Merry Christmas: What is really means...

I know at times, the "Holiday Seasons" seem tough for folks. People get depressed and down, but it's only because of what our focus is during this time.

The commerical world around us, has really hijacked what should be a time for family, love and being thankful.

So with that, and with everything that I am, I give thanks to God on High, to our Creator, YHWH - YHVH (English Translation not exact you see, so both of them I choose to use here.) And the gift, the gift that should truly be reconized is our salvation, in that we find our savior Christ Yeshua, Jesus.

And with that, Merry Christ-mas:

Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


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One year ago... "When squirrels attack!"

Well it's been a year since that fateful day. The day the world stood still. When everything changed, and no one was left the same...

Of course I am refering to when my family and I were attacked by a crazed, blood thirsty squirrel!

It's such a horrible thing, I am sorry I have to bring images of such a thing back up, but that's the only way we heal, the only way we learn. If you dare, you can read about the events, by going here: When squirrels attack!

I still have the horrible image in my head, of that red hat wearing squirrel, leaping, teeth nashing at me... I lost 3 fingers that day... at least almost. (Not really but, still it's funny)

Maybe this year we will be spared, maybe this year when my wife sees a squirrel outside she will not freeze and pass out from fright...



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Dynamics AX In a Recession: Government Bailouts Raise ERP Compliance Challenges

Alright, so here we are way deep into government bailouts, and these seem to be setup to continue instead of slow down.

So over at MSDynamicsWorld.com, a nice new article has been posted that brings up something that we might should start thinking about, for specific verticals at first and then as the bailouts spread so shall the requirements.

I am talking about this: Government Bailouts Raise ERP Compliance Challenges: Why Users of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 May Be Well Positioned

From the article:
"The assorted U.S. government bailouts will likely have a wider impact on manufacturers of all types than anyone can yet imagine, beginning with the necessity to adjust ERP systems to take account of important emerging compliance requirements."

And it goes on...:
"Bailouts of the automobile, mortgage, insurance, and banking industries mean the government will "have tentacles in virtually every industry in the country," says Ward, a former director of ERP and supply chain management at Microsoft."

Happy day that the gonvernment will have such long reaching impact into the economy. That can easily lead us into a Soap Box issue, so lets just continue on, as we have to deal with it now...
"Which ERP users will have the easiest times adjusting their systems? According to Ward, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, a favorite of globally-oriented companies, "stacks up really well." She points out that its Compliance Workbench enables users to easily set up business processes and workflows. "As Congress issues regulations today, you can make sure you are following whatever rules, and can create workflows to track in the Compliance Workbench.""

So what's important that I think should be taking from this article is how the recession has caused a recation, and that is going to cause itself actions and reactions throughout supply chains and companies spreading throughout many, many sectors and verticals.

In order to help facilitate this, Dynamics AX 2009 is very well suited for this kind of need, with it's 'Compliance Workbench' which is mentioned in this article. That compliance workbench was something I wrote about this past Feb. as being one of the hot new things that was developed and coming with the release of Dynamics AX 2009.

That article lives over at MSDynamicsWorld.com as well and can be found here: GRC: The Next Big Thing in Dynamics AX 2009

The GRC stands for: ‘Governance, Risk and Compliance Platform'

Something I wanted to really stress from that article that was wrote over 10 months ago, before we were offically in a recession:
"For both public and private companies, this new offering is going to significantly open the door for obtaining valuable insights into underlying business processes. This could in turn lead to more processes being tracked and adapted to urgent business issues at hand via Dynamics.

I will leave you with this:, if GRC is not something you find interesting right now...you will soon. GRC will become as important for many companies as AR and AP, helping take them to the next level in their Dynamics AX implementation."

So here we are, a mere 10 months later and we have are 'soon' in front of us for finding the GRC as something of interest.

Check back soon... and sooner than 10 months! :-)




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Sunrise Technologies has been chosen as one of the top 100 Technology Pacesetters for 2008

Sunrise Technologies, Inc. was choosen this year as a 2008 Top 100 Technology company, Pace Setter.

From the PR:
"The editors of Accounting Technology are pleased to announce that Sunrise Technologies has been chosen as a Technology Pacesetter for 2008.

The magazine, published 11 times annually by SourceMedia Inc., each year gives this award to 100 organizations that market financial midmarket applications.

“Pacesetters are selected for a wide range of criteria, such as substantial growth, their leaderships’ influence and involvement in the accounting software community, and recognition from the companies whose software they market,” said Robert Scott, editor of Accounting Technology. “All of these factors help us recognize quality businesses, regardless of size.”"

And...
"Most companies in the accounting software channel market a wide range of technology software and services. However, financial software remains the focus of their operations.
The names of all 100 organizations were published in the December 2008 issue of Accounting Technology and can be accessed at www.accountingtechnology.com. Thumbnail sketches of the 100 winners are being made available on the Web site only."

So congrats fellow Sunrisers!! This says a lot about our entire company, and the hard work that has went into 2008 for making it a great year.

The full press release can be found here: Sunrise Technologies has been chosen as one of the top 100 Technology Pacesetters for 2008

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Interview with Microsoft Executive: Allison L. Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group

Recently I took the time to email Allison Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Patner Group for Microsoft.

The focus of these questions, was to pick the brain of the Microsoft executive, to a certain degree, relating to Dynamics ERP, Dynamics AX and the current worldwide recession we are in.

The following are the questions and answers:

1.) Currently the U.S., and most of the world is in a Recession. Why would customers what to choose Dynamics ERP, specifically Dynamics AX, during this down turn?

"Right now can be one of the best times for a company to invest in its infrastructure because they have the time and resources to commit to the implementation, and once the economy picks back up they will be ready to hit the ground running.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 offers customers strong total cost of ownership by applying Microsoft application platform technology, delivering improved user productivity through RoleTailored design and a familiar user interface, self-service business intelligence and reporting tools, and manages the complexities of a global organization by consolidating and standardizing processes and providing visibility across the organization.

Additionally, Microsoft Dynamics is currently offering 0 percent financing for 36 months for new, qualifying customers of Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions. The limited time offer is available to Microsoft Dynamics customers who receive Microsoft Financing credit approval on all purchases of $20,000 (U.S.) up to $1 million (U.S.)."

2.) Since we are in a downturn, budgets are cutting back in order to save on cost. What new technologies released this year, can actually help customers cut cost, even though it would mean deploying a new system or upgrading?

"At Microsoft, we have several options to help customers use the power of technology in their cost-cutting efforts to reduce travel and communications costs, leverage virtualization to optimize their infrastructure, and reduce PC energy consumption.

Reduce travel and communications costs
Cutting back on plane trips and hotel stays is one of the most obvious ways to save money, but that must be balanced against the value of person-to-person interaction. Today, video conferencing and new collaboration tools are making virtual meetings much more like face-to-face interaction and companies are finding that in many cases, information sharing and collaboration can be accomplished more efficiently and for much less cost when done virtually.

Microsoft provides a suite of Unified Communications technology that uses software to bring voice, e-mail, instant messaging, and video conferencing together is enabling companies to replace traditional phone and voice mail systems with solutions that integrate telephony with corporate messaging, calendaring, and directories. At Microsoft, for example, unified messaging is enabling us to save $5 million each year through reduced hardware and maintenance costs. Equally important, combining phone and e-mail communications into a single solution is increasing employee productivity and decreasing the administrative workload for IT professionals.

Microsoft also provides a Deskless Workers Suite. We estimate that approximately half of employees worldwide are deskless workers. To that end, Microsoft is rolling out solutions designed to meet the needs of deskless workers, those people who typically spend a small portion of their workday using a computer but still need to communicate and collaborate with colleagues and partners.

Virtualization
Virtualization is another incredible opportunity to cut cost and optimize your infrastructure. Windows Server Hyper-V makes it possible to run more than one operating system on a single machine, which can help companies reduce costs by enabling them to use more of the computing power that they already own. Virtualization also presents opportunities to consolidate the number of server companies own and use. But saving money is just the beginning of the value that this important technology offers. In a virtualized IT environment, new resources can be deployed more quickly and processes are easier to automate. The result is tremendous flexibility for employees and greater efficiency and agility for IT departments.

Reduce energy costs
There are incredible power management tools in software today that help companies more effectively manage energy consumption. Companies should make sure they are taking advantage of all power management tools in today’s software. Also use central IT administrator features for controlling all your desktops. Like so many companies across the globe, Microsoft strives to save our customers money while reducing carbon emissions. By upgrading to Windows Vista operating system, our customers with 1,000 PCs or more can save more than $70,000 a year and reduce carbon emission by more than 1 million pounds."

3.) Can you explain how Microsoft Partners could better align themselves with Microsoft’s discounts during this downturn, in order to help reach a bigger customer base and truly offer the customer value while still saving on cost at the same time?

"We announced a 0% Financing offer for Microsoft Dynamics recently, which has been very important to partners. But there are several other incentives here in the U.S. specifically to help partners save customers money. For example, the popular Big Easy 2.0 promotion is available, and it lets customers use their cost savings on Microsoft products for services and support from a Microsoft partner. MicrosoftIncentives.com is a great place for partners to stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest incentives.

Partners should also leverage Microsoft Financing as a strategic way to make IT purchases affordable. Microsoft Financing enables partners to offer their customers quick, easy and affordable financing as an integrated offering with their IT solution, helping customers of all sizes to purchase Microsoft products and services, such as partner implementation and training. This allows customers to purchase the complete, best-fit solution up front, have it professionally deployed, and manage all of their IT as one investment that they pay for over an extended term.

To help partners effectively integrate financing into their regular business practices, we’re offering a Partner Training Roadmap, which is a mixture of on-demand training, from brief podcasts to full-length training courses. Subjects covered include an introduction to financing, how to use financing tools, how financing can help partners enable sales and how to manage and optimize the financial footprint of customers. Microsoft also offers partners sales and marketing tools to help them easily incorporate Microsoft Financing in their next proposal."

4.) And to make this more personal, what’s your favorite food?

"That’s easy -- Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream."

I want to thank Allison for working with me on getting this interview in place, and ready for posting here. I think is some good information for all of us, Customer, Possible customers and Partners alike. To find out more about Allison, please go to the following link for her online public bio: Allison L. Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group - Public Bio Link

I also want to thank Anige and Katie from Waggener Edstrom Worldwide. Without them none of this would have been possible!

Well that's it's for now, check back soon, and Allison I hope santa brings you lots and lots of 'Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream'!




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Silverlight works so well... that people are fired because of it?

So this is just to much to not post on. I post about silverlight, or have, in talking about how it can be used with Dynamics AX. Basically it's Microsoft Flash killer. You can use it to create RIA, or Rich Interactive Applications with.

Will NetFlix uses it, and because their software they developed with Silverlight works so well, they are getting rid of 50 technical jobs. Can you believe that?

Check out the article: ZDNet: The steep price of good technology

Chalk one up for Silverlight... and check back soon!




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Been busy...

Well the past few weeks has not seen a lot of posts out here. I do realize this, and it's just the time of year. So busy with work and personal needs, that the time slips by and before you know a week has come and gone.

I do have some good posts in the works, before the end of the year, and a slew of new and great topics to kick off 2009 in.

One of the post coming up is another interview with a Microsoft Exec and Her team. As soon as that is ready to be published, you will see it here!

So check back soon!




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Microsoft Dynamics AX EP Team Blog - Filtering a DataSet from Code behind

For a little change of pace from my last few entries, I thought I would share a nice post from the guys and gals that run the Microsoft Dynamics AX EP Team blog.

You can get to their blog by going here: Microsoft Dynamics AX EP Team Blog

The article I want to share with you can be found here: Filtering a DataSet from Code behind

I found this very helpful, and can see how this can be used in a wide range of customizations and at customers that really want to make use of EP for their instance. I recommend reading it, as I am sure you will get use of it and be able to start making use of it right away.

From the post:
"Enterprise portal allows filtering the list pages using the Filter control available on the EP Grid. The Filter control provides a UI to select the field, criteria and the values you want to filter the grid. It is also possible to add multiple conditions."

Thanks to all of you over at the EP team blog. Please keep this good content coming! Also check back soon!




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