Satya Nadella Announces Microsoft Dynamics 365 at WPC 2016

On July 11^th Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella delivered the keynote address to thousands of Microsoft Partners who attended the Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Canada. Emphasizing the importance of partner relationships and gratitude for the feedback received, Satya announced the latest product developed with valuable partner input -- Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Designed to help change the nature of digital work within organizations of all sizes, Microsoft Dynamics 365 empowers business users with built-in insights and intelligence within the business applications they're working in - applications like field service, sales, finance, and operations. As a result, Microsoft Dynamics 365:

• Introduces a disruptive and customer centric business model to build what you want and buy just the capabilities you need, while ensuring all roles have access to all the data they need to be successful in their jobs
• Helps organizations move from monolithic application suites to purpose-built, SaaS applications with intelligence built-in
• Integrates Microsoft Office 365

Partners can easily integrate Dynamics 365 with the consistent app platform and common data framework provided Dynamics solutions today, or take advantage of the rich analytics, IoT, BI or productivity solutions independently to build third party offerings that work with other business apps. These third party offerings can now be showcased in the recently announced AppSource. Microsoft's AppSource allows customers to find the right application for their business, igniting the Microsoft sales community as part of the sales cycle.

Whether the goal is to engage customers, empower employees, optimize operations or transform products, Dynamics 365 helps organizations reinvent productivity and business processes so they can achieve more.

Watch Satya's WPC 2016 keynote address here.

All sessions held at WPC can be viewed or downloaded. For your convenience, here is a short list of popular sessions focused on Microsoft Dynamics 365:

• CE101 - Capture the growing opportunity of business applications through Microsoft Dynamics
• CE002 - Microsoft AppSource (Software as a Service (SaaS) business apps and marketplace strategy)
• CE171 - Learn about the Microsoft Dynamics licensing supporting the next wave of products and services

WPC 2016 centered on digital transformation and the important role Partners have in the Microsoft ecosystem. Whether you were able to attend WPC in person or catching up via the online content, Guss Krabbenborg, Partner in Partner Master Class & Quattro Business Solutions, authored a great summary of all the key stories that touched Microsoft Dynamics partners on his QBS Group Website. Find more of their coverage and insights on MSDynamicsWorld.

For more on WPC 2016 including highlights, keynotes, and resources visit the Worldwide Partner Conference website.

When it comes to marketing, does your business have all the necessary tools and templates to help you differentiate and take advantage of the exponential growth cloud marketing can do for your bottom line? Your business may have a fine-tuned marketing department focused on delivering timely content, digital advertising and data analysis. If that is not the case or if you want to make sure you are current on the latest digital technologies checkout Smart Partner Marketing and the ModernBiz Tech series. Both are FREE. Watch the ModernBiz overview video here and click on these links to help get you started:

• Smart Partner Marketing Overview
• The New Customer Journey
• ModernBiz Overview
• Sell Leading Cloud Solutions

Things to Know

Marketing

Reminder: Upgrade Process for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Demos
Partners who acquired Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online demo environment before April 16, 2016 need to contact Microsoft Support via the Office 365 Admin Portal and make a request to update their existing CRM Online Demo instance to the new version or contact Office 365 admin for support.

Partners who acquired the CRMOL demo environment after April 2016 will automatically be included in the Customer Driven Updates (CDU) process. Visit Get Ready for the Next Release for more details.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3: Extension of Mainstream & Extended Support
Microsoft is pleased to announce the extension of mainstream and extended support for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3. This extended support timeline gives customers more flexibility to choose the best timing for their business to upgrade to the next major release or to Microsoft AX built on and for Azure. Click here to see the full announcement on PartnerSource.

Readiness

REMINDER: September 2016 Upcoming Microsoft Dynamics Partner Programs Exam Requirements Changes
Beginning next month, certification requirements for the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Programs (SPA, CSA, MPN) will be changing to reflect new Microsoft Dynamics products and their associated exams and assessments. Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners must be on current product versions of exams for Microsoft Dynamics CRM (2015 or 2016) starting September 1, 2016 to be able to order and claim fees. Looking a few months out, Microsoft Dynamics AX partners must be on current product versions of exams for Microsoft Dynamics AX starting February 1, 2017. Be sure that your organization plans ahead to certify and will be ready to meet these deadlines!

For more information on these changes, please visit the "What's Coming - Changes to Microsoft Dynamics Exam Requirements" page on PartnerSource.

Recently Released Dynamics AX Courses
The final three courses have been added to the Projects and Industry series, concluding the series, and can be found on the "Working with Projects and Service Industries in Microsoft Dynamics AX" topic page.

The final four courses have been added to the Discrete Manufacturing and Master Planning series, concluding the series, and can be found on the "Manufacturing and Planning in Microsoft Dynamics AX" topic page.

Recently localized Dynamics AX Certifications
Certifications for MB6-892 Microsoft Dynamics AX Distribution have been localized in 4 languages:
Spanish prep guide on DLP
French prep guide on DLP
German prep guide on DLP
Japanese prep guide on DLP

Several opportunities to optimize your business in a cloud-first world are available on the Dynamics Learning Portal
Upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX courses
Upcoming Microsoft Dynamics CRM Courses
Upcoming Microsoft Dynamics NAV Courses
An Introduction to Cloud SureStep for Microsoft Dynamics
Marketing in a Cloud World

Upcoming Webinars and More Learning Opportunities
AXUG: http://www.axug.com/events
CRMUG: http://www.crmug.com/events
CPUG: http://www.gpug.com/events
NAVUG: http://www.navug.com/events

To see the latest US Training Information and Events, please visit PartnerSource: http://aka.ms/usdynamicstraining

Visit the Dynamics Learning Portal to see a Calendar of upcoming events, Videos and Courses on the latest product releases, and Learning Plans by role.

GP reIMAGINE
September 18-21, 2016, Fargo, ND

NAV Directions- US
September 25-28, 2016, Chandler, AZ

Microsoft Ignite- Sell out quickly approaching!
September 26-30, 2016, Atlanta, GA

CRMUGS Summit
October 11-14, Tampa FL

NAV Directions- EMEA
October 12-14, Prague, Czech Republic

eXtremeCRM 2016- US
December 5-8, 2016, Newport Beach, CA

eXtremeCRM 2017 - EMEA
To be announced

We are always looking for ways to improve. Tell us what topics you would like to read about in the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics Business and Cloud News. Email us at mbspartnercom@microsoft.com.

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