GPUG Amplify 2017 Observations
The Sierra Workforce Solutions team recently headed south to lovely Anaheim, California for the second annual GPUG Amplify, in cooperation with Microsoft, conference. We packed our bags with great excitement and gratefulness for a West Coast event.
First, a little background about the GPUG Amplify conference. GPUG Amplify was conceived after the discontinuing of Microsoft’s “Convergence” trade show. A need remained for Microsoft Great Plains sales and marketing professionals to have a place to gather and learn. So the concept of this particular stand-alone GP Sales & Marketing event is still relatively new, now in its second year. In addition to Dynamics Partner Sales and Marketing tracks, there were numerous Dynamics GP user classes available during the week. Kudos to the Dynamics Community team for excellent course content and providing onsite DynamicsPro certification testing. The Microsoft Dynamics GP team was also very well represented at the show.
What did we think? We hope GPUG Amplify, like Dynamics GP, is here to stay!
The Sierra Team took part in the optional sales & marketing tracks that were offered prior to the GPUG Amplify conference kick off. We took a divide and conquer approach, covering as many classes as we could. Our pre-show class favorites were two sessions that ended up having lively conversations about VAR – ISV relationships. It is rare that we have an opportunity to have so many key partners and ISV players all in the same room. Hearing about channel successes and challenges from both the VAR and ISV point of view was very refreshing and insightful. Taking lengthy notes, our key takeaway from these discussions was twofold. We documented and thought of some innovative ways to keep our VARs more engaged throughout our time and attendance system implementation process. The Sierra team also brainstormed some better ways to keep Sierra’s awesome bi-directional time and attendance integration top of mind. Providing our VARs with access to quick and easy tools to assist them to sell is paramount to a successful VAR –ISV relationship.
Attendees at the opening session enjoyed seeing the new Dynamics GP product releases-features demonstrated in real time, live, by Errol Scheonfish, with assistance from Jody Christiansen and Theresa Nistler. It was very cool to see them demo and acknowledge Dynamics GP product feature improvements that had originated with a customer email request on “connect.Microsoft.com.” We were also floored by the Power BI app features demonstrated. Building a GP app on the fly was easy, sleek and amazing!
Enhanced Dynamics GP Roadmap Revealed, Beyond 2018!
Sierra had a booth at the Expo. After loading up our brains in sessions, it was nice to switch gears and get back to time and attendance for GP. The location of the Expo in the food hall was very handy. It was easy for people to grab a bite and swing by at their leisure. Booth buzzwords for Sierra Workforce Solutions were: web-based, mobile options and can you configure your time and attendance solution to fit my rules? Luckily we have all of those covered. We have a well-rounded suite of time and attendance solutions. We aim to serve a wide spectrum of verticals with the best options for their business needs. Combined with our proprietary bi-directional integration into Dynamics GP, we have time and attendance solutions that truly enhance the Dynamics GP client experience.
The expo area was hopping during breaks and dedicated Expo hours. It remains very inspiring to see the Dynamics GP community in action. There certainly is a strong comradery and belief in the product. After a whirlwind show week we can say that we hope to “Amplify” the Dynamics GP message year after year. Interested in more about Sierra-click here. Start making time work for you and your company today!
by Sierra Workforce Solutions-Time and Attendance for Dynamics GP