Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Airlift 2012: Day 3

Day 3 was really a short day, but still one packed with lots of excitement.

I arrived on campus fairly early, having not attended any sessions so far, so I decided I would go to the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 and Microsoft Azure session being led by Daryl Anderson.

Daryl Anderson

Daryl dove into setting up a Windows Azure account and how to potentially provision servers to support a Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Web Client deployment in the cloud. I found this session to be extremely informative, since it provided in depth looks at configuring web servers, session central and service servers, and the management console components, all key elements of the Web Client.

Following Daryl's session, it was show time!

While I was setting up my machine for my session, in the same room, Kim Peterson and Jay Manly were kind enough to assist me with some setup issues I was having.

Kim Peterson and Jay Manley

Be this the time to express my congratulations to Kim and Jay for putting together all the logistics that went into making this conference one of the best Technical Airlifts I have attended in recent years. They both went above and beyond, with what I know were extremely long hours in the day (and wee hours of the night) to make this all happen.

My session, D110 Troubleshooting your Developed Solution, went on with good attendance (close to 200 people), walking through different methods and options for troubleshooting customizations developed in Microsoft Dexterity, Modifier with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP. In addition, we covered tools such as Support Debugging Tool, Microsoft SQL Server Profiler, and Process Monitor by the Microsoft Windows Sysinternals team.

---

Following my session, it was time for the Town Hall Metting and closing session.

Andy Hafer got on stage and congratulated patners and ISVs for a fabulous Technical Airlift, asking for a round of applause for the attendees. He then made sure Kim and Jay (shown above) got a well deserved round of applause for their efforts in putting the conference together.

Andy Hafer (DynamicCommunities.com)

A heart felt moment came when Andy introduced the Microsoft Dynamics GP development team members, who walked in the Dakota room one by one to the claps of partners and ISVs. It was awesome to see how many individuals contributed to the success of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 and the Web Client.

Microsoft Dynamics GP Development Team

Microsoft Dynamics GP Development Team

Following a moment of recognition, it was now time for the Town Hall Meeting panel to take the stand. It was also time for Andy to pass the baton to Bob McAdam (twitter: @4mcadam) to moderate the meeting. Bob quickly proceeded to outline some rules of engagements for all who chose to ask questions.

The panel was mainly composed of Microsoft Program and Product managers.

Kevin Racer, Brian Rooney, Theresa Nistler, Daryl Anderson, Gary Tronson, Pam Misialek and Bob McAdam

Note: the panelist with the least tenure at Microsoft has been there for 10 years - way to go Gary! The one with the most tenure, has been at Microsoft for 25 years - way to go Theresa!

Self-note: surprisingly, Mark Rockwell (Rockton Software) waited to be the second person to ask a question :-) Mark was very praiseful of the work performed by the entire Microsoft Dynamics GP development team and congratulated widely for him not having to draw one single line of code for his products to work with the Web Client. Also noteworthy: there was no Bill Marshall (MC2 Software) asking questions :-(

Closing remarks were conducted by Don Morton, who is a member of the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) leadership team and the Site Leader for the Microsoft Fargo campus.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Don was the assistant to the president and director of University Relations at North Dakota State University. He has a coaching background, serving as the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin, at the University of Tulsa and at North Dakota State University where he won four conference championships and one national championship.

It only seemed fitting that Don would explain how partners and ISVs must evolve to tackle the new challenges lying ahead and how as part of that evolution, partners should invest in their own education. His speech had many references to his personal experience as a coach which made for some interesting stories.

Don finalized his speech with a number of reminders on upcoming events (see slide in picture above).

It was time to say goodbye as sadly, the conference had come to an end.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/