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There were two major refrains by Microsoft executives at Convergence 2010:

–"Unify and simplify."
–"The Cloud."

Behind these refrains is an emerging technology and economic model that Microsoft executives are aggressively pursuing.

"There is a fundamental shift going on," Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft Business Division, told a group of analysts and journalists. And he strongly suggested that as part of the shift, Microsoft Dynamics will increasingly become less a discrete offering and more part of a diverse integrated package for users.

A key part of the shift is what Elop referred to as "the cloud computing economic model."  At first glance, the cloud model would seem to be a negative for Microsoft, he s…

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Many Microsoft partners unveiled new product releases and updates to coincide with Convergence 2010 held in Atlanta from April 24-27.  We reviewed some announcements earlier in the week as well.  Here’s a look at some more recent items:

Visual Mining, veteran provider of BI dashboard and data visualization solutions, launched its NetCharts Performance Dashboards (NCPD) solution for Microsoft Dynamics.  According to VP Mark Brandau, the NCPD solution is targeted first at GP and geared for the small to mid market. NCPD differentiates itself in the BI market, Brandau said, by enabling better end user control of data with the abili…

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If you’re looking for Dynamics-related economic indicators, Convergence
2010 suggests the economy is in an upward trend.

With 8,500 attendees, Convergence 2010 in Atlanta beat
initial projections of 7,500 attendees, says Craig Dewar, director of community
marketing, Microsoft Business Solutions. And this year’s attendance handily
beat last year’s recession-inhibited mark of 6,500 at the show in New Orleans;
its 200-plus exhibitors is also well in excess of the number last year, he
adds.

The economy still has a ways to go for Convergence to beat
the high-water mark of 9,600 achieved two years ago in Orlando.  "Microsoft is committed to the event," says
Dewar. "Next year it will be back in Atlanta," he adds, and his group is
evaluat…

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Microsoft will look for its ERP and CRM partners to become more industry focused, more scaled up, and better able to tell the full story of an integrated solution.  And partners who adopt this vision will benefit from more sales and marketing assistance.  This continued vertical focus and preference from Microsoft could lead to changes in the VAR-ISV relationship over the next year, as partners work to achieve the more selective and granular new partner competency standards.

"We need a channel that can deliver on [integrated solutions]," according to Jeff Edwards, Director of Dynamics Partner Strategy.  "It doesn’t take a giant organization to deliver this type of solution, either." 

Edwards sees the recent increase in partner consulti…

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In the face of stagnant  IT budgets through 2012, Kees Hertogh, Product Manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX laid out a vision of incremental enhancements, smoother upgrade capabilities, and expanded vertical solutions that encourage customers to "build a program for success" at the Dynamics General Session at Convergence 2010 in Atlanta.  Topics of the talk included a demonstration of AX for Retail, a look at AX "6" planned features, and the Dynamics AX vision for "2-tier" ERP deployments.

Dynamics Corporate Vice President Hal Howard joined Kees and addressed Microsoft’s recent vertical solution acquisitions.  "We’ll be up-leveling the solution in manufacturing in concert with a partner," Howard told the audience. "The retail solution …

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Microsoft partners have once again begun announcing new product releases and updates to coincide with Microsoft’s Convergence 2010 event kicking off tomorrow in Atlanta.  While there are doubtless more to come over the next four days, here are a few at the front of the pack that are worth noting.

ToolsGroup and MHT have unveiled SO99AX, a new demand planning and inventory optimization product for Microsoft Dynamics AX.

According to the companies, S099AX is the first product that adds inventory optimization to demand and replenishment planning for Microsoft Dynamics AX. The product helps users better predict demand, improve customer server as well as cut costs and inventories, the companies said.</…

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