The Intelligence Age

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/196

• Amit Sivan’s origin, current location, family and hobbies   
• A discussion about Amit’s journey to working with Microsoft   
• Learn more about Amit’s role and responsibilities as a Dynamics 365 Sales applications  
• A conversation about Amit’s team’s general focus  
• Discusses the demand for Dynamics Business Apps within Israel when it comes to consumer perspective  
• The new features involved in Dynamics 365 Sales applications  
• Describes what Dynamics 365 Sales Application is and how is it growing  
• Amit’s thoughts on Digital Selling and its new features  
• Available tools for the in-sales people  
• The benefits of Digital Selling    
• Talks about Sales Acceleration and Sequences   
• The types of sales scenarios Amit is looking at   
• A conversation about Sales Insights   
• What you need to know about Conversation Intelligence   
• Meaning of Omni Channel and Sales   
• A discussion about Forecasting and Pipeline Analytics   
• Amit’s thoughts on Mobility from a Sales Perspective  
• The future of Dynamics 365 Sales Application  
• Discussions about the opportunities for ISVs to build on Dynamics 365 for Sales
• Resources available for everyone

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/195

• Meet Kelly Kane talk about where she lives and what she does when not working 
• Kelly Kane’s journey to Microsoft MVP – Belinda Allen 
• What she enjoys doing in the Microsoft MVP Community 
• What she does that adds value to the community 
• How she does her study groups – the format 
• How people find out about her study group 
• Shares Kelly's experience about how the first study group session came out 
• Talks about how the COVID-19 affected Kelly’s life – what she is doing differently 
• Lessons Kelly learnt from being a Microsoft MVP 
• Step by step guidelines on how Kelly prepares for events as a speaker 
• Recommendations to people who are wanting to get into Finance and Operations 
• Advice to people who are wanting to become part of the Microsoft MVP Community 

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/194

• A brief introduction about Brad Koontz personal, family and career background 
• Describes what is Atlanta famous for – a good place to visit 
• Talks about how Brad spends his time with his family  
• An introduction about Pre-sales and how important Pre-sale is in his career 
• How Brad started working with technology and Pre-sales  
• Brad’s definition of Pre-sales 
• The qualities of an excellent Pre–salesperson  
• Skills of a good Pre-salesperson  
• Key things traditional consultants should consider if they plan on moving to Pre-sales 
• The training and resources available for people to focus on when it comes to Presales 
• Talks about the role of the Pre-sales team that works effectively in the engaging life of the sales cycle 
• Difference between Dynamics and Power Platform when it comes to practices 
• To create a robust and healthy pipeline, what sales rhythms a partner needs to engage in to 
• A discussion about Brad’s journey and experiences to Intellectual Property Development 
• Brad’s thoughts on Intellectual Property Management 
• A conversation about Brad’s view on repeatable IP 
• Introduction and the outcome of their 3-day hackathon 
• The common denominators of what makes a lot of consultants successful in Intellectual Property Management 

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/193

• An introduction about Justin Carter’s life – where he lives and his hobbies
• Discussions about Dynamics Microsoft world Justin is on 
• A conversation about the company Justin works for and his role and responsibilities 
• From a knowledge perspective, where Justin sits in Dynamics?  
• How Justin got involved in Microsoft MVP – how he got awarded  
• Talks about Justin's Blog 
• Dynamics horseshoe steps Justin uses for his projects 
• A conversation about Justin’s key highlights on the MVP Journey 
• Justin’s thoughts about the MVP summit events he has been to  
• A discussion about the AX family or group 
• Talks about the changes Justin noticed with the MVP Program 

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/192

• A brief introduction about life and career background of Greg Hurlman  
• Working from home due to COVID-19 – What’s Greg’s key working strategy
• Greg's journey to working with Microsoft   
• Greg's learning experiences on his journey  
• How Greg started having an interest in the PowerApps Component Framework (PCF)  
• An introduction about the journey of PCF 
• The future of PCF 
• Talks about how to get hands-on with the PowerApps Component Framework  
• Where PCF is going and the new things coming   
• How a custom component is created using the PowerApps Component Framework  
• PowerApps Component Framework roadmap  
• Talks about any standout examples coming through from customers and the community  
• An introduction about the recent release of the PowerApps Component Framework on Canvas Apps  
• Great opportunities available for professional developers and citizen developers with the recent release of the PowerApps Component Framework on Canvas Apps  
• Best practices that need to be done to improve its performance  
• Steps Professional Developers and Citizen Developers should take to learn more about PCF 
• A discussion about how controls are built-in PCF 
• The role of Citizen Developers and Professional Developers in PCF  
• How Citizen Developer make use of Professional Developer's components  
• Learning resources available to use for PowerApps Component Framework 
• Opportunities for customers, partners or community members with PCF 

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/191

• Life and career background of Dr Ludwig Reinhard  
• Ludwig’s MVP skills and the area of technology he is focused on  
• The best thing about becoming a Microsoft MVP  
• Ludwig’s original journey into Dynamics  
• The comparison between Finance and Operational applications in the market  
• Discussions on Dynamics 365 finance or operations being connected to SAP
• Ludwig’s Microsoft MVP contributions to the community  
• Specific tools or technology he uses   
• How Ludwig handles difficult questions in a forum  
• Ludwig’s thoughts about the COVID-19 crisis and the effects on the community  
• What Ludwig thinks will help improve or create a connection for the environment   
• Things Ludwig does to relax and to get away from the tools or job during this time  
• What Ludwig does to become productive  
• Ludwig as the author of the books

BOOKS
Dynamics AX Project Accounting & Controlling (Part 1)
Dynamics 365 Project Accounting & Controlling (Part 2)
Special Finance Applications in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/190

• Life and career background of Maya Dumesh – where she lives, her hobbies and describes the community she grew up in 
• A conversation about Maya’s journey to working with Microsoft 
• Discusses Maya’s focus, role and responsibilities as Principal Program Manager for data 
• An introduction to Data storage 
• Discusses the difference between Common Data Model (CDM) and Common Data Service (CDS) 
• Talks about the different types of Data that can be stored in a CDS in different format using different fields 
• How is the CDM related to CDS 
• The best practices for handling CDS and CDM 
• A discussion around data security in the implementation of CDS 
• Explained the benefits of CDS and CDM to Dynamics 365 Users 
• A conversation about the latest improvements to data storage in CDS and CDM 
• The different types of data being introduced to CDS  
• The importance of Common Data Service when using PowerApps or Power BI 
• Maya’s views around CDS when it comes to AI in the future 
• Introduction to minority data and the use cases Maya sees that people are starting to adapt to it 
• With the separation between Dynamics 365 applications and Data storage with CDS, what support they offer for Dynamics 365 users 
• The future of CDS 
• Maya’s long–term views on the possible changes coming to CDS in the next 12 months 
• Relationship of CDS to Power BI dataflows 
• What Maya meant by – “when considering data, you should focus on the application need more than just a data need.” 
• Lessons Maya has learnt and what was the journey like since the split out of relational unstructured data log and log data 

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/189

• A brief introduction about Rebekka Aalbers' life and where she lives  
• Talks about Rebekka's area of specialization   
• How Rebekka ended up becoming a Microsoft MVP  
• The demand for PowerApps in the Netherlands – growing or established?  
• As part of implementing the COE start kit, what are the steps she takes to make sure the product is supported?  
• The type of Industry solutions Rebekka has come up with when it comes to PowerApps   
• How Rebekka decides on what application she uses when working on a project   
• Story of Rebekka's journey to becoming a Microsoft MVP 
• Talks about what format Rebekka uses to run a user group  
• What Rebekka thinks about her first MVP Summit  
• How Rebekka maintains her mental health during this COVID time   
• A discussion about how Rebekka contributes to the community at present and in the future  
• Rebekka's involvement with CDS, SharePoint, Governance and AI builder  
• Discusses Rebekka's favourite AI Builder template 

Other Resources
COE Start Kit

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/188

• Meet Paddy Byrne talk about his life and his passion for skydiving  
• Where in the world is the best skydiving spot for Paddy  
• Talks about how he able to incorporate the skydiving analogy into his current profession 
• Conversations about his current profession  
• A discussion about Paddy’s transition process from Dynamics 365 Consultant to Power Platform  
• The advantage and benefits of using Forms pro   
• The skills you need to acquire moving from Dynamics 365 to Power Platform.   
• Useful Resources available to use to learn more about PowerApps  
• What made Paddy decide to shift from Dynamics 365 Consultant to Power Apps and get his hands on the Power BI and Power Automate?  
• The key lessons Paddy learned and the things he has done differently during his transition   
• How Paddy stay up to date on the technology to maintain his skills  
• Talks about Paddy’s learning journey   
• Paddy’s thoughts on doing things remotely   
• Projects Paddy worked on during his three years transition  
• When it comes Microsoft 2020 technology to what excites him the most 

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/187

• Andrew Welch – the Business Applications and Automation Group Director in AIS
• How Andrew became a Microsoft MVP  
• A conversation about Andrew’s participation in the Scottish Summit  
• Talks about the Saturday Power Platform event in the UK  
• Andrew’s thoughts on the MVP Community group as a family  
• A discussion about Andrew’s thoughts on introvert people’s engagement in this community  
• Andrew’s observation with the current FLU outbreak; the COVID19  
• The impact of COVID19 on the economy  
• Talks about Andrew’s expectations and in what way has the MVP program affected his career.  
• How it feels to become a Microsoft MVP  
• What people need to do to become an MVP    
• Shares his thoughts on what he thinks of MVP  
• What worried him the most about the new generation?   

Other Resources:

My business applications themed website: https://www.runwayview.com/
Book website: www.FieldBlendsBook.com
Power Platform Adoption Framework: www.PowerPlatform.af

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith