As Microsoft continues to successfully deliver top-notch industry focused solutions, it’s becoming increasingly more important that Dynamics ISVs also bring industry specialization to the table. No longer can clients and perspective Dynamics users be fooled by partners that can pull a few catchy words from the industry terminology, but now they require customer evidence of vertical capabilities, and a little lingo won’t go far. Finding the ISV that can successfully address your vertical requirements means that the ISV solution will work in synergy with Dynamics to support your business.

For medium- to high-volume growers selling ornamental plants, flowers and seeds to home improvement centers, wholesalers and retailers, finding a Dynamics EDI solution with vertical expertise can significantly increase the efficiency of your business operations and your competitive advantage. Here are the top 10 things that growers should consider when selecting such an EDI solution:

1. iTrade – Can your Dynamics EDI vendor directly connect to iTrade without additional transaction fees?

2. Chep Pallet ASN’s – If your company is using CHEP pallets, the world’s leading pallet and container pooling company, then is the solution provider flexible enough to support ASN’s? Would you like the ability to potentially send additional information related to the shipment, such as order information, product description, physical characteristics, type of packaging, marking, carrier information, and configuration of goods within the transportation equipment?

3. Substitutions – Time to time you may not have the necessary goods in stock to fulfill customer orders, but you agree to substitute the goods, for example, another brand or maybe two 8oz bags instead of the requested 16oz bag of frozen goods. How does the solution handle the logic within your solution…

In previous posts I’ve focused on Microsoft’s vocal affirmation of their commitment to Dynamics, specifically at this year’s Convergence, but now you can hear and see the same commitment resonating throughout the NAV community.

This past week I learned of www.ilovenav.com (great name, yes?) @ArcherPointLLC has created this Community Forum (www.ilovenav.com) to crowd source product suggestions from partners, ISVs and end users back to Microsoft. ArcherPoint’s hope is that by creating this new forum that everyone involved with Microsoft Dynamics NAV will contribute product suggestions to help the community find its collective voice. Working together with Microsoft, another objective of www.ilovenav.com is to ensure that the Microsoft Dynamics NAV community…

Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. (PEET) is the premier specialty coffee and tea company in the U.S., and Microsoft Dynamics AX 4 client, that was recently recognized by Microsoft with a 2011 Microsoft Dynamics Customer Excellence Award for excellence in Evangelism.

With Peet’s selling through a vast network of retail outlets, EDI is a critical part of their business operations to ensure accuracy, timeliness and traceability when dealing with their trading partners, ranging from large retailers such as Target to smaller retail stores. Peet’s relied on their partner with food & beverage industry expertise to find an easy-to-implement replacement solution to meet their EDI for Dynamics AX requirements, as after 18 months of trying to implement another EDI solution, they were at a standstill.

Specifically, Peet’s initial EDI solution could not meet the EDI specifications required by Target, putting the company in an undesirable position with one of its largest retailers…

Audubon Metals, a heavy-media separator and secondary specification aluminum alloy producer based in Kentucky, was running Microsoft Dynamics GP v8 with a planned upgrade to GP 2010. This GP 8 customer relied on their Kentucky-based partner to find an easy-to-implement replacement EDI solution provider with automotive expertise to meet their EDI for Dynamics GP requirements. After facing a 6 month delay due to an EDI implementation failure with another Dynamics GP solution, the customer was at a critical state with their OEM automotive customers, including Nissan… Read Complete Microsoft Dynamics GP Customer Success

Data Masons Software, LLC., a leading provider of EDI & XML solutions for Microsoft Dynamics® ERP customers, is proud to announce that it will be a Gold Sponsor of the Tribridge Annual Southeast Customer Summit at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL on Jun 9, 2011. This event will provide insight into product updates and new releases around Microsoft Dynamics AX, CRM, GP, SL, Cloud, SharePoint, Virtualization, Office 365 and many more. Customers will be able to speak to Tribridge experts, visit with some of their most valued partners, enjoy breakfast and lunch at the stadium and test-drive the latest features in their hands-on labs.

“Supporting Partners in their mission to showcase how technology can help their customers businesses is a key component of what Data Masons does. Tribridge has a great reputation for assisting their customers in making smart and qualified technology decisions for the overall benefit of their business. We are proud to be a Gold Sponsor for this year’s Customer Summit” said Dennis Bruce, Director, Business Development at Data Masons.

Data Masons will conduct a short presentation to the attendees after the Dynamics AX & NAV sessions. They will also take part in The Partner Theater where attendees can see…Read Full Press Release

Data Masons Software, LLC., a leading provider of EDI and XML solutions for Microsoft Dynamics®, is proud to announce that its customer Hydra-Power Systems, Inc., a distributor and manufacturer of hydraulic and pneumatic systems, will go live with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and Data Masons’ fully-integrated Vantage Point EDI solution. A participant in Microsoft’s Technology Adoption Program (TAP), Hydra-Power accepted the opportunity to gain early access to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and to help advance the business value of the solution.

Hydra-Power is continually looking for ways to introduce new technology efficiencies and enhancements that will assist the business in running more smoothly. “I get a lot of satisfaction out of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. With commitment from Microsoft to enhance the solution, it will always be on the forefront of technology—and we will be there with it,” said Robert Jablonski, Hydra-Power’s Operations Manager.

Hydra-Power requested TAP participation from their Microsoft Dynamics ISV solution providers, including Data Masons Software, who worked with the Application Integration Framework in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to ensure interoperability for its Vantage Point EDI solution… Read Full Press Release

Back in the early part of the year we started to sow some seeds, and no, we’re not talking about running down to Home Depot or Lowes (by the way, we have their maps in our library) and picking up some seed packets. While we’re talking about seeds/plants, I know of at least two suppliers out there who run Dynamics ERPs to run their business. Cool!

Whoops, side tacked… Back to where I was. Our seeds were our entry in the social media world and after only 4 months I would say that they are starting to bloom colorfully. We entered into the blogging space with our own EDI for Dynamics blog. We’ve tried to mix-up the content a bit, not totally focusing on EDI, but also what’s happening in the Dynamics Community, which is a very important piece to us here at Data Masons.

With some social media experience under our belt, we recently started writing for the ERP Software Blog and just successfully published our first two articles with them:

“Microsoft Dynamics GP Customer Overcomes Stall and Revs Engine with Dynamics EDI”
After 6 months of a stalled EDI implementation, Audubon Metals decided enough was enough with their current EDI provider so they shopped for a new one. Read More

“Six Tips for Smarter Selections: Unlocking the Power of Microsoft Dynamics AX with the Right ISV Solutions”
Hydra Power Systems, an early adopter of AX2012 with the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program (TAP), knew they found the right ISV with Data Masons as no modifications had to made to the Vantage Point EDI solution to support AX2012. Read More

From a Twitter standpoint, followers keep on following @datamasons and @jon_rivers with over 250 and 700 followers respectively. We have also have picked up…

Just before Microsoft Convergence 2011 I wrote a post about the importance of using #hashtags when using Twitter. If you missed the post, have a look at “It’s not just the Tweet, but how it’s Tweeted: Using #hashtags to benefit the Microsoft Dynamics community“ to find out how #hashtags not only help promote your Tweets, but also help build categorized content for the Dynamics community.

Since that post was published a few new #hashtags have popped up that I believe are worth talking about and sharing:

Events:

Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) is using #WPC11 to keep the community up-to-date on the event in Los Angeles, July 10-14. WPC is an annual gathering for the Microsoft partner community to learn about Microsoft’s roadmap for the upcoming year, network and build connections, share best practices, experience the latest product innovations and learn new skills and techniques.

NAV Directions is using #DIRECTIONS2011. This annual partner-focused event brings the NAV community together in Orlando, October 12-15.

Microsoft:

#MSPARTNER – Used by Microsoft for the Partner Community

#MSDYNCOMM – Used by the Dynamics Community

#AX2012 is used to promote everything to do with the AX2012 product. You will probably find posts under the general AX #hashtag #MSDYNAX as well.

As more worthy #hashtags come along I will surely continue to post them within the comments and on my original post: “It’s not just the Tweet, but how it’s Tweeted: Using #hashtags to benefit the Microsoft Dynamics community.“ Meanwhile, join the Dynamics Twitter community using these tags. It’s of benefit to us all and Microsoft likes to use them as well. Just take a look at https://community.dynamics.com/Default.aspx.

Happy #hashtagging!

GPUG’s 2nd Washington DC Regional Chapter event had another great meeting Tuesday with around 35+ Microsoft GP professionals in attendance. Although not as large as the inaugural meeting, this number isn’t anything to complain about seeing that this group in still in its infancy stages. Many thanks to the host, Aronson LLC of Rockville, MD, who did a wonderful job of supplying the refreshments and lending their conference room to set the stage for the meeting.

Once everyone had settled in Derrick Hicks of Interactive Document Solutions gave a presentation on “”Paperless Purchasing and Accounts Payables automation for Dynamics GP.” This topic drew a lot interest from the crowd and they kept Derrick busy with questions. Now I have to say, I previously worked for another ISV who had a similar product for AX and other ERP’s and I had to hold back as I wanted to help Derrick with the questions, but I left it to him as he for sure had it under control.

After a short intermission we reconvened with introductions which included what we’re each doing with GP and what we would like to take away from these regional events. To help with any questions, concerns etc. Heather Williams of Dynamic Communities asked a few people if they would volunteer to be subject matter experts and sit on a panel. A few attendees jumped at the challenge, taking a little heat…

In an ecosystem full of Dynamics ISVs that can promote an attractive profile, how can you find the perfect match that will serve as your companion in closing Dynamics deals? I’ve participated in a couple of “speed dating” type events hosted by Dynamics Communities, and they are valuable opportunities to meet many new ISVs and VARs (and they’re loads of fun too). But let’s face it, we can date around the ISV world, but at the end of the day, aren’t we all looking for that secure, reliable and mutually beneficial long term relationship?

If you take a step back and start from the beginning, there are two types of ISVs: those focused on selling their solution and those focused on supporting their partners in closing new business. On paper, the first type of ISV makes total sense and for dating purposes, they’ll probably provide you with that immediate feeling of butterflies and the honeymoon period will seem blissful. But you’ll find that as your dating relationship progresses, that your ISV partner is only interested in what’s in it for them, caring only about your world as long as it’s relative to benefiting them. And once that honeymoon period is over, what’s left for you other than the opportunity to return to an undesirable dating scene?

On the flip side, you have the marrying type – those ISVs that are less focused on selling their solution and more focused on supporting their reselling partners. If you can find these types of ISVs, I suggest that you…