Convergence 2009 update

Just came back from Convergence 2009 - New Orleans and found this year quite a disappointment as I didn't see a lot of value to the seminars, GP ver 11 and the future of products around Dynamics GP.

Here are my updates this year:

1) GP ver 11 - The presenter in the kiosk didn't show a lot of functionality as she said they're still finalizing the list but I like the option of printing a form to Microsoft Word which many of us had been requesting.
2) FRx - No goods new here as Microsoft announced last year Management Reporter will replace it. I found that Management Reporter lacks some functionality including XBRL (I hope they've resolve this already), etc. FRx support end on December 2010.
3) Forecaster - The big question - PerformancePoint or Dynamics?
4) CRM - There were a few seminars showing the new integration between this product and Dynamics GP. One presenter said it can now compete with vendors like Scribe.

I'll post more later....

Microsoft Convergence 2009 New Orleans Announcements

If you're planning on attending Convergence this year please read this:

• Early Registration discount date has been extended to January 21, 2009. Save $300 by registering early, secure your favorite hotels while they are still available and take advantage of better airline rates.

• The session catalog (containing 225 sessions) is now live on the Convergence marketing site.
  

• The Convergence Customer Excellence Awards recognize, honor and celebrate customers who have achieved outstanding success with their Microsoft solutions as well as Microsoft partners' solutions. Customer Excellence Award nominations are now being accepted through January 20, 2009.

Convergence Feedback

I've been busy catching up with work after coming back from Convergence. A few notes to those who didn't make it:

a) MBS will continue to support all products and the Project Green is officially dead
b) GP 11.0 will be available around 2010
c) Microsoft PerformancePoint Server(PPS) 2007 will be the future of Dynamics reporting, I'm betting on this. It'll be available for GP10 this summer. Management Reporter, a core component of PPS looks exactly like FRx and will replace FRx in the near future, no dates yet. To learn more about this product, visit this link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/performancepoint/FX101680481033.aspx
d) The future of all the Dynamics suite(GP/AX/NV/SL) is moving towards Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) 2007
e) CRM Live is here and per Kirill Tatarinov, Microsoft is currently migrating from Siebel to Microsoft CRM. The best organizations to benefit from CRM 4.0 are those using Microsoft Outlook (Exchange) as so much integration had been done.

More to come on my Convergence experience including the Learning Center and GP sessions.