Sunrise over Convergence 2010

Recently I sat down (virtually) with President and Owner John Pence, of Sunrise Technologies, Inc., the Microsoft VAR I am a part of, to talk about Convergence 2010. I wanted to get John's thoughts on convergence, how important convergence is, and what topics he thinks will be hot ones this year.

The following is that interview.:



1.) John, for Sunrise what does Convergence mean?

"First and foremost it is a chance to connect with many of our customers from around the country. I personally look forward to this aspect of Convergence the most. Second, it is a great opportunity for Sunrise to connect with many of our Microsoft colleagues and share where Sunrise is headed and what is happening at Microsoft. Third, it is a great opportunity to learn about products in the Microsoft/Dynamics suite that could be incremental to our core Dynamics AX practice."

2.) What information will Sunrise be sharing at it's booth at Convergence this year?

"We have a number of new initiatives this year that we will be discussing at the booth. We are releasing in June a new version our industry leading Apparel & Footwear Template for Dynamics AX. We will also be releasing in 3rd quarter a new version of our WMS solution. We will be celebrating American Apparel winning the Customer Excellence award this year, and we are one of the launch partners for Microsoft’s new Retail Solution."

3.) What are some big things you expect Microsoft to focus on at this years Convergence?

"I this SAAS will continue to get a lot of discussion in terms of future product direction. In a similar vein, Microsoft will be discussing quite a bit the various business services they well be offering via the cloud. As always, there will be product road maps for all of the various Dynamics products, and how those road maps relate to the broader Microsoft story. I think BI and business reporting will again be a big focus this year."

4.) If you had to tell a CIO some key sessions that you would recommend, what would those sessions be and why?

"I have not seen a detailed set of sessions for Convergence yet, so I can’t answer this specifically, but the sessions I will be paying the most attention to are: 1. Latest product road maps for ERP, CRM, and BI products. 2. The major keynotes because they are always good, especially Ballmer. 3. The hands on demos in the Expo Hall. I probably learn more by just going to the Microsoft area and getting demos of anything I haven’t seen yet. 4. Spend some quality time looking at ISV solutions available for Dynamics. There are always some great new products being featured at Convergence.

One last point I would like to make is the biggest value to Convergence for me is the chance to network with other people who share your interests. I learn the most at Convergence from just talking to people. It is a great chance to talk with our customers, other Dynamics AX VAR’s and ISV’s, and of course Microsoft. It is really the only event all year that brings this constituency together and provides that kind of opportunity. I always get new ideas from comments made at the various break-out sessions or technical updates. The user group sessions (AXUG in our case) are always excellent at Convergence and provide another great chance to network. In short, you just have to be there!"

John Pence's Bio.:
John has spent the last 29 years tackling large scale IT and supply chain projects for a wide range of corporations. John spent the first 15 years of his career working his way up from programmer trainee to CIO at Sara Lee Corporation. Along the way he held numerous IT and non-IT jobs, including Director of Planning and Distribution for Sara Lee’s 400+ retail stores, serving as the logistics partner to Wal-Mart, and CIO of Champion Products. In 1994 John left Sara Lee to found Sunrise Technologies, a company focused on bringing advanced supply chain solutions to the apparel and textile industries. Sunrise Technologies has grown into a Gold Certified Microsoft partner specializing in the Dynamics AX ERP solution. Sunrise is headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC, with offices in Dallas, TX, Los Angeles, CA, and Xi’an China.

John has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Economics, with Highest Honors University of California, Santa Barbara, 1979. He Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Economics, with Highest Honors University of California, Santa Barbara, 1979.

I would like to thank John for taking the time and sharing information about Convergence, the importance of Convergence, and what Sunrise will be sharing.

You can read more about Sunrise at Convergence, with the following press release.: Sunrise Technologies Shines at Microsoft Convergence 2010

You can also come see us, at booth 520! I will be at Convergence myself this year, and will also be at the booth from time to time throughout Convergence.

That's all for now, but I have a lot of good post coming out this week, including a dive back into the Cloud!






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