode Topics

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the RCG Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the RCG Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the RCG Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the RCG Industry.

Useful Resources

Connect with Brian Lannan here – Brian Lanna | LinkedIn

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D365 for FSI with Hitachi Solutions

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 15:00:01 GMT

In 2016, a Federal Reserve payments study showed a decline in check usage. In fact, from 2000-2018, there’s been a steady decline in checks at a rate of about 2 billion checks per year. Although check usage is down, spending is up. As you may have guessed, there’s an upward trend in using cards, apps, and electronic payments today. But are the FSI companies well-equipped with the technological infrastructure to keep up with society’s payment shift? Are they able to meet their customers in the digital world and provide them with exceptional customer service? In today’s episode, we interview Landy Wingard with Hitachi Solutions to learn more about the digital transformation challenges facing the FSI companies and how the Dynamics365 platform can help.

Episode Topics:

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the FSI Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the FSI Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the FSI Industry?

Useful Resources:

Landy Wingard serves as Industry Vice President of Financial Services at Hitachi Solutions, a global business application consultancy specialized in Microsoft Business Applications and Microsoft Azure Cloud Services. With over 20+ years of experience, his focus is helping clients and partners improve performance via the Microsoft Platform and supporting technologies. His career at Hitachi Solutions includes partnership and support for hundreds of deployments in North America and international markets across a range of verticals within financial services, including banks, credit unions, private equity, asset/investment management, and professional advisory. He currently leads go-to-market strategies for financial services solutions and innovation centered around customer engagement, data management, intelligence, application modernization, and change management. Landy joined Hitachi Solutions in 2005 (formerly Customer Effective) and became Vice President of Financial Services in 2014.

Hitachi Solutions is a global cloud services, and systems integrator. We are a 100% Microsoft platform-focused organization, where our people and our customers are always top priority. Our mission — “To contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products” — works in tandem with that of Microsoft’s — “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” xOur team of 3,500+ world-class professionals across the globe work together to innovate and build sustainable business modernization solutions that empower our customers.

Connect with Landy Wingard here – Landy Wingard | LinkedIn

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How ServiceNow Uses D365

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 15:00:32 GMT

KJ and I could talk all day about the benefits of D365. We could provide you with world-class demos of the technology that paint a picture of how your business users are empowered with the right tools to help them perform their jobs more effectively and with more accuracy. We could have a discussion with leadership on the impact of the D365 platform and how it can help implement business strategy and assist with achieving the goals they've set out for their organization.

We could present on this till the sun goes down, but what's even more powerful is a real-world customer highlighting the value they're getting from using D365. In this episode, we interview Duncan Glover, VP of Marketing & Sales and Digital Technology at ServiceNow, as he shares the impact the D365 platform has on the company.

Episode Topics:

What internal and external factors led ServiceNow to invest in D365?
How is ServiceNow using Dynamics 365?
What measurable impact has D365 had on ServiceNow?

Useful Resources

As VP of Marketing & Sales, Digital Technology, at ServiceNow, Duncan leads the team that delivers and supports implementation of CRM, CPQ, data analytics, compensation, and other marketing & sales technologies to propel ServiceNow’s GTM organizations to a best-in-class status.

Connect with Duncan Glover here – Duncan Glover | LinkedIn

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D365 for Manufacturing with MCA Connect

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 15:00:53 GMT

In a recent study done among manufacturing leaders, 88% of them listed "Operational Resilience" as a key emphasis for the near future. 65% of the leaders stated that "Improving Operational Efficiency" was a key priority as well. When it comes to these two concerns, digital transformation is a vital part of ensuring that each department and all end users are empowered with the right tools and data to perform their duties most effectively and most accurately. In this episode, we interview Howard Hohnadel with MCA Connect to highlight the digital transformation challenges and successes manufacturing companies face today and how D365 can help.

Episode Topics:

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers face in the Manufacturing Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the Manufacturing Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the Manufacturing Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the Manufacturing Industry.

Useful resources:

As MCA Connect’s VP of Solution Development and 20+ years of management consulting experience, Howard helps companies simplify the complex by rethinking supply chain strategies and processes. He collaborates closely with clients’ supply chain operations teams, solution partners, and MCA Connect’s product development team to drive innovation and value through strategic ERP/CRM implementations. Over the course of his career, Howard has worked with a diverse range of companies, including self-funded startups and major international enterprises like Toyota, Dell, Panasonic, Wells Fargo, and St. Jude Medical.

MCA Connect is an experienced, award-winning partner that helps manufacturers uncover possibilities and overcome challenges through strategy, implementation, intelligence, and support services. With more than 20 years of deep manufacturing expertise, they’ve guided manufacturers through some of the most complex scenarios in the most tumultuous times. As the Global Partner of the Year finalist this year for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, we’re excited to have them on the podcast today to talk manufacturing and supply chain!

Connect with Howard Hohnadel here – Howard Hohnadel | LinkedIn

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D365 for Critical Infrastructures

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:00:54 GMT

If you Bing the word “infrastructure” you get the following definition: “the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.” In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on the Critical Infrastructures that allow our society to function – roads, power grids, water facilities, etc. For this specialty, we’re going to be speaking with our D365 and Critical Infrastructures (CI) expert, Ben Hammel, as he walks us through the digital transformation obstacles CI customers face and how D365 empowers them to overcome issues of security, inefficiency, and access to data while using AI for a better future in CI.

Ben Hammel is the Director of Strategy and Business Development for US Critical Infrastructure (CI) and Digital Identity at Microsoft. Ben works directly with customers and field sellers to build and strengthen the CI market across all Microsoft cloud platforms and solutions. He also works closely with Microsoft’s ISV and Global System Integrators to expand Microsoft’s footprint in the Critical Infrastructure space. Prior to joining Microsoft, Ben ran a large system modernization business unit in the Transportation industry. An Enterprise Architect by trade, Ben has over 25 years of experience serving in various Business and Technology leadership roles across the public sector, transportation, and digital identity industries.

Episode Topics

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the Critical Infrastructures Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the Critical Infrastructures Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the Critical Infrastructures Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the Critical Infrastructures Industry.

Useful Links:

Connect with Ben Hammel here – Ben Hammel | LinkedIn

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D365 for Manufacturing

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 15:00:42 GMT

Take a look around your room right now. Unless you made something by hand, your room is filled with products that were manufactured. The manufacturing industry often gets overlooked as it is more of a back-end process for a company. Does it make less important than a customer-facing strategy like sales or marketing? Absolutely not. Manufacturers are necessary for companies to produce your favorite products at scale. In today's market, manufacturers face many challenges that can greatly impact their processes. Some of these challenges, like the pandemic or geopolitical disputes, are out of the manufacturers' hands. Other challenges, like digital transformation of processes, can be controlled by the manufacturer. Today, our D365 for Manufacturing expert, Joe Lee, breaks down the challenges he's seeing manufacturers have and how D365 empowers them with the technology to overcome said challenges.

Episode Topics

• What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the MFG Industry?

• How are customers using D365 in the MFG Industry?

• Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the MFG Industry?

• Please share a customer success story from the MFG Industry.

Joe Lee is the Technical Sales Director within the US Manufacturing practice helping global organizations envision a technology-enabled future full of growth and possibility. With more than 20 years of experience helping organizations leverage technology to achieve their strategic initiatives, Joe embraces how organizations can improve efficiency and ensure business continuity today, as well as establish a scalable foundation to support the future transformation and growth of their products and services. He is passionate about his customer’s success and has worked across the manufacturing, retail, CPG, and financial services industries.

Useful Topics

Connect with Joe Lee here - Joe Lee | LinkedIn

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D365 for Retail and Consumer Goods

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 15:00:36 GMT

The retail and consumer goods customer (RCG) experience has gone digital. Customers today are buying products online without ever seeing or feeling the product. This applies to all products - clothes, electronics, supplements, and even cars. Even the customer service experience has a digital component to it. Customers expect to be able to obtain customer support through digital means, like text, chat, email, or through FAQs. To meet the customers in the digital space, companies are increasing their digital marketing initiatives. The entire CX journey for retail and consumer goods involves some sort of technology. Today's D365 expert, Richard Riddle, talks about what those RCG challenges look like and how the D365 platform can help.

Episode Topics

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the RCG Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the RCG Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the RCG Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the RCG Industry.

Richard has been working with Dynamics 365 since version 1.2, starting as a full-stack developer before expanding into implementation as a consultant and trainer. He has been at Microsoft as a Technical Specialist since 2014, helping the largest and most strategic customers transform with the help of Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. When not engaging in Dynamics 365 activity, Richard spends his time with his wife and three kids, as well as the occasional mud run, triathlon, and snowboarding trip.

Useful Resources:

Connect with Richard Riddle here – Richard Riddle | LinkedIn

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D365 for Financial Services

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 15:00:29 GMT

The Financial Services Industry is a multi-trillion industry that affects us all. To be specific, the global financial services industry was around $23 trillion in 2021. That's a lot of money. We're sure you're familiar with the old adage that "cash is king," and while that may be true, the FSI space is very much a digital world. Banking is done primarily online. 401(k)s and other financial planning is tracked online. Today's customer experience is very much a digital one. People want to be able to securely and instantly access their financial information from anywhere at any time. This digitization creates many challenges for companies within the industry, and our D365 expert, Peter Goth, discusses the challenges he's coming across and how D365 helps alleviate those obstacles.

Episode Topics

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the FSI Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the FSI Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the FSI Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the FSI Industry.

Peter has a passion for solving very complex business problems using transformational solutions. With a diverse background in business, technology, education, and public service, Peter brings a unique lens to the table. Peter strives to truly understand the impact and value that digital transformation will have on an organization.

Useful Resources:

Connect with Peter Goth here – Peter Goth | LinkedIn

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D365 for Software and Digital Platforms

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 15:00:07 GMT

Today software runs the world. Almost every industry utilizes software to some degree to help improve efficiency and drive business and process insights. Even though a software company produces a solution to solve one or more problems for other companies, as a business, they may need software to help improve processes and gather insights into their operations. At Microsoft, we have Dynamics 365 experts, like our guest, Jim Moss, General Manager of Business Applications for the Software and Digital Platforms Industry, who help software companies grow and improve through the Dynamics 365 Platform. In this episode, Jim will walk us through the value of using D365 in the SDP industry.

Episode Topics

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the SDP Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the SDP Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the SDP Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the SDP Industry.

Useful Resources:

Jim is the General Manager and leads Business Applications for the Software & Digital Platforms industry at Microsoft. During his 30 years of experience in business and technology, Jim has helped hundreds of companies adapt to the hybrid work environment, solve critical business problems and capitalize on the financial benefits using Business Applications.

Connect with Jim Moss here – Jim Moss | LinkedIn

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D365 for Healthcare and Life Sciences

Mon, 10 Oct 2022 15:00:55 GMT

Going to the doctor's office or a hospital can be quite an emotionally-provoking experience. As patients, we oftentimes do not think about the back-end processes or the pre and post-appointment processes that contribute to the overall patient experience. Then there are the insurance companies and the complexities around their business. Lastly, we cannot forget the manufacturing companies that engineer and build the instruments and machines that are used to diagnose and heal us as patients. All of these different businesses, processes, and experience make up the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry within Microsoft, and today, we've brought on a D365 expert, Sarah Champ, with tons of HLS experience.

Episode Topics:

What are the top digital transformation obstacles customers are facing in the HLS Industry?
How are customers using D365 in the HLS Industry?
Where are customers finding the most success with D365 within the HLS Industry?
Please share a customer success story from the HLS Industry.

Useful Resources:

About Sarah Champ

Sarah Champ has over 14 years of experience & impact within Microsoft Business Applications at Microsoft and in the partner channel. She joined Microsoft in 2012 and has held roles in engineering, technical sales, technical sales leadership, specialist sales and most recently as the leader of the strategic business applications team in health payor and provider.

Connect with Sarah Champ here – Sarah Champ | LinkedIn

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Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 15:00:02 GMT

How impactful is customer service to the overall customer experience? Every year, businesses lose about $75 billion in revenue due to poor customer service. Today, customers expect (some even demand) great customer service. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on organizations to deliver an intelligent, efficient, and personalized customer service experience. One key channel of customer service is telephone. While customer service through text, chatbot, knowledge articles, and self-service continues to proliferate, customers still want to be able to speak to real agents to help resolve their issues. Today's guest, Sree Yeggina, breaks down what Microsoft Digital Contact Center is and how it empowers organizations to provide exceptional customer service.

Episode Topics

What is Dynamics 365 Contact Center?
How does Contact Center fit into the overall Dynamics 365 Platform?
How are customers using Contact Center today?
Can you please provide your favorite use case for Contact Center?
In 60 seconds, what do you want people to know about Contact Center?

Useful Links

Sree Yeggina is currently the Global Sales Readiness Director for the Business Applications Service category in Redmond, Washington, leading readiness for WW sellers. She has over 16+ years of experience working with Dynamics 365 Business Applications and Power Platform with focused experience in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Sales, and Power Virtual Agents as is passionate about enabling worldwide technology sellers on the value proposition, business value, and unique differentiation of Digital Contact Center. She started her career as Microsoft CRM Consultant in 2006 and, since then, worked with all versions of CRM (3.0 to Dynamics 365) and wore several hats over the years as a Software Engineer, Lead Consultant, Solution Architect, and now Global Readiness Director and she has helped some of the largest enterprises across the globe remove their inefficiencies and improve their customer experience through digital transformation.

Connect with Sree Yeggina here – Sree Yeggina | LinkedIn

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Automate Your Business with Power Automate

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 15:00:16 GMT

Every job has repetitive tasks that take up time, resources, and energy. But what if there's a better way? Instead of having to manually email your manager, your manager's manager, and a 3rd party team member to get a business-critical document approve for your key customer. Well, what if you could automate an approval process, as well? These are just two of the use cases with Power Automate. This week's expert, Bryan Schafer, introduces us to Power Automate.

About Bryan Shafer

Bryan has been in the business applications space for over 13 years. He has been an end user, consultant, program manager, software engineer, and a solution architect. In those 13 years, Bryan has worked across various industries and with organizations of all sizes. One of the accomplishments Bryan is most proud of is building pandemic response applications using the Power Platform during the height of the Covid-19 crisis. It was very rewarding to see technology help people in near real time.

Connect with Bryan here - Bryan Shafer | LinkedIn

Useful Resources:

We'd love to hear from you:

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Optimized Service Efficiency with D365

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 15:00:31 GMT

A complete customer experience incorporates more than just the buyer's journey. Troubleshooting and product maintenance are also critical factors that keep customers coming back and build brand loyalty. The expectations of a great customer experience are higher than ever, and as products are becoming more connected and involving more technology, maintenance is requiring greater expertise. Dynamics 365 Field Services provides the ability to assign the appropriate resources at the right time and can help companies go from reactive to proactive to predictive with their Field Service needs. This week's guest discusses Dynamics 365 Field Service and how it empowers organizations to achieve more.

About Pierre:

Pierre is a passionate technology educator. Whether he is in rural Ghana teaching school kids about programming, writing, and curating curriculum for Fortune 100 technical sales engineers or leading envisioning and planning sessions with customers and consultants. He leads the efforts to educate and train technologists interested in Service and Sales Operations from all over the world. Pierre comes with over 33 years of technology sales leadership and consulting. He has worked on the Microsoft Dynamics Platform since it was released. He is a Board Member at Ferris State University Marketing and Sales Advisory Program and a Board member at Expanding Boundaries International, focusing on delivering STEAM education programs in rural Africa and Baltimore Public Schools. A four-time Microsoft Titanium Award winner for Sales Excellence. He hosts a Bi-monthly LinkedIn Live stream called Field Service Live.

Connect with Pierre – Pierre Hulsebus | LinkedIn

Useful Resources:

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Utilizing the Partner Network Within D365

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 15:00:21 GMT

There is an old adage that says, "it takes a village to raise a child." In the context of Dynamics 365, it takes more than one person to purchase, implement and operate any of the Dynamics 365 solutions. Often times there are committees involved with the purchasing process. Then those using Dynamics 365 extends to multiple teams. Lastly, multiple people or teams are responsible for implementing, configuring or extending Dynamics 365. This week's Dynamics 365 Expert is going to highlight the value of our Partners within the Dynamics 365 ecosystem.

About Michelle:

Michelle Curtis is a member of the Solutions Partner Sales leadership team in the Global Channel Sales organization. In her role as Solutions Partner Leader, she leads a team of Global Partner Development Managers responsible for global services partners and indirect providers, with a focus on Americas-based partners. In her previous role at Microsoft, Michelle led the IoT Partner Ecosystem Specialist Sales teams in the Americas IoT organization. Prior to joining Microsoft in February 2021, Michelle served as Vice President, Emerging Technologies at Presidio, a Multi-National Solutions Integrator, where she led the sales, strategy, and execution of the Presidio Emerging Solutions Practice, which included Internet of Things, Analytics, AIOps, and 5G. Professional services under her leadership included design engineering, product production, solutions design and delivery, and software development. Prior to her time at Presidio, Michelle spent 12 years with Tech Data (TD SYNNEX), where she launched and led the IoT practice for the Americas, defining their brand as a leading Solutions Aggregator in the channel. She previously led various teams in the Tech Data Cisco Practice. Michelle has served on the governance boards of Presidio and Tech Data Women in Technology ERGs, driving recruitment, development, and advancement of women in the channel. Michelle served on the Board of Directors for Girls Incorporated of Pinellas (2017, 2020), a nonprofit organization focused on inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. She previously served on the Channel Partners and Channel Futures Advisory Board and as Vice Chair for the Microsoft IOT Partner Advisory Council. Michelle holds a B.S. in Advertising with a minor in Sports Management from the University of Florida.

Connect with Michelle Curtis here – Michelle Curtis | LinkedIn

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Comprehensive Customer Service with D365

Mon, 29 Aug 2022 15:00:34 GMT

Customer Service is a vital part of the business. It is especially important for curating an exceptional customer experience that keeps your customers coming back. Studies have shown that it is more economical to focus on customer retention rather than focusing on acquiring new customers. A large part of keeping your customers loyal and happy is how your customer service is set up. Are your agents well equipped to handle common issues? Are customers able to solve problems on their own with knowledge articles? Can customers reach via multiple channels? This week's expert, Omar, Almarsi, shares how Dynamics 365 Customer Service empowers organizations with the technology to provide Agents and Customers with the right information at the right time to drive a better customer experience.

About Omar:

Omar Almasri has a professional background in nuclear engineering. He is also an asset performance management and machine learning expert who specializes in maintaining assets in the oil & gas, power generation, and manufacturing industries. He also has past experience in ERP and CRM solutions and now specializes in Mixed Reality/Hololens and the Service Portfolio here at Microsoft.

Connect with Omar – Omar Almasri | LinkedIn

Useful Resources:

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Level Up Your Marketing with D365

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 15:00:14 GMT

In a recent survey done by Gartner, they reported that 63% of customers would become loyal customers if they had a positive customer experience during their buyer journey. Of course, there are multiple lines of business involved with curating a customer experience, but it all starts with Marketing. In today's environment, marketing is now more digital than ever. The ability to effectively and intelligently market to your customers with the right content at the right time is now more important than ever. With Dynamics 365 Marketing, marketers are empowered with tools to do just that. This week's Dynamics 365 experts, Sara Hiatt and Vincent Huck, highlight what Dynamics 365 Marketing is all about.

About Sara Hiatt

Sara Hiatt is a Senior Technical Specialist at Microsoft who comes to us from the competitive marketing cloud space. She has over 15 years of experience in helping customers transform their business with technology. Five of those years, she focused on both B2B and B2C cross-channel marketing automation solutions. Sara is excited about what Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing offers in this space and sees the seamless integration with the other Microsoft solutions as well as the breath of the product set as a huge advantage in the marketplace.

Connect with Sara – Sara Hiatt | LinkedIn

About Vincent Huck

Vince is a Technical Specialist at Microsoft who has been in the role working with Dynamics 365 for 5+ years. He comes with a background in marketing and sales, which allows him to help guide his customers to their desired outcomes. He is extremely excited about the growth of Dynamics 365 Marketing and the investment that Microsoft has put into the platform in recent years. With the combination of Dynamics 365 Marketing and Sales, he sees a tremendous opportunity for customers to leverage data and utilize the platform to achieve more than what marketers imagined possible in the past.

Connect with Vincent – Vincent Huck | LinkedIn

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Unlocked Insights with PowerBI

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 15:00:57 GMT

A simple measurement of success would be easy to accomplish. Set a goal and try to achieve it. If you miss the goal, it’s a failure. If you reach your goal, you succeed. However, the real world is not that black or white. Businesses require more nuanced and granular metrics other than success and failure. While Dynamics 365 out-of-the-box reporting can provide both broad and granular reports and dashboards, what if you have data that resides outside of the Dynamics 365 platform that’s critical to your business? Luckily, one of the strengths of PowerBI is its ability to create reports and dashboards from a wide range of data sources, not just Dynamics 365. Our expert, Scott Sewell, talks about this and more on today’s episode.

Episode Topics:

What is PowerBI?
How does PowerBI fit into Dynamics 365?
When would someone use PowerBI over OOTB Dynamics reporting?
What are some cool PowerBI Use Cases?

Useful Resources:

About Scott Sewell:

As a Principal Program Manager on Microsoft’s Power BI Customer Advisory Team, Scott Sewell is passionate about helping Dynamics 365 and Power Apps users quickly gain actionable insights from the valuable data in their Dataverse environments through the magic of Power BI. Before joining Microsoft, Scott worked as a Dynamics 365 CE Implementation Architect with a global partner implementing Business Applications in organizations large and small, beginning with version 1.0 of Microsoft CRM in 2003. After a dozen years living in the middle of New York City, Scott relocated with his wife to rural West Tennessee, where Amy now teaches in college of business for the local university.

Connect with Scott Sewell here – Scott Sewell | LinkedIn

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Introducing Viva Sales

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 15:00:09 GMT

Out of an 8-hour day, how many hours are you dedicating to your core responsibilities? You might be thinking, “Well, that’s a silly question. I spend all 8 hours of my day on my core responsibilities”. If that’s the case, then that’s amazing...And you’re more productive than the average seller. According to research, sellers only spend 1/3 of their day actually selling. The remainder of that time is spent on administrative and organizational tasks. In today’s fast-moving market driven by high expectations of a tailored and elevated customer experience, a majority of time cannot be spent on non-selling tasks. Well, what if there was a tool that could improve productivity intelligently? Enter Viva Sales; a new Microsoft solution aimed to empower sellers and drive a better customer experience. Our Viva Sales expert, Renato Leite, introduces us to Viva Sales on today’s episode.

Episode Topics:

What is Viva Sales?
How does Viva Sales fit into the rest of the Dynamics 365 Platform?
What are use cases for Viva Sales?
How can customers get their hands on it?

Useful Resources:

About Renato Leite:

Dynamics 365 Sales Growth Product Manager at Microsoft with more than 20 years of experience with Dynamics and CRM solutions for different markets and industries. Renato is focused on helping customers and partners realize the business values and benefits of Dynamics 365 and Viva Sales and learn from their feedback to help improve Dynamics solutions. Renato is an engineer with an MBA and a Master's in AI, based out of Orlando, FL.

Connect with Renato Leite here – Renato Leite | LinkedIn

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Modernizing your Warehouse with Dynamics 365

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 15:00:09 GMT

As customers, we aren't always aware of how integral the back end of a business are for success of a company. But, with recent complications regarding supply chains and manufacturing issues, warehouse management is being highlighted for how business-critical the back-end of any business can be. For today's Episode, our Dynamics Expert, Brian Garity, is going to highlight what warehouse management is and what Microsoft Dynamics can do for improving and maintaining warehouse processes.

Episode Topics:

What does Microsoft have for Warehouse Management? What is Warehouse Management?
Given today's market and climate, why should companies care about Warehouse Management?
Please share a use case where Dynamics 365 Warehouse Management has helped a company during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Useful Resources:

About Brian Garity:

Brian has 25+ years of ERP experience focusing on Manufacturing and Distribution. Prior to coming on board at Microsoft, Brian was self-employed, working with his clients to streamline shop floor manufacturing and warehouse business process along with defining, developing, and implementing integrations to third-party systems like High-Speed picking systems, Conveyers, Pick to Light, and Inventory management systems. An experienced implementation consultant, Brian has experience in the Aerospace, Construction, Automotive, Oil & Gas, Building Materials, and Paper industries, with many full ERP project success to his credit. Additionally, Brian is a Dynamics Supply Chain subject matter expert with additional Power Platform skills around Power App Development, Power Automate Workflow, DataVerse, and Robotic Process automation.

Connect with Brian Garity here - Brian Garity | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions, or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com.

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Creating Unified Profiles with Customer Insights

Mon, 25 Jul 2022 15:00:12 GMT

In 2025, we are set to produce 463 billion Gigabytes of data every day! As we know, data is everywhere - from every app we download and use, to every email we open, to every purchase we make, to every destination we visit. Data is everywhere. Simultaneously, we as consumers demand a more personalized customer experience when dealing with companies. So how can a company combine the immense data with a more personalized and fulfilling customer experience? One answer for this is a Customer Data Platform, and this week's Dynamics 365 expert, Alexa Montelibano, Senior Technical Specialist, is going to highlight how Customer Insights can combine data and customer experience for organizations of every size across multiple industries.

Episode Topics

What is Customer Insights?
Why is a solution like Customer Insights useful in today's market?
How can organizations use Customer Insights to improve their customer experience?

Useful Resources:

About Alexa Montelibano:

Alexa Montelibano is a Senior Technical Specialist on the Business Applications Global Black Belt Team, focused on Customer Experience (Dynamics 365 Sales, Marketing, and Customer Insights). Alexa is passionate about harnessing organizational data to drive sales and marketing effectiveness. Outside of work, Alexa is a coach for a high school FIRST Robotics team and is enthusiastic about encouraging young women to pursue careers in technology.

Connect with Alexa here - Alexa Montelibano | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Follow the Digestible Dynamics Podcast LinkedIn Page for the latest episode updates!

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Intelligent Customer Service with Power Virtual Agents

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 15:00:00 GMT

Here's a business pro-tip for you… If you want to create long-term, loyal customers, provide them with an exceptional, memorable and impactful customer experience during their buying journey. In a recent Gartner survey, 65% of respondents said they would become long-term customers of a company if they had a positive customer experience during their buying journey. Imagine if a majority of your prospects turned into loyal, long-term customers. How would that impact your business?

One aspect of your customer experience is your customer service. With the elevated expectations and demand for instant resolution becoming more crucial, customer service agents need more. That's where technology, like a Power Virtual Agent (PVA) can help. Today's Dynamics 365 expert, Brian Caauwe, Principal Technical Specialist, highlights what a PVA is and how it can benefit your organization.

Episode Topics

What is Microsoft Build?
Who should attend Microsoft Build in the future?
What are the key takeaways from Microsoft Build?

Useful Resources:

About Brian Caauwe:

Brian Caauwe is a Principal Technical Specialist at Microsoft who has been working with Microsoft technologies for nearly 20 years. With deep expertise across the One Microsoft cloud including various roles with implementation, consulting, sales engineering and management he utilizes applications throughout the Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 platforms to identify how the Microsoft toolset can help achieve his customers goals. By leveraging his background in user experience, security, system architecture, and integration strategies he works to map organizational outcomes to business value leveraging Microsoft Business Applications focusing on Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform.

Connect with Brian here - Brian Caauwe | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Follow the Digestible Dynamics Podcast LinkedIn Page for the latest episode updates!

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Empower Your Sellers with Sales Insights

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 15:00:36 GMT

In today's market, being a competitive and successful seller can be extremely challenging. Customers and prospects perform a decent amount their own research prior to even speaking to a salesperson. On top of the that, salespeople are constantly bombarding their customers via phone, email, twitter, or LinkedIn. Customers and prospects also expect a top-tier customer experience. So how can a seller sell more effectively and more intelligently with Dynamics 365? Well, this week's Dynamics 365 expert, Jean-Paul Mehanna, Principal Dynamics Technical Specialist, highlights how Sales Insights can better empower your salespeople.

Episode Topics

What is Sales Insights?
Who should be using Sales Insights?
How can organizations use this to empower their salespeople?
Which customers are using this today?

Useful Resources:

About Jean-Paul Mehanna:

Jean-Paul Mehanna is a Manufacturing Principal Dynamics technical specialist based in Boston.

He has been with the Microsoft Dynamics Team for the last 6 years and has covered Sales, Marketing, Customer & Field Service. He’s well known in the Dynamics community for his work around OmniChannel and Sales Insights and is our guest today on the Digestible Dynamics Podcast to talk about some of his latest work with Sales Insights.

Connect with Jean-Paul here - Jean-Paul Mehanna | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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Using Dynamics 365 Field Service to Manage Microsoft's Global Real Estate Portfolio

Mon, 04 Jul 2022 15:00:25 GMT

What would you do if you were in charge of managing the real estate portfolio of one of the largest corporations in the world? How would you most effectively manage service tickets for 756 commercial buildings and campuses across 100+ countries? Luckily you don't have to imagine what's that like as our guest today, Patrick McDonald does just that. To help him manage the maintenance of Microsoft's Global Real Estate portfolio, he utilizes Dynamics 365 Field Service for effective, timely and intelligent service ticket management. Listen to this week's BONUS episode on how Microsoft is using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service.

Episode Topics:

Microsoft Real Estate & Facilities
Microsoft's Global Real Estate Portfolio
How Microsoft uses Dynamics 365 Field Service

Useful Resources:

About Patrick McDonald:

Patrick McDonald is currently a Director - Real Estate & Security Technology at Microsoft and brings an extensive background in real estate operations with experience in project management, real estate technology, and operations. Patrick currently manages global infrastructure within Microsoft Real Estate and Facilities Center of Excellence. His current responsibilities within the COE include, Global CSAT, Global Lease Administration, Global Data & Reporting and Global Contract Management.

Patrick joined Microsoft in September of 2012 as part of Microsoft RE&F Center of Excellence. Patrick’s strengths are in the area of project management and process improvement as well as a comprehensive knowledge of corporate real estate organizations from his past roles.

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Follow the Digestible Dynamics Podcast LinkedIn Page for the latest episode updates!

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Dynamics 365 Is What You Make It

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 15:00:27 GMT

We are officially done with Season 1 of the Digestible Dynamics Podcast! First and foremost, thank you all for being on this amazing, fun and value-packed start of the show! We've had a lot of fun and interviewed some AMAZING guests to bring you snackable information about Dynamics 365! For this episode, we wanted to recap season 1 and highlight some of our favorite episodes so far. We also have a great message around how to best utilize the knowledge you gain from listening to our show!

Episode Topics

Digestible Dynamics Season 1 Recap
Dataverse
Mixed Reality

Useful Resources:

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Follow the Digestible Dynamics Podcast LinkedIn Page for the latest episode updates!

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Digestible Recap of Microsoft Build 2022

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 17:12:04 GMT

Microsoft Build is an annual conference aimed at software engineers, developers, and other end users for Windows, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Business Applications, like Dynamics 365, and other Microsoft Technologies. It most recently occurred on May 24-26, 2022. If you were unable to attend, don't worry! This week's Dynamics 365 Expert, Brian Caauwe, Principal Technical Specialist, and Power Platform guru, breaks down what Microsoft Build was, why you should care as a Dynamics 365 user, and some future features to look out for that could help you maximize your investment in Dynamics 365.

Episode Topics

What is Microsoft Build?
Who should attend Microsoft Build in the future?
What are the key takeaways from Microsoft Build?

Useful Resources:

Learn more from Microsoft Build 2022 | Microsoft Build Homepage
Github Code Spaces
Github Copilot
5G + Azure
Windows 365
Azure Kub Service
Azure Confidential Computing
Azure AI
Azure Translator
Power Pages
NGINX for Azure

About Brian Caauwe:

Brian Caauwe is a Principal Technical Specialist at Microsoft who has been working with Microsoft technologies for nearly 20 years. With deep expertise across the One Microsoft cloud including various roles with implementation, consulting, sales engineering, and management he utilizes applications throughout the Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 platforms to identify how the Microsoft toolset can help achieve his customer's goals. By leveraging his background in user experience, security, system architecture, and integration strategies he works to map organizational outcomes to business value by leveraging Microsoft Business Applications focusing on Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform.

Connect with Brian here - Brian Caauwe | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions, or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Follow the Digestible Dynamics Podcast LinkedIn Page for the latest episode updates!

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Why Azure is Integral for Dynamics 365

Mon, 20 Jun 2022 15:00:06 GMT

The Azure cloud platform is more than 200 products and cloud services designed to help you bring new solutions to life—to solve today’s challenges and create the future. Build, run, and manage applications across multiple clouds, on-premises, and at the edge, with the tools and frameworks of your choice. Dynamics 365 runs on the Azure cloud service, and today's cloud architecture expert, Tony Begum, highlights why that's valuable and what that means to all you Biz Apps innovators out there!

Episode Topics

Azure and Dynamics are different products, so how are they important to each other?
When it comes to our competitors, do you think Azure + D365 separates us? If so, how?
How does IoT play a part in the Azure + D365 story? What are some good nuggets to know?
How can partners tell a better together story with Azure + D365?

Useful Resources:

About Tony Begum

Tony Begum brings over 25yrs of experience building enterprise solutions ranging from his first ISP startup in 1994 to putting in the most remote VoIP system in in the world in Perdo Bay Alaska. He has over 25 industry cloud technical certifications from AWS, Salesforce, and Microsoft. His current role is developing our new business architecture service for Microsoft to help our customers realize their digital transformation more rapidly. Tony brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with over 20 years of business application value selling. Tony has also held positions at IBM and Cisco where he acquired in-depth knowledge of Cloud Architecture, Customer Service, Business Architecture, and B2B Commerce.

Connect with Tony here - Tony Begum | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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LinkedIn for Dynamics 365

Wed, 15 Jun 2022 20:57:10 GMT

LinkedIn is the largest professional social media network in the world. As off 2022, it has over 830 million users. Many people use LinkedIn as a digital resume, to share information about their company and to network. But LinkedIn can be used for more than that; it can be used to build relationships. In the hands of the right salespeople, LinkedIn can make the difference between losing a deal and winning one. Luckily, with Dynamics 365, Business Applications innovators like yourself don't have to switch between windows to access and leverage the valuable information within LinkedIn. This week's expert, Brian Garcia, talks about the value of LinkedIn and how well integrated it is with Dynamics 365.

Episode Topics

What's the value of having Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn integrated?
What does the integration between Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn look like?
What type of ROI are companies experiencing by using both Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn?
What is one feature that is not used, but users should really pay attention too?

Useful Resources:

About Brian Galicia

Brian Galicia is a Senior Director of the Global Biz Apps ISV Partner Sales Team. His team helps partners & ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) to grow their revenue with line-of-business (LOB) applications built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. Brian has been with Microsoft for almost 16 years in a variety of leadership roles including Global Sales and Product Marketing.

Connect with Brian here - Brian Galicia | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Contextual Collaboration with Dynamics 365

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 15:01:14 GMT

Fun fact! Did you know that the second definition of "Collaboration" on Bing is "traitorous cooperation with an enemy." Not exactly the definition you think about whenever "collaboration" is brought up. The first definition on Bing is "the action of working with someone to produce or create something." That's exactly what we're referring to today. This week, we're talking with experts about how Dynamics 365 fosters digital and contextual collaboration within organizations.

Episode Topics

Why is it important to collaborate while using Dynamics 365?
How is Dynamics 365 being used by customers to improve their front-office processes?
What are customers finding most valuable about Dynamics 365 for their front-office?
What is the most impactful thing about Dynamics 365 for a customer's front-office processes?

Useful Resources:

About Beth Burrell

Beth Burrell is a Senior Technical Specialist at Microsoft for the Global Black Belt Team. She is an accomplished & results-oriented senior technology leader with progressive experience & expert proficiency in presales technology, project leadership, enterprise technology solutions & business process re-engineering.

Connect with Beth here - Beth Burrell | LinkedIn

About Matthew Mead

Matthew Mead is a Dynamics Technical Specialist at Microsoft for the GBB Team. He has 18 years of experience with Dynamics 365 and Power Platform technical solutioning and problem solving. In his day-to-day work he enjoys story-telling, architecting and building complex CRM solutions, removing technical blockers, hands on technical delivery, managing project/ virtual teams and speaking at Power Platform community events.

Connect with Matthew here - Matthew Mead | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Artificial Intelligence for Dynamics 365

Tue, 31 May 2022 16:16:30 GMT

Business Applications, like Dynamics 365 are meant to empower end users with the tools to make their jobs more efficient and accurate through automations and reporting. But what's the next step after that? How can Dynamics 365 better empower every person at every organization to achieve more? One way this is done within Dynamics 365 is through Artificial Intelligence, and that's what our expert, Samir Sharma, talks about in this episode.

Episode Topics

Can you define mixed reality and what are some of the intended uses for this technology?
What role do humans play in Mixed Reality?
Is Mixed Reality only for manufacturing groups?
What is a cool use case Mixed Reality could be used for?

Useful Resources:

Microsoft AI docs: Microsoft AI Documentation | Microsoft Docs
Explore AI solutions, developers, services & infrastructure: AI Platform, Products & Tools - Microsoft AI
AI architecture design: Artificial intelligence (AI) architecture - Azure Architecture Center | Microsoft Docs
Responsible AI: Responsible AI principles from Microsoft
Certification path: AI engineer - Learn | Microsoft Docs

About Samir Sharma

Samir Sharma is currently a Senior Technical Specialist at Microsoft for the Manufacturing OU. He has 20 years of application architect experience cross referencing areas of system design, software development and design principles for next generation business problem solutions. He focuses on the systems, business processes and platforms that support and solve big business problems. Samir also has the unique ability to "roll-up the sleeves" and get into the code and integrations to exploit all aspects of modern software and technology.

Connect with Samir here - Samir Sharma | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Mixed Reality

Tue, 24 May 2022 18:45:50 GMT

Have you ever tried to repair a device, an appliance or your car and gotten stuck on what you should be doing next? Imagine being able to utilize the expertise of a technical resource to solve a problem you're experiencing as if they're walking you through step-by-step on how they would solve your problem if they were right next to you repairing the machine…Except, they're not on-site with you. In fact, they could be in another country and still provide you with some assistance as if they were walking you through them problem themselves. This is just one of the applications of that are possible with Microsoft Mixed Reality that Catherine Zacharias, Principal Technical Specialist, shares on this week's episode.

Episode Topics

Can you define mixed reality and what are some of the intended uses for this technology?
What role do humans play in Mixed Reality?
Is Mixed Reality only for manufacturing groups?
What is a cool use case Mixed Reality could be used for?

Useful Resources:

What is mixed reality: What is mixed reality? - Mixed Reality | Microsoft Docs
HoloLens: HoloLens 2 hardware | Microsoft Docs
Common deployment scenarios: Common Deployment Scenarios | Microsoft Docs
Unreal development overview: Unreal Development Overview - Mixed Reality | Microsoft Docs
Introduction to mixed reality: Introduction to mixed reality - Learn | Microsoft Docs

About Catherine Zacharias

Catherine Zacharias is currently a Business Applications Principal Technical Specialist in the Manufacturing Organizational Unit at Microsoft. Located in Wisconsin, she has been in the Dynamics 365 space for over 10 years. She worked at a Microsoft Partner as a Dynamics CE Consultant prior to joining Microsoft just over 3 years ago. Since joining Microsoft, she has deepened her knowledge of Dynamics 365 Service and Mixed Reality applications focusing on how these technologies can streamline business processes.

Connect with Catie here - Catie Zacharias | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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An Introduction to the Power Platform

Mon, 16 May 2022 15:00:26 GMT

In our last episode, "Dive into Dataverse" we talked about what Dataverse is in the context of Dynamics 365. In a nutshell, Dataverse is where all of your Dynamics 365 data lives. But once your data is brought into the Dataverse, what's next? What's possible? Well, that's why wanted to bring on this week's guest, Bryan Shafer, Senior Technical Specialist at Microsoft, to talk about what can be accomplished with the Power Platform. Whether you want to automate processes, utilize virtual agents or create a custom application that makes data entry more efficient and more intuitive, Microsoft Power Platform makes it possible with a low-code extensible experience.

Episode Topics

What is the Power Platform?
What makes the Power Platform appealing to users?
What are some creative ways customers are using Power Platform today?
What types of use cases take advantage of the entire platform, can you give us some examples?

Useful Resources:

Power Platform Documentation: Microsoft Power Platform documentation - Power Platform | Microsoft Docs
Best practices: Microsoft Power Platform adoption best practices - Power Platform | Microsoft Docs
Learn about Power Platform: Power Platform on Microsoft Learn | Microsoft Docs

About Bryan Shafer

Connect with Bryan here - Bryan Shafer | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Dive into the Dataverse

Mon, 09 May 2022 15:00:56 GMT

Without a doubt Data is an integral part of any business, but even though data is a business-critical part of many businesses today, that doesn't mean that more data is better. Sometimes more data can lead to inefficient processes, lower turnaround times and poorer customer experiences. With data, quality trumps quantity. With the Dataverse, a single record is the same record across the entire Dynamics 365 platform. Today's guest, Bill Whalen, Principal Technical Specialist, breaks down what Dataverse is and how it can benefit organizations.

Episode Topics

What is Dataverse?
What role can Dataverse play in bringing your data together?
What are some use cases you have seen in the field?
I have heard about using the Dataverse for Teams, can you explain the difference in using Dataverse for Teams and for Dynamics 365?

Useful Resources:

What is the Dataverse?: What is Microsoft Dataverse? - Power Apps | Microsoft Docs
Security concepts in Microsoft Dataverse: Security concepts in Microsoft Dataverse - Power Platform | Microsoft Docs
Microsoft Dataverse for Teams: About the Microsoft Dataverse for Teams environment - Power Platform | Microsoft Docs
How are Dataverse for Teams and Dataverse different?: Dataverse for Teams vs. Dataverse - Power Apps | Microsoft Docs
Introduction to Dataverse, Learning: Introduction to Dataverse - Learn | Microsoft Docs

About Bill Whalen

Connect with Bill here - Bill Whalen | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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Dynamics 365 for your Back Office

Mon, 02 May 2022 14:20:54 GMT

Whenever people think of Customer Experience, they primarily focus on the front office people, processes, operations and the solutions that support them. However, a strong back office can make or break an organization. Imagine how your Customer Experience would be affected by a company's improper order fulfillment, would you do business with them again? How about if you were to be charged the incorrect amount - wouldn't that deter you from ever doing business them again? In this episode, Dr. KJ and Kevin speak with Sandra Larrea, Director of Technical Specialist Management at Microsoft to talk about what Dynamics 365 has to offer for your back office processes.

Episode Topics

How is Dynamics 365 being used by customers to improve their back-office processes?
What are customers finding most valuable about Dynamics 365 for their back-office?
What is the most impactful thing about Dynamics 365 for a customer's back-office processes?

Useful Resources:

Take 5 steps toward a better ERP: 5 Steps Closer to a better ERP System| Microsoft Dynamics 365
Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (ERP) - Learn | Microsoft Docs
Microsoft ERP

About Sandra Larrea

Sandra joined Microsoft 6.5 years ago as a Technical Specialist after having spent 15 years in the Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Partner Channel as both a Delivery and Pre- Sales Professional for customers across the globe. She is a former controller for a $650 million Point of Purchase Manufacturer in Chicago which is where she started her ERP journey. In total, Sandra has over 35 years of business experience, pre-sales and implementation experience and Microsoft Dynamics solution selling with companies of all sizes domestic and global. Sandra currently is a Technical Specialist Manager in the MFG OU providing oversight and direction of 11 talented Finance and Operations TSP’s. Sandra’s team supports all the Dynamics Finance and Supply Chain opportunities for our major and strategic customers nationally in the MFG OU.

Connect with Sandra here - Sandra Larrea | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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Dynamics 365 for your Front Office

Mon, 02 May 2022 14:15:05 GMT

The front office of any organization are the people, processes and operations that are customer-facing. As such, the solutions utilized by the front office workers are applications that help increase efficiency and provide business-critical insights. The driving force of the front office solutions provided by Dynamics 365 is to empower organizations with the right tools and the right data at the right time to improve a company's Customer Experience. In this episode, Dr. KJ and Kevin speak with George Nashed, Director of Technical Sales of Business Applications at Microsoft.

Episode Topics

Why are customers using Dynamics 365 today?
How would you describe the State of Dynamics 365 today?
What are you excited about for the future of Dynamics 365?

Useful Resources:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 documentation: Microsoft Dynamics 365 documentation | Microsoft Docs
Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Learn | Microsoft Docs
How to get a free trial of Dynamics 365: Start a Free Trial for Microsoft Dynamics 365| Microsoft Dynamics 365
Request a demo: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Demo

About George Nashed:

George Nashed has enjoyed an award-winning 20+ year career in the field of sales and technology with an emphasis on employee development and customer engagement. He has expertise in Business Applications and is currently a Director of Technical Sales a Microsoft in the Manufacturing Organizational unit.

Connect with George here - George Nashed | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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What is Dynamics 365

Mon, 02 May 2022 14:10:42 GMT

There are a number of ways in which Dynamics 365 can be defined. As a robust Business Application, Dr. KJ and Kevin could talk for hours on the features, functions, values of the Dynamics 365 platform. However, staying true to the essence of the Digestible Dynamics Podcast, in this episode, Dr. KJ and Kevin define what the Dynamics 365 platform as concisely as possible.

Here are what Dr. KJ and Kevin talk about:

What Dynamics 365 is
Why should you care
A metaphor for Dynamics 365

Useful resources

Microsoft Dynamics 365 documentation: Microsoft Dynamics 365 documentation | Microsoft Docs
Microsoft Power Platform documentation: Microsoft Power Platform documentation - Power Platform | Microsoft Docs
Microsoft Trust Center: Cloud Data Integrity at its Finest | Microsoft Trust Center

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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The State of Dynamics 365

Mon, 02 May 2022 14:05:00 GMT

Business Applications is Microsoft's integrated service which provides customers purpose-built apps to help manage specific business functions - sales, customer services, field service, finance and operations. Dr. KJ and Kevin speak with Brian Remmel, General Manager, Business Applications - US Manufacturing Industry at Microsoft, about the current state of Dynamics 365.

Episode topics:

Why are customers using Dynamics 365 today?
How would you describe the State of Dynamics 365 today?
What are you excited about for the future of Dynamics 365?

Useful Resources:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 documentation: Microsoft Dynamics 365 documentation | Microsoft Docs
Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Learn | Microsoft Docs
How to get a free trial of Dynamics 365: Start a Free Trial for Microsoft Dynamics 365| Microsoft Dynamics 365
Request a demo: Microsoft Dynamics 365
2022 Release Wave 1 Plan

About Brian Remmel:

Brian Remmel is currently the General Manager of Business Applications for the US Manufacturing Industry at Microsoft, managing 90 Dynamics 365 Technical and Sales Experts across the US. Brian has spent his 27 years in the Industry as a Customer, Engineer, and Consultant designing and building Enterprise Software and Infrastructure Platforms for many Fortune 500 Companies.

Connect with Brian here - Brian Remmel | LinkedIn

We'd love to hear from you:

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback! We'd love to hear from you. Send your hosts an email at digestibledynamics@microsoft.com

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The Digestible Dynamics Podcast - Trailer

Mon, 02 May 2022 14:00:05 GMT

Introducing The Digestible Dynamics Podcast!

Here is the trailer for the upcoming podcast about all things Dynamics 365.

Our show will be short, impactful tidbits around how Dynamics 365 can help you transform and grow your business.

The release date for the show will be May 2, 2022.

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

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