The CEO of RapidStart CRM calls himself a “Dynamics 365 Fighter Pilot.”

Steve Mordue has enthusiasm for progress. You won’t find the cloud CRM veteran, ISV and blogger trying to cling to sunsetting products and last decade's sales models.

Steve is the author of such provocative posts as Dynamics 365 – The Irresistible Force meets the Immovable Channel, a subject he talks about in this week’s podcast. He also shares his wisdom about:

• The future of Dynamics CRM. Is there one, post Dynamics 365?
• Partner-to-partner relationships. Microsoft is pushing them for a reason; can you be an expert in all things Microsoft? And what’s behind partners’ hesitation?
• Why the CRM channel should expect an uptick of acquisitions in 2016.
• Is the channel making a dent in Microsoft’s market share?
• Why ERP and CRM partners must “sing together" or risk losing out to a shifting software sales landscape.

Two weeks of compelling Microsoft Dynamics stories, including intelligence from both Directions 2016 and Ignite. Among this week’s topics:

• Directions 2016 North America, where Microsoft asked NAV partners to embrace the differences of the Dynamics 365 opportunity (and clarifies why there is an opportunity)
• Microsoft’s quiet AI revolution is over now that artificial intelligence is practical and in use by customers like Lowe’s and the NFL. And Surprise! Microsoft has built an Azure-based supercomputer to manage it all.
• Several intriguing guest columns. The topics:
  • Is your CRM an enabler or enemy for your sales team?
  • Why there is no credible AX integration framework from Microsoft, and what to do.
  • Three reasons why the cloud may not be for your organization. Think capex versus opex – maybe your organization is not the subscriber kind.

Two weeks of compelling Microsoft Dynamics stories.  Among this week's topics:

• reIMAGINE 2016, the Dynamics GP conference. What exactly is GP "Next," and what partners think of it, good and bad
• Early pricing details for Dynamics 365 - incentives for choosing plans over apps
• Microsoft's giant HP win and more

He’s a Dynamics GP veteran, author and even humorist, and he’s has co-written the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 Cookbook.

This week, Fastpath Director of Client Services Mark Polino tells us about his new book, the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 Cookbook - Second Edition, co-authored with Ian Grieve and available directly from Packt Publishing or from Amazon. Somewhere between editions he found time to write the free Undead Guide to Dynamics GP Summit (among others), and at the Summit he’ll deliver a talk called “Naked and Afraid: GP Security.”

There’s 55 pages of new material in this cookbook update, meaning quite a lot that’s new. In the podcast, Polino talks about:

• “GP Hacks,” a new chapter devoted to clever work-arounds by actual users.
• When to surrender your hack and seek a third-party solution.
• Do GP experts still get jazzed by new editions?
• What excites Polino about 2016, and what would he like to see in the next release?
• Are you poking a hole in your firewall by using OData from a remote location? Yes, but you should use it anyway.

A week of compelling stories from the Microsoft Dynamics channel, among the stories:

• The Fall 2016 release of Dynamics AX Retail which will offer in-store tool, analytics and e-commerce improvements
• QBS Group’s new Chief Commercial Officer is former Dynamics exec Michael Hartmann
• The new Inc 5000 list tells us Dynamics is a growth business, with at least seven software and service firms in the ranks
• 5 Lessons the Delta outage should teach us about datacenter security and disaster prevention
• A look at the new Pacific Northwest Microsoft Dynamics 'Empower' event, founded by a partner to fill the void left by Convergence

Your solution on a Dynamics NAV menu – perfect. But it has to have broad utility and proven pay-off, says Bob Monio, Director, Global Alliances at Lexmark International, Inc.

Then, how do you find and support partners? And what new demands do NAV 2017 and Dynamics 365 place on you?

Monio joins us to navigate the complexities. He will discuss:

• Lexmark’s “glove-in-hand” partnership with Microsoft for a partnership in financial process automation solution.
• How ISVs can grab Microsoft’s attention; a killer app is just a start, is it mature?
• How Lexmark’s SaaS-based Invoice Capture Service (ICS) is built into Dynamics user interfaces for enterprises of all
• The costs savings of AP automation. Hint: saving 80% of $15/invoice = just $3/invoice.
• How this ISV will manage both NAV 2017 and Dynamics 365; Lexmark has been down the road of on-premise vs. cloud before, and is willing to advise partners.
• Microsoft’s mandate to provide consistent value, and tasks ISVs to provide continuous savings.
• Making the freemium model payoff: What’s the “breaking point” at which it drives subscriptions? (Hint: Research and guidance from Microsoft are two factors.)

A week of compelling stories. AX on Azure, NAV Extensions excitement and dismay, the Common Data Model preview for PowerApps, and why is marketing automation sitting on the shelf?

Among this week’s topics:

• Microsoft’s update to New Dynamics AX, available from LCS, which adds the use of Azure Resource Manager for managing deployments, offers improvements to the user interface, Office integration, analytics, security, and integrations.
• Marketing automation’s “dirty little secret” – could it be its absence? Or disuse?
• A look at CRMUG Summit 2016RMUG Summit 2016, in which CRMUG Director Tony Stein promises a “by-user, for-user” feel, and a touch of Convergence.
• Debate on Extensions grows, in which experts are split on the wisdom of Microsoft’s choice; their moods run from excitement to resignation.
• The Common Data Model (CDM) preview for PowerApps, CDM being Microsoft's new Azure-based business application model and storage mechanism for PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and Power B.
• Two interesting case studies, being the global nonprofit Partners In Health using a NAV-based solution to manage the complexities of that vertical; and the Portland Trail Blazers using Dynamics CRM to retain and upsell ticketholders.

Dynamics AX cannot have enough add-ons: perhaps you need retail store pack-and-ship, or, advanced product lifecycle management. There are ISVs by the hundreds to choose from—but proceed with caution.

Don Riggs joins us to navigate the complexities. He’s a 13-year Dynamics AX veteran, currently Sr. Director AX Applications Architect, enVista Corporation, and a much-sought expert in the AXUG community.

Don will discuss:

• Why ISV products are often bought but not implemented.
• The qualities to look for in an ISV partner. Hint: what is their commitment to the AX product? What is their roadmap?
• What are the partner’s responsibilities in an implementation, or for support?
• What are the long-term risks and hidden costs?

Paul Greenberg is leading CRM analyst, the managing principal of The 56 Group LLC, author of CRM at the Speed of Light (now in its fourth edition and dubbed “The Bible of CRM”), author of the upcoming Commonwealth of Self Interest, and he practically hosted Microsoft’s June “Customer Driven” online event.

He joins us for the MSDW Podcast to share his latest views on issues and topics including:

• “Customer driven” need not mean “customer obsessed”: customers don’t need to love you, they must want to continue to do business with you.
• Does customer culture trump technology (like CRM)?
• Self interest drives both the customer and companies; for companies, it is a key strategy.
• Microsoft aspires to offer more than a platform, but the “matrix within” a business (and how the LinkedIn acquisition can help achieve that).
• Why e-commerce is not the fourth pillar of CRM – but it can’t be missing.
• Is there a worthwhile e-commerce vendor for Microsoft to acquire?

An interesting week! Microsoft released pretty good earnings driven by Commercial Cloud, the new Common Data Model and Azure Security hitting general availability. Plus, some interesting vertical-specific cases in fintech, food & bev (and government), and in

Among other stories we’ll discuss:

• more WPC download
• the Common Data Model
• Microsoft’s not-bad earnings Q4 2016 (this year’s big hit: Windows 10 revenue deferrals)
• Azure Security Center generally available, promises real-time threat response
• CRM for banking and financial service
• How Alfa People scored a 10-year deal with the New Hampshire Liquor Commission to run Dynamics AX 2013 R3 and POS
• Retail Realm’s and Retail Hero’s alternative to the sunsetting Microsoft Dynamics RMS. It’s not a Dynamics product, but it fills a void and was crafted by two long-time Microsoft partners.