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Town Hall Blog Transcript & Video

View the Summit 2010 Town Hall video replay and you can follow along by reading the transcript below.



 GPUG Summit 2010 Town Hall Live Blog(10/28/2010) 
10:58
Admin: 
Lunch in being served, we are getting ready for Town Hall!
Thursday October 28, 2010 10:58 Admin
11:34
Admin: 
and we're off...the program from the podium is now underway.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:34 Admin
11:35
Admin: 
this is Paul. Our team at the back of the room will be live blogging the Microsoft Town Hall portion of this afternoon's Dynamics GP program.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:35 Admin
11:37
Admin: 
We want GP users to leverage this opportunity to direct questions to our panel of execs from Microsoft. Just submit your question here. Or tweet it with #GPUG and it will show up here.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:37 Admin
11:38
Admin: 
Housekeeping from the stage. We should be getting on with the Town Hall part shortly.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:38 Admin
11:40
Admin: 
Andy Hafer will be moderating the panel today, assisted by Frank Vukovits who is managing the question queue from here.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:40 Admin
11:41
Admin: 
Microsoft panelists are Chad Sogge , Greg Goldkamp, Pam Misialek and Jamie Christensen
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:41 Admin
11:43
Twitter
4mcadam: 
Microsoft Town Hall event at #GPUG Summit 2010 is about to begin. #GP [via Twitter]
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:43 4mcadam
11:44
Twitter
KakiSage: 
RT @MSDYNCOMM: Mark Polino talks UG and Community 2.0 http://cot.ag/9TpRsl #MSDYNCOMM #GPUG #CRMUG [via Twitter]
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:44 KakiSage
11:44
Admin: 
Andy is taking the stage now. Here we go.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:44 Admin
11:46
Admin: 
Jamie manages a group of support engineers. specifically he oversees the distribution module
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:46 Admin
11:47
Admin: 
Pam is a product manager
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:47 Admin
11:47
Admin: 
Greg is director of ERP product marketing
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:47 Admin
11:47
Admin: 
Chad is a program manager. he oversees GP development.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:47 Admin
11:48
[Comment From Paul CorbettPaul Corbett: ] 
Have you set a date yet for the end of support for GP 10?
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:48 Paul Corbett
11:48
Admin: 
May 2012, approximately.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:48 Admin
11:48
[Comment From Holly TennysonHolly Tennyson: ] 
Are there any plans to enhance teh HR/Payroll system to better handle employees that hold multiple positions? I would be more than willing to consult with you!
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:48 Holly Tennyson
11:50
Admin: 
It depends on what version you're on. at this point there are two versions that may meet some of your needs. that was from Chad.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:50 Admin
11:51
Admin: 
From George: Based on session attendance at summit for the HR and payroll sessions, it is a popular topic. Sometimes HRP seems to be an afterthought with Microsoft. What are the plans to increase functionality in these 2 modules?
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:51 Admin
11:51
Admin: 
He urges the audience to submit feature suggestions via msconnect
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:51 Admin
11:53
Admin: 
chad fields this one too. ponders. he says they have made substantial investment in core functionality for HR over the past two years.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:53 Admin
11:53
Admin: 
Users can vote on suggestions, and dev looks at the community's opinion when working on detailed roadmap. They definitely consider what you say. They may not act on suggestions. But if they don't, they'll tell you.

http://connect.microsoft.com
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:53 Admin
11:54
Admin: 
Interesting, when Chad asked the room of about 250 how many had used MS Connect, I saw 1 hand go up.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:54 Admin
11:54
[Comment From Holly TennysonHolly Tennyson: ] 
Will there ever be YTD fields in GP for PTO (leave) used? Currently this has to be calculated making it difficult to put on pay stubs
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:54 Holly Tennyson
11:54
Admin: 
So far, this is the Chad Show. He says to get momentum from Connect
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:54 Admin
11:55
[Comment From michellemichelle: ] 
It seems Microsoft is rolling out new releases of GP quicker and quicker. We are on GP 9.0 and don’t really feel the need to upgrade, but will need to, based on support going away. Why am I being forced to upgrade?
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:55 michelle
11:56
Admin: 
Chad makes it clear that they will not make tax updates to version 9.0 after the end of this year.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:56 Admin
11:59
Admin: 
Version 2010 will have over 350 new features. He's making a pretty good case for forcing upgrades by explaining that they have to bring new features to market. They focus on making the current product better in response to customer demands.
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:59 Admin
11:59
[Comment From larrylarry: ] 
I’ve heard a lot about licensing this week, much was information that my partner has never shared. Where can I find out more about licensing and not have to rely on my Partner?
Thursday October 28, 2010 11:59 larry
12:00
Admin: 
Mentions extended support to cover bug fixes, but strongly encourages people to look at the upgrade path.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:00 Admin
12:01
Admin: 
Greg on the licensing question: 1) go back and talk to you partner 2) look at Customer Source. They try to post as much info as possible there.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:01 Admin
12:02
Admin: 
Pam says she has heard several people ask what version they have. There is a session on how to figure out what you have later today.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:02 Admin
12:02
[Comment From GregGreg: ] 
Why did you change your original Licensing to light user costing us twice as much?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:02 Greg
12:04
Admin: 
Pam answering question as to why Microsoft rolled out the Lite User which costs twice as much.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:04 Admin
12:06
Admin: 
Pam says that you can way more value with light user licensing. There is a promo right now too for free light user licenses, thru Dec 23, 2010. Greg says they designed the product around feedback from the community.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:06 Admin
12:06
Admin: 
What are the specific growth figures for GP over the last few years and what is the plan for 2011 and beyond? # of companies, # of users, focus on any industries, international, etc...
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:06 Admin
12:08
Admin: 
Greg says the simple answer is that they've had the biggest sales quarter for GP in the product's history. No details. But they are bullish on GP growth.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:08 Admin
12:08
Admin: 
Pam on strategic direction. GP has 42,000 customers.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:08 Admin
12:09
Admin: 
Strategy is to enable ISVs to build vertical functionality.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:09 Admin
12:10
Admin: 
If we are not happy with our partner, what can we do?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:10 Admin
12:11
Admin: 
Pam: Be honest with your partner, and tell them you are not happy. Try to work it out. Maybe they don't know the gaps they have.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:11 Admin
12:12
Admin: 
Greg echoes that. He says stick with your partner and try to work it out. If it can't be worked out, he says there's no better place to be than in the user group.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:12 Admin
12:13
Admin: 
If you need help getting connected with the right partner use these contacts: dynccp@microsoft.com 888-477-7989
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:13 Admin
12:15
Admin: 
From Zubin: Do we have any plans to support copy/paste into general ledger?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:15 Admin
12:15
Admin: 
somebody texted a detailed question to frank. Kinda funny. sorry, I did not get the specifics.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:15 Admin
12:16
Admin: 
Chad asked for a show of hands and probably 30% of the 250 people raised their hand.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:16 Admin
12:17
Admin: 
From the texter: Is there a knowledge base article that says what you just said?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:17 Admin
12:17
Admin: 
Pam says to put the copy-paste request into MS connect. then if everyone in the room that raised their hand goes in and votes for it, it will probably make a list for future dev.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:17 Admin
12:18
[Comment From LisaLisa: ] 
When will GP start using Active Directory instead of the current "create user"?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:18 Lisa
12:18
Admin: 
Chad says that Active Directory requests get alot of votes in Connect.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:18 Admin
12:19
Admin: 
But.... just because it gets votes doesn't mean it gets done. hmmm.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:19 Admin
12:19
[Comment From Kent SmithKent Smith: ] 
WHy no discussion forums on GPUG.com? This is the main reason we joined GPUG, we wanted a members community, not a MS Dynamics forum
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:19 Kent Smith
12:19
Admin: 
he gives a work around. the answer sounded like what we heard last year.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:19 Admin
12:21
Admin: 
Our company doesn’t have a large IT staff, but it sounds like we need some more technical expertise such as SSRS and Sharepoint, to enable some of the functionality we heard about this week. I am concerned that as new releases come out, we will need more IT folks, which hasn’t been the case in the pass. Does Microsoft consider this?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:21 Admin
12:21
Admin: 
Andy fields the forum question. He says the decision was made to move forums to Microsoft's community a little over a year ago to gain more users, critical mass. And, there is now a GPUG specific forum there.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:21 Admin
12:24
Admin: 
Chad goes through a history of report writer and rationalizes the power of SSRS. He acknowledges the learning curve. But says the dev strategy is to first see if new report requests can be built in SSRS.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:24 Admin
12:26
Admin: 
He references the Office move to the cloud, and is looking for feedback on integration with Microsoft 365.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:26 Admin
12:28
[Comment From Ken M.Ken M.: ] 
Does Microsoft have plans to offer GP in the cloud?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:28 Ken M.
12:30
Admin: 
They are looking at opportunities for GP in the cloud. They are looking carefully at Office in the cloud. Sharepoint in the cloud. They want to be able integrate with other Cloud offers.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:30 Admin
12:30
Admin: 
Chad says several partners host GP now.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:30 Admin
12:31
Admin: 
...for as low as $199/user/month. Some partners can host CRM and GP, providing expertise in the integration.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:31 Admin
12:33
Admin: 
Chad says they have learned alot from the Bing team. Different ways of thinking about product releases. Quarterly, vs big releases every couple of years.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:33 Admin
12:33
[Comment From Nickolyn HansenNickolyn Hansen: ] 
Are there any future plans to make multicurrency within GP more robust? Ex: Fixed asset module, budgets, manually applying payments to AP invoice and automating exchange rate table updates
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:33 Nickolyn Hansen
12:33
Admin: 
a: connect.microsoft.com. a few laughs.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:33 Admin
12:34
[Comment From DohnDohn: ] 
Is there any plans on building/providing a localized version of GP for China?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:34 Dohn
12:34
Admin: 
"there are no plans to build a localized version for China." - Chad. The focus is on English-speaking versions.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:34 Admin
12:35
Admin: 
Greg says that there is an AX product for China.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:35 Admin
12:36
Admin: 
From the Closer guys: There is an ISV that has come out with something that will overlay any language over GP. Sales orders, GL, whatever.....German, Chinese, etc
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:36 Admin
12:36
Admin: 
Someone from the audience is referencing an independent product that does a language translation overlay. Pam, says it's called Multilingual GP.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:36 Admin
12:37
[Comment From Jim NoblittJim Noblitt: ] 
Will there by any future enhancements to the BizPortal requistion system such as integration with proj accounting and/or workflow?
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:37 Jim Noblitt
12:38
Admin: 
Chad does a good job providing detailed answers and thorough background on these questions. I can't really capture all he is communicating. But I do have video recording.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:38 Admin
12:38
[Comment From HaroldHarold: ] 
Why is FRx going away? We don’t need the additional things in Management Reporter and certainly don’t want to pay more money for it!
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:38 Harold
12:39
Admin: 
the main reason, is that it is built on old technology. very cumbersome to maintain.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:39 Admin
12:40
Admin: 
if you were current on licensing on May 1, you already own Management Reporter (MR) for all FRx licenses.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:40 Admin
12:41
Admin: 
Upgrade path allows you to continue working with FRx while adopting MR.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:41 Admin
12:42
Admin: 
Greg adds that MR pricing and licensing is sooo much easier than FRx.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:42 Admin
12:42
Admin: 
one more question....
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:42 Admin
12:43
[Comment From BobBob: ] 
What is Microsoft doing to support and promote GPUG? I would love to see more attendees at Summit next year, we learned so much this year.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:43 Bob
12:43
Admin: 
Greg references the number Microsoft people that are here in Orlando.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:43 Admin
12:44
Admin: 
another one....when new customers come on board, they promote GPUG. They want to see GPUG grow in a big way.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:44 Admin
12:44
Admin: 
and 3rd, great relationships that have formed across Microsoft and Convergence.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:44 Admin
12:45
Admin: 
Andy is talking about the role that GPUG plays in planning Convergence. This year, about 40% of the content was delivered by GPUG members at Convergence.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:45 Admin
12:46
Admin: 
Regional chapters get good support from local Microsoft offices too.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:46 Admin
12:47
Admin: 
Andy is giving a little "state-of-the-usergroup" speech and says that relations with Microsoft are at an all time high. Very positive.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:47 Admin
12:48
Admin: 
And Chad is closing with a word of thanks to the GPUG community, and says he really wants to hear from users. "Keep it coming."
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:48 Admin
12:48
Admin: 
And that was a wrap. Great town hall meeting.
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:48 Admin
12:49
Admin: 
Thank you for your questions!
Thursday October 28, 2010 12:49 Admin
2:53
 

 
 
 

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