Complete installed base migration to Microsoft 365 Business Central SaaS

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This weekend Microsoft reseller Beta migrated their complete installed base from their hosted environment to Microsoft 365 Business Central SaaS. The end-customers of Beta are using a set of ISV solutions; Beta365, Continia Document Capture, Opplus365, and several modules of OneBizz. All their end-customers are now enjoying the benefits of the online business platform.

The migration was organized and managed by the specialists of QBS Group. Jasper van Geest, QBS Group; “Before we even could start, we had to align all the different ISV solutions, including Microsoft. Thanks to the close cooperation and clear orchestration, we could do a smooth migration from hosted NAV to Business Central SaaS”.

All the findings and sample runbook are adopted in the QBS Group ISV acceleration program, which helps ISVs and VARs migrate their solutions and end-customers to Business Central SaaS.

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast 25 June 2020

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This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and related ISV solutions, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.
And along the year we will keep you informed about the latest news from Microsoft biggest events like Inspire, Directions ASIA, North America and EMEA.

Topics – 25 June 2020

Part 1: Dynamics 365 Business Central Update
Dynamics 365 Business Central Update (13 Minutes)

Part 2: Dynamics 365 Update
Dynamics 365 Update (12 Minutes)

Part 3: ForNav a quick demo
ForNav a quick demo (7 Minutes)

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 CRM Update Webcast 24 June 2020

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Get the latest insights from Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.

In this webcast, we present in just 45 minutes the most important updates around Dynamics 365 Customer and Field Service.

Dynamics 365 CRM Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

From NAV via Business Central on-premises to Cloud

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In this time of digital transformation, it is recommended to bring licenses to the cloud.

If a customer is not ready yet for the Cloud, it is advised to first transfer the customer to Business Central on-premises. The customer then has all the benefits of the new Business Central version and can take the time to switch to Business Central in the Cloud. Microsoft recommends transferring these customers to Business Central Version 14 (April 2019 release). This is the latest version that offers both C/AL and AL and is the starting point to proceed to Business Central Cloud.
Please note: it is possible to upgrade to Business Central Version 14 until October 1st, 2020. From October 1st, 2020, it is only possible to go to Business Central version 15 and from this version on, only AL is available.

NAV to Business Central-on premises

Customers with a NAV on-premises license1 can upgrade to a Business Central on-premises license2 free of charge. The only condition for this is to have an active enhancement plan (BREP). Because concurrent users in the NAV license go to named users in the Business Central license, Microsoft gives a transition ratio for users of 1:33. For all users (full and limited users) purchased before May 1st, 2019, a customer will receive 3 users in the Business Central license. For all users purchased after May 1st, 2019, the customer will receive 1 user at transition.

Limited users will be converted to Team members. The conversion of full users to Essential or Premium users depends on the current NAV license (see table 1). If a customer would receive Essential users after the transition, it is possible to switch to Premium users. If a customer receives Premium users and they rather have Essential users, then this can only be indicated at the time of transition. After the transition, this is no longer possible.

 

1 NAV Subscription licenses cannot upgrade to Business Central. These subscriptions must be cancelled and a new Business Central license must be purchased.

2 The upgrade is free of charge as long as no deactivations in the license have taken place after 1 October 2018.

3 There is currently no end date for the 1:3 ratio.

 

Table 1. User type when upgrading from NAV to Business Central

 

NAV License model Edition User type in Business Central
MBL – Module Based License Any Premium
BRL – Business Ready License Advanced Management (AM) Premium
Business Essentials (BE) Essentials
Perpetual Extended Pack Premium
No Extended Pack Essentials

 

 

Business Central on-premises to Cloud

If a customer has a Business Central on-premises license, they can choose to go to a Business Central license in the Cloud. Because an investment has already been made when purchasing the on-premises license, Microsoft offers a transition promotion to the Cloud, where the customer gets a 40% discount on the users. The only condition for this is that the customer has an active enhancement plan (BREP). The following applies for the discount:

  • The discount applies to all users in the Business Central on-premises license.
  • Not all users need to be ordered at once for the Business Central Cloud license. The customer can purchase a number of users first and later on more users.
  • The discount may be used for the same number of users as in the Business Central on-premises license.
  • If the customer wants more users in the cloud license than there are in the on-premises license, the regular price and not the discount applies for the extra users.

 

Case study

Customer Contoso has a NAV Perpetual license with Extended Pack, 20 users and an active enhancement plan. They want to upgrade to Business Central, but are not ready yet for the cloud, and choose to go to a Business Central on-premises license first.

For the 20 users in the NAV license, they receive 60 Premium users in the Business Central on-premises license. Over time they will be ready for the cloud and can take advantage of the discount. They do not need all 60 users in the cloud yet and start with 30 users. Later they need more users and order another 30 users with the discount for the cloud license. The business is doing well and they need even more users. Because they had 60 users in the Business Central on-premises license and now have 60 users in the Business Central Cloud license, they can no longer take advantage of the discount and will have to buy the users at the regular price.

Best practices of migrating your customer to Business Central SAAS

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“Migrating Dynamics NAV customers to Dynamics 365 Business Central SAAS – Now’s the time!”

Already several of our partners are active in approaching their customers and showing successes in their process of migrating customers to Business Central SAAS. Of course, not all the projects went as smoothly as they were planned, but all these partners have finalized their projects successfully. In this video blog Mark Brummel will share his best practices.

This vlog is interesting for all Business Central partners as well for technical people, as for sales or business owners. This video is a must-see if you want to survive in the new Dynamics 365 world.

Target audience
Sales, business owners, consultants, and developers

Learnings
After watching this video, you have learned more about the ideal migration path and it will give you new ideas on how to set this up for your own customers.

Video: Best practices of migrating your customer to Business Central SAAS

Best Practices Of Migrating Your Customer To Business Central SAAS

Dynamics 365 and Power Platform licensing model explained

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Get the latest insights from Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.

In this webcast, we present in just 60 minutes the most important updates around licensing and pricing of Dynamics 365 CRM and Power Platform.

Dynamics 365 CRM Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast 4 June 2020

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This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and related ISV solutions, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.
And along the year we will keep you informed about the latest news from Microsoft biggest events like Inspire, Directions ASIA, North America and EMEA.

Topics – 4 June 2020

Update on Dynamics 365 Business Central including detailed information about the Microsoft Enhancement Plan to Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Promo.

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

One out of Five Microsoft Office 365 licences is not being used: how to leverage your investment.

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Quadrotech, which polled more than two million Office 365 users, said it found that one in five corporate licenses isn’t being used at all (https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/22/better_use_of_office365_licenses/)

Whether this review was before, during or post COVID-19 lockdowns worldwide is unclear, however, it does suggest a gaping divide between software intention versus its execution in business.

At a recent training seminar, I attended with Microsoft Office 365 grand-master Tracy van der Schyff, she asked us to raise our hands if we believed we were computer literate (Which we all did). After 13 minutes of Q&A (Such as “Does anyone here know how to…”), it was apparent that we were mostly, grossly ignorant to the features that have been released in our oldest and dearest software, Microsoft Office, over the past 10 years.

Recent events (That do not require reiteration) have thrust the need for remote working to the fore and left many businesses on the back foot. Additionally, as overheads and expenses are being forensically scrutinized, it has come to light that we are double-paying for services we already have in our Microsoft subscriptions.

Business is using Office365 but also paying for ‘Mono-product’ cloud offerings, which do much the same thing. Think ‘monday.com’. By their narrative;

‘monday.com is a flexible platform that teams use to create custom apps in minutes – to plan, run, and track processes, projects, and everyday work.

It’s probably good software (I don’t know) but looking at the description, it is apparent you can replicate the same functionality using Office features of MS Teams + MS Tasks + MS PowerSuite. The big difference is monday.com does not have email and starts at $39  vs. Office365 at $6. There is even an apples-to-apples comparison and it appears you are paying much more for far less.

Another example is Grammarly: text editing and grammar suggesting AI software with integrations to Microsoft Outlook & Word could now be redundant as Microsoft released ‘Microsoft Editor’ with integrations to all Office but with the addition of web browsers Edge and even Chrome.

The reality is, most low-tier cloud business offerings could be replicated (and even improved upon) using Microsoft by internal resources with minimal training in PowerSuite and a handful of Office 365 licences. Which most companies already have.

So why are we buying software twice?

Adoption is the challenge. I.T. is no longer a separate division providing networking, upgrades (only when necessary) and troubleshooting Susan’s mouse-issue on level 4 (“Have you tried turning it off and back on again?”)

For businesses to leverage their software investments they need to have (Either internally or externally) a resource to periodically review needs and apply the latest upgrades from their existing software portfolio to accommodate.

In the 1990s my mechanic-cousin said to me “I am now a computer engineer”. This after being run through a course on the ‘new’ ECU technology that was bought in to replace the faithful carburettors and mechanical fuel injection. The switch in the industry was glaring and impossible to miss. It was over-night.

The 4th industrial revolution, however, has been drawn-out. I.T. professionals now need to be Business Analysts as well as Technical Resources. Ensuring the right tool for the right job, at the right time.

The good news is there is information readily available out there to assist.

Microsoft Learn is a fun initiative with high-level courses overviews and ‘badges’ which (though won’t get you from novice to expert) certainly give a good basis in the technology, with the bonus of looking good on a Resume.

For more depth, companies offer Microsoft Office 365 and Application-specific learning, albeit instructor lead and paid. It is possible (Believe it or not) to do a 5-day course in Office 365; such has grown the breadth-and-depth of the product.

But it is worth it? The answer simply is yes. It is not just the cost-saving in superfluous software, education can save each person in your organization an average of 30 minutes a day just by leveraging the technology you already have.

As budgets are being reviewed and costs cut, simple and readily available efficiencies will be the fastest and easiest to implement.

In some cases, they will be the most effective too.

 

 

Visit our QBS Academy catalogue.

LS Retail and QBS sign agreement

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Meet LS Express, the online POS for SMB retailers built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

LS Retail and QBS Group have signed an agreement for the distribution of the LS Express software solution, based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Distribution will start with Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom, but the plan is to expand to all the countries that QBS is actively serving (25 today).

LS Retail’s goal is to bring LS Express, an online POS solution for small and medium retailers, to a larger market using the vast network of resellers of QBS in Europe and the Middle East. This will be achieved through QBS Group’s ISV partner program, which was launched about one year ago.

QBS Group will take care of the provisioning of the solution via their ISV marketplace. They will provide partners with training on LS Express via their QBS Academy, and attract new partners via their “Ready to Start ” program.

 

“QBS is a trusted partner, who we have cooperated effectively with for many years. We share the common goal to increase the number of businesses operating on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. We look forward to reaching out to the SMB retailers in the QBS reseller network and introducing them to LS Express, which is an ideal add-on for retail businesses using Business Central”, says Sigrun Dora Saevinsdottir, COO at LS Retail.

“LS Retail’s LS Express solution is a great addition to our ISV marketplace. This is a fast growing platform that brings together the best ISV solutions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, so our resellers and their customers can enjoy seamless provisioning and billing”, says Nelson Tavares da Silva, VP Business Development, responsible for the ISV strategy and execution at QBS Group.

 

Together, LS Retail and QBS Group can make a difference for the QBS resellers and their customers who need a fast and efficient retail software solution built on trusted Microsoft technology. Learn more about LS Express at https://lsexpress.lsretail.com/

Business in a post-Covid19 world

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I just read this article about the Microsoft Q3 2020 Earnings Call which I wanted to share with you. It is all about how Satya Nadella is thinking about the future of business in a post-covid19 world.

 

It has some interesting insights and let me share my top 5:

 

1. “A world of remote everything.”

“As COVID-19 impacts every aspect of our work and life, we have seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months. From remote teamwork and learning, to sales and customer service, to critical cloud infrastructure and security, we are working alongside customers every day to help them stay open for business in a world of remote everything. There is both immediate surge demand, and systemic, structural changes across all of our solution areas that will define the way we live and work going forward.”

 

2. The need for speed, agility, acceleration.

“It’s actually very important to have the ability in a very agile way as a business to be able to move on your business-process needs. So for example if you are a retailer and you now need to do contactless shopping, that is something that, for example, Dynamics is going to support for you to be able to use even commodity cameras with AI modules with all of it helping with our data model that supports our shopping inside of physical stores or curbside pickup or even remote assistance…

“So as long as business applications like ours with Dynamics 365 address the immediate pressing needs, these are project starts that will happen because in some sense that’s the way for economic activity to return. But at the same time I think business applications that perhaps have longer lead in terms of implementation, people are probably going to take some more time to decide on it, but whereas we think we are well positioned to capture the new scenarios.”

 

3. Remote meetings become the norm—permanently.

Teams now has more than 75 million daily active users… the number of organizations integrating their third-party and line of business apps with Teams has tripled in the past two months…

 

4. The surging power and significance of developers.

“From Twilio, to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to more than 10,000 engineers at Daimler, GitHub is where developers go from idea to code and code to cloud. We are bringing GitHub to even more developers, making core features free for the first time for teams of any size.”

 

5. In a remote world, the edge becomes essential.

“There is no question that moving to the public cloud, even at a time like this, is just capital efficient.“But at the same time, the architecture of the cloud itself is going to be both the cloud and the edge. So it’s not just about migrating off-premise, but it’s also about being able to have an architecture that supports the needs where edge-compute is increasingly going to be very important.”

 

Full article can be found at https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2020/04/30/microsoft-corp-msft-q3-2020-earnings-call-transcri.aspx

 

 

 

For more Covid-19 related reading – and collection of business related tips and links to overcome – visit our page:

UPDATE – QBS Group support through the COVID-19 outbreak

Dynamics 365 CRM Update Webcast 11 May 2020

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Get the latest insights from Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.

In this webcast, we present in just 45 minutes the most important updates form Microsoft Business Applications Summit 2020.

Dynamics 365 CRM Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast 7 May 2020

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This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and related ISV solutions, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.
And along the year we will keep you informed about the latest news from Microsoft biggest events like Inspire, Directions ASIA, North America and EMEA.

Topics – 7 May 2020

Part 1 : Dynamics 365 Business Central Update
Dynamics 365 Business Central Update (16 Minutes)

Part 2: Dynamics 365 Update
Dynamics 365 Update (10 Minutes)

Part 3: Power BI with HillStar – All essential reports from Microsoft Dynamics ERP are immediately available in Power BI
Birds Power BI – HillStar (10 Minutes)

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

QBS Academy – Online Courses VILTs

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For New Starters / Consultants coming from Compete ERP

Business Central Advanced Product Specialist Program – Essentials Pack (powered by Business Central Booster)

Business Central Advanced Product Specialist Program – Essentials Pack (powered by Business

Central Booster). Our comprehensive Functional Product Professional Program (powered by Business Central Booster) will boost you right into the Business Central professional consultancy practice! Based on +24 real-world implementation scenarios, the program leads your learning journey from “Zero to Hero” and keeps you aligned with implementation best practices.

This program includes everything you need to jumpstart a Consultant career in Business Central.  URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/business–central–advanced–product–specialistprogram–essentials–pack–powered–by–business–central–booster–glo–2/  

 

Business Central Advanced Product Specialist Program – Premium Pack (powered by Business Central Booster)

Our comprehensive Functional Product Professional Program (powered by Business Central Booster) will boost you right into the Business Central professional consultancy practice! Based on +24 real-world implementation scenarios, the program leads your learning journey from “Zero to Hero” and keeps you aligned with implementation best practices.  

This program includes everything you need to jumpstart a Consultant career in Business Central. URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/business–central–advanced–product–specialistprogram–premium–pack–powered–by–business–central–booster–glo–2/

 

 

Training for all BC/CE/PP students

D365 BC Technical Implementation Training Online (Level 200-300)

This Dynamics 365 Business Central Technical Implementation training will provide a full overview of what you need to be aware of when implementing Business Central.

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/d365–bc–technical–implementation–training_onlinelevel–200–300–glo/

DEVOPS for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Online)

Optimize your development practice for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with DevOps. This course covers in-depth topics like Source Code Management, GIT, Agile, Azure DevOps and Build & Test Automation.

URL:https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/devops–for–microsoft–dynamics–365–businesscentral–online–glo/

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Impact on Consultants (Online)

This two-day Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central course focusses on the impact of this for implementation consultants and support engineers. What is cloud? What are extensions? Can I deploy extensions? What is a tenant? How do we deploy Business Central as an app, on-prem or hybrid? What is Visual Studio code? Is the customization process changed? Can I still use Fob files?

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/microsoft–dynamics–365–business–central–impacton–consultants–online–glo/

Mastering Advanced Development Techniques in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Online)

This training is intended for Microsoft Dynamics Business Central developers with knowledge and experience in Business Central development.

URL:https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/mastering–advanced–development–techniques–inmicrosoft–dynamics–365–business–central–online–glo/

Dynamics 365 Business Central Automated Testing Online

With the advent of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the new cloud-based offering, and the evolution of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, developers must learn new development environments and skills. AppSource apps will require developers to write Automated Testing for their apps, and any customizations you would do for Business Central has the potential of breaking when Microsoft does a new release.

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/dynamics–365–business–central–automatedtesting_online–glo/

Development Foundation in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Online)

This 5 day Development Foundation in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central training is your starting point if you want to customize and tailor Business Central to the needs of your user organisation.

This training will give you a deep understanding of all the basic objects in the Business Central development environment like Tables, Pages and CodeUnits and you will explore Table and Page

Extensions.

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/development–foundation–in–microsoft–dynamics–365business–central–online–glo/

Dynamics 365 Sales Bootcamp (online) (MB-210) (Level 100-200)

During the Product Basics Bootcamp we go over the product basics from a consultant’s unique perspective in a two-day on-line interactive training setup.  

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/dynamics–365–sales–bootcamp–online–mb–210level–100–200–glo/

Power Platform Basic Bootcamp Online (Level 100-200)

This two-day course introduces Power Platform to business consultants, integration consultants and (pre-) sales specialists. During these 2 very hands on days, you’ll learn to build your own apps, configure automation and build reporting dashboards

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/power–platform–basic–bootcamp_online–level–100200–glo/

Dynamics 365 Advanced Configuration Bootcamp (online) (MB-200 and MB 716) (Level 300-400)

During the Advanced Configuration Bootcamp we cover more extensive functional and technical implementation techniques to tailor CE to the customer’s requirements and business processes.  URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/dynamics–365–advanced–configuration–bootcamponline–mb–200–and–mb–716–level–300–400–glo/

 

 

Power Platform Advanced Preparation Day Online

The Power Platform Advanced preparation day serves as an accelerated intro into the Power Platform world for professionals who are not familiar yet with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Common Data Service customizations & deployment.

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/power–platform–advanced–preparation–day_onlineglo/

Power Platform Advanced Bootcamp Online

Please be aware that the Power Platform Advanced Preparation day is mandatory for all participants who want to participate on the Power platform Advanced bootcamp.

If you meet one of the conditions below, you are exempt from this pre-day:

  • You have experience in customizing D365 CRM (more than 2 years)
  • You passed the MB2-716 exam
  • You followed the bootcamp: Dynamics 365 Advanced Configuration

The Power Platform Advanced Bootcamp covers all aspects in building., extending and implementing the Power Platform products in extensive technical detail for professionals (Consultants and Developers), with 2-5+ years experience in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement deployment and customization.

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/power–platform–advanced–bootcamp_online–glo/

Dynamics 365 Marketing Bootcamp

During this 2 day online course, we cover the Dynamics 365 for Marketing features and how to use, configure and implement them.

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/dynamics–365–marketing–bootcamp–glo/

Power BI for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Online)

This Microsoft Power BI training will enable you to unleash the power of Microsoft Power BI on Microsoft 365 Business Central & NAV data. You will learn all essential insights of Microsoft Power BI and apply them on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and NAV data.

URL: https://www.qbsgroup.com/qbstraining/power–bi–for–microsoft–dynamics–365–businesscentral–online–glo/

 

 

 

Didn’t find the training you were looking for? Contact training@qbsgroup.com

5 Can’t live without features in Microsoft Teams

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5 ‘Can’t live without’ features in Microsoft Teams

Want to learn more? Watch our recorded webinar “Microsoft 365, the toolbox to enable digital citizens to work from home efficiently”.

Of course, I could list 1,000 features at least that I can’t live without for example chat, video call, @mentions, co-authoring etc. But I’ll start with the not so obvious. These aren’t so much features, but it highlights the mutualistic symbiosis between the apps and services and how you can bring it into Teams as Tabs.

Microsoft Teams has enabled us to create a virtual office space, which right now is more important than ever. This means that we can bring all our tools and resources into one workplace for people to use. Let us look at some examples:

1.  Outlook

The first would be the ability to send emails to channels in Microsoft Teams. Outlook / emails will not disappear, and we still have situations where external parties send documentation that you then need to load in a Team channel. It’s as easy as supplying them the email address to use and VOILA, the email as well as the attachment is stored in your Team Channel (SharePoint folder). You can also setup rules in Outlook to automatically forward certain emails to a channel. The best part of this is that the sender does not need access to the Team as a member.

2. Forms

Microsoft Forms is a fantastic tool to create surveys and quizzes. You can add these forms to your Teams as a Tab in any channel. You also can display the form for completion or the results for previous submissions.

 

3. Stream

Think of Stream as your company’s internal YouTube. Create channels / groups in here to load videos for training, handover, induction etc. These Stream channels can then be added as Tabs on Team Channels for the convenience of your members.

 

4.  Sway

If you’ve never used Sway, you should think about it. I use Sway to build training and information packs, awareness campaigns and event invites as well as induction packs. These Sways can be set to auto play and added as a Tab on a Team.

5. Planner

Tired of sending mails to remind your coworkers to do something? Why don’t you use Planner and add it to your Team as a Tab? This is a great tool to manage those tasks previously sent by mail and can also be used to manage the actions and decisions from meetings more efficiently.

 

I hope these items have inspired you to relook the apps integration into Teams and how they can help you be more productive, especially when working from home.

Staying up to date with Microsoft 365

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Staying up to date with Microsoft 365

With features being released on a weekly basis, it might be difficult to stay up to date. I truly believe that if we build time into our daily schedules to keep on learning, this can be managed.

Below you will find some resources that I have gathered to get the most out of my Microsoft / Office 365 experience.

Want to learn more? Watch our recorded webinar “Microsoft 365, the toolbox to enable digital citizens to work from home efficiently”.

Resources:

Microsoft Adoption Resources – Training and adoption resources / playbooks

 

Microsoft Docs – Microsoft documentation for end users, developers, and IT Professionals

 

Customer Feedback for Microsoft Office 365 – Office 365 feedback and suggestions site

Microsoft 365 Roadmap – See what is in development, rolled out and just launched for Office 365 apps and services

 

What is new in Office 365 – See the latest summarized updates for Office ProPlus

Office 365 Training Center – Cheat sheets, infographics, quick starts, and video training

 

Microsoft Learning Paths – Hands-on approach to training with learning paths

Microsoft 365 Learning Paths Template – deploy this template in SharePoint

edX – Free online Microsoft Courses

Microsoft Tech Community – Online community with forums and blogs

All the apps have built in Training & Help features:

Do not forget the community, this is our strongest support and learning platform:

Want to download content as pdf? Download here

Stay curios, keep on learning!

 

Save 30 minutes a day with these Office ProPlus hacks

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Want to learn more? Watch our recorded webinar “Microsoft 365, the toolbox to enable digital citizens to work from home efficiently”.

Office 365 was launched on the 28th of June 2011 and the broad understanding was that on-premises services had moved to cloud. The penny dropped for most when Microsoft Teams was launched on the 14th of March 2017. The Digital Workplace had finally arrived.

Amid this the value of an important role player was overseen – Office ProPlus.

Most of us have been using Microsoft Office for way too many years we are prepared to admit, and it was business as usual. Or was it? A crazy number of features has been added to Office on a regular basis, but as we are so busy doing things the way we are used to, it is only human to miss these small optimizations.

Here is a sneak preview into some of the features that could save you loads of time every day:

Outlook

Quick Steps – Use quick steps (like rules) to setup actions on mails

Dictation – A great way to dictate emails (and documents in Word)

Excel

Ideas – Use Ideas to get other insights on the data you are working with

3D and World Maps – Great addition to view your data in a geographical format

Word

Smart Lookup & Researcher – These are great tools for research or just checking facts. Also, the easiest way to add a citation in a document

Insert Icons / Online Pictures – Surely the fastest way to dress up your documents, without leaving the app

Dictation / read aloud – Great features to work through content, but also create it.

PowerPoint

Morph / Zoom – Are great ways to liven up your presentations. Like animations and transitions

Design Ideas – For quick graphical layouts and remember it’s not just for images, try it out on your text / bullets.

Recording – An easy way to record quick How To videos and share through OneDrive or Stream

OneDrive / ProPlus – Do not forget that you can @mention people in your Office documents to give them access and request their input. This is a great way to start co-authoring

You can find a summary of feature updates on the “What’s new in Office 365” site as well as under the Help tab in your Office Applications.

 

Want to know more? Join our webinar on Friday the 17th at 14:30 CEST.

UPDATE – QBS Group support through the COVID-19 outbreak

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On this page, we will be collecting all the business-relevant information that can help, inspire and support us all through this crisis, as well as post best practices that may be helpful. You can always book us for a (virtual) cup of coffee – we’d love to have a talk and discuss how we can help!

Update from Michael Hartmann, CEO, QBS group

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, I want to share with you QBS Group’s plans to ensure business continuity not just for QBS Group but also some practical advice from the QBS community to the QBS community. Our top priorities continue to be the health and well-being of our employees, ensuring uninterrupted service to our partners, and finally, doing our part in preventing further spread of the virus. QBS Group is consistently focused on business continuity and we are fully prepared to continue our operations during the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Update May 26, 2020:

Now that the world is gradually coming out of lock-down – we all seem to look left and right to find that nothing has really changed, while at the same time everything has. As a comment we heard “we’re not going back to work – we’re going forward to work” so rigthfully puts it. It may sound as a cliche – but now more than ever your customers will rely on you to advise them on best use of technology to help them move their business forward. Our VP of Business Development, Nelson Tavares da Silva, has written this blog piece reflecting on recent commentary track from Satya Nadella to the Q3 earnings report from Microsoft.

Business in a post Covid-19 world

 

Community sharing

QBS Group Partner Yammer dedicated corona forum: in time of crisis people normally come together. Let’s “come together” virtually to share any input or experiences. Visit our Yammer group

QBS YouTube channel with short inspirational stories that may help us all to better cope with challenges.

QBS Talk on how to effectively use the Office 365 tools when working from home

If you have similar ideas to share – then please send mail to QBS Marketing Lead, Anne Jakobsen (ajakobsen@qbsgroup.com)

 

Country specific advice

Below we include the details on individual governmental  “packages” that are being launched to help businesses running during the crisis. If you know of something that should be listed – let us know via marketing@qbsgroup.com – so that we may share with the community.

 

Austria:

Official site for all things related to corona and business: https://www.wko.at/service/aussenwirtschaft/coronavirus-wirtschaftskammer-als-anlaufstelle.html

 

Belgium:

Official site for all things related to corona and business:

https://economie.fgov.be/nl/themas/ondernemingen/het-coronavirus-en-zijn

 

Denmark

Lancerede pakker:

Svært ved at finde rundt i alle pakkerne? DR side med overblik over alle 13 hjælpepakker

Kontakt:

Er du virksomhed eller organisation, kan du få mere information på Erhvervsstyrelsens hotline på tlf. 72 20 00 34 (hverdage 08.30-16.00 / fredag 09.00-15.00).

Germany:

Official site for all things related to corona and business: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Dossier/coronavirus.html

 

France:

Official site for all things related to corona and business:

https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/coronavirus-covid-19

 

Italy:

Decreto Ministeriale ‘Cura Italia’

Covid 19 Regole Sul Lavoro

 

Netherlands:

Official site for all things related to corona and business:

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-covid-19

 

Norway:

https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/regjeringens-strakstiltak-for-a-dempe-de-okonomiske-virkningene-av-koronaviruset/id2693442/

 

Polska:

Aktualne informacje i zalecenia dotyczące koronawirusa: https://www.gov.pl/web/koronawirus

Całodobowa infolinia NFZ w zakresie informacji o koronawirusie: 800-190-590

 

South Africa:

For South Africa no official governmental business advice has yet been announced – but our Regional Lead for the MEA region, based out of Johannesburg has written this personal post, with some reflections on situation. We will post as soon as we hear any relevant news.

Spain:

Please see this document

 

Sweden:

Åtgärder med anledning av coronaviruset

Krispaket för svenska företag och jobb

Ekonomiska åtgärder med anledning av covid-19

Om förslaget korttidspermittering

Förslag om likviditetförstärkning via skattekontot

Utökat statligt ansvar för sjuklönekostnader

 

Switzerland:

Das Bundesamt für Gesundheit (BAG)

https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home.html

PwC Luxembourg is launching a hotline to help local businesses face and navigate the current disruption.

UK:

COVID-19: guidance for employees, employers and businesses

Business support announced in the Budget and 17 March

Coronavirus action plan: a guide to what you can expect across the UK

 

QBS Group partners up with Pipol – from local to global

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It is with great pleasure that we announce the partnership between Pipol and QBS. With more than 800 Microsoft Dynamics partners in 25 countries and a wide range of services for international  ERP implementations – the path is laid for any partner that aspires to become an international player on the Dynamics 365 scene.

The partnership is a broad strategic partnership with great mutual opportunities for QBS and Pipol and includes:

  1. Joint lead generation enabling QBS partners to assign and engage in international opportunities
  2. An attractive sign-up opportunity for Pipol partners who want to procure license through QBS
  3. Attractive terms for The Pipol Alliance, when working with 1ClickFactory

qbs and pipol

A great opportunity for QBS partners to engage in international business

For QBS, the Pipol Alliance represents a significant value add to their partners and an opportunity for QBS to tap into more and larger international deals. When working with Pipol, QBS partners will receive a “Lead Finder Fee” on services and products invoiced to the customer.

Hear more about this opportunity in our next monthly partner webcast  and head to our new international service page right here and start registering your international leads today.

This opportunity with Pipol enables you as QBS partner to engage together with a professional team in international ERP opportunities.

For more information, please reach out to Ulrikka van Straten at QBS Group or Sara-Clare Pehrson at Pipol.

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast 5 March 2020

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This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and related ISV solutions, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.
And along the year we will keep you informed about the latest news from Microsoft biggest events like Inspire, Directions ASIA, North America and EMEA.

Topics – 5 March 2020

Part 1 : Dynamics 365 Business Central Update
Dynamics 365 Business Central Update (22 Minutes)

Part 2: Dynamics 365 Update
Recent​ Microsoft Announcements​ CRM / F&O
Team Member Licence Enforcement
Dynamic 365 Professional SKU​ Business Central Attach Considerations
Dynamics 365 Update (12 Minutes)

Part 3: How to effectively manage your document output with AdvancedForms
AdvancedForms – Quadira (15 Minutes)

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast