Microsoft drops plans to integrate Cortana with Dynamics 365

Microsoft has dropped plans to integrate its Cortana personal digital assistant with its Dynamics 365 ERP/CRM services. cortanadynamics365.jpg Microsoft officials made the announcement about the discontinuation in a very short blog post on January 5, as first noted by MSDynamicsWorld.com. The blog post in its entirety: "After carefully consideration, we've decided to discontinue the Cortana integration preview feature. Dynamics 365 will no longer appear in Cortana's notebook, and Cortana will no longer prompt users with relevant information about sales activities, accounts, opportunities, and meetings. "We welcome your feedback and ideas." The preview of Cortana integration was available as part of Dynamics 365 Online version 9.X and 8.X and Dynamics CRM Online 2016 Update. There's no explanation regarding why Microsoft dropped its Cortana integration plans for Dynamics 365. I've asked company officials to see if they'll say more. No word back so far. Microsoft had been touting the coming Cortana-Dynamics 365 integration to its partners as a key differentiator as recently as this past Summer. Microsoft seemingly has been trying to more clearly position Cortana over the past several months.As originally introduced, Cortana was basically a prettier front end for Bing search. By doing this, Microsoft didn't make it clear that Cortana also was a key piece of Microsoft's plan to infuse its apps and services with intelligence provided by AI services on the back end. Recently, the company seems to be trying to build search in a way that optimizes users' ability to search on the Web, within apps and locally. At the same time, it has been building Cortana smarts into applications and services like Skype, Edge, Office and Outlook. I had thought integrating Cortana with Dynamics 365 was part of this new plan, but given the cancellation, apparently not (?). Despite the cancellation of Cortana integration, Microsoft is continuing work to add more AI technologies to Dynamics 365. As MSDyanmicsWorld noted, the Customer Insights module of Dynamics 365 adds predictive modeling to sales and service activities. And Microsoft has demonstrated image recognition driven by Azure services as a future add-in possibility for Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. At Ignite in Septmeber, Microsoft showed off some new virtual support agent technology it branded as "Dynamics 365 AI Solutions." However, rather confusingly, the underlying technology has no connection with Dynamics 365 products. These agents are custom built by Microsoft for enterprise customers using Microsoft's Knowledge Graph, Bing data, and Microsoft machine-reading technology. What's today's move mean for Cortana? Good question. Microsoft's personal digital assistant is falling behind its competitors. At the end of last year, there were only 250 Cortana skills available, compared to Alexa's 25,000. Microsoft's best hope for Cortana seems/seemed to be to get it integrated into more first- and third-party applications and services.

Modern Business Intelligence Tools and User Adoptions

Business intelligence has been crowning the technological trendsetter list since the last few years. Undoubtedly, business intelligence and concerned tools have simplified analysis and reporting techniques to a new level. As a result, user interface and satisfaction have increased significantly. Interesting fact being, not only service BI but also embedded BI are being accepted to a great extent. But, there is a twist, according to many surveys and studies, it has been concluded that users are going for embedded BI tools over service ones. And, the reasons are pretty predictable; service BI tools are far back that to the embedded ones, which incorporates analytic content and competencies within business solicitations and gateways. Embedded BI has given a next step reporting access to the traditionally used reporting methods. Everything that happens to be born has an end, the divine god’s law implies for everything and anything. Technological trends in this throat cutting competitive era are even more prone to such disastrous ends. Trends are meant to be changed and replaced; same could happen with the BI tools. There is a class of people who love to use such analytical apps for their analysis and reporting, but there is another class of people who rather depend on Microsoft Excel for all of their needs. Recent surveys and studies have stamped their conformity on the tremendous popularity of Microsoft Excel, no doubt it has everything that can be needed by any analyst, but there is always more than something and same rule goes for Microsoft Excel also. Today’s, advanced BI tools have extraordinary data processing capabilities and that are also presented with a perception to attract more and more users, with their innovative user interfaces and reporting tactics. For instance, we can consider the calorie tracker that is available for Android platform devices. Play store has a number of applications that are built on one and the same platform, but the user experience is too way different with all the applications. If one dares to compare these all side by side, can easily conclude that, why specifically, one of the apps has been most downloaded. Human behavior is the most unpredictable thing; even our great and well-educated psychiatrists are unable to find the key to the human mind. So? Is there any point relying on the trends and human minds? The answer is yes, the only thing one needs to follow is to upgrade them to everyday changing technology. All the above-noted points were no less than a justification for the unfortunate fact that, user adoption of analytics is steadily declining. As distinguished, people, and precisely around 83 percent of the industries prefer embedded BI, yes, it’s true, but, those industries and concerned users do wish to use those BI tools in one application only rather than going for another standalone analytics application. Now, again the trend is not surely shocking. The industry is facing tremendous competition right from the establishment; today the scenario is even worse. Statistically, approximately 32 percent of the industries haven’t gone with BI yet, those industries are in danger zone, reason being, big players in the market are always looking for small startups and companies that are not flowing with the technology. More and more embedded capabilities are being added in apps on every single day, empowering those players to make it even simpler. According to the annual State of Analytics Adoption Report by Logi Analytics, we can have a clear picture of the adoption rate of BI tools in industries. Most of the people who participated in the survey were from IT background and around 65 percent people were from North America, 28 percent from the UK. Those people specifically constituted executives, product managers, and technology leaders. Talking about the end users, it can be seen that even after tremendous growth and focus of industries on the BI and its concerned tools, the adoption numbers that once held steady have started to dip. There are some of the reasons concluded in the report, and those are pointed as: 1) It’s costly to maintain. 2) People are unlikely to shift over from their typical applications to a distinct analytics tool. 3) Everything is rambling because not the same crews are using different solutions. 4) Daily access to those tools in the routine workflow is considered as complex by users. 5) Important information is misplaced from it. 6) It doesn’t acquire data from various systems. The developers and designers are keeping an eagle’s eye on all those changing trends and user needs. The conclusions for the depletion in the usage of the embedded systems have alarmed the future difficulties for the whole business things. The report has also summarized the priorities for end users and business users, which emphasized on some of the common points like, ease of usage, capabilities of co-working and sharing, modifying or changing the data at any point of time, accessing analytics within same application only, etc. Here, moral of the story comes out to be, making systems more easier to be used for end users and business users. The study specifically focuses, on the very simple recipe to add to the count of user adoption by deploying, “Right Place, Right Person, Right Time”. Working on the relationships with the functional leaders, simultaneously fulfilling basic and dynamic needs of business and end users can take embedded BI tools to a whole new different level, until then usage of standalone self-service tools will continue to decline.

Certified EDI for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 Available From Data Masons

SARASOTA, Fla., Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Data Masons Software, LLC., a leading provider of integrated EDI and XML solutions for Microsoft Dynamics customers, announces integration of its Vantage Point EDI solution with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018. This announcement demonstrates the company's continued alignment with Microsoft's six-month product release schedule for Microsoft Dynamics GP and commitment to providing customers with DayOne EDI integration for Microsoft's latest Dynamics ERP releases. With Data Masons' Vantage Point EDI which is Certified for Microsoft Dynamics GP, users achieve full automation of their key EDI processes, while avoiding unnecessary ERP customizations and per document transaction fees to accommodate EDI. The solution provides out-of-the-box integration for over sixty document types and support for EDI, XML and multiple other electronic data formats. "We want our customers focused on making their business more efficient and increasing profits from their supply chains, not on how they will support EDI requirements as new technologies are released. Our integration commitment to work seamlessly with the latest version of Dynamics GP, coupled with our solution's Certification for Microsoft Dynamics GP, ensures that our customers' business and technology requirements are continually met," stated Dennis Bruce, Director of Business Development, Data Masons Software. Bruce added, "DayOne support affords our customers the highest level of confidence in knowing that their EDI processes and trading partner relationships will continue to operate as needed even though their businesses may be implementing or evaluating Microsoft technology updates both on premise or in the cloud." To learn more about Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018, read the Dynamic Communities' GPUG post, written by Microsoft, which includes a product overview, capabilities guide, and a list of what's new. Data Masons, in partnership with MSDynamicsWorld.com, hosted a webinar, "EDI Made Simple for Dynamics GP." Watch the on-demand webinar to learn more about how Data Masons' innovative EDI integration strategy helps Microsoft Dynamics GP clients avoid EDI transaction costs, lower their overall cost of ownership for EDI and achieve integration without ERP customization. Read EDI for Microsoft Dynamics GP customer success stories. ABOUT DATA MASONS Data Masons specializes in EDI Made Simple® for Microsoft Dynamics and Macola customers by offering advanced, turnkey EDI & XML solutions. Certified for Microsoft Dynamics, Vantage Point EDI provides an end-to-end EDI processing platform with seamless integration and predictable ownership costs for cloud or on-premise environments - all without expensive and disruptive ERP platform customization. Data Masons' compliance services, product flexibility, extensive EDI and ERP integration knowledge, and partner-driven experience have made Vantage Point EDI the winning choice for high-performance business document integration at more than 1,500 customers. Media Contact: Heather Robinson Data Masons Software Phone: 941-347-4781

Microsoft Skype for Business Now Supported by Gong.io, Pioneer of Conversation Intelligence for Sales

SAN MATEO, California and TEL AVIV, Israel, December 20, 2017 Gong.io, the #1 conversation intelligence platform for B2B sales, today announces that it fully supports Microsoft Skype for Business, the popular web-conferencing system. The platform joins other commonly used conferencing systems already supported by the platform, including Zoom, GoToMeeting, WebEx, Join.me, BlueJeans, and ClearSlide. Recognized last week by CB Insights as an artificial intelligence leader in its AI 100 list, Gong.io can record, transcribe, and analyze all sales calls and demos performed on Microsoft Skype for Business, creating a much-needed layer of value for sales professionals using the conferencing system. "With Gong.io compatible with Microsoft Skype for Business, sales pros have even more ways to improve their performance using AI to close more deals," said Gong.io CEO Amit Bendov. "The technology gives salespeople a competitive edge by alerting them to a variety of pain points corresponding to their sales conversations over Skype for Business, including customer objections, competitive comparisons, pricing sensitivity, and a host of other key insights." The company's patented technology uses AI to analyze hundreds of data parameters within each call. Gong.io's application programming interface allows its customers to easily and seamlessly integrate their dialer, telephony or web conferencing system with the Gong.io Conversation Intelligence Platform. This provides actionable insights on all sales conversations, helping sales leaders close the gap between their top and middle-of-the-pack performers. Right out of the box, Gong supports most standard telephony systems like Shoretel, RingCentral, TalkDesk, and NICE InContact. Users also enjoy integrations with all popular dialers such as SalesLoft, Outreach, InsideSales, Five9, Groove, FrontSpin, NewVoiceMedia, and Natterbox. About Gong.io Gong is the #1 Conversation Intelligence platform for B2B sales. It helps sales teams improve their calls and demos and gives sales leaders insights into how well calls are being conducted. Gong records, transcribes, and analyzes sales calls using AI, helping the sales organization understand what works, and what doesn't. Visit Gong.io for more information. SOURCE Gong.io

InterDyn AKA Named in Accounting Technology’s VAR 100

InterDyn AKA, one of the most distinguished Microsoft Partners globally has been recognized by Accounting Technology magazine and it’s online counterpart WebCPA as one of the country’s top 100 value-added resellers of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) business solutions. VARs are selected for the list and ranked based upon company and revenue size and growth from year to year, as well as the variety and value of the accounting software solutions they provide.

The article, published in Accounting Technology’s special Report August 23rd 2010, highlights InterDyn AKA’s ability to build loyalty among it’s customers and team members. This year marks the fifth time in six years that InterDyn AKA has made the Top VAR 100 list and is ranked 28th for 2010.

“To be recognized as part of this list is a tribute to our team’s dedication to growing our business and the commitment we have to our clients,” said Jack Ades, Co CEO of InterDyn AKA. “Our firm is constantly looking for ways to better serve clients and use technology to help solve business problems. It is rewarding to have our team recognized nationally for their outstanding work.”

This year, special consideration was given to organizations embracing vertical solutions. InterDyn AKA has expanded their reach into focus industries including ad sales and billing solutions with DynamicsADvantage for CRM and GP. InterDyn AKA also provides Advanced Distribution for Dynamics AX software, which s provides deep distribution functionality on top of Microsoft’s industry leading Dynamics AX software.

With thousands of firms servicing these industries, it is a tremendous accomplishment for InterDyn AKA to be selected among the top 100 VARs. Along with the VAR 100 InterDyn AKA has consistently received numerous honors from Microsoft year after year including Global Partner of the Year finalist 2010 and Inner Circle membership which represents the top 1% of Microsoft Dynamics Partners worldwide.

About InterDyn AKA
InterDyn AKA is a leading Gold Certified partner dedicated to the sales, consulting, training and support of Microsoft Dynamics Business Solutions. InterDyn AKA focuses specifically on implementing and creating solutions around the Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains), Microsoft Dynamics AX (Axapta) and Microsoft Dynamics CRM applications and Microsoft based portals and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions. As an InterDyn company, InterDyn AKA offers the advantage of specialized talents and industry expertise of more than 500 certified professionals supporting more than 3,500 customers worldwide. For more information about InterDyn AKA visit http://www.interdynaka.com.

Channel Partners Continue Migration to NetSuite Cloud ERP Offerings

NetSuite Helps Microsoft Dynamics GP and Sage VARs Achieve Success in the Cloud Economy

VARs Turn from Stone-Age Software to Cloud-Age NetSuite for Integrated ERP, CRM and Ecommerce

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SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. ( NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today announced the latest North American channel businesses to join the NetSuite Solution Provider Program. These fast-growing companies come to NetSuite with experience selling both traditional on-premise products and point cloud solutions, demonstrating the appeal of NetSuite's unique suite approach, which provides a complete end-to-end business management solution that tightly integrates ERP / Financials, CRM and Ecommerce applications. Resellers of conventional ERP products such as Microsoft Dynamics GP or Sage are turning to NetSuite in order to embrace the future of enterprise computing, while established cloud VARs which previously focused on sales or accounting products recognize the advantages of NetSuite's comprehensive solution. The new partnerships signal the growing market acceptance and adoption of NetSuite's leading cloud business application suite by established channel businesses as the entire cloud computing economy undergoes accelerated growth.

The resellers announced today include Eide Bailly, BPS, Cirrus eBusiness, Business Intelligence 101, and Avankia. These new NetSuite partners are focused on expanding the reach of cloud computing suites into mid-market enterprises and divisions of large companies, helping clients modernize their business processes while the resellers themselves gain the competitive edge they need to thrive and stay competitive.

"Today's partnership announcement strengthens NetSuite's ability to transform business processes at companies looking to get off the on-premise software treadmill throughout North America," said Craig West, Vice President of Channel Sales at NetSuite.

Driven by growing demands for cloud software among businesses, and ongoing economic uncertainties, VARs are recognizing the need to offer customers comprehensive and cost-effective solutions. NetSuite is the natural choice for on-premise VARs looking for a strong flagship partner to help shift their businesses to the cloud. Among the on-premise resellers to join the NetSuite Solution Provider Program are:

* Eide Bailly (www.eidebailly.com) is based in Fargo, North Dakota, with offices in nine states, and is one of the top 25 CPA firms in the US. As trusted accounting advisors to thousands of companies in construction, real estate, professional services, automotive, wholesale and manufacturing industries, Eide Bailly is perfectly positioned to enhance the workflow and capabilities of its clients. NetSuite's anywhere, anytime access maximizes the potential for customers to collaborate and streamline processes as they grow beyond the capabilities of small-office accounting solutions or grow frustrated with the limitations of on-premise software. A long-time Sage reseller, the company going forward expects to empower its clients with NetSuite, the world's most adaptable ERP solution. "NetSuite is such a flexible tool and so easily customized that even as new mandates, such as expanded credit card collection or 1099 reporting come up, the solution is able to absorb all of the changes," said Victor Puchi, Eide Bailly director of accounting services. "And NetSuite's real-time data allows us to put the proper metrics in front of our clients on a day-to-day basis, which enhances our relationships phenomenally."
* BPS (www.bpsusa.com) is a Chicago-based solution provider focusing on combining expertise in accounting and business intelligence to serve companies in the Chicago Loop and beyond. A long-term reseller of Microsoft Great Plains and Dynamics products, BPS turned to NetSuite due to increasing client demand for seamless business solutions with low IT overhead. At the same time, a growing number of corporate customers saw the appeal of CRM solutions fully integrated with financials and other back-office processes, making NetSuite's end-to-end solution a clear fit. BPS plans to penetrate new vertical markets, such as distribution, with the strength of NetSuite's order processing and Ecommerce capabilities. "We are always watching industry trends and have seen cloud computing advance in a number of ways. As Wayne Gretzky said when he became the NHL goal leader, we watch where the puck is going to be," said Marc Moskowitz, BPS engagement partner. "The team at NetSuite has been very professional and responsive, and we can see that the cloud is where our clients are going."


Today's innovative VARs have already committed totally to the cloud, seeing its advantages as a service delivery mechanism for clients of all sizes. As cloud solutions have matured, some have grown in sophistication while others remain focused on narrow segments of enterprise capabilities. NetSuite, as the world's first and only end-to-end cloud enterprise management solution, is the natural next step for cloud VARs looking to expand and enhance their offerings. Among the existing cloud VARs to graduate to the NetSuite Solution Provider Program are:

* Cirrus eBusiness (www.cirrusebusiness.com), a Mount Laurel, NJ-based cloud consulting firm, focuses exclusively on delivering feature-rich, scalable, cloud-based business platforms to its Philadelphia and New York area clients. Recognizing a significant market opportunity as the recent economic downturn drove companies to reduce administrative overhead and IT expenditures, Cirrus was formed to help companies automate processes with affordable and powerful solutions that emphasize efficiency and low total cost of ownership. "Each business has its own language and its own requirements, and NetSuite customizations just snap into place and remain compatible moving forward," said Scott Shelko, Cirrus principal. "This makes NetSuite very efficient to administer, and the simplicity of rolling out a web-based system is as easy as opening up your web browser. Once clients see the power, flexibility, and efficiencies of NetSuite, they don't see why they would choose a different direction."
* Business Intelligence 101 (www.bi101.com) of Livermore, CA, is an independent software consultancy delivering software expertise, guidance and implementation services. The company changed to a cloud-only model in 2007 after seeing the unstoppable momentum of the cloud computing revolution. Not only do cloud computing solutions better meet the needs of today's evolving enterprises, but the reliable repeat revenue from customer renewals delivers a valuable revenue stream, freeing Bi101 from the "feast or famine" model that plagues so many traditional resellers. "Given the high level of customization and scalability that NetSuite offers, we believe their financial suite to be well-suited to a variety of industries," said Kevin Lalor, President of Business Intelligence 101. "We expect NetSuite will help us engage with significantly more clients as other financial systems and that our Google Apps customer base will benefit greatly by migrating from their on-premise ERP applications to NetSuite."
* Avankia (www.avankia.com), based in Nashville, is a Cloud/SaaS-focused reseller with hundreds of successful clients in several vertical markets including technology, eCommerce, health care and recruiting. After seeing NetSuite show up on the other side of the table in a number of proposals, Avankia decided to pursue a partnership with the world's leading cloud suite vendor. By combining the entire range of business critical applications in a single solution, NetSuite offers Avankia customers a superior approach to making better real-time decisions. And NetSuite's strong partner support team and innovative compensation models ensure that Avankia's successes will be rewarded. "We have found everybody at NetSuite helpful, from CEO Zach Nelson on down, and we sense their genuine interest in discussing new vertical applications and ways they can increase the value of their partner channel," said James R. Solomon, Avankia VP of sales and marketing.


To meet the growing demand for NetSuite's industry-leading cloud computing approach to end-to-end enterprise management, the NetSuite Solution Provider program seeks out experienced business software resellers which can meet client needs across a wide range of vertical markets. For more information about the NetSuite Solution Provider Program, please visit http://www.netsuite.com/portal/partners/solutionprogram/main.shtml.

For more information about NetSuite, visit www.netsuite.com.

SOURCE NetSuite Inc.

Panorama a new vision for business intelligence

Quite a while ago, Eynav Azarya, CEO of Panorama, and I had a really interesting discussion about business intelligence tools and how they could be of more use to business decision makers. The bottom line is that business decision makers are often too busy to take time to learn complex business intelligence tools and so they ring IT when they need something. I’m sure this is very frustrating to the IT organization because they acquired those tools to offer these decision makers needed information and analysis and don’t really understand why they keep getting those telephone calls.

Eynav said that his organization has devoted a great deal of time (over a decade) and effort to learn what these decision makers need and how to offer them the self-service tools that would make inquiries easy. They developed the NovaView family of products and a large number of connectors to allow access to nearly all the sources of data found within the organization. They’re a long-time partner of Microsoft and have some intriguing tools to make Microsoft’s data sources and BI tools easy to use as well.

Panarama’s goal, of course, was making life easier and help these folks make better, data-driven decisions. The company has even thought about how to make it easier to share this data within the organization, with partners and with customers (if that’s a requirement.)

I was impressed with the whole concept. You might be too.

Source:zdnet.com/blog/virtualization