Thanks to all who responded to my previous post regarding the Dynamics CRM training videos.
This particular series is no longer available; however I'll be sticking together a new set of basic CRM user videos. I'd love to get some feedback as to how you would like to use these and what you would like them to encompass.
Mail me … pauls(At)bmosoftware(dot)com
Breaking news … in the wake of President Mbeki's resignation, Trevor Manuel, who was previously reported to have indicated that he willing to remain Minister of Finance, has resigned along with 13 other Ministers (more to come I'm sure).
I was wrong … more ministers valued their salaries than their ethics. As did Manual, they should have all resigned only to be reinstated at the choice of the interim president. Manuals process was interesting though, only post fact did he back track and say this is something that is "done" in other democratic countries.
I hope he negotiated a well deserved $-raise- $ for his reappointment!
Back in August, I blogged about the buzz being created around the pending released of the Dynamics CRM 4.0 Accelerators.
Since then, I've been closely following the Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Team Blog where Ruben, Jim and the rest of the team have strategically been leaking more information about the Analytics, eService, Event Management, Enterprise Search, Sales Methodologies, Extended Sales Forecasting, CRM Notifications and Business Productivity accelerators. The news of these pending releases is incredibly exciting as there are numerous customers (in our market space for sure) who require this type of functionality.
The CRM team also has a few screen shots up … just to tease us even more ahead of the accelerators release!
Example of a Dashboard for Dynamics CRM 4.0 powered by the new accelerators! Note the MUCH prettier graphics than previous releases!
…you scream, we all scream for ICE-CREAM!
Starring Mike Oshea – As himself J
Alternative picture captions welcome … just add them under comments
… not Eve, but rather an "Apple", and in this case I seem to be Adam!
Being such a hardcore Microsoft Dynamics fan, and raised on an Microsoft Windows platform (although I was a hardcore DOS user at age 8) has meant that while I've always admired Apple products (aesthetically of course), I would never use let alone buy one.
Then I got an iPod … which was … nice. Then I read a couple of Steve Jobs stories (can't read Gates stories without them it seems). Then I kind of liked the MacBook Pro (once again aesthetically). Then Apple launched the Macbook Air …
NO NO, enough of that! I couldn't possibly use a Macbook Air in a hardcore Microsoft environment despite some hogwash story about virtualization and dual booting. While considering the 20k bullet I just dodged by not buying an Air, I hopped on a flight to Cape Town for work, only to meet up with a fellow consultant and hardcore Microsoft Dynamics fan, Attie Retief (don't let the picture scare you), who was carrying … you guessed it – a MACBOOK AIR!!
Not possible - how on earth could he run his customers software demos? Could he even dream of developing Microsoft solutions on this wafer thin "stripped down" unit? Surely he must have another cool PC which he uses for this purpose?
Attie then proceeded to shatter every single (miss)conception that I had about the Air: It's his only unit, integrates perfectly with his Microsoft environment, runs customer demos like a monster and best of all … it makes him look cool (which he actually is, but this advertises the fact a little more obviously).
Hmm… don't tell my wife, but I may have a 20k bullet heading my way (built mainly in wafer thin aluminum – not the spelling – chip sets, circuit boards, plastics and glass).
"Dave", the latest addition to the Kulula.com marketing effort, may be mildly amusing in the short radio inserts each morning but ….
OH MY HELL … have you called their call centre lately? "Dave's" pointless ramble had me seconds away from beating myself with the head of the telephone receiver, when suddenly … click "Hello, this is Ray ….".
I can't help but wonder how many of these talented (a statement based on previous experience) call centre agents are now getting abused after "Dave" has driven the caller into a near animalistic frenzy on the verge of call-centre agent abuse …
Then again, perhaps I'm just over reacting after figuring out I booked flights on the wrong day and being informed that you get a R0 refund AND have to pay a change fee which is almost the same as buying a brand new ticket! I think I just experienced an I – D – 10 – T user error!
Many of you, my fellow Microsoft fans (and you Apple folk too), would quite likely have heard of Microsoft's Photosynth (a result of SeaDragon), Xaml, Silverlight and Deepzoom.
Not only are those some of the coolest names ever, they are also some of the coolest products ever. These really begin to push the boundaries of the UI (User Interface) experience. My BIGGEST frustration however is that I'm not technical enough to actually use these in my daily working life … or so I thought!
The Office Labs team have release a product called PPTPLEX. Based on the Deepzoom technology. This empowers a "normal" person like me to utilize the power of Deepzoom (or at least some of it) within my normal PowerPoint presentations.
Click on the link above to view a video of how PPTPlex works, then go ahead and download it! One warning … it won't let you zoom more than four levels. In order to do that, speak to Dylan.
The much promised "Quick Start" video training guides are now available for CRM 4.0 … some of them at least. I focused on the sales process specifically which has resulted in the following videos:
1) Creating a new Lead (100 Series)
2) Interacting with a Lead (100 Series)
3) Converting a Lead (100 Series)
4) Managing an Opportunity Part 1 (100 Series)
5) Managing an Opportunity Part 2 (100 Series)
6) Sales Pipeline Reporting (100 Series)
These are available at no cost to BMO Software Partners and Customers. Simply drop me an email at sales@bmosoftware.com and I'll send you a link to download the videos.
Marco, Sean and co. Thanks for your feedback and just the right amount of pressure to "keep on posting".
Speaking of pressure … The relevant sporting bodies and their heads must be feeling some serious pressure after the SA medal "diet" in Beijing this year.
After having the absolute pleasure of attending the 2000 Olympics Games in Sydney, I made a couple of potentially interesting observations:
1) The Aussie public in general are fanatical supporters of their sporting teams – Win or Lose!
2) The Aussie sporting structure breeds success through constant talent identification and CAREFUL nurturing of that talent.
3) The Aussie structure reeks of consistency, which seems to be driven by an underlying "hive mentality". Multiple sporting codes pooling resources through the academy structures/facilities in order to breed a better athlete.
While the Aussie structure may not be a totally suitable "template" for South Africa, I would hazard to say that it would be better than say … I dunno … a Jamaican system. Why are our sporting politicians and sports code heads looking to countries like Jamaica for a "success recipe". Don't get me wrong …. I think Jamaica has had some outstanding success, but surely we need to be attempting to understand what the
leading nations are doing right/wrong.
I know what you're thinking … there is a financial issue here. We don't have the money to emulate those leading countries. In defense, I would hazard to say that it's NOT all about the money (look at the SA rowers and canoeists – minimal funding and some of the best results).
We as South Africans need to take a careful look at ourselves in all respects and then re-evaluate, our support of the athletes, our desire to succeed supported by mental resilience, and our strategy to ensure that we can compete head on head with the world's best, time after time!
Scott Ginsberg…
NO … obviously MY name isn't Scott Ginsberg (if you don't already know … it's actually Paul), but THIS guy's name really is Scott Ginsberg. He is also known as "That name tag guy".
Scott is an outstanding professional speaker, who is unique in the fact that each speech he makes is …well …unique, but always about approachability. Scott has taken to wearing a name tag … "All day, every day …. For the REST of (his) life!" HELL … He even wears two on some occasions, and in the unlikely event that he lose both tags, I'm still quite sure that the one tattooed on his chest won't come off!
Scott is also the king of lists … Bloggers all seem to love lists but Scotts lists definitely have added value like "31 questions to test your listening skills" and many more.
Take a look at his site, blog, books and especially his speeches.
NICE ONE SCOTT … "My name is the guy who found Scotts blog and told my friends about it"
