My Big Fat Dynamics Book Review Post

Well here we are, June 1st everybody! Longer days, and more Sun - which is the best thing for me about summer time. All the extra time the Sun is out, gives me a chance that I can actually see it, and enjoy it. That is, when I can break away from focusing on client projects, or coming up with topics to write about for this blog. With that in mind, I wanted to kick off June with My Big Fat Dynamics Book Review Post!



I mean, this time of year - at least for me, increases my study and focus. There is a break in the summer, sure - but before and after it's when I do a lot of reading. So with that, lets get to our first book up for review. The book I'm referring to is: "Food Products Manufacturing Using Microsoft Dynamics AX" - By Dr. Scott Hamilton.



Dr. Hamilton's books have been reviewed, highlighted and posted about in the past on this blog. Further Scott himself has given a few quotes, as well as interviewed for us in the past. See.: Managing Process Manufacturing using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 by Dr. Scott Hamilton as well as Managing Your Supply Chain Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 - Book Review.

Let me start my review of Dr. Hamilton's latest book with a comment on the title. That is, Don't let it limit your expectations of what you can get from this book. Though the case studies used throughout the book are focused around FPM scenario's like Beer Manufacturing, or Orange Juice - the knowledge and content inside for processes, and conceptual thought for design scales beyond such focuses.

Easily throughout the book, topics that are covered for Sales Order Processing, Purchase Order Processing, or even parts if Item Definition, could apply across multiple verticals that an AX customer might exist in. That for me speaks not only to the power and flexibility of the product Microsoft Dynamics AX, but as well as the value of this book.



Dr. Hamilton, has given some insight through a series of articles he has written at MSDynamicsWorld.com, which you can locate here.: MSDW: The AX Solution Architect

Further, it should be mentioned that this book has no screen shots. Dr. Hamilton clearly states what level this book is meant for, as well as on page 6 of his book, where he refers to another book that is focused more on screen shot approach for AX product knowledge.

Finally, Dr. Hamilton clearly states the target reader for this book, and I agree with him. Both Consultant & Customer alike, or prospect to become a customer - all would benefit from the knowledge in this book. Specifically, for those customer's using the Process Industries Functional Model for AX 2012. I recommend this book, and that's why it's apart of today's Big Fat Dynamics Book Review Post!




Moving right along here, our next stop for this post is a walk on the Social Side, with fellow Dynamics Community contributor, Jon Rivers Microsoft Partner Channel Manager for Data Masons. His latest eBook, "Solving the Social Media Puzzle for Microsoft Dynamics End Users" is actually a counter part eBook to an earlier release focus on Social Media for Partners: Social Media for Microsoft Dynamics Partners.



With his latest entry into the social fray, Jon takes the time and talks to the value of social media, how it's being used within the Microsoft Dynamics Community, and helps answering questions like: “How can I leverage LinkedIn to connect to others within my vertical also using Microsoft Dynamics?”

Jon goes through, and creates an as-is chronicle of the current Dynamics Ecosystem landscape, for the majority of high value social tools that exist today. Further, Jon takes the time and touches on other tools on the rise, as well as an important point I try to do, in that "Personally, I like to keep my personal social media activity separate from business" - page 27.

Granted some might argue with the point of Facebook being low on the value metric, as there can be driven community marketing through it's network. Looking however how fast Facebook's stock has been dropping, Jon might be on-to-something. I will also acknowledge Jon including this blog, as well as some of my other social contribution's - and of course thank Jon for doing so - however the bigger point is back to the chronicle nature of the content around blogs. There are so many out there, just within the AX space along now, honestly I did not realize how many people where contributing to the body of knowledge for Microsoft Dynamics.

So, I recommend this book for those end users, new Customers, prospects and the alike who want an understanding of the social landscape that is the Dynamics Community - as well as how you can join in the conversation! Finally, Jon has been gracious enough to give this blog, and it's readers, a special coupon that will give you 100% Discount if used before June 30th. The discount code, for Smashwords is.: HJ87A

Make sure to visit the following link, so you can place your order with the 100% discount code today: Solving the Social Media Puzzle for Microsoft Dynamics End Users


Now we have two book reviews down for My Big Fat Dynamics Book Review Post, and you say could there be more? Yes there is! The body of knowledge that represents Microsoft Dynamics continues to grow, and we are seeing that more and more everyday. Now we have a new type of book even to review. That's right, the first ever iBook for the iPad focus on Microsoft Dynamics AX has been released.



This first milestone for the Dynamics Community, and yes I think it is one, was authored by Joel Leichty. You can find Joel, on the twitter-sphere located: @AXManuals.

Let me say, this book is a great introduction to "Trade" for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. It covers topics like Products, Items, Sales Order as well as Purchase Orders - from an introductory point-of-view. Joel does a great job of using some of the awesome features that makes iBooks on the iPad stand out. In a typical text book style, Joel takes us on a progression that will have any novice, feeling pretty confident when they see and use some of the common forms that make up basic trade & logistics for AX 2012. Further, what makes iBooks awesome, is the ability to have rich media content as part of the iBook itself. In this, Joel takes and walks through clearly voiced how-to's for the topic and area of focus he is covering.



All-in-all, Joel breaking Dynamics into the iBook world, is well worth anyone who has an iPad and is needing introduction level functional use and knowledge for "Trade" with AX 2012. You can purchase Joel's iBook, from iTunes as the following location.: Dynamics AX 2012 Trade

Well, I was not kidding that was one Fat Dynamics Book Review Post. I would like to thank each of the above authors, and everyone else, who continues to help grow the Dynamics Community as a whole. What's also amazing to me, and for sure a sign of the times, is I started this post with a traditional paperback book, and then moved into the generational shifts of sharing knowledge from eBook on to iBook. All three are great ways to share knowledge, and for you to gain it!

Well that's all I have in store for this Big Fat Dynamics Book Review Post. This should help fill up your reading list, and give you or your customers some value-added books, in all three of the current popular flavors! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - and check back soon as next week we continue to dive into the Dynamics World we all live in. Till Next Time!
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AXUG - From A Nice-Have To Must-Have: Social Media For Microsoft Dynamics Community Members

I wanted to take the time and highlight a specific AXUG Webinar event taking place next week. AXUG From A Nice-Have To Must-Have: Social Media For Microsoft Dynamics Community Members.

This event is being headlined by none other than Dynamics Social Media King, Jon Rivers! You can connect with Jon Rivers, via the following ways:
LinkedIn: Jon Rivers Profile
Twitter: @Jon_Rivers
Blog: Datamson's blog

From the event details:
"Don’t miss out and join this session to learn from a known expert in the Dynamics social space. Jon Rivers of Data Masons Software will share his insight into social media trends and explain why his company made the decision to integrate social media as a major part of their business strategy. Jon will discuss how Dynamics community members can leverage social media to network 24/7/365, gain knowledge from other professionals and stay in-the-know on Microsoft's latest announcements and initiatives."

I recommend anyone wanting to leverage Jon's social media expertise sign up for the event. It's perfect timing as well, just before Convergence 2012!

That' all for now, Till Next Time!

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The Power of the Dynamics Community

I wanted to kick off this weeks series of post, with a focus around the Microsoft Dynamics Community and the power and value it brings. We have a really awesome example of how all of us involved in the community, work together to drive value that helps us all.



Recently I took a lead, from Palle Agermark with his post that focused on the new ability in AX 2012 X++, in which certain keywords, while coding, can have code snippets added. In that highlight post, in which I exposed the xppSource class and it's use, I built upon what Palle had started in his post.



This, then having a specific topic, had two bloggers and active Dynamics Community members in helping give a combined value that the two articles, by themselves, could not achieve. Well taking this a step further, fellow peer and blogger Joris de Gruyter continued to add to the value of this topic by diving deeper into a great example of using code snippets: Code Snippets in AX 2012



Joris gives us a great example, in his further dive into this topic, with adding real value in creating your own code templates that can speed up your development needs an process. He further, correctly explains, that the concept is not new to AX, but the use of xppSource for enabling this is.

I just thought this was a perfect time to point out, that working together in the Dynamics Ecosystem like this, building upon each others knowledge is what sets us apart from other communities. Being able to work towards a common goal and helping the general Dynamics users, be that Partner or Customer, is just really awesome. Many thanks for Palle and Joris in helping show of we all add, and can work together to build out this Dynamics community that belongs to each of us.

That's all for this post, but check back soon as I have a lot of post ready to be released, covering Conv12, BI, AX 2012 Upgrades and of course looking towards that bright Dynamics future! Till next time!

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Upgrading to AX 2012 - What are the important questions you have?

With the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 into full swing, the Official Microsoft Dynamics Community site, has started something new, in helping get the community questions that are important front and center, and answered by Partner experts.

The first round of focused questions starts today, and ends this Friday. So you have a week to get your questions in for this round. I've been asked to participate in this new offering from Microsoft, and I think it's a great way to get some Ecosystem / Community questions that mean the most to companies, answered.

This is a great way to interact with the Dynamics Community in a multidimensional manner. These type questions and answers will be facilitated by Microsoft, through the Community blog, and be answered by a panel of selected experts, to help foster knowledge, community awareness and growth.

So please use the following link: Have Questions about Upgrading to Dynamics AX 2012? Get Your Answers Here! Submit your questions between now and Friday on AX 2012 upgrading. Once all the answers are up, for each time we have one of these session, I will reference back the highlight post, as well as when the answers are up.

That's all for now, but I have a whole lot more to cover this week.

thanks,
Brandon

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New Community Article: To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade. Is that the Question?

Well as promised, I have my new community article up, for the Official Microsoft Dynamics Community Site.

A direct link to the article can be found here.: To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade. Is that the Question?

From a higher level, most all technical aspect aside, in this article I try to lay the ground work in which companies can use, to ask themselves what is the right choice? Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

From this article, I will link back to, and build more details on my blog here. Some technical, and some not.

The end result, is meant to try and drive the right decision for you and your company!

Enjoy, and see you next time!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Guest Column: The Value of Upgrading

Well today, I finally am feeling somewhat better, and took the time to write a new guest column on the Microsoft Dynamics Community, offical site. A direct link to that new column entry can be found here.: The Value of Upgrading

I hope that I captured the importance and reason a company would care about their Dynamics investment, and hope that this gets companies thinking about making sure they are asking and planning to helkp stay current and get the most out of their AX investment.

This comes in the same week, that Dynamics AX Rollup 6 has been released! Dynamics AX 2009 Rollup 6 has been released to Partner Source and Customer Source

That's all for this week, and next week is a short turkey week! I will be posting next week as that great Turkey day approaches! Till next time!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Back Again, and a new Executive Insight Post to cover

Well you may have noticed that I have not posted in a week. I actually got away from the computer and went to the Gulf. We typically go 4th of July week, however with all the horrible affects of the BP oil "bath" going on, and their inability to do anything about it, my family and I decided to support our Gulf area this past holiday weekend. Which, I must say the beaches are white sand, the water was clear, and the food was amazing!

With that, I totally stepped away, and got some nice R&R. Now I am back at it, and will be coming with full force!

To help kick off the return to blogging, I have a new Executive Insight post to cover, from the Microsoft Community site.:
Harness the Power of Services for the Dynamic Business

In this post, David Pennington, Director of Microsoft Dynamics Annuity Product Management, talks about what it really means to be a "Dynamic Business" and how Microsoft is enabling this.

From the post.:
"I appreciate the opportunity to reach out to all of you in the Microsoft Dynamics Community to expand on embracing the concept and vision of the “Dynamic Business”... ...Although, maintenance programs aren’t always viewed as the most glamorous topic, the Business Ready Enhancement Plan is a customer’s direct connection to Microsoft and the centerpiece of the pillars Kirill and Mike Ehrenberg alluded to when speaking of the “Dynamic Business”."

And...
"Behind the great products and innovation, there are people who drive the results. At Microsoft, we believe that people, when properly equipped with the right tools, can surmount even the most complex business challenge. This is why we’ve created over 1250 interactive training courses known as eLearning; making it a valuable way for users to continue ongoing education, increasing their capabilities, knowledge and productivity. The Enhancement plan gives customers access to these courses, 24x7, with unlimited coursework, helping them stay ahead of the learning curve. In addition, customers have visibility to the tens of thousands of technical articles written by Microsoft Dynamics Support Engineers, helping them easily answer questions on their own. These types of activities help customers ramp up quicker, allowing them to have an immediate impact on their business."

You can see how these Executive Insight post build upon each other, and how the further we proceed in time, each post helps bring into perspective the vision Microsoft has, and the actual meaning behind the tag lines, like "Dynamic Business".

I hope each and everyone of you are doing well. Look here for more post to come!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Highlighted on Dynamics Community Site

Today, I was highlighted on the Dynamics Community Site, Community.Dynamics.com, for the interview I did with Microsoft's Mike Ehrenberg.



I feel very honored to have some of my work highlighted on the home page of the Microsoft Dynamics Community site.

The team behind this site puts in a lot of effort into trying to foster and grow the Dynamics community. This includes AX, GP, CRM, SL, NAV, and more! Shane, Nick and the gain do a great job, and I am honored to a part of the community.

The Dynamics Community site has all kinds of information, technical and functional, and is very useful. The forums, blog feeds, articles, Microsoft team members. It's all about fostering growth, sharing information, and giving the ability for someone to find what they are looking for, and learn something they did not know.

I want to say thanks to the whole Dynamics Community team! Thank You!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Blog Spotlight: Dynamics AX Daily

From time to time, I get to find new sources that are being created on the web for helping foster and build up the Dynamics AX community.

One such recent one, is the Dynamics AX Daily blog.

This blog appears to have been started this Jan., of 2010, and as it's name suggests post daily about Dynamics AX. Specifically related to the technical side of Dynamics AX. This includes code samples, tech tips, AOT based post, etc.

This post are specific post, to the point. For example, look at the following post.:
X++ real vs numeric(32,16)

From that post.:
"It is an interesting fact that X++ real type is not fully compatible with the table field real type. The problem is that in the database numeric(32,16) data type is used to store fields of the real type[in X++]. Numeric(32,16) data type stores numbers with no more than 32 digits total and no more than 16 digits after the decimal point..."



Now I have not ever ran into this issue with any real pratical use, but it's very interesting.

For sure it's worth bookmarking this new Dynamics AX technical source. It's to the point, and interesting at the very least.

Thanks to whomever is behind this blog, and for helping build up the Dynamics AX community! That's all for now, check back soon as next week I have a whole lot of great post coming out!




"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Dynamicsworld - Microsoft Dynamics Top 100 Influential People

Well,

I just came across something very interesting. There is a new website called DynamicsWorld

This site, as part of it's launch, has created a list of the top 100 Microsoft Dynamics most influential people in the world. How this was done is briefly talked about, and I am not sure the science behind it, as the actual data for the final ranking is not provided.

However I found that I was listed on there, at number 83.:

83

Brandon George

Microsoft Technical Evangilist Evangelist, promoting the Microsoft platforms, focused on the Dynamics AX platform, SQL Server 2005, SharePoint Services. Most famous for the blog dynamics-ax.blogspot.com which now is regularly read by 2000 people.


Here is the direct link to that page: The list continues with those from number 61 through to number 100

I also focus on a lot of other things that surrond Dynamics AX, and SQL Server 2008, not just SQL Server 2005. Plus not sure how they got the 2000 people being regular readers? This blog, has on average, of over 7k+ unique vistors a month now for 2009, and growing! (Thanks to all the readers!)

Either way I feel honored to be listed, there are a lot of "big" names on this list that I am next too. Thank you DynamicsWorld.co.uk!

:-)

The following is listed on the page as how this list was compiled.:

1) How many people are affected in Microsoft Dynamics by their decisions.

2) How many people do they have regular contact with in the Microsoft Dynamics Community.

3) How long have they been involved in the Microsoft Dynamics Community.

4) How many certifications do they have.

5) How much positive feedback we got from our forums and voting phonelines

"Our list editors were Ashen Ali, Steven Alspberg, Wiraiwan Changhai,Trevor Ishmail, Callum Murray and Harry Patterson."


Well lets see what this site ends up being about. Interesting start their DynamicsWorld.co.uk, and good luck!

Check back soon, as more great post are coming.




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Dynamic Communities Inc. and MSDynamicsWorld.com in Content-

Fresh off the presses:

BRIGHTON, Mass., September 3, 2008 -- Two independent organizations focused on serving users of Microsoft Dynamics products—Dynamics Communities Inc. and MSDynamicsWorld.com—have teamed up to provide top-quality content to their constituencies.

Dynamic Communities Inc. is the administrative support organization for four user groups based on the four main Microsoft Dynamics products—Dynamics AX User Group (AXUG), Dynamics GP User Group (GPUG), Dynamics CRM User Group (CRMUG), and Dynamics NAV User Group (NAVUG).

The collaboration is taking several forms, including the addition of a news section based on articles from MSDynamicsWorld.com within each user group newsletter. Additionally, MSDynamicsWorld.com reporters will be able to participate in appropriate user group discussions and interview the thought leaders of the groups to enhance the published news articles. Also, the organizations are collaborating on the upcoming gathering of user group members for the Summits of the AX, GP, and CRM User Groups and the Forum of the NAV User Group—all being held in Las Vegas between Sept. 16-24.

According to Andy Hafer, executive director of Dynamic Communities, “We have been striving to add value for our members on a number of fronts. Working with the folks at MSDynamicsWorld.com is a key addition. It enables us to offer a rapidly expanding selection of high-value news about Microsoft Dynamics industry, issues, and challenges, using the reporting expertise of MSDynamicsWorld.com.”

Adam Berezin, MSDynamicsWorld.com’s CEO, stated: “This collaboration with the user groups supported by Dynamic Communities introduces us to a wide variety of committed Dynamics users, who can help us improve our level of reporting and analysis. We look forward to maximizing the value of this for the benefit of Dynamics users around the world.”

For further information, contact:

Andy Hafer, CEO, Dynamic Communities Inc. Andy.hafer@dynamiccommunities.com

Adam Berezin, CEO, MSDynamicsWorld.com aberezin@msdynamicsworld.com




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