My take on the Dynamics CRM MVP Summit 2012

Mark Smith, 07 March 2012

Returning home from the MVP Summit in Belview I decided to document my findings and share the value that an MVP receives from attending.  Each of the interactive sessions for CRM MVPs were in the Advanta Campus where the Microsoft Dynamics CRM team is located.  Session after session was with people that work on the product and are passionate about their roles at Microsoft and within the Dynamics CRM product team.

Over three days we where shown the next two planned releases for 2012 including a detailed look at R8 and R9.  We were asked for our ideas and feedback on the Dynamics product direction and strategy. The Microsoft team, from the team leads to the product managers, demonstrated a clear openness in the engagement with us, the CRM MVPs.  At times there was robust debate over some of the ideas and the product team was open and came back with solutions that had been considered and were great ideas, a reflection on the teams agile nature.  

One of the clear take aways for me was the concept of making changes earlier on in the product planning stages was a lot less expensive than waiting til the last minute before release.  Lately I have been reading about the concept of a "pivot" whether it be in business planning or product life cycle development, there are times when a "pivot" needs to be made and the more agile the business the faster it can move to a better outcome.

Although I can not go into detail of what was discussed, I can say that Microsoft is clearly listening to their customers and improving an already great product.  

Five years ago I decide to become an implementer of Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a change agent in businesses that were tired of not having the right information at every level of the organisation, and that wanted to provided a set of easy to use tools for their staff. Time and time again I see that when Dynamics CRM is implemented well within a business with a true understanding of what is needed by the business the ROI, efficiencies and the information that allows a business to pivot is at the fingertips of management and staff alike.  

As for the the other CRM MVPs the "family" what can I say but it was an honour to be with such great people, names well know for their contribution to the CRM community world wide were represented.   These people have dedicated many many hours of unpaid time to the giving of their knowledge in blogs, wikis (shout out to George), books and user groups, training and software add-on's.  One MVP that clearly stands out as an advocate for all CRM ISVs is Shan.  He clearly knows the needs of the ISV and petitions for more flexibly, openness and extensibility of the CRM platform and of course Polymorphic Relationships. Thank you Shan. I would also like to thank Amy VH for her outstanding contribution to making the event a great time for all of us, and finally to all the the MPVs I shared a drink and a laugh with, I hope to see you again. Thank you for making me feel so welcome in this CRM MVP whanau (that is Maori for family) see you at Convergence, WPC or next year at #MVP13

Finally a few of the photos.....