From Greg's Head

Many of our clients and friends utilize an external reporting tool for their Navision application called Jet Reports. In response to these inquiries, PKF Texas has agreed to host a Jet Reports Training class, July 11-13, 2006, in our Houston office. This class, led by a certified trainer from Jet Reports, is the same class taught at the Jet Report Headquarters in Portland, Ore. The course outline is shown in this link to this message.

The list price for this course, in Portland, is $1,495 for the first attendee and $1,395 for additional attendees. To make this even more affordable, PKF has decided to offer additional discounts to our clients should you choose to attend in groups.

For PKF Texas clients:
First attendee: $1,495
Additional attendees from the same company: $750 each for a max of 3 per company.

That is nearly a 50 percent savings on the additional attendees, plus there is no travle, hotel or expenses.

For non-clients:
$1,495 for the first attendee and $1,195 for additional attendees. Again, no travel, hotel or expenses.

There are only eight slots available, so get your reservations in soon! They will go fast. PKF Texas Navision customers will get first priority for during the initial 48 hour notice period of the training class.

Register by e-mail ; registration due June 2; payment due June 19.

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While I'm wrestling with hot weather in Houston and an all-around Monday feeling, I thought I'd share with you some of Bill Gates' musings from the recent Convergence meeting in Dallas.

In his presentation, he demonstrated Dynamics NAV - which he really likes. Click on this link and bring up his Convergence Web cast for viewing.

See you later this week!

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Friday Update
Well, I visited with Doug Burgum and got the lowdown on the future of Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
He said its all the rage …
Just kidding, fellow Dynamics consultants.

I attended Doug's keynote session and was pleased with what I saw and heard regarding the future for Microsoft Dynamics. A $500 million advertising and air cover campaign is about to be unleashed. They also showed us some of the early work on the product, which is directed at creating branding and awareness of the Dynamics brand. I thought it was pretty good work.

During a lighthearted part of his talk, Doug was in charge of rumor control and pointed out some falsehoods and corrections to various "rumors" floating out there. It’s nice to see a senior executive who doesn't get too full of himself.

Doug opened and closed his presentation with a warm "Thank You" to all the folks who have been working hard to make MBS a success.

South Central Region Reception
I made it over to the Hyatt to attend the reception for the South Central Region, and found out when I got there that it was a little bigger than the South Central Region ... it turned out to be the whole Central Region. I met several Microsoft Partners and Microsoft Team members, and we all had a good time visiting and learning more.

I looked across the room and who do I see? Doug Burgum and Todd Cione from the Central Region visiting with partners.

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Well, I am here at Convergence and it seems that every year Microsoft sets a new attendance record. Sitting in the community lounge area, I noted that this year we are expecting in excess of 7,000 attendees at Convergence. That's up from a little less than 4,000 attendees in 2003.

Some things are better organized, and as you might expect some are not. Check-in was a breeze thanks to some smart thinking, but when a young lady directed me to open portal, things went amiss. Poor marks to the signage and coordination folks, who had some people going in two directions to hear the kickoff session this morning.

Listening to the speakers this morning – Jeff Young, Tami Reller and Satya Nadella – I was impressed with what I saw and heard concerning the Microsoft Dynamics product line and the future investments that are coming down the line. As a Navision reseller, (oops, Dynamics NAV reseller), I was pretty jazzed, but what is coming in version 5.0 of NAV product? Pretty cool stuff and something that I know our clients will like to see and use.

The kickoff Dynamics NAV session this morning with Mogens Elsberg (product manager) and Kim Ibfelt, was great. I saw some additional features of 5.0 up close and I was impressed. Lots of features and role-based activity coming to the user community. And, the interaction with Office is going to be fantastic! I know our clients will love it.

I also heard some great news today that some time in the past 30 days, NAV sold its 1 millionth concurrent session for end users. That's a great milestone for the NAV product … and NAV continues to be the number one seller in the Dynamics product group.

Well I have to leave now to go hear the Dynamics guru himself, Doug Burgum, pontificate about the future. This is usually pretty entertaining stuff. Later, the South Central Microsoft Business Partner group is holding a reception and I must stop by to see what tidbits they offer.

Stay tuned, and yes, Gates will be demonstrating Dynamics NAV 5.0 on Monday!

Posted In Navision , Week in Geek , Observations 3 Comments Permalink

Microsoft Business Solutions is “re-branding” its four ERP systems (Navision, Axapta, Solomon and Great Plains) all to Dynamics (Dynamics NAV, Dynamics AX, Dynamics SL and Dynamics GP). Microsoft has a number of reasons for these name changes, including communicating the message that, in the long-term, there is one product line with a variety of feature choices. Our Navision clients will be pleased to know that Dynamics NAV is the best-selling Dynamics option. That, in turn, is leading to more attention from Microsoft and investment in Dynamics NAV.

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We told you last month that Bill Gates will be at Microsoft Convergence in Dallas later this month. We were just told that Bill will be demonstrating some of the new features of Navision 5.0 when he makes his presentation about the future of Microsoft Business Solution applications at the conference.

For those Microsoft Business Solution Partners that work within the Microsoft Dynamics NAV channel, this is a huge news event!

If what we have been told is true, it’s one of the most formal recognitions of the fantastic investment Microsoft acquired a few years ago when they purchased Navision. Not lost upon many of us in the channel is the fact that Dynamics NAV software (formerly called Navision) continues to show very strong new license sales and new customers, both in the United States and around the world, with its growth and flexibility.

If you are currently a PKF Texas Navision customer or another Solution Center's customer, we can provide you a promotional code that will knock $500 off your registration fee for the Microsoft Convergence Conference.

This conference rotates around the country, so for PKF Texas clients, this is your chance to get exposed to some of the new things happening with Microsoft – without having to spend lots of travel dollars.

Send me an e-mail with your contact information, name, address, and e-mail address, and we will get you the promotion code.

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I’m following up a previous blog entry on another advantage to achieving Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) competency.

At a time when cash flow management is becoming critical to success, the single most important cash investment is in your receivables. Yet, in the past, all you have had to manage this critical asset is an aging report.

I believe every company should be using some kind of software-driven collections process. This just makes good business sense. Depending on the current status of your outstanding accounts, you could reduce receivables by 5+ percent. Although this does not sound like a significant amount, multiply your current receivables balance by percent and consider the resulting cash flow!!

The Collections Management Solution for Navision allows a business to systematize its collections process, reduce receivables significantly, and, as a result, generate what could prove to be a substantial cash flow.

In essence, Collections Management Solution is a specialized contact manager designed specifically to support the collections process. You define who is going to be responsible for collections and when overdue invoices are passed to the application. All of the information you need to discuss this invoice with a customer is right there at your fingertips. During the process, you record who you talked to, what they said, when they promise to pay and when you should call them again, as well as determining if you need to you can collaborate with other people in the organization to collect this account.

Based on my experience, this system can be installed and become operational in under one hour – not a bad investment of time for a 5 percent increase in cash flow!

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Sometimes it’s hard to be humble … and sometimes it’s good to toot the horn.

I just learned that my firm, PKF Texas, is the only Houston-based accounting and technology consulting firm to achieve the highest level of Microsoft Certified Partner status – Gold level. Through the Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) competency, we demonstrated expertise with Microsoft technologies and our “proven” ability to meet customers’ needs.

Sounds good, but what does this mean for our customers?

More than anything else, we will continue enhancing offerings to our client base through added resources only available to Gold level partners. From our involvement in the MBS Global Development Team for Navision Software, to our ongoing commitment to the highest standard of client service, we are devoted to bringing sound accounting and technology solutions to companies.

PKF Texas is one of the few firms that also specializes in MBS – the family of Microsoft financial applications – including Great Plains, Navision, Solomon and Microsoft CRM.

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I consider it an “event” when Bill Gates visits Texas, especially when he’s part of a venue that will be practical and informative for Navision customers – Microsoft Convergence 2006, March 25-28 in Dallas.

This is the 10th year for Convergence. In addition to Gates, keynotes include two heads of the Microsoft Business Solutions Group: President Jeff Raikes and Senior Vice President Doug Burgum.

Before and during the event, I’ll follow the progress of Convergence in future blogs. Let me know, too, if you’re attending this event – I’d like to see you there.

Posted In Navision , Week in Geek 3 Comments Permalink

Many of you will be reading my blog, asking yourself, “who is this person and why is he doing a blog?” Aside from the fact that “everyone is doing it,” the answer becomes much more complex.

1. I hope to create an ongoing dialog focusing on technology and emerging issues affecting the Houston business community. For example, last year I attended a national softball tournament with my daughter’s team and was amazed to learn that the small town of Rockford, IL. had made arrangements for us to use our wireless laptops at their city park where the tournament was played. This always-on environment made for a highly productive and exciting trip, allowing me to both work and cheer her team on (oh yeah, her team finished 17th out of 65 teams!).

Posted In Navision , In Our Community 9 Comments Permalink