We cleaned up a few things, simplified the interface a bit and added a nice new feature that creates a Microsoft Cloud for Business presentation/proposal that you can present from OneDrive and PowerPoint Online created from the dynamic content of Azure Modeler for Business Workloads. 

Here is nice example proposal/presentation here.

You can download version 3.3.7 here.

Here is a short PowerPoint that helps position selling the Microsoft Cloud

Here are few short videos that help you define an Azure cloud selling framework and leverage the Azure Modeler in your sales discussions.

Short introduction video here.  And deeper dive on the use of the Azure Modeler here.

If you run into any issues please let me know at jodooley@microsoft.com

Version 3.1

We have been hard at work the last few weeks adding some nice new features to the Azure Modeler for Business Workloads.

One of the things that we have noticed is that often there are a few different models created to review and compare different configuration options. 

Which is actually a great way to position the options that we can provide in the cloud.

We added the ability to save and reload models so that you can return back to them. 

As well, the ability to include the previous models worksheet to the output when generating a new mail.

Here is a snip of the SavedModels Sheet.

 Reload a saved model.

We got some feedback to allow an automatic update the Azure rates so we added an Update Rates button on the AzurePricing Tab.  But of course, you still need to ensure that the rates reflect current Azure pricing.

Also, we started to think about some of the Total Cost of Ownership of perpetual vs subscription  of ERP license. The whole lease vs buy thing.  So we added a longterm TCO (5,10,15 years) to the model.  Some interesting insight here for sure.  Offering Perpetual ERP license options is actually sometimes a nice way to buy software for the long haul.

While we are talking about competitive advantage it also makes sense to look at the other things that we can offer a customer or prospect seeking to move on premise workloads to the cloud.  Like Microsoft Office 365, CRM Online, Exchange/SharePoint, Reporting, Active Directory.. think of how many workloads that we can move to the Microsoft Cloud?

Let's just say more than our competition. 

Another really nice new feature is the ability to add other content and evidence links to the mail. 

We find that a lot of customer and prospects are still sorting thru exactly what the "cloud" really is.  So we have assembled a nice set of content that should assist you in positioning the business value that we offer in the Microsoft Cloud.

This library allows you to add your own links as well as the links that we provide.  And there is also an auto-update here as well. Note: So will step on your content if you choose auto-update so you might archive your any links that you add.

Here is a picture of the output on the mail from the evidence library.

Here is a more complete list of things that we added:

• The ability to save and reload models.
• Multi-currency support for USD,CAD,AUD,Euro,Pound
• Auto-updating of Azure Rates
• An Azure Resource library with assets that can be shared with a prospect – also auto-updating
• Some nice TCO over 5,10,15 analysis
• A new Cloud Workloads graph that prints on the mail
• The option to include the previous model in the output.
• A running total of changes to the model to enable a partner to model real-time the cost options
• Finance options in the calculation
• Added support for Dynamics AX,CRM and CRM OL options
• An option to reset the formulas back to the baseline
• An option to reduce the amount of runtime hours of the Azure VMs  (non-7x24 operation)
• Add the new D Series machines

 To download the version 3 of Azure Modeler for Business Workloads follow this link (download) , save this in your documents folder. 

IMPORTANT: When you open the modeler in Excel It will prompt to enable content and macros the first time.  Please enable these.   

It should also prompt to Export a mail template file that you can modify when you press the Create Mail button.  Please say yes to this as well. 

The Modeler will prompt you once to export this Outlook File Template  (OFT) and place it in the same directory of the Azure Modeler. Note: It should be in the same folder as the modeler to work correctly.

This OFT template file is modifiable by you (in Outlook) to change the words and format as well will included your signature block. 

Happy modeling and selling the Microsoft Cloud. 

Please email me with any issues that you have at jodooley@microsoft.com

Please don't use this version... 

We have received a ton of great feedback on V1 of the Azure Modeler for Dynamics ERP and added a few key requests and features.

We have added the ability to support Dynamics GP,NAV & SL on the Settings tab.  We have put in some sample data in the fence and expect that you will review/validate/adjust to meet your own recommendations.

We have also added some handy new features like a TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) worksheet tab to help your customers and prospects compare On-Premise, On-Line and other SaaS based solutions. 

You can model your customers current environment and compare these fixed costs with the dynamic costs for an Azure ERP deployment.  This is a really nice way to show your customers the advantages of moving to the Azure Cloud.  Optionally, you can share these details with your customers via a quick email on the Setting Tab.

And a great new Guide Me form that makes it easy to get started building your own models for your customers.

Also, we added a really nice (optional) network topology map that will build dynamically based on the Azure environment that you model for your customer.

Screen shot of the Network Topology image.

You can access the current version of the Azure Modeler for Dynamics ERP here.  Please be sure that you download this file and unzip this on your local machine as it does contain a few simple macros that need to be enabled when you first open it.

There is a one time initial prompt to "Export the Outlook Template".  Answer Yes.  (This puts a Outlook Template file in the same folder as the modeler that you may modify to your own wording for the optional mail that is generated. 

It will not work correctly if you open this (zip or Excel file) from your mail client.  Extract the zip and save the OFT locally to permit email generation  :> 

And of course, we plan to keep enhancing the Azure Modeler for Dynamics ERP to help make it easier for you to move all your customers and prospects to the Microsoft Azure Cloud.   

As always, keep the feedback coming at  john.dooley@microsoft.com

https://blogs.msdn.com/b/captain_stack/archive/2014/09/16/azure-modeler-for-dynamics-erp-v2.aspx

Please refer to this new version as the pricing is current and we are supporting the other Dynamics ERP solutions.  :>

The past few months we have seen active interest in Microsoft Azure from our Dynamics partners. 

And there is tons of great stuff going on with Azure and Office 365 with our prospects, customers and partners. 

I have been on a lot of calls with partners and a key concern is where is the starting point to move/deploy a Dynamics GP installation on Azure? Here are some great links/tools to help you ramp on PartnerSource and the Microsoft Azure site that can get your team started today.

The first question I hear from partners and customers is how can I plan/map a Microsoft Dynamics GP deployment to the appropriate Azure resources and what are the expected monthly costs?

The Azure Calculator for Microsoft Dynamics GP is a simple Excel based (tested with Excel 2010 and Excel 2013) toolset that that enables our partners to model common Dynamics GP deployments for you to consider/price options for you to share with your customer and prospects. 

The tool is a very easy to use spreadsheet. You only need to provide the number of Dynamics GP Desktop, Web/Limited user clients.  Select a few license options, add in some of your own options/services and the modeler does all the heavy lifting for you. And of course, it also allows you to adjust for your own experience and recommendations.

Here is a screenshot of the tool.  The areas in white with a green border are the user input areas and the rest is calculated for you.

There are two versions of the tool.  The base tool is a simple (.xlsx) spreadsheet. The other is the base tool plus a macro (.xlsm, you will need to enable macros) that will generate a quick quote for you to customize and share with your customer/prospects. 

The above link is to my OneDrive that contains the download links for the toolset.  There is a zip file  that contains both spreadsheets and a simple .oft (Outlook Form Template) that you can modify to meet your own needs. (please be sure to unzip these files to a folder for the macro version to work correctly. )   The other file is the simple version of the tool that you can also view in the Excel Web app on the image above.

Today, there is a great opportunity for our partners to begin having the discussion with customers and prospects about moving to the Microsoft Azure cloud.  We are really excited about some of the new things coming in Dynamics GP 2013 R2 and for the Dynamics GP 2015 release later this year.

For those who say that the future of Microsoft Dynamics GP is cloudy.. we are agree.. lets move it all to the Microsoft Azure cloud.  It's ready today.

The fine print.  The spreadsheet contains current Azure pricing (as of May 1).  We  do plan to update the tool as Azure prices change but it's good idea for you to check that the tool reflects the current pricing too.

We have been building content, demos, videos and helping partners increase velocity in their sales process. Partners are getting lots great results with our new content and tools.

And of course, we have continued to enhance the dynamic demo engine. We have added some nice to features and some key integration points for link tracking and Microsoft CRM integration in V2.

 Here is a short list of some of the new functionality that we have added.

We have a few versions of the dynamic demo engine for you leverage ranging from simple to comprehensive. 

1. Simple deployment is using Microsoft and your own branded content for your demos.  No local library for 'BuyIn' demos. 
2. Local DemoMate library for GP, NAV, SL content that matches the web content.  This enables your sales teams to provide instant 'BuyIn' demos to respond directly for the prospects desire for a quick overview demo. 
3. Integration support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 & 2013.  This requires a simple Excel Addin DLL that enables integration to Microsoft CRM. (6 fields need to be added to the Opportunity record to support this integration). 

This will require some coordination with the technical team that manages your Microsoft CRM implementation and some simple configuration to enable Microsoft Excel (2010 or 2013) to communicate with Microsoft CRM.  Please email me at jodooley@microsoft.com if you are interested in leveraging the Microsoft CRM integration feature.

We will continue to invest in tools and content to help your deliver a first class prospect experience to help your sales close more business. 

Here is a fun Videoscribe ( a new tool that we are using in our demos that makes demos fun.)   Sven & Olga The Demo Dilemma

And here is a demo that talks about the Challenger sales process and how Dynemo can help you navigate the SMB sales process in a compelling new way.

 Links for download.  (Note there is accessible web based content for Dynamics GP2013, Dynamics SL2011 & Dynamics NAV 2013R2 in all versions of Dynemo V2)

DynemoV2 No Library - email only output This is a 800K zip file.

DynemoV2 GP2013 library - email and Buy-In demo This is a 85 MB download. 

(Note the Library BuyIn demo does require the Presenter version of DemoMate to be installed, this is can be obtained for free by download any of the GP2013 demo on the https://www.demoshowcasesuite.com/Search/SearchResult?searchId=5613753a-7ba2-4083-a994-ff80e7a2e254 site)

As part of the Road to Repeatability (R2R) partner program, we have been hard at work the last few months on the Accelerated Demo Framework (ADF) and have some great new tools and methods to help you sell the way that prospects want to buy today.

Today, we are seeing changes to our marketplace in how prospects want to learn and evaluate the solutions that are best for their organization. We need to respond to this new model more quickly than ever before.

Dynemo is a key part of this framework.

A structural goal of the R2R program is to help you shorten and streamline your sales process and showcase the value of your and our solutions to your prospects in the most efficient way.

Dynemo, is a simple, Excel-based, customized demo builder that enables you to share web-based demos and marketing assets like customer testimonials with your prospects for consumption on their schedule.

With Dynemo, your Sales and Marketing organizations can build, share & publish your own branded content along-side standard Microsoft and ISV content all together in one package to show the value of our collective solution in an agile way with your prospects.

Dynemo enables your sales people to deliver immediate customized demos on-demand to your prospects real time.  “Is now good for you?’.  As well, it can help your sales team accelerate opportunities by enabling the prospect to self-qualify in the early stages of engagement with your organization.

How many times have your sales teams struggled to get a basic demo of the Microsoft Dynamics GP solution to a prospect that wants it now?  By leveraging Dynemo and URL-based dynamic content your sales people can now respond instantaneously to this request.  “When can i see the software?  I need a demo.”

The genius of Dynemo is to 'dynamically' pull content from the web from different sources into purpose-built personalized content for your prospects.  It enables you to post (privately) your own URL-addressable content and add standard demo content from Microsoft and our powerful network of ISV's.   This is all done in real-time, dynamically by the tool and the framework.

Ok, enough with the setup.  Let's download some software. 

We have two versions. One small, 500KB which is the just the Dynemo tool (spreadsheet with a few macros).  

The other is a bit larger, 350MB, which contains Dynemo and the current DemoMate library of 5 short demos for Dynamics GP 2013  (of course we are building new content and will add this web and downloadable library content on a regular basis).

 Here is a link for both.

Dynemo provides a simple selector with the ability for your sales people and your organization to easily organize and share web based demo content.

Here we see the Dynemo Demo Selector tab.  Click to select your own branded (URL-addressable) content, Microsoft content or ISV content. 

Dynemo provides the ability to pull URL-based content from anywhere on the web.

Here we see the configuration tab.  Your sales team can input their own contact information and you can add your own links of other sales and marketing content to be included in the mail.

The above image is the tab where you can customize to your own contact and partner information.    Dynemo allows you to pull in ISV demo content as well with a simple 'Dynemo' code if the ISV wants to post their own content for you to share.

The picture below explains at a high-level the function and flow of Dynemo. 

We will output 'standardized', short & simple demos in 4 ways, from configuring live demo steps in the Dynamics GP 2013 partner demo image with matching content from within a DemoMate libary of demo (Presenter mode and Play mode) content and finally configuing an email for the prospect with links for the same URL-based content being pulled from the web and delivered in a nice package to your prospect. 

You can add your own Vcard contact info, an appointment a few days in the future to meet and review the demo content with the prospect.  

A flexible and compelling set of content delivered real-time to help your prospect make the best decision. 

Finally, if you made it this far, thank you for reading.     Now download Dynemo and let's start selling. 

P.S. We are planning to offer a series of web based training to teach you and your organization how to leverage and extend Dynemo  and ADF in the next few weeks and months.

Any feedback or issues: john.dooley@microsoft.com  

As part of the Dynamics ERP Road to Repeatability (R2R) program we have built a tool to help your teams demo Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 easily and smoothly.

Have you ever been in a demo and forget exactly what pallet/menu contains that form that you are looking for?  Well I know have.. many times.  

 It got me thinking, the shortcuts bar in Dynamics GP could come in really handy as an easy reminder/pointer of where the form is located and also avoid that “well… it used to be here..hmmmm where is that thing…”.  And make it as easy as follow the bouncing ball for demos.

Also, as often times each demo is specific to the needs of the customer, wouldn’t it be great to build a library of demo flows that you could just import from something like a spreadsheet and instantly be ready with a script or scripts to help you get started for that custom demo. 

That is the goal of this tool. 

To enable you to build a few standard demo flows that enable easy and smooth navigation of the steps of the demo and share them out with others on your team.  

It’s also a great way for the prospect to see that you have do a plan for your demo and have mapped something special to their needs.  Here is a short demo of the this tool. https://youtu.be/V_lbyytXq0c 

This is a really simple way to structure your demos and allow you to focus on your customer’s needs rather than hunting for forms in Dynamics GP 2010 R2 and not giving the smoothest most professional demo.

Here is a picture that shows a simple script for “Why Microsoft, Day in the Life & scenarios like Order to Cash”.   

We plan to include this tool on the new Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 (64 bit HyperV) image that is coming out really soon.  

Here is a link to the download location for this tool. This tool uses a simple SQL Integration Services (SIS) Script to export and import steps into the Dynamics GP 2010 client.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=1e87b652b9d45232&resid=1E87B652B9D45232!611&parid=1E87B652B9D45232!601

This blog post explores some simple ways for you to think about leveraging both SharePoint Online with on premise solution in a “hybrid” model in your organization today.

As we consider using technologies in the Cloud, like Office 365, we also need to think about how they might impact or be impacted by on premise solutions.  And seek ways in which they might be logically linked. 

I found a nice demo of expense management in Excel 2010 in SharePoint Online and this got me thinking maybe Excel can be part of my on premise solution. Here is the demo  https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office365-sharepoint-online-enterprise-help/video-record-approve-and-manage-employee-expenses-VA102586196.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA102604631 shows a simple demo/solution in SharePoint Online. 

This is a cool demo for sure but it also got me thinking… didn’t we forget something in this demo?  Like when/how do we pay the employee for the expense report? 

Of course, Dynamics ERP manages AP invoices and pays employee expenses.  I want to enable my expense report in the cloud to find its way to my on premise Dynamics ERP. 

But how can we get from the online version of SharePoint in Office 365 to my on premise ERP solution?  SharePoint Online works in what we call a “sandbox”.  This means that there are some limits to the links that can happen in the cloud and calling an on premise web service is not  easily supported.

Thus my challenge, leverage Office 365 for its cloud power and find a method to action something on premise.

I solved this dilemma using two simple techniques to “bridge” between SharePoint Online and my Dynamics ERP on premise.

• The first technique is to use Excel both as a tool to complete the expense report in the cloud and as well as a conduit to my intranet.  Once I open an Excel workbook from SharePoint Online on my local machine, I now have access to resources behind the firewall, thus providing an easy and secure way to access to local resources like a web service that can link to my on premise Dynamics ERP without all the complexity of the sandbox Silverlight callouts.  Basically thru bringing the document and data on premise thru Excel.

• The second technique is to leverage SharePoint Online workflow and email integration.  By triggering a SharePoint Online workflow via a task approval event in SharePoint Online I can have workflow send email to an on premise process or folder in a SharePoint on premise server that enables me to action the expense report at a data level where information like Vendor Id, Document Number, Invoice Amount can move from the spreadsheet to/thru a process to a web service that handles the create/post to Dynamics ERP.  This technique uses the DIP (Office Document Information Panel) to move values from Excel into SharePoint Online.

The demo of the above scenarios can be viewed here.  https://tinyurl.com/7bdnpnq

As you see with both of these demos, there can be powerful "hybrid" solutions in the cloud with SharePoint Online that can connect to on premise solutions like Dynamics ERP. 

In one my next posts, I will cover the technical aspects/details of this demo.  Stay tuned for more details.

We will explore ways to extend ERP into the Enterprise thru a range of Microsoft Technologies.

We use a term in Dynamics land which is "Capping the Stack".. That's we are doing.

 So get ready for some powerful waves of Microsoft Technology washing up on your shoreline.

Welcome Aboard Matey.