Microsoft Dynamics Convergence Houston 2012 - GPUG PreGame

Yesterday was an exciting day! My day began with breakfast with my good fried David Musgrave (twitter: @Dev4DynamingGP) and his wife, Jennifer. It was a great moment since this is the first time I was seeing David since we both arrived in town. Also, it was an opportunity to meet Jennifer for the first time after so many years of back and forth with David.

Jennifer and David Musgrave

After fueling up with a good breakfast, David and I decided to go to the Registration area to officially check in for the event and claim our badges. On the way, we ran into Microsoft Dynamics GP MVP Mark Polino (twitter: @mpolino), who was coincidentally trying to find his way to the Registration area as well. Registration was being done over at Hall C at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The process was quick, however, and surprisingly no back packs were being given out to speakers :-(

David Musgrave, Mark Polino, Mariano Gomez

On the way back from the Registration area, around 11:00 AM CST, we walked up to the 4th floor of the Hilton Americas, where the GP Partner Connections PreGame event was about to take place. The event was scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM CST. PreGame provides an atmosphere for partners and ISVs to network, while learning about upcoming Microsoft product strategies and roadmaps.

Heather Williams, Event Director Dynamics Communities

Hanging around for a bit, I ran into Microsoft Dynamics GP MVP Ian Stewart, with who I am currently working on a project spanning 4 countries. Ian is based out of Ireland and was appropriately wearing his green shirt, as a good Irish celebrating St. Patrick's day.

Mariano Gomez, David Musgrave, and Ian Stewart

Ian wondered off to register and retrieve his badge, so David and I decided to sit down for a bit and review our DayONE session, "UBGP18: Ask the experts: Where do the experts turn for answers?", which we would be presenting on the following day, Sunday. Once we completed the session material review, we retreated to David's room to retrieve some of the stash of Australian products destined for my household - see Microsoft Convergence 2012 Houston - Getting There over at Developing for Dynamics GP for the full stash on display.

I then went up to my room to drop off the stash and my computer. After a few phone calls, I returned to the PreGame event area, which featured a Sales/Marketing track and a Consultant/Developers track. Of course, I would sit in the latter to absorb all the GP '12' goodness that was coming.

In trying to find a place to sit, David and I ran into the distinguished gentlemen who man up the teams and brains behind the Web Client.

Jay Manley, Brian Rooney, Kevin Racer, and Daryl Anderson

It was now time for the PreGame, with opening remarks from Bob McAdam (twitter: @4mcadam). Bob talked about his roots with GPUG and quickly opened the mics to the good folks of Microsoft who would be running the Web Client show.

Bob McAdam

Next up was the PreGame General Session, conducted by Microsoft Dynamics GP Product Manager, Pam Misialek (twitter: @PamMisialek).

Pam Misialek

Pam's began her session's intro with an account of how she got a black-eye attempting to shoot a gun, drawing laughter from the crowd. Shortly after, she featured some of the strategies being adopted by Microsoft to extend the use of business solutions beyond the desktop. She also touched on the economies of scale of GP '12' over its current counterpart, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, presenting a compelling case study highlighting the hosting benefits and cost saving opportunities attained by 40 customers with 5 users each running Microsoft Dynamics GP '12'. Pam also introduced an updated Microsoft Dynamics GP product roadmap. It was very promising to see that GP '12' will also incorporate some Windows Azure enablement capabilities, moving the product closer to Microsoft's overall cloud strategy. Partners were encouraged to "get excited about GP '12'" and take note of key timeline leading up to the release of Microsoft Dynamics GP '12'.

I will begin releasing a series of articles covering key aspects of Pam's presentation.

Next up was Microsoft's Kevin Racer to present the Microsoft Dynamics GP '12' Web Client - Unplugged session.

Kevin Racer

Kevin's session touched on the "Hostability" capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP '12' and the different deployment options available for hosting partners and customers alike. In introducing these two theme topics, the session quickly turned into a deep dive architecture review of Microsoft Dynamics GP '12', which highlighted the multi-tenancy and named system database capabilities available with the upcoming release. It was great to see that Microsoft has now released the server and client requirements needed to support web client deployments during this session.

The session concluded with some guidance for partners and developers in preparation for the new brave world.

Kevin continued with an in-depth session featuring various architecture components of the Microsoft Dynamics GP '12' web client. Attending partners had an opportunity to dive into various topics, including the Runtime Architecture of the Web Client; the new Dexterity Object Model, which uses DexML to provide metadata to the Silverlight client, the Microsoft Extensibility Framework (MEF) and the Rendering Engine, and more Dexterity.

The session ended with some cool demos on functionality and macros.

The PreGame session was followed up by a Town Hall meeting, featuring Town Hall meeting, featuring Doug Kennedy and Hal Howard, both ranked executives with the Microsoft Business Solutions unit.

Doug Kennedy, VP Microsoft Dynamics Partners and Hal Howard, Corporate VP, Microsoft Dynamics ERP Research and Development

After an hour of enduring some really pointy questions, the town hall meeting was followed by the Partners Reception. To be honest, I think most partners were brain dead by then from all the content absorbed up to that point.

The partners reception was the occasion to meet up with friends from other organizations attending the conference. It's always a great time to exchange ideas about implementations currently in process and to ask how they are dealing with some of the problems I am facing. My stay at the reception was short, but very effective and off I went to meet with the Microsoft Dynamics Community team at Spencer's.

Community team members Larry Ressler and Andy Leapaldt

I had a chance to speak to various Microsoft Dynamics Community team members about the upcoming improvements in the Community site. You need to wait for the changes, they rock! After some appetizers and drinks, a few of us who were attending the social meeting decided to grab a table at Spencer's.

IntellPartners team: Ted Mauldin, Mariano Gomez, and Frank Hamelly at Spencer's

It was time to call it a night.

Until next post!

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

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Microsoft Dynamics Convergence Houston 2012 - Getting there

Being honest, there's nothing much that captivates me about flying from Atlanta (ATL) to Houston (IAH). I am usually not one to pack my luggage days in advance, but rather got up this morning around 5:30 AM and began selecting a few pieces to wear throughout the week. That took about 40 minutes, so if you see me with mismatch sockies please feel free to shout.

Finally, I put my son on the school bus, then drove my daughter to school. Once back at home, I cleaned up a bit and off to the airport I went. I met up with fellow coworker and business partner at IntellPartners, Ted Mauldin, with who I would be traveling.

The flight to Houston was uneventful, with just a few rough patches throughout. Approaching Houston, you could see some of the gloominess predicted in the weather forecast.

Houston's Downtown - a gloomy day on the approach

Upon arrival at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Ted and I stopped at the McDonald's post to pick up a couple Big Macs. On our way to the baggage claim area, I couldn't help but to admire - as in laugh - at the astronaut cow sculpture. Texas, overall, is cattle country and you can find a reference to the bovines just about anywhere here.

"Houston we have landed"

Ted and I grabbed a cab out of the airport and off to our hotels we went - he's staying at the Sheraton just a few miles down the road. After check in at the Hilton Americas Houston, where most Microsoft Dynamics Convergence attendees and Microsoft folks will be lodging, I went up to my room to take it easy for a bit - well, not really! After a few client calls, a number of emails, and some more calls, I decided it was time to go take a walk around the surroundings.

First stop was the George R. Brown Convention Center where the GPUG DayONE and Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2012 events will be hosted. The Convention Center is close to 2 million sq. ft., making it one of the 10 largest in the United States (in contrast, Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center is roughly 3.9 million sq. ft., putting it in the top 4 in the US). Regardless of size, this place will be buzzing with close to ten thousand Convergence attendees come Sunday.

George R. Brown Convention Center

Sort of in between the Hilton Americas and the Convention Center sits the Discovery Green park. The park hosts a number of visitors in search of fun activities, and features a number of amenities and eateries to please just about anyone. From across the park you can really catch a glance of the business district skyline.

Business district skyline, as seen from across the Discovery Park

It was time to go back to the hotel to rest my old bones - and to answer a few more emails and continue with a few more calls - before dinner. But first, a shot of the hotel since my room does not offer much of a view.

Hilton Americas

Ted and I met up at the bar in the hotel for drinks, before heading out to dinner. Little did we know we would come across the luminaries of Microsoft Dynamics Convergence: Microsoft Dynamics GP Product Management execs, the GPUG team, the eOne Business Solutions team, and the list goes on and on... so is best if I leave you some pictures:

Mariano Gomez, Errol Schoenfish, and Pam Misialek

The Dynamics Community Team

The eOne Business Solutions team

Tomorrow, the day will start with breakfast with my good fried David Musgrave and his wife, Jennifer. David is out and about attending a rodeo event. Can't wait to see his blog about this tomorrow. The evening will end with a nice dinner with the Microsoft Dynamics Community team. Check in tomorrow for details on the happenings.

Until next post!

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

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Microsoft Dynamics Convergence Houston 2012 - Satisfaction: Rolling Stones Triubute Band

Need a last minute reason to attend Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2012 in Houston? How about the The Spot 2012 mega party with Satisfaction: The International Rolling Stones Show.

Here's a teaser of the band performing the popular Wild Horses.

To RSVP click here.

Until next post!

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

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Microsoft Dynamics Convergence Houston 2012 is around the corner!

My blog has been awefully quiet in the past 2 or 3 weeks. The truth is, directing 4 projects, carrying out Dexterity training - en Español for a new client in South America, keeping up with the Partner Online Technical Community forum, and more importantly, preparing for Convergence 2012 in Houston, have certainly kept my plate topped.

However, I am extremely enthusiastic about Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2012 in Houston, starting next weekend. For one, I am reuniting with my sidekick, David Musgrave and this time I will be meeting his beautiful wife, Jennifer, in person.

David and I are delivering some really cool sessions which we would like you to kindly consider attending as part of building up your knowledge base. We are returning to GPUG's DayONE event as well, with a session that sits outside of our usual technical mambo-jambo, which focuses on finding help among the sea of community resources.

Of course, I can't wait to attend the Daughtry concert at the opening session. This will probably be one of the coolest artists every featured at any Convergence event, so far.

Needless to say, the Keynote speach on March 21, featuring General (Ret.) Colin Powell is just the icing on the cake.

What would be a Convergence without the exotic Rock-N-Rave party? Frankly, I think I signed up to this before even signing up to Convergence. You haven't been to Convergence if you haven't gone to one of these parties - That's it! I said it!

So many things going on, I am already overwhealmed and I haven't even landed in Houston yet.

Until next post!

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

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SSRS: GL Trial Balance Summary report returns no data - Follow Up

Back in July of last year, I wrote an article on a reported issue with the SSRS GL Trial Balance reports were not returning any data with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 and 2010 R2 (SP2) - see SSRS: GL Trial Balance Summary report returns no data.

Since then, this problem has been documented in KB article 2588519 - GL Trial Balance SRS Reports return no data using Microsoft Dynamics GP and a workaround provided in the same article to fix the ailing stored procedure, dbo.seeglPrintSRSTrialBalance, causing data not to be returned.

The good news is, this problem is scheduled to be fixed in Service Pack 3.

Until next post!

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

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More Management Reporter 2012

The Dynamics Corporate Performance Management team over at Microsoft has been releasing information about specific features in Management Reporter 2012 for the past 2 weeks. I hope you are enjoying these just as much as I am. In my previous article I provided some links to the first 6 articles released. Here is a new set of links with more of the cool Management Reporter 2012 features:

• Drill to Dynamics GP
• Missing Account Analysis
• Financial Reporting Data Mart
• Lync Integration
• Drill to Dynamics AX 2012
• Install Experience
• Report Scheduling
• Dimension Sets

This new set of features should get you excited about the product and its capabilities. Can't wait to see the demo at Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2012.

Until next post!

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

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GPUG Webinar: "Where do the experts turn for answers?"

Come join me this Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 1:00 PM EST (GMT -5:00), in this exciting Lunch and Learn Series session, sponsored by the GPUG, where I will be presenting what is rapidly becoming a key topic for the overall Microsoft Dynamics GP community: "Where do the experts turn for answers?".

When I was first approached by Kim Peterson, Director of GPUG, to present this topic at the past GPUG Summit in Las Vegas, NV, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, given that I have always delivered technical content at the various conferences I have had a chance to speak at. However, and in doing some research, I realized that the proliferation of blogs, social media, and what I would consider standard resources, such as CustomerSource and PartnerSource, only made the landscape more confusing for customers and partners alike. Also, I found that even with this arsenal of outlets, not everyone in the community is aware of the options. So there you had two constrasting sides: "There's too much information out there!" versus "Where do I go to find what I need?". The irony is, as a leading community expert, I also found myself asking these questions at some point in time.

If you want to find out more, please come join me this Tuesday. This event is open to GPUG members and you can register here.

Until next post!

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

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