Steve reads his Blog

Microsoft is Infected with AI as Copilots Consume all of the Oxygen

Microsoft has recently shifted all of its focus to AI, particularly their "Copilot" strategy. When they brought OpenAI's ChatGPT to Bing, they finally had a chance to move from a distant second in the search engine game. On the heels of this excitement, they locked up OpenAI, becoming their "Compute and Commercial Partner" with a multi-billion dollar investment. Then what happened? Let's see. The First Phase Let's face it; Bing was an "also ran" since its inception in 2009. Only able to g...

Steve has a 4th chat with charles

Steve has a Chat with Vahe Torossian

  I had a chance to sneak up on Vahe Torossian, a Microsoft Corporate Vice President and the man in charge of Sales for Microsoft Business Applications. While Vahe has been with Microsoft for 30 years, many of you may not know him, so I wanted to fix that. Vahe is no ordinary Seller; he’s the “Top” guy who sets the sales strategy and motions for the entire global team. Vahe is also the guy who runs the really big enterprise customer meetings, and he’s super-friendly, as you would expect fo...

Steve has a Chat with Jukka

I had the pleasure of having a chat with a Power Platform industry leader, Jukka Niiranen. Listen or Watch below. Enjoy!

The New Weapon - Cost Predictability

For as long as I have been in this business, about 25 years now, costs for clients have always been a wild card. As a Partner, you have an obligation to be straightforward about the potential costs to meet a client's requirements, but that carries significant risks, so not all partners are entirely "straightforward". Let's talk about the risks for both sides. Thunderdome It is far more common for a customer to have done their research on the platforms before contacting a Partner today. T...

Finding The Limits of Low-Code

I love low-code. It can, and is, changing business solutions for the world. Due to a recent business model change we are stretching low-code to the limit, and occasionally finding that limit. The New Model I have written in the past about our new Unlimited Services Model we call The Works from Forceworks. This has been a tremendous success for both us and our subscribers. The key attraction seems to be the unlimited deployment, configuration, and customizations we offer for a fixed mont...

The Works Services-as-a-Subscription Model Update

Back in May, I wrote a post describing a completely new Services model we call "The Works from Forceworks". It is a Services-as-a-Subscription model that is unique in the industry. I also promised to follow up with our learnings from this new model, so today I will do just that. The Works First, I'll remind you of what the offer is. Thanks to advances in low-code/no-code for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform we decided it was finally time to launch a completely new services model. An a...

Power Platform Blind Spots

Power Platform Outside the Bubble

In my recent conversations with Charles Lamanna here and Jason Gumpert here, we discussed the explosive growth of the Power Platform. Then while listening to Jukka Niiranen on yet another podcast here, I was reminded that we are all inside the Power Platform bubble. From the outside, however, this bubble is tiny. Expanding Bubble There is no denying that the Power Platform's growth is impressive, but who is growing it? Microsoft has a fist-full of enterprise-sized customers who went a...

The Microsoft Partner Dilemma

Steve has yet another Chat with Charles

I have had my head down working on some big things since RapidStart CRM growth exploded, and it has been a while since you heard from me. Well, I'm getting back to it with a follow-up chat with Charles Lamanna who recently took over for James Phillips as head of Business Applications for Microsoft. This was my fourth chat with Charles, and it was interesting to back listen to them in order. It really gives you a sense of where Microsoft has come. I managed to catch him in his office having j...

Let's Talk About Funnels

In my 20-plus years in this CRM business, I have seen my share of "Funnels". Lead Funnels, Sales Funnels, Delivery Funnels, every kind of business-related funnel you can think of, I have probably seen it. From what I have witnessed, most businesses have no idea how to use them effectively. So, let's talk about Funnels. The Numbers Game One of the most significant areas I see where customers are consistently missing the mark is in their Sales Funnels. While at the same time tripling thei...

It's Time for a New Services Model for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform

About seven years ago we pioneered the "Support by Blocks" model, and it has served our Forceworks clients and us well. But thanks to Microsoft, it is time for a whole new model for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Support and Services. Let's unpack this one. The Challenge Let's be honest, no business application you can buy will serve your needs as delivered. Any of them will require some modifications to fit your goals. Fortunately, you have many Microsoft Business Applications partner...

Are you over-paying for Dynamics 365?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 business applications are fantastic products. Unrivaled power and features and priced accordingly. Are they over-priced? No! Are you over-paying? Maybe. So, let's unpack this one. My Cable Bill Several years ago, I moved into a new home, and shortly afterwards the local cable company salesperson was on the phone. I was easily talked into the "Gold" package because it "included everything" and I suffer from FOMO. After a few months I realized that I only watched ab...

The Myth of Single Version of the Truth

I've heard this term bandied about for many years now, "Single Version of the Truth". As Jack Nicholson once said, "You can't handle the Truth!" I would paraphrase that as, "You can't afford a Single version of the Truth, and you wouldn't want it anyway!". So, let's see how many of you I can get to agree on this one :). What is Implied? From a business standpoint, "Single Version of the Truth" or SVT, is often pimped as this utopian idea that all of your data, about everything to do wit...

Pay as you Go, Go, Go

Microsoft just announced, and released in the next breath, a new Pay as You Go model for Power Apps. This has huge implications for all organizations and also for users of our free  RapidStartCRM solution. Let's unpack what it means. Pay as you go Who doesn't like the idea of only paying for what you use? I wish it applied to more things: "I only ate half of this hamburger, so I'll just you pay half the price", "I only drove my car three days last month, so I'll just pay 10% of my car pa...

Hit 50K Users? Get ready for the knock-offs.

Shortly after we launched RapidStartCRM back in 2015, a couple of competitors followed us into the emerging space we identified. They are gone now, but new ones occasionally pop up. I hear "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". First Mover Advantage As the very first simple-to-use CRM solution built on Microsoft's Business Applications platform, we did have an early advantage. We brought a lot of SMB knowledge to the offering, and SMBs were eating it up. My assumption that there...

Your organization (tenant) is over capacity

It seems like a couple of times a week I get a panicked message from a customer who saw the dreaded alert: "Your organization (tenant) is over capacity" in the Power Platform Admin Center. Sometimes they are over a little, and sometimes they are using 500% or more of their allocated capacity. Let's chat about this shall we? Capacity We still have a handful of customers on the "Old Model", the combined "Extra Storage" SKU. If I recall it was $10 USD/GB... and people complained about that. ...

"Even after everything, we still have adoption problems"

One of the smartest things I have done in a while was to introduce a monthly Principals call with our customers. Our customers are all very happy with our team, so why rock the boat by injecting myself? For the same reason I might tell the waiter that my food is "fine" when it isn't. The Owner's Dilemma Every single day people go into a restaurant and have a sub-par meal. It seems the wait staff everywhere has been trained to ask leading questions, like "isn't your steak great?", with a ...

We Upgraded from Dynamics 365 to RapidStartCRM

I have had my head down for a while working on the next version of RapidStartCRM. We also recently deployed RapidStartCRM for our own support operations. In the process, I came across a few items that I thought would be of interest to the users of our free app, and since they would also work for any Power App, including Dynamics 365, I thought I might discuss them. Next Version Before I get into this, I want to clarify what I mean by "Next Version" of RapidStartCRM. We have been developi...

We Upgraded from Dynamics 365 to RapidStart CRM

I have had my head down for a while working on the next version of RapidStart CRM. We also recently deployed RapidStart CRM for our own support operations. In the process, I came across a few items that I thought would be of interest to the users of our free app, and since they would also work for any Power App, including Dynamics 365, I thought I might discuss them. Next Version Before I get into this, I want to clarify what I mean by "Next Version" of RapidStart CRM. We have been devel...

Steve has another Chat with Toby Bowers

I have had my head down working on some big things, and it has been a while since you heard from me. Well, I'm getting back to it with a follow-up chat with Toby Bowers, the Leader of the Microsoft Bizapps ISV Program. I managed to catch him in his car, and got a great update on some new things happening in the ISV arena. Enjoy! Transcript Below: Toby: Hi, this is Toby. Steve: Hey Toby, Steve Mordue, how's it going? Toby: Hey, Steve. I'm doing well. Thanks. How are you? Steve: N...

Steve has a Chat with Ryan Cunningham

So I noticed Ryan Cunningham, Product Lead for the Power Apps side of the Power Platform for Microsoft, suddenly come available in Teams. So of course, I ambushed him, and we had a great conversation about Power Apps and the whole Microsoft Business Applications group. Enjoy! Transcript below: Ryan Cunningham: Hello. This is Ryan. Steve Mordue: Hey, Ryan. Steve Mordue. How's it going? Ryan Cunningham: Oh, Steve Mordue. How you doing? Does this mean I'm in trouble? Steve Mordue: ...

$10 bills for $3 each, for a limited time!

Today, Microsoft business Applications group is announcing a special offer for Power Apps Per App Passes. It felt pretty significant, so I thought I would write a short post on it. The Offer Starting today, you can buy Power Apps Per App Passes for $3 each. The catch? Minimum 200 users... but still.. that is a pretty big deal for mid-sized and above companies. For example, combined with our free RapidStartCRM, that gives you an enterprise grade CRM for 200 users for $600/month!!! In addit...

Microsoft marching masses to peak of Mt. Stupid

I recently became aware of an interesting concept in psychology called the Dunning-Kruger Effect, and Citizen Developers came to my mind. What the hell am I talking about now? Read on to find out. The Dunning-Kruger Effect Essentially the Dunning-Kruger effect is one's own perception of their reality. Often displayed as the following image: For those of you who are listening to this, instead of reading it, I will describe the image. On the vertical axis is confidence level, from low to...

The beatings will continue until morale improves

James Phillips, the head of engineering for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform, that we all either use, or make a living on, recently tweeted "The name changes will continue until morale improves". It was a joke people!!! Relax My inbox blew up with people asking me what "morale" issue James was referring to. Jimbo was paraphrasing an old quote that I used for the title of this post. In fact, Jimmy is not even responsible for naming as far as I know,  that merry-go-round is operated by ...

Microsoft taking away Direct CSP from Small Partners

When I moved from Salesforce to become a Microsoft partner about ten years ago, they were just launching the "Advisor" model for cloud license sales. The road got rocky after that. Life was Good The Advisor model was great. Microsoft handled everything, billing, support, collections, etc. All we had to do was bring customers and get paid a commission on the licenses that were bought. Cloud was exploding at that time a rate Microsoft did not seem prepared for. The Advisor model was puttin...

Steve Reads Jukka's Post

In one of our private MVP channels, another MVP “joked” that Jukka Niiranen should consider reading his blog like I do, so I “joked” that I would do it for him, and then Jukka “joked” that he “fully approved this innovative art performance“, and so.... all jokes aside… a Special Edition of Steve Reads his Posts, where I instead, Read one of Jukka’s posts. But before I do that I have known Jukka for several years now, and I consider him "the" top blogger when it comes to all things Power ...

I recommended Zoho!

In this past week, I had two potential customers who were deciding between our RapidStartCRM Power Apps or Zoho. For one of them, I had no choice but to recommend Zoho. I you want to know why, keep reading. Customer Number 1 I got a call from Bob, the owner of Little Bitty Inc., in Podunk, Nebraska. Bob was managing the finances for his 5-person business in his checkbook, and managing his sales with a Google spreadsheet. He said he had been considering Zoho, but then saw an ad for our Rap...

The Evolution of an ISV

I get that it is mostly partners and Microsoft employees that read my blog, I have not really targeted my content toward customers, which was probably a mistake, but that is a topic for another day. Today, I want to break down some significant changes we made to our ISV strategy and why. Every ISV is Different Our strategy is obviously not going to work for every ISV. For us, I think it makes sense, for others it could be non-sensical. In this post, I want to further expand on our recent ...

ISV Connect ED!, also our Apps are now Free

I had planned on making this two posts, but frankly I have too much on my plate at the moment, so its a twofer. The first part is about something new I launched, and the second part is about a bold move I made. ISV Connect ED I have certainly been one of the "complainers" about Microsoft's ISV programs, including ISV Connect. Well, you can only complain so much, and then, if you are in a position to, you have to take action. I decided that what ISVs were missing, was a community that was...

Steve has a Chat with Toby Bowers

I recently wrote a post with suggestions for Toby Bowers, the new Leader of the Microsoft ISV Program. I assumed he had read it, but just to be sure, I ambushed him on the phone. If you are a Microsoft Business Applications ISC, this is the guy who will make or break you. We had a great discussion about his plans for ISVs. We also chatted about my latest undertaking, ISV Connect ED, he acted like it was the first time he heard about it, but I already know that it has been chatted up in the ...

Suggestions for Toby Bowers on ISV Connect

I guess it is fairly obvious from my post yesterday, that I am pretty pissed off at Microsoft. I have always been one of those "Don't point out a problem, without suggesting a solution" kind of guys, and I have done my share of pointing out problems with Microsoft's Business Applications ISV efforts. So here are some ideas. Why ISVs? First, why should Microsoft even give a shit about ISVs? Certainly prior to sharing in ISV's revenue there did not appear to be much reason, based on how M...

Microsoft continues inching into ISV Turf

"Microsoft has always been a partner-led company, and we are committed to creating more opportunity for our partners across our businesses." and "This ethos of being partner-led will be there in everything we do". Satya Nadella has said these things, but I am wondering... Lip Service? One of the major factors that brought me to transition my company from a Salesforce Consultant, to a Microsoft Partner in 2011 was the "Partner Ecosystem" story. After almost 10 years with SFDC, during which...

CRM is not just about Sales

"We're not looking for a Sales solution", said the person on the other end of the phone call. I have heard this many times. While those of us in the Power Platform arena know that Sales is only one of the business problems we can solve with the tools today, many still think "Sales" when they hear Dynamics 365. Once more from the top I have previously explained some of the evolution of what was formerly known as CRM, at least as it relates to Microsoft's offerings.... but I will try once...

Power Apps - The truth about $10

When Model-Driven Power Apps first appeared on the scene, it brought with it a $40 per user license called Power Apps P2. Earlier this year Microsoft launched a $10 per App "Pass". Clearly $10 is going to get some eyeballs, along with a lot of skepticism about it having a place in an organization that may be paying $100 per user plus. So let's talk about it. "Your going to like it" I believe it was at last year's MVP Summit; there was an off-site dinner for the bizapps crew. I saw Charle...

Walking the Talk

I usually avoid discussing my products or services on the blog, people seem to get annoyed. But I was having a chat with an ISV the other day, who said he had found me via this blog. He asked me how much of my ISV opinions were "theoretical", and did I actually have any ISV solutions. So if you don't want to hear about my stuff, stop reading or listening now. AppSource As many of you know, I have had a love/hate relationship with Microsoft's AppSource. Apparently I must be a masochist, be...

Steve has another chat with Alysa Taylor

In this episode of "Steve has a Chat", I catch up again with Alysa Taylor, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft, to get the latest from the Queen of Marketing for Microsoft Business Applications Group. We chat about the success of Virtual Events, Customer Insights, Power Apps vs Power Apps, and touched on SMB.  Enjoy! BTW, don't forget, Mark Smith (@nz365guy) and I do PowerUpLive every Tuesday at 4PM EST, click here to be alerted, and here's a link to the replays! Transcript below: ...

Steve has a third chat with Guggs

In this episode of "Steve has a Chat", I catch up again with Steven Guggenheimer "Guggs" to get the latest on the ISV Connect program. It seems that the word is out at Microsoft about calls from me... they all seem ready now. But I still had a few surprises for him.  Enjoy! BTW, don't forget, Mark Smith (@nz365guy) and I do PowerUpLive every Tuesday at 4PM EST, click here to be alerted, and here's a link to the replays! Transcript below: Steven Guggenheimer: Hello. This is Guggs. S...

Tried Dynamics 365? Take another look at Power Apps.

As I think back to past customers of Dynamics 365, not all of them were successful. The challenges that brought them to Dynamics 365 were real enough, but at the time we only had one solution to try and solve them with. I would love to snap my fingers and take Power Apps back in time. Sledgehammers Dynamics 365, borne out of it's predecessor, Dynamics CRM Online, is a software marvel. I'm talking specifically in this post about the "CRM" side of Dynamics 365. For a midsized to large busi...

Steve has a third chat with Charles Lamanna

I try and sneak up on Charles Lamanna a third time, but he was ready for it, "fool me once". Recently promoted to CVP, Citizen Application Platform I wanted to check in with Charles, who was working from home, about some of the things that are going on.  We covered a lot of topics, including the post-virus workplace, RPA, API Limits, Multiplexing and Restricted Entities. Enjoy! BTW, don't forget, Mark Smith (@nz365guy) and I do PowerUpLive every Tuesday at 5PM EST, click here to be alerted...

The Cost of Hemorrhaging Money

Most people I am talking to today are starting to think about their businesses in these odd times. Many are naturally concerned about a reduction in revenue. But the counter-part to revenue is cost. Since the revenue side may be out of our control to some degree, the cost side is more critical than ever. Athletic I work with a lot of businesses of all sizes. From my first-hand experience, the smaller the business, the leaner they operate. That is not a result of smaller profit percentage,...

The Last Nail in the On-Premise Coffin

The Conona Virus is having many different effects on the world, most are negative, but there are some that may actually be positive. For example, with workers being asked to work from home at an unprecedented rate, and that will no doubt go higher, one major point of failure will be on-premise based solutions. Let's unpack this. Remote Workers Looking from the balcony of my downtown apartment, my view is dominated by office buildings. They are full of financial services firms, law firms.....

Dynamics 365 Team Member gets Locked

You were warned, you panicked, then realized nothing was happening immediately. So the trusty Team Member licenses kept chugging along, continuing to perform well beyond their boundaries. I wrote about this day coming back in May of 2018, and now finally, it's just around the corner.... prepare for the panic. Sum it up In a nutshell, if you bought Team Member licenses after October 1st of 2018, this applies to you immediately. If you have older Team Member licenses, I'm sure you will ha...

Power Apps Potholes

There are a couple of different ways to approach building a Power App... and I am not referring to Canvas vs. Model-Driven here, but rather, the environment type. Today, you can build a Power App on either a "vanilla" CDS environment, or on a Dynamics 365 CDS environment. Why does it matter? Vanilla Let's quickly discuss the Vanilla approach as it is the safest, which I will explain why later. If you log into the Power Platform Admin Center you will be presented with a list of Environmen...

Power Platform - ISV Ready

As an ISV I want to be able to take full advantage of everything that Microsoft's Power Platform can offer. Like SI's and customers, I get excited when I see the roadmap of features that are coming... it is mind-boggling. Unfortunately, just because something goes GA, does not mean it is "ISV Ready". ISV Connect Technical Summit I recently attended the least "technical", technical event I have ever been to. As part of Microsoft's larger "ISV Connect" effort to create excitement for ISVs,...

Business Models Continued

I know had previously written about Partner business models, but I can't find that post. I recall discussing our "Blocks of Hours" model, and how it was working well for both us and our customers. But I was seeing some cracks in it, and decided to create yet another business model, that we are starting to use now, that shows even better potential. What is a Business Model? At some point in talking with a customer about how awesome you and your team are, and hearing about what they are h...

Shining a Light on Shadow IT

The IT organization, inside of most enterprise customers, is primarily focused on Security, Governance and Compliance these days. One of the biggest tools in their arsenal is the word "No".  That approach, to requests from various departments for solutions to help them accomplish their goals, planted the seeds for Shadow IT, and that Genie is not going back in the bottle. Shadow IT In every organization, that is of a size to have an actual IT Department, Shadow IT exists. If you work or...

Steve Reviews a Solution

I know... this is out of left field right? Me doing a review of a Power Platform solution. But I know the team behind it, and I thought hmm... maybe this could be an angle for some new blog content. So, what the hell! BTW, I am not being compensated for this, nor did they offer... cheap bastards. What's wrong with sales today? Sales has always been a black box. Great sellers have their secrets, but would rather not share them. Bad sellers just show up and check boxes until somebody final...

Dynamics 365 - ISV Protection?

As an ISV, with solutions for both Dynamics 365 and Power Apps, I was encouraged about the attention that Business Applications ISVs are getting recently. Unfortunately, I.P. protection is not one of the items coming anytime soon. Managed Solution Myth Many ISVs believe that their managed solutions are safe. Having taken great pains to ensure that their managed solution never gets in the wrong hands, by requiring that their own teams install it for example. Thanks to some utilities in fr...