Microsoft Convergence 2015 Roundup and Pictures

Today marks the conclusion of the Microsoft Convergence 2015 conference. It's time to say goodbye to the host city of Atlanta for now, and go home to share all the information I have learned as an attendee with my staff back in Washington.

Should have turned on my pedometer to track all the miles walked in the convention center:

Convergence is overwhelming in the number of sessions, the size and diversity of the attendees, and the sheer volume of information and interactions packed into four days.

Microsoft left its imprint on Atlanta, and was prominent in billboards in the area:

The food was great, not only at the conference venue but the downtown restaurants. I was treated to an amazing dinner by Bill Aiton of SSi Consulting, a top Dynamics GP partner, at Ray's in the City. From the raw bar to the sushi to the scallops and risotto, they made the shore seem closer than I think it may be to Atlanta.

Microsoft Public Sector hosted a tasty reception at White Oak Kitchen and Cocktails. It was fun to see old friends and meet new friends in a southern hipster setting. Yes, tattoos are required for all the bartenders and waiters.

My favorite keynote speaker was Seth Godin. Quite inspirational and just like you would expect him if you have read his books:

I will miss my twilight view from the fiftieth floor of the opulent Westin Peachtree Plaza:

Can you have too much coffee at a convention? I don't think so:

My favorite session was the government contractor (GovCon) discussion hosted by Microsoft's Elliott Ichimura. Elliott is the leader of the Microsoft GovCon Alliance. He put together an informal discussion on how government contractors are getting the most out of Microsoft Dynamics products.

I tried to reduce my carbon footprint by taking the metro in DC and in Atlanta to get together airport. Roundrip on the subway is $5 in Atlanta.

Now all I can do is drink plenty of water, sleep, and look forward to Convergence next year.

Key Concepts for Microsoft Dynamics 365: Tenant, Instance, App and Solution

Updated 8/15/2022 To understand Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly Dynamics CRM) and Power Apps, you need to learn some new terms and concepts that may be a bit different from what you know from databases and solutions that are hosted on premises. These concepts also apply to Power Apps. The main difference is that with Power Apps you are not starting with a Microsoft app but more of a blank canvas for your custom apps. This post introduces some key terms and how these concepts are important for planning your implementation. While Dynamics 365 is still available on premises, it is most commonly deployed on the Microsoft cloud. This blog post discusses only cloud implementations. Microsoft has multiple clouds such as commercial and government community clouds in several countries. We start with a Microsoft tenant . A tenant is the account you create in the Microsoft Online Services environment (such as Office 365) when you sign up for a subscription. A tenant contains uni

Understanding Dynamics 365 and Office 365 Admin Roles

Managing Dynamics 365 instances If you run Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly Dynamics CRM) in the Microsoft cloud, you need to understand how your Dynamics instances relate to Office 365 and choose which of your administrators receives which roles and permissions to manage Dynamics 365. In on premises deployments, your network administrator would create and delete user accounts. The Dynamics 365 admin would then assign permissions to users in Dynamics 365. This post explains three administrator roles: Office 365 Global Administrator Dynamics 365 System Administrator Dynamics 365 Service Administrator You may think that the Dynamics 365 system administrator would have power to do all the actions needed to manage Dynamics 365, but this is not the case. What's different in Microsoft cloud deployments is that licenses and user accounts are managed in Office 365 by an Office 365 Global Administrator. This role is analogous to a network administrator for an on premises

My Favorite Microsoft Power Apps Bloggers and their Blogs

by James Townsend Updated 7/5/2022 Microsoft Power Apps is one of my favorite subjects, and I enjoy reading blog posts from members of this thriving technical community. Here are some of my favorite bloggers and their blogs: The Official Microsoft Power Apps Blog I have to start with the official Microsoft Power Apps blog. It has many contributors, largely Microsoft program manager, including frequent posters Denise Moran , Greg Lindhorst , Kartik Kanakasabesan , and Adrian Orth . This is the place to go for product announcements, updates and technical how-to for a broad range of Power Apps topics. April Dunnam April Dunnam was formerly focused on SharePoint and now devoting herself to Power Platform. April offers highly understandable explanations of Power Platform, Dataverse and other top Power Apps topics. She joined Microsoft in late 2019 and has a thriving YouTube channel . Carl De Souza Power Apps Blog and eBook This is one of the most extensive and best organized blo

The Townsend Report

Search This Blog