Atlanta proves GP is still the One
Sunday, May 2, 2010
For all of this blog’s readers that made it to Atlanta last week – it was great to meet you, hear your feedback and learn from your experiences. I also really appreciate the opportunity to share a Beer, Wine, Gin and Tequila with too many of our partners and customers.
My biggest take away from Convergence 2010 is that Microsoft Dynamics GP is still the best ERP available to mid size companies. In the past few years there have been some nagging questions regarding Microsoft’s commitment and the VAR communities commitment to the GP Brand. It was very clear to all attendees that Microsoft is very serious about not only maintaining but also increasing their focus on Dynamics GP. Microsoft is sinking good sums of money into R&D for product enhancements as well as pushing ahead with great marketing and awareness momentum. These are the two things that the reselling partners have been looking forward to for some time.
Over the past few years the message from Microsoft has been less than clear with the introduction of AX and NAV brands to the Dynamics ERP suite. I got the sense this year that while these products are still very important in the mix, Microsoft has realized the strategic (and $) importance of improving and supporting Dynamics GP.
I always get to see convergence from a strange angle. This years I saw it from on stage at 5 different eXtender presentations, as well as from within the eOne Expo booth. What I saw was more people than ever in attendance. What I saw was people deeply experienced with GP wanting to make it work better for their organization. What I saw was 7000-8000 people giving up their weekend to talk software. GP proved again it is a mature product, with broad appeal and wide range of functionality. The attendees I spoke to were really interested in tuning that 5-10% of their solution to get the most out of it. There are a large number of ERP vendors that would do anything to be in a position half as strong as that occupied for Dynamics GP.
It was great to speak with our end user customers. I was blown away by the solutions our customers have put together with both SmartConnect and eXtender. Often times we get hung up during the year on troublesome sites, messed up installs and difficult people. It was so refreshing to hear again that this is a tiny minority of what happens and that so many of our customers are over the moon with their solutions built on eOne software. I must have had 25 people come up and offer to act as a case study due to the positive impact our software has had on their business.
A special thanks needs to go out to the entire team at eOne for their help last week. Those that stayed home and kept things rolling along as well as those that lived off 3hrs sleep per night and worked 15hr days right through the weekend.
I left Atlanta feeling physically exhausted and yet absolutely energized about what the next year will bring. If you have never been to a convergence event, lock Atlanta 2011 into your calendar now.
My biggest take away from Convergence 2010 is that Microsoft Dynamics GP is still the best ERP available to mid size companies. In the past few years there have been some nagging questions regarding Microsoft’s commitment and the VAR communities commitment to the GP Brand. It was very clear to all attendees that Microsoft is very serious about not only maintaining but also increasing their focus on Dynamics GP. Microsoft is sinking good sums of money into R&D for product enhancements as well as pushing ahead with great marketing and awareness momentum. These are the two things that the reselling partners have been looking forward to for some time.
Over the past few years the message from Microsoft has been less than clear with the introduction of AX and NAV brands to the Dynamics ERP suite. I got the sense this year that while these products are still very important in the mix, Microsoft has realized the strategic (and $) importance of improving and supporting Dynamics GP.
I always get to see convergence from a strange angle. This years I saw it from on stage at 5 different eXtender presentations, as well as from within the eOne Expo booth. What I saw was more people than ever in attendance. What I saw was people deeply experienced with GP wanting to make it work better for their organization. What I saw was 7000-8000 people giving up their weekend to talk software. GP proved again it is a mature product, with broad appeal and wide range of functionality. The attendees I spoke to were really interested in tuning that 5-10% of their solution to get the most out of it. There are a large number of ERP vendors that would do anything to be in a position half as strong as that occupied for Dynamics GP.
It was great to speak with our end user customers. I was blown away by the solutions our customers have put together with both SmartConnect and eXtender. Often times we get hung up during the year on troublesome sites, messed up installs and difficult people. It was so refreshing to hear again that this is a tiny minority of what happens and that so many of our customers are over the moon with their solutions built on eOne software. I must have had 25 people come up and offer to act as a case study due to the positive impact our software has had on their business.
A special thanks needs to go out to the entire team at eOne for their help last week. Those that stayed home and kept things rolling along as well as those that lived off 3hrs sleep per night and worked 15hr days right through the weekend.
I left Atlanta feeling physically exhausted and yet absolutely energized about what the next year will bring. If you have never been to a convergence event, lock Atlanta 2011 into your calendar now.
