Despite a heavy meeting schedule at this year’s Convergence, I was able to attend many of the keynotes and product sessions.  Lots of great information there and plenty of exciting announcements, most of which has been covered very extensively, especially the news about the upcoming release of Microsoft Dynamics for the cloud.   However, for my money, one of the coolest demos there was a tool that became available last year with the release of Dynamics GP 2010 and is looking better and better.   That’s Dynamics Business Analyzer.   

Dynamics Business Analyzer is an analytics tool that’s provisioned directly inside the GP homepage, similar to Business Portal.  Using that same metaphor, they’ve made some significant improvements for pushing out information from Microsoft Dynamics to the non-Dynamics users in your company, such as the executive management or sales team.   And, with Windows 8 and the Metro UI, you can access API type information from Dynamics using the Business Analyzer toolset on your tablet or smart phone.  What does that mean?  It means you get away from Internet Explorer.  So it’s almost like removing a layer - you no longer have to go through a URL because the information is coming directly through  Windows 8. 

The demo at Convergence was recorded and is available after a very brief registration at the Virtual Convergence site.   That’s well worthwhile, and allows you to view some popular sessions, to give you a little flavor of the conference.  However, if you just want a quick idea of how Business Analyzer works with a mobile device and what it looks like in a real life setting, I highly recommend the two very short Youtube videos called out in a blog post by one of Microsoft’s long-time Dynamics experts, Errol Schoenfish.  Both are under three minutes and get right to the point.

As always, if you’re interested in discussing Microsoft Dynamics for your company, I’m here to help.

 During 2011 the semiconductor and high tech industries witnessed natural disasters in Japan and Thailand cripple their supply chain, starting with the disruption to supplies of parts, to the subsequent shutdown of contract assembly and test facilities.  Consequently, risk management of future natural disasters and strategies to better plan for future supply disruptions have been the subject of much discussion among industry and business thought leaders. 

Two of the key lessons learned include:

1) The criticality of implementing a geographical, multi-sourcing strategy.  While reliance on a same region subcontractor based on ease of maintenance or volume favored pricing may provide convenience, the reality of disruptions due to natural disaster warrants the assessment of alternate sourcing locations.

2) The importance of diving deep in Tier 2, 3 or 4 suppliers' sourcing relationships, confirming that they also  diversify their suppliers' geography. Otherwise, supply disruptions caused by natural disasters occurring thousands of miles away from your lower tier vendor's location may unexpectedly whipsaw product availability or suspend subcontractor services altogether.

A parallel may be drawn here to the process of qualifying of cloud computing providers. Many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies maintain relationships with single location or same region data centers to host their customers' data. Take, for example, an ERP SaaS company which maintains data centers located throughout California.  In the event of a catastrophic earthquake serious disruption of services to its customers may be inevitable. Regardless of the number of data center locations utilized and possible safeguards, the fact remains that dependence on a single geographic region greatly increases risk.

Be it a semiconductor company or SaaS provider, black swan events such as those from mother nature may be greatly minimized through a multi-geographic sourcing strategy.  And, like companies who depend on the semiconductor supply chain, companies who depend on SaaS providers would do well to include some inquiry into their data center sourcing strategies as part of a thorough due diligence process.

  Now that the train has left the building for Microsoft’s 2011 worldwide Dynamics community conference, it’s time to reflect on how this year’s announcements affect Tensoft and its customers.

All last week, the blogosphere and twitterverse lit up with discussion about Microsoft’s cloud computing announcements.  But for all its notoriety, the cloud news from Convergence is simply an extension of Microsoft’s ongoing communication and strategy execution from Convergence 2010’s “all in” cloud rally call.

So, where does this leave Tensoft and its high tech customer base?  How are we positioned within the iterative ecosystem, and do we have the agility to acclimate to continued innovation?

 The short answer is we’re  pleased by the validation that Microsoft’s massive cloud strategy gives to  Tensoft’s strategic goals, R&D investments, HR staffing objectives, product development roadmap and technology partnerships.  For example:

•  Tensoft applications have always been designed for the web.  Cloud deployment through advanced data center and virtualization technology was an easy and logical next step for Tensoft.  With the Microsoft ERP stack we have leveraged the world class database and portal technology. 
• Since 2005, Tensoft has provided ERP solutions through cloud technology.  Our Tier One, SAS 70 certified Cloud infrastructure environment brings the cost effective benefits of a public cloud to our emerging and established customers.
• Cloud deployment offers the promise of easy to use and maintain ERP solutions with a lite internal IT footprint.  Tensoft’s focus of vertical industry solutions fully integrated to the ERP stack offer more value than ever.  We are offering out of the box industry specific ERP solutions for the Technology Industry.  Software, Internet, Semiconductor, and Tech Hardware companies receive the benefit of deep industry experience from a Cloud solution delivery.

According to IDC, $17 billion was spent on cloud-related technologies, hardware and software in 2009, and this spending will grow to $45 billion by 2013. With Microsoft spending nearly $10 billion dollars alone on R&D in 2011, this means that our mutual customers will have the option to embrace technological change at a business reasonable pace.  It also represents continued commitment to enhancing the architectural platform and features of Dynamics ERP with a transparent long term roadmap, and an opportunity for even greater collaboration with other applications such as Excel or customer- facing systems.

We look forward to “the road ahead,” in the cloud.

I'm here in Atlanta, GA for Microsoft Convergence, the 14th annual user conference for Microsoft Dynamics business applications, along with over 8,000 attendees.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced the general availability of the Dynamics GP 2010 (version 11.0) ERP software solution.  The opening keynote address was delivered by Stephen Elop, President of the Microsoft Business Division. The spotlight was the agile interconnectivity of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 simultaneously working with both on-premise and on-demand systems including Customer Relationship Management SaaS software, instant messaging, video conferencing, word processing, spreadsheet and email programs. Some of this was pretty interesting, so you may want to take a look at this live demo: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/dynamics/videogallery.aspx. 

Dynamics GP 2010 enhancements include:

• Tighter integration with other Microsoft business solutions and cloud computing technologies
• 100+ new dashboard indicators / KPI's
• 400 Excel and SQL Reporting Services (SRS) web based reports
• Simplified and enhanced workflow automation
• Web based ERP enhancements

Interesting Microsoft facts shared during the keynote on their cloud strategy including the Windows Azure platform:

• 20 million customers now using Microsoft cloud computing applications
• 70% of programmers focused on developing applications for the cloud
• Spending $9.5 billion on R&D in 2010

Simply put, it appears that Microsoft is "all in" as it relates to cloud and software-as-a-service technology.

- Mike Chadwick, Director of Sales, Tensoft