A Sunrise over Convergence 2013

Well it's a fine sunny, near spring day where I am. The birds and trees are starting to awaken, beckoning on the warmth as our world for the northern hemisphere tilts towards our solar system's star. This also is the time of year in which a lot of us within the Dynamics Solar system collide with one another at the annual Microsoft Dynamics Convergence Conference. This year it's being held in beautiful New Orleans!



While there will be plenty of chances for bonified beignets & beads - the real focus and value is around the connections and networking that is gained from attending this grand event. Thus beings another annual tradition of mine, an interview with President & Owner of Sunrise Technologies, John Pence.



Like all traditions, things are meant to adapt, change, and grow giving new life to new projects. This tradition is no different, and so for the first time this interview was captured on our company blog .: Implementing Great Ideas (Sunrise Technologies Company Blog).

To read the full interview, please make use of the following resource.: Brandon George Interviews Sunrise Technologies President, John Pence, about the Upcoming Microsoft Convergence Event.

There are some great nuggets of information contained within this interview, looking at this event from one of the leading VARs and from its President & Owners perspective. For example, I asked John to share about what he is looking forward to attending from a session point of view. John list a few great one's, but then finally states.: "The most important session is of course 'general networking' which I will be doing all day, every day. That is really the best reason to attend Convergence"

Some further tidbits of information are around Sunrise's efforts in hosting live demo's of the retail functionality that now comes as part of Dynamics AX 2012 R2. Further what is near and dear to my heart, John's take on what to look for around Business Intelligence.

It's a great read, and I hope it get you into the mood and ready to Geaux Dynamics Style at Convergence 2013. Make sure to stay tuned and follow my tweets and blog post. This year enlist the MVP's that are attending in a more formal way for coverage of the event. So there will be more than you can handle in one day. If your attending great, if not - you should be able to keep up and stay excited still.

Well that's all for this post, I hope each and every one of you have a blessed Dynamics filled day! Til Next Time!
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Interview with Amber Kirkman, Director of Marketing - Sunrise Technologies

Recently I blogged about A lot of Dynamics Mojo going on.

In that, I highlighted some upocoming Dynamics AX related events. Well to help dive a little deeper into some of these events, from a Parents point of view, I took some time to, virtually, sit down with Amber Kirkman, Director of Marketing - Sunrise Technologies.

The point of this interview was to get insight from Amber on Sunrise's point of view for some of these upcoming events, what is means to Sunrise, and the value these bring.

The following is the result of that interview.:



1. Amber, as Director of Marketing at Sunrise, can you give some insights into the importance that Sunrise places on such events as the AXUG and others like the ERP Vendor shootout?

"Events such as AXUG Summit, ERP Vendor Shootout, and our Lunch n’ Learn for textile, apparel, and footwear, as great ways for Sunrise to meet and interact with our Microsoft Dynamics AX prospective and current customers. They are also great opportunities for current and prospective customers to network and learn from one another.

AXUG summit is a very important event for us. Summit is our opportunity to thank our customers for their support, engage in their discussions with other users to hear their questions and suggestions for the future of Microsoft Dynamics AX, and educate them on our additional solutions and services related to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

ERP Shootout is an exciting event where we have the opportunity to demonstrate Microsoft Dynamics AX for manufacturing and distribution up against other ERP vendors. Each vendor uses the same script so an attendee really gets an unbiased apples-to-apples comparison of potential ERP products.

The Lunch n’ Learn for textile, apparel, and footwear is a new event for Sunrise in the New York area. We decided to do something different for our prospective clients located in the NY metro area where they could come together for a lunch to network, hear customer success stories, and really see firsthand how Microsoft Dynamics AX is a great fit for their industry."

2. Can you give us some details about the upcoming Dynamics Community AXUG Summit, and Sunrise's role in this event?

"Presented by the Dynamics AX User Group (AXUG), the AXUG Summit is the premier annual conference for Microsoft Dynamics AX users, AXUG Partners and key Microsoft Dynamics AX personnel. Summit 2010 will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Orlando from October 18 - 22. Optional training is held on Monday, October 18th and Friday, October 22nd.

The AXUG Summit features a wealth of information-packed Educational Sessions and Role-Based Tracks that deliver Microsoft Dynamics AX knowledge and experience designed to help organizations optimize the functionality, flexibility, performance and return on investment benefit offered by Microsoft Dynamics AX. Sunrise will be participating in the Summit and exhibiting during the expo, booth # 413. We are encouraging all of our Microsoft Dynamics AX customers to attend. It’s such a great event for our customers to network with other Microsoft Dynamics AX users and to learn more about the future of Microsoft Dynamics AX."

3. How do you think such events as the Lunch 'n Learn help current or possible customers?

"The Lunch n’ Learn will give prospective customers the opportunity to learn more about key functionality that is inherent in Microsoft Dynamics AX for their industry. Attendees will also have an opportunity to hear more about how our textile, apparel, and footwear customers have successfully implemented Microsoft Dynamics AX with Sunrise and some key value points that an integrated ERP solution provides their industry. Attendees will walk away with a customer case study from a leading apparel company using Microsoft Dynamics AX today and the information that they need to champion a project of their own."

4. What is the most exciting parts of these different events for you and why?

"Meeting people from the different companies and learning more about what makes them successful is the most exciting part of these events for me. I really enjoy hearing from the attendees about their product lines and the direction that they are taking their business. It’s also exciting to discuss the challenges and give suggestions of ways to improve business processes when using Microsoft Dynamics AX."

"It’s exciting to be able to offer so many opportunities for companies to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics AX and Sunrise Technologies. I encourage each and every business decision maker, if you are thinking about making some investments in your business in the next 12-24 months; join us for one of our events. I think that the information that you receive will make the investment to attend, worth it."

The following is a short Bio of Amber Kirkman, to give you an idea of her background and position with Sunrise.:
Amber has spent the last 6 years marketing Microsoft Dynamics AX for manufacturing, distribution, and retail for Sunrise Technologies. Before Sunrise, Amber was a marketing manager for retail property management company and a community director for a leading non-profit organization. Amber holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, with Departmental Honors, from Lenoir-Rhyne University. Amber is married and has one child. Amber enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, volunteering in the local community, and golf.

I would like to thank Amber for taking the time out of her busy schedule to do this interview. I think it really shows the value a Nationally Manager Partner like Sunrise puts on such events. Mix this, with my interview with Sunrise's own John Pence (Interview with John Pence on the AXUG Summit) about the AXUG summit, and I think you can get a good idea of the value Sunrise puts on these events.

I think its important to understand the value of these events from a customer and partner point of view. That is the Dynamics Ecosystem, Customers, Partners and Microsoft. These events, along with other resources, help foster and grow the Dynamics Community. Help keep it being, excuse the pun, Dynamic in nature!

That's all for now, it seems as though a lot of interviews are taking place right now. I believe this should be a good sign as to the amount of events that will be taking place for Dynamics and Dynamics AX over the next 6-8 months.

Check back soon as more to come!

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Interview with John Pence on the AXUG Summit

Recently, I had the chance to virtually sit down with John Pence, President of Sunrise Technologes, Inc. (www.sunriseconsult.com) to talk about the upcoming AXUG summit.



The following is the result of that interview.:



1. John, with AXUG Summit 2010 just around the corner, what can of value does this conference bring to the Dynamics AX community?

"I think this is a big year for Dynamics AX and the user group. With the release of AX 6.0 due late next Spring AXUG Summit is a great chance to network with peers & Microsoft about their plans for the new release, what type of improvements have others seen in previous upgrades, and in general what’s working out there. I think the Town Hall session will be huge this year."

2. John looking at this from an attendee point of view, what are some sessions you are interested in and why?

"I always look forward to the Town Hall session. The interaction between a room full of knowledgeable Dynamics AX users, and the equally knowledgeable Microsoft executives, is always a great learning experience. In addition I am going to be attending as many of the BI sessions as I can. That is an area where many of the newer Microsoft technologies are converging and providing a lot of value to our AX clients."

3. Looking at this from a Partners point of view, what are some of the highlights and take aways you have from attending AXUG summits from years past?

"First and foremost, it provides an opportunity to network with our existing customer base. Every year we get great feedback on how things are going, what can be improved upon, and interesting best practice tips. Also important is networking with the Microsoft resources that are at the Summit."

4. Being a partner that will showcase this year during the AXUG summit, what will Sunirse be talking about?

"I am thrilled you brought this up. We are focusing on an important new technology, the iPad, and how it can compliment Dynamics AX in a really exciting way. I believe the iPad is an outstanding Mobile Application platform that is being adopted at light speed in the business world. Sunrise will be demoing how Dynamics AX can run on an iPad via a RDP connection, and a native iPad application directly interacting with a Dynamics AX instance."

John's closing statement.:

"I feel that every year AXUG Summit really delivers a tremendous value to its attendees. The networking opportunities with peers and Microsoft executives is always worth the price of the conference. The breakout sessions are almost always useful and based on real world experience, and the Town Hall session is not to be missed."



I would like to take the time to thank John for his thoughts. I know I am really looking forward to this years AXUG summit. I will be on-hand myself, and am scheduled to help with the above mentioned iPad demo, along with two other sessions on the Cloud.

That's all for now, but check back soon as more to come!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

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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Sunrise over at Microsoft Convergence - 2009

I sat down, virtually, with John Pence, President and Owner of Sunrise Technologies, Inc. to talk with him about Convergence this year, Sunrise being at Convergence and the current economic pains the entire world seems to be suffer through.

Here is that interview:

John, Sunrise is a Bronze level supporter of the Microsoft Converegnce 2009 conference being held at New Orleans next week. What can we expect to see and hear from Sunrise this year?

"We are happy to once again be a Bronze level sponsor at Convergence. We will have our large Sunrise booth at the conference, as well as a large contingent of Sunrise’s sales and marketing team. Convergence is a great chance for us to reach out to our existing customer base and take the “pulse” of how their AX installations are doing. New this year is a booth from our sister company, Huamei Soft, at this year’s Convergence. We hope to raise awareness that this is a resource available for use for customers as well as other partners."

Convergence is usually a very big event in terms of Dynamics AX, and it really focuses on the road map, and also useful sessions for those attending. What are some highlights you expect to see from Microsoft this year that you think our customers and possible future customers will be most interested in?

"I think Microsoft will continue to emphasize the future direction of SaaS / Software+Services availability in the product line, especially in the CRM space and the low end of the ERP market. I believe Microsoft will continue to push on the BI strategy and more clearly define the migration of the Performance Point platform to SharePoint. There will probably not be a lot of “new” around AX this year given the recent release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009."

Currently the entire world is in an economic downturn. This means that more than every companies are trying to find ways to save cost and improve sales and productivity. What makes Sunrise such a solid Microsoft Partner, and how can Sunrise and Dynamics AX help our current and new customers with lowering TCO and improving the bottom line?

"That is a great question! It is all about reducing cost and surviving in this current economy. First, AX is an incredible value for a full strength, integrated ERP application. It competes very favorably with SAP & Oracle, but with much less upfront cost, and lower implementation costs. Second, Sunrise specifically saves our clients money by executing properly during implementations. We do not over-staff our projects and create an excellent balance between the customer’s resources and our own. We emphasis knowledge transfer and insuring that our customers can support the application without us, all of this saves our clients money. We emphasize speed and a brisk pace that reduces the typical ERP implementation time. Finally, our offshore development model with HuameiSoft insures a low cost of development for the implementation."

"Lastly, but a significant value add that Sunrise brings to every ERP implementation is our “roots” in supply chain consulting. This means we are always on the look-out for ways to improve the business processes of our clients, not just implement software for them. In the long run, this may be the most significant cost savings of all."

Closing Comments:

"Convergence 2009 will be a great opportunity for us to connect with our customers, network with a host of Microsoft resources, and search out new best practices that we can bring to Sunrise. This event is always the single best conference we attend during the year."

Well I would like to thank John for taking the time and talking with me about Convergence this year, and if your interested in talking with John or the rest of the Sunrise Team, make sure to visit them while at Convergence or use the Contact Us Page at Sunrise's web site.

Check back soon, and enjoy Convergence this year!

Information about Sunrise Technologies, Inc:

Sunrise Technologies is an experienced supply chain consulting organization and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP solution. Sunrise offers its customers a combined expertise of business knowledge, strong project management capability, and powerful business software solutions.

Sunrise Technologies exists to help enterprises seize opportunities in creating a new IT framework and gain competitive advantage with the Microsoft Dynamics AX solution. Microsoft Dynamics AX includes integrated functionality across finance, supply chain management, e-commerce, customer relationship management, and human resource management. Sunrise will lead your organization through design, development, and implementation of the entire solution.


Web Site: www.SunriseConsult.com


Information about Xi'an Huamei Soft, Ltd.:

Xi'an Huamei Soft Co., Ltd., a Sino-US joint-venture has headquarters offices in Xi'an, China and with Dallas, Texas, US. Huamei Soft specializes in the Microsoft Dynamics solutions. Our company is dedicated to providing our global customers low-cost technical off-shoring services, while delivering outstanding customer service and world class quality.

Web Site: www.huameisoft.com





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NGC® Enters Strategic Alliance with Sunrise Technologies

Sunrise Technologies, Inc. did a press release today, about starting a new Alliance, with NGC, New Generation Computing.

This alliance brings forth a new relationship for Sunrise customers and future customers in the Textile - Apparel - Footwear verticals, as well as furniture. This is done through the offerings of Sunrise expert knowledge of Dynamics AX ERP platform, their offering of the TAF Add-on solution and deep knolwedge of those listed verticals from a functional business aspect. Now with NGC's e-SPS and e-PLM offerings that will feed into a Dynamics AX install, it really helps bring a full end-to-end solution for clients.

Just read the following from the PR:
"Under the terms of the agreement, Sunrise Technologies will offer NGC’s e-PLM® for product lifecycle management and e-SPS® for global sourcing and visibility along with Microsoft Dynamics, allowing Sunrise Technologies to offer a complete, end-to-end solution for the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP market. The agreement opens up an important new sales channel for NGC software, while enabling Sunrise to offer NGC’s market-leading PLM and global sourcing solutions to its customers. Both NGC and Sunrise Technologies are Microsoft Gold Partners, representing the highest level of competency and expertise with Microsoft technologies.

“Our partnership with NGC brings world-class PLM capabilities to the Microsoft Dynamics AX market,” said John Pence, president, Sunrise Technologies. “This is a capability that our customers have asked for, and we are delighted to be able to offer a complete AX solution encompassing ERP, PLM and global sourcing.”

“NGC is excited to partner with Sunrise Technologies and to further extend the reach of e-PLM and e-SPS into the Sunrise customer base,” said Alan Brooks, president, NGC. “We look forward to a strong and successful relationship.”"

I took the time and emailed the President (and my bosses boss) of Sunrise Technologies, Inc. John Pence. I asked him if he could give more details about what this meant for Sunrise, and this is his reply:

"(Sunrise is) currently building the interfaces to 2 applications that NGC sells that manage product definition and sourcing. NGC’s e-SPS product has a dominant position as the software of choice for apparel companies looking for advanced sourcing management. Their e-PLM product serves as a front-end to that product and provides specification development and PLM functions, tailored for apparel. NGC’s base is only in apparel, but we see a lot of potential uses in other industries, like furniture. NGC has an excellent reputation in the market and this alliance is a big win for us (Sunrise)." - John Pence

This is exciting news, as this offering could really help bridge the solution GAP for clients, and I am excited about getting into these offerings and seeing how far we can push the integration envolope with this new alliance.

As usual, check back soon!






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