The Intelligence Age

FULL SHOW NOTES
https://podcast.nz365guy.com/86

• New feature release for FetchXML Builder on XrmToolBox 
• Market reception to the FetchXML Builder tool 
• Road map of things that Jonas wants to add to the tools he creates 
• Background on other tools created by Jonas: Plugin Trace Viewer, Auto Number Manager, Bulk Data Updater, Latebound Constants Generator, Related Records Analyzer 
• Family life living in Sweden 
• Journey to becoming an MVP 
• How consultants change the way they learn in the era of constantly new content that is very targeted around the technology 
• The story behind his passion for American football

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/85

• Building applications and getting them on AppSource, company background 
• How CloudFronts pick up new business and clientele 
• Staffing and resources of CloudFronts global offices 
• Handling a marketing story and ensuring the company consistently picks up their next engagement/projects 
• What inbound marketing looks for CloudFronts 
• Handling customers who need consultants to work on-site 
• Importance of Microsoft events and key events that CloudFronts make sure to attend 
• Challenges CloudFronts faced as an ISV as well as how Microsoft engages with ISVs and managing their relationship with Microsoft 
• CloudFronts’ experience with AppSource and their journey since AppSource came to market 
• Creating an ISV solution for other companies 
• How Art and Anil came to work together 
• Working with Anil and how they’ve built the synergies to come to market with a product 
• Sales Opportunities Snapshot (SOS) – what it is, its methodology, history 
• Why extend Dynamics 365 with SOS rather than go into Sales or any other apps  
• How AppSource affected customer interest 
• How to get the SOS training – the soft-skill parts of using the app, rather than just how to technically use the app 
• Neil Benson and Scrum for Dynamics – Check out this past Episode: Dynamics 365 Implementation Methodologies with Neil Benson

Books Mentioned

The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day

Resources

• CloudFronts
• SOS for D365
• Neil Benson Scrum for Dynamics
• Technical Sales Development 
• Sales Opportunity Snapshot for Dynamics 365
• Blue Designs 

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/84

• Personal background – origins, living in Prague and Slovakia
• Career journey to becoming a CRM professional and specializing in Dynamics 365
• Being an MCT and activities around being a certified trainer
• Activities done within the user group
• Working on Power platform and day-to-day activities around Dynamics 365
• Thoughts on the market size for Dynamics 365 in the Czech Republic
• Microsoft data center being used for Microsoft in the Czech Republic
• Recommendations for places to see in Prague
• Technology areas focused on for the rest of 2019
• Being nominated as a Microsoft MVP
• Biggest value in becoming a business apps MVP
• Thoughts on Forms Pro vs Voice of the Customer
• Things to look forward to in the April release
• What motivates him to keep engaging with the 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/83

• Brief background about Solgari and how the company came about 
• Professional background – from corporate finance to IT, career highlights 
• Setting a company on the right footing in the ISV industry 
• Voice as a channel – what it is and the sophistication around what it is, and security level 
• Choosing Microsoft over other big companies in the ISV industry 
• Chat as a channel – tackling third-party solutions, working in the Asian market 
• Go-to-market services – Microsoft’s involvement, segmenting your market, engaging with Microsoft partners and/or customer, Channel Integration Framework, Dynamics 365 integration 
• Engaging with Microsoft – Should you engage with a Microsoft subsidiary or the head office? 
• Engaging with the right partners 
• Nature of AppSource listing – inquiry, trial version, etc. 
• Ensuring good support for a trial user on AppSource – human touch + digital experience 
• Perspective on where the future is going, specifically around AI 
• Advice on somebody considering wanting to become an ISV with Microsoft 

RESOURCES

• Solgari 
• FinTech 
• Microsoft Go-To-Market Services 
• Channel Integration Framework

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/82

• Being multilingual and learning languages, living in different countries to work, and family work 
• Living in Italy, Italian food, favourite dish 
• Recommended attractions for people visiting Southeast Italy 
• Running his newsletter Dynamics Weekly 
• Involvement in the Dynamics 365 community 
• Speaking engagements in Milan and London 
• Career background, working for a Nordic company eCraft and working remotely 
• Staying productive and motivated when working remotely 
• Overcoming motivation problems 
• Interests outside of work 
• Journey to becoming an MVP 
• Why it’s essential to participate in forums  
• The most challenging thing to do in Dynamics from a developer perspective 
• Possible changes in the plugin arena and what Microsoft is changing in the Power Platform 
• Future learning pursuits as regards the Power Platform

Books & Other Resources Mentioned 

• Dynamics Weekly
• Microsoft Dynamics Forum 
• Microsoft Field Service

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/81

• Professional and career background, working in Dynamics and the field of business applications. 
• Personal background – family, interests outside of work 
• What has kept Shane in the industry for 20+ years 
• Experience – building IP over the traditional SI type business 
• What constitutes a successful team and the key roles for a strong SI type business to start within the Dynamics or Power Platform space 
• Key resources at the bid process 
• Key ingredients in building winning teams 
• How to create a winning culture in the team and achieve the next level of game or goal in the practice 
• Engaging with Microsoft as the vendor  
• The value that accolades/awards play in winning new business 
• Process in validating whether an opportunity is legitimate or not and whether it’s one you can pursue 
• Working and engaging with staff and ensuring that the right voice has come through at the right point — constructing a team, so people know when to say nothing or when to jump in 
• Key roles in sales engagement and what makes a successful sale 
• Role of presales in winning an opportunity; presales vs BDM/sales role 
• Changes in the past 10 years – buying behaviours, engaging in sales 
• How change management is critical in the successful implementation of projects 
• Keeping a team up to speed on the cutting edge of learning skills in Dynamics 
• Thoughts on competing with Salesforce and creating an appetite for adopting Microsoft business apps suite among clients 

Resources

• Presales Technical Specialist Accreditation 
• Microsoft Public Sector: Public Safety and National Security Partner of the Year 2016 

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/80

• Elaiza's passions, living in Melbourne, becoming vegan 
• Being an MVP for the first time and looking forward to attending her first MVP Summit 
• Journey to becoming an MVP 
• Changes since becoming an MVP 
• Winning women in tech award 
• The story behind her YouTube channel 
• Producing her videos – staging, camera, recording/editing software, equipment, post-production, etc. 
• Audience reaction to show title “WTF” 
• Having a timeline on how many days she has strung together without touching the old workflow tool 

Books & Other Resources Mentioned  

• Paul and Ashlee Culmsee YouTube channel 
• MVP Summit 2019 

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/79

• Personal, career and business background 
• Current focus/projects as ISV 
• Thoughts on outsourced vs in-house staff business model, building a business in a remote island and regenerating the Isle of Wight 
• Journey to deciding the position that they’re going to take in the market 
• Thoughts on building what customers want 
• Dealing with struggles that ISVs have no control over 
• Most challenging aspects in the first 3 years of starting an ISV and having a bumpy start 
• Challenges they have had to solve and how the challenges have changed over time in relation to customer base 
• Marketing the benefits of their solution so that it attracted customers from around the world 
• Raising capital and how to go about it when scaling the business 
• Addressing market segmentation 
• Microsoft partnership – what it means, dealing with changes, etc. 
• Software publisher vs ISV 
• Advice to ISVs and how they should engage with Microsoft 
• Using the partner list and engaging with the Partner channel 

Books 

• The Essential Business Guide to GDPR: A business owner’s perspective to understanding & implementing GDPR
• The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, Newsjacking, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly – 

Resources Mentioned  

• MyCRM
• Partner Network 

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/78

• Personal and professional background — working in India and now in Singapore for PowerObjects and working in different roles 
• Journey to becoming business applications professional 
• Process and journey in writing a technical book 
• Challenges in writing a technical book, investments in time and ROI, working with publishers and self-publishing 
• Future plans – podcasting, pivoting to Power platform, custom machine learning scenario, etc. 
• Path to becoming a Microsoft MVP, disadvantages, downsides, etc.

Books & Other Resources Mentioned  

• Deepesh’s blog 
• Mastering Dynamics CRM 2016 
• Dynamics 365 Application Development

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/77

• Professional and personal background 
• Living in Fairbanks, Alaska – childhood, the Northern lights, appreciation for nature 
• Travel experiences and favourite destinations 
• Career journey and working in Microsoft 
• What comes with the role of overseeing Business Application Partner Ecosystem, focusing around customer engagement 
• Having a fresh look at how Sales is going within Microsoft 
• Thoughts on how partners/practices that have traditionally done Dynamics based implementation are evolving moving forward 
• Thoughts on Dynamics becoming broader and practices having mastery in different workloads 
• What Microsoft Readiness is looking going forward and create a system of “drinking from the firehose” 
• Changes in the way Microsoft Partner Network type function and what these changes are in the calendar year 
• How Microsoft deals with Partners feeling of being abandoned by Microsoft after the Dynamics group was moved to Enterprise 
• Women in technology, a roundtable discussion with women during Dynamics 365 Saturday in Scotland 
• “All the Voices” — what inspired the piece and her thinking around it 
• Thoughts on equality and inclusion in tech 
• Thoughts on diversity and inclusion coming through STEM 

Books Mentioned

“The Broken Earth Trilogy” by N. K. Jemisen  

Resources

• ERP
• Microsoft Partner Network 
• Microsoft Readiness

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

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith