News from QBS group Partner Care

/in , , /by

We are pleased to present the latest version of our QBS group CSP Operations Guide. Please find it on our QBS Partner Portal.

Referring to our blog: New Pricing for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement & Unified Operations per the 1st of October 2019, Microsoft is changing the way they sell Dynamics 365 Plan licenses, this change goes live on the 1st October 2019 and it will affect existing Plan Subscription Customers – i.e. Dynamics 365 Plan, Customer Engagement Plan and Unified Operations Plan.

After the 1st October, the renewal for a Plan is no longer automatic, before the renewal day you’ll have to manually place an order for the new Subscriptions.
Failing to order the new subscription(s) will result on the Customer losing access to the system.

You’ll have to order the correspondent Base License + Attach Licenses, as the Plan will no longer be available for sale.

We as QBS group have contacted all Partners with Plan Subscriptions expiring soon.

If you have any questions, need assistance with the Base/Attach License conversion, or need a copy of the October Preview Pricelist, please get in touch with us via the Service Desk on our QBS group Partner Portal

Would You Awaken Your Dynamics NAV or Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises Customer this Fall if They Were Sleeping Beauty?

/in , /by

As we have heard many times before, it is likely your Dynamics NAV and Dynamics Business Central On-Premises customers are confused and raising questions surrounding the Dynamics 365 Business Central Fall release 2019, asking you such matters as:

  • “Is it time for me to upgrade now?”
  • “Does this version meet my needs?”
  • “How do I get it started and implemented?”

Well, simply ask them if they were sleeping beauty, would they want to be woken up this fall or wait years and years to eventually be awoken?

Infographic - How to choose the best path to move to Dynamics Business Central SAAS

Read the full blog from Agnė Balkevičiūtė-Lajienė, Commercial Operations Manager at 1 Click Factory 

Update on Dynamics 365 Business Central 27 August 2019

/in , /by

This series of webinars is intended to share the latest information on Dynamics 365 Business Central. Both from a technical, functional and business perspective. Besides sharing information, we will also update on the services portfolio from QBS group to assist on the road to Dynamics 365.

Watch here the Webinar update of the 27th of August 2019.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Update

Microsoft raised the bar for competencies

/in , , /by

October 24, 2019 update. Microsoft has gone back on their cancellation of the Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency – so this will still be available going forward! For reference – see this document. (on QBS Partner Portal – gated).

The Microsoft Incentive guide for indirect CSP resellers for FY20 was made available at the beginning of July. An important moment for you as partner, because sooner or later you will have to deal with the CSP program. The new Incentive guide has triggered us to look again at the changes that Microsoft is making to the associated competencies. After all, an active competency is one of the requirements to be able to participate in the Incentives program (in addition to the official registration and a valid MPN ID). – After reading all the documentation, it is clear to me that Microsoft is tightening up the certification requirements for competencies. When asked why they increased the examination requirements with regard to the old competencies, they answered: “We regularly evaluate our program requirements and raise the bar to meet the expectations and needs of the customer. The updated competency requirements will distinguish our best partners who offer Dynamics 365 solutions for customers.”

Summary of the competency changes for FY20

The following changes are most relevant to you as a QBS partner:

  • Cloud CRM (Customer Relationship Management) can no longer be requested or extended from 30 September 2019.
  • Cloud Business Applications requirements were updated in July 2019.
  • Enterprise Resource Planning will be updated in October 2019.

competencies

Impact of the changes to these four competencies

(this first perspective is no longer relevant – but keeping for reference) Let`s go through the above changes. Before July 2019, the possibility was created to obtain the Silver status: Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions based on only 4 new Office 365 customers. With this competency, starting Microsoft partners could relatively easily enrol into the incentives program. Although the competency details are still online, it has officially been retired since last month. Since July 2019 it is therefore no longer possible to apply for this competency. If you are currently participating in the incentives program based on this competency, you will ensure that you have at least one other active Silver competency before the anniversary date!

silver

Note: the competency anniversary date may be closer than you think. For example, if you obtained your competency on 1 September 2018, it will expire on 1 September 2019.
Even if you as a partner currently have a Cloud CRM competency, it is important to keep an eye on the anniversary date. The competency can be applied for until 30 September 2019 and will be extended until 30 September 2020 at the latest. Our advice is to make the switch to the Cloud Business applications (CE option) competency. But please pay attention: whereby before July 2019 cloud + on-premise revenue was considered, only cloud revenue is currently considered. The revenue threshold for the Silver competency is still $ 100,000 per year.

(from here on recommendations are still valid)

For the Cloud Business applications (CE option) competency, stricter requirements also apply with regards to certification. For example, to achieve and maintain Cloud CRM competency, it was sufficient if two consultants held the following certificates:

  • one employee: Online deployment (MB2: 715) + a functional certificate: Sales, Customer Service or Field Service (MB2-717 to 719)
  • second employee: the Customization & Configuration certificate (MBS2-716).

To achieve the Cloud Business application CE competency, stricter requirements apply in the field of certificates. For example, a minimum of 12 certificates must now be obtained:

  • five employees: the Customer Engagement Core certificate (MBS-200) + a functional certificate: Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Field Service (MBS2-210 to MBS2-230) or Talent (MB6-898)
  • two of the five employees must also be in possession of the Customization & Configuration certificate (MBS2-716)

option overview

Nothing is currently changing for partners with an ERP competency. However, Microsoft has announced changes for October 2019:

  • Unified Operations SaaS will be disconnected from the ERP competency and continue under Cloud Business Solutions (uo option). Unified Operations on-premise remains (for the time being) part of the ERP competency.
  • Business Central SaaS remains (for the time being) part of the ERP competency, just like Business Central on-premise (and other on-premise ERP products). We will continue to closely monitor what exactly is going to change in October 2019 and inform you as soon as possible.

QBS group helps partners prepare for these changes

As a QBS group partner, you are one of the best-informed Microsoft partners. In order to prepare your organization as quickly and effectively as possible for the coming changes, we organize various (online) training sessions to help you meet the stricter requirements on time. For example, the following training courses are planned for Dynamics 365 CE partners in September and October:

Investment for QBS partners: 2 training vouchers per person per training. All others: EUR 900 per module.

New Pricing for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement & Unified Operations per the 1st of October 2019

/in , , /by

Microsoft announces new Pricing for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement & Unified Operations, applicable from 1st October 2019

Two weeks before Inspire, Microsoft announced that all Dynamics 365 Plan subscriptions for Customer Engagement and Unified Operations will disappear from the price list as per 1st of October. In order to prepare you as quickly and effectively as possible, we would like to explain to you the changes to the new licensing model and the impact that this will have to you and your customers.

Impact: New customers for Customer Engagement and Unified Operations from 1st October

New customers can no longer order the current Dynamics 365 (CE and UO) Plan licenses from this date. The new “Base and Attach Licenses” model will apply from 1st October. Microsoft also calls the model “á la carte”.

In this new model, payment is based on usage per user per module. Every user always starts with a Base License. In addition, 1 or more additional modules can be added per user as an Attach License.

Almost all application licenses are available as a Base License and as an Attach License. Only Dynamics 365 for Marketing (licensed per tenant), Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation and Talent are not available as an Attach License. For those modules, a user will therefore have to pay for a second Base License.

Nieuwe Prijzen Aan Voor Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement En Unified Operations Vanaf 1 Oktober 2019 Geldig

To make it concrete: A user who needs access to all Customer Engagement modules orders Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation as a Base License in this new model and adds the Sales Enterprise Edition, Customer Service Enterprise Edition and Field Service modules as Attach License to this. The total price for the user, in this case, is $ 155, consisting of the costs for the Base License $ 95, plus the 3 Attach Licenses of $ 20 each. The advantage for end customers: they only pay for the modules they use at that time. The price of 2 modules is the same as the current Customer Engagement Plan price.

In the current Unified Operations plan it is currently possible to order some modules such as Dynamics 365 for Talent or Retail as a stand-alone solution. Finance and Operations, however, has always been seen as a single module and since the introduction of the Unified Operations Plan module, that functionality could only be ordered through this composite plan. This will change after 1st October 2019.

As per October 2019 Finance and Supply Chain can be purchased as separate modules. The minimum requirement of 20 users remains applicable for both applications. Furthermore, all Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement modules can be added as an Attach License for the price of $ 20. Of course, again with the exception of Project Service Automation and Marketing, for which you always pay for a Base License.

Impact: Existing customers Customer Engagement and Unified Operations from October 1st

This change also has an impact on the current subscriptions of your existing customers, but not necessarily from October 2019.

The changes for existing customers only take effect on the subscription renewal date.

For example, if you ordered the licenses (with a standard duration of 12 months) on 1st November 2018, you must convert the licenses to this new model with Base Licenses and Attach Licenses before 1st November 2019.

We are still investigating whether this also has other (technical) implications in addition to an administrative act. We will certainly come back to that when we know more.

It is of vital importance that you approach your customers in reasonable time to inform them and discuss these changes. For subscriptions with a duration of 36 months you of course have some time left. You could consider ordering a new subscription for an existing customer with a term of 36 months and turning off the old subscriptions, if this would result in a more favourable price for a customer.

The transition SKUs from CRM Online to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement plan, which according to communication from the transition paper on PartnerSource will remain available until October 31, 2019, is also unclear whether the latest order date will change. We are waiting for confirmation on this and will update you shortly.

As QBS group, we will keep you informed of all developments around the Dynamics 365 Licensing structure. For questions, please contact us via the Partner Portal. For additional details, you can also go to the Dynamics 365 licensing page in PartnerSource.

Source: FAQ new licensing structure Dynamics 365

Hot News from Microsoft Inspire 2019

/in /by

At QBS group we feel it is necessary to participate in all of the main Microsoft events: Microsoft Inspire, eXtreme and Directions, to ensure we can pass the relevant information on to you our partners, and also that we are the forefront of hot news! We participate not only as QBS people – but also as representatives of the entire QBS partner community. Speaking our case – and bringing back the news and information that we all need to keep on the forefront with our business.

Hot News From Inspire 2019
Watch the webinar Hot News from Inspire 2019 (video 30:00)

In this vlog we will present in 30 minutes the most important updates from Microsoft Inspire 2019.

  • Microsoft mission and innovations
  • PowerApps
  • Microsoft Field FY20 Priorities
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central Updates
  • Channel Incentives  and Channel Program
  • ISV and Marketplace

QBS goup YouTube channel

Watch our vlogs in our special Microsoft Inspire 2019 Playlist on our QBS group Youtube channel

Demo highlights at Microsoft Inspire 2019:

Demo: Empowering citizen developers with AI Builder at Microsoft Inspire 2019
Demo: Minecraft Earth at Microsoft Inspire 2019

PowerPoint

QBS group partners can download the presentation slides in the: QBS group partner portal.

Promo on Dynamics 365 for Sales to Office 365 customers

/in , , /by

Launched on May 1st, 2019 running until October 31st there is a Dynamics 365 for Sales Professional CSP pilot offer in the United States, United Kingdom and Western Europe. This offering will provide special pricing on Dynamics 365 for Sales Professional for Office 365 customers.

Upgrade Your Existing NAV Customers To Dynamics 365 Business Central On Prem With The 3 For 1 Promo
What are the offer terms and conditions?

  • 25% off on Dynamics 365 for Sales Professional seats purchased;
  • CSP motion only;
  • Valid May 1st to October 31st, 2019;
  • Minimum 10 customer seats up to a maximum 75 seats purchase required to qualify;
  • Partners can leverage this offer for net new Dynamics 365 for Sales Professional customers only;
  • The United States, Western Europe (includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) and the United Kingdom only.

Start planning your marketing campaigns. To support you we have recently launched marketing and sales materials which we’ve gathered in an easily accessible zip file on our QBS Partner Portal.  This includes presentation, telesales guide, partner FAQ, product videos, web page content, e-books, blog post, technical document, infographic, etc.

 

1, 2, 3 – Move your CSP to QBS group

/in , /by

Moving your CSP to QBS group is as easy as 1, 2, 3! No matter if you have many or just a few customers on CSP – QBS group can help you switch these to the QBS group CSP platform.

But why QBS group for CSP? Here are a few reasons:

  • We have made substantial investments into our Cloud Blue platform in excess of 2 million Euros to date. But why have we done this? We value your time as much as you do and therefore we are continuously improving the platform. For example, we build enhancements based on your input. We collect feedback from our partners on enhancements needed for the platform. This way we ensure that all the things that our partners are voting for in terms of system enhancements get heard and evaluated so that we can make the right continued investments to the platform. To then provide you with the right features.
  • Our platform offers a really simple, straightforward and easy to use interface so that when you’re having a conversation with a customer you can get to the right information, as quickly as possible to provide that customer with the licensing information and fulfil their licensing request. When we look at our order entry portal the search function allows you to quickly find the correct SKU so that you can click instantly to place an order and fill up your shopping basket as quickly as possible.
  • We are Dynamics Partner Fanatics and we only know Dynamics. This means we are more knowledgable around Dynamics than any other Indirect CSP out there!

So tell me, how easy is it?

  1. In order to move your data, we need to know who is moving and what we are moving.
  2. To move a subscription a new order is placed with QBS group. We analyse everything you send, we will plan and organise the move for you, so you don’t need to do anything here.
  3. We will inform you when the ordering has been completed so that you can cancel the old subscription(s). It’s important to remember this order – as you otherwise risk the situation where a service is being discontinued without the proper new subscription is in place.

Dynamics 365 Business Central April 2019 update – key findings

/in , , /by

April 19 2019 Dynamics 365 Business Central Release 

 Our colleague Fotos Georgiadis is sharing his initial findings when working on the latest release of Business Central.

Write longer names and descriptions  

You can now enter up to 100 characters (used to be 50) in all Description and Name fields across Business Central.  

This change applies to:  

  • The Name and Description field on master data cards, such as customer, vendor, item, contact, and resource cards. 
  • The Name and Description field on documents, such as sales and purchase orders, invoices, and quotes. 
  • The Description field on journals, such as general journal and item journal. 
  • The Description field on ledger entries, such as customer, vendor, and item ledger entries. In addition, you can now enter up to 50 characters (used to be 10) in the Unit of Measure Description field

name field

 

Select multiple items to add to a sales or purchase document 

You can now select multiple items at once from the items list to add to sales or purchase documents. On any sales or purchase document, choose the Select Items line action.  

TIP: If you select the Default Item Quantity check box on the Sales & Receivables Setup page, the Quantity field on sales lines will be prefilled for all selected items as they get added to the sales document.  

multiple items

 

bc multiple items

d365 bc multiple items

 

Use a sales quote validity policy to control when sales quotes expire  

You can now set date formula in the Quote Validity Calculation field on the Sales & Receivables Setup page that will be used to calculate the Quote Valid Until Date field on sales quotes.  

TIP: To make sure that sales quotes with expired quote validity dates are deleted, you can run the Delete Expired Quotes batch job. And if you enable sales quote archiving (Sales & Receivables Setup page), deleted sales quotes will also be archived, so you can restore them from the archive if customers call again. 

quote validity calculation

 

Dynamically set shortcut dimension columns in lists, documents, and journal lines  

Fields for the two global dimensions that you set up on the General Ledger Setup page are always available on journal and document lines. Now, also the shortcut dimensions that you have set up that setup page are always available. This means that you can also add shortcut dimension values directly to journal and document lines without opening the Dimensions page. As soon as you set the Shortcut dimensions on the General Ledger Setup the new dimensions columns will appear on all lists. 

 

dimensions column

 

test dimensions

 

Bulk import item pictures  

You can now import multiple item pictures in one go. Simply name your picture files with a name corresponding to your item numbers, compress them to a zip file, and then use the Import Item Pictures page. Alternatively, you can use the Set Up Item Pictures assisted setup guide. Only item cards that do not already have pictures will be updated. 

bulk import item pictures

 

View payment information on customer and vendor statistics FactBoxes  

Information about payments and last payment dates is now available on customer and vendor statistics FactBoxes. 

d365 bc factboxes

 

Page inspection  

Troubleshooting errors in business data or feature configuration often requires an additional level of insight beyond what is shown on the page. Power users and support staff can now inspect any page or the page parts within a page, revealing the entire contents of the current record including fields that are not shown on the page. Ctrl – Alt – F1 

d365 bc page inspection

 

Interested in joining our next Dynamics 365 Business Central update webinar? See coming dates and register here: QBS update webinars on Dynamics 365 Business Central

Update on Dynamics 365 Business Central 13 June 2019

/in , /by

This series of webinars is intended to share the latest information on Dynamics 365 Business Central. Both from a technical, functional and business perspective. Besides sharing information, we will also update on the services portfolio from QBS group to assist on the road to Dynamics 365.

Watch here the Webinar update of the 13th of June 2019.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Update

The 7 secrets you must know to be successful with your Dynamics 365 App

/in , , /by

In 2019 we celebrate 30 years of the world wide web and in these 30 years a lot has changed. Going from on-premise to in-the-cloud solutions, from owning licenses to a pay-per-use license fee and from lengthy implementations executed by consultants to people relying on the manuals and not wanting to spend too much money on the implementation.

How can you benefit from this change with Dynamics 365 and apps? We thought that it could be useful to hear from one of the experts in the field of successful Apps outside the world of Business Applications. Just replace WordPress by Dynamics 365 and Plugin by Apps to see what kind of potential you might access if you build a successful App business.

Wordpress Plugin Dynamics 365 app

Figure 1 WordPress

Microsoft AppSource Dynamics 365 app

Figure 2 Microsoft AppSource

Joost de Valk, the founder and chief product officer of the most famous WordPress SEO tools worldwide, is one of those companies that managed to benefit from the in-the-cloud, pay-per-use, low-implementation-cost wishes of today’s customers. With more than 10 million users he knows how to set up and run a successful company with high volume leads and launch successful apps in a highly competitive market. We spoke to him about how he got there, what he does to stay there, but most importantly what you can learn from his journey.

yoast plugin vs Dynamics 365

The start of Yoast

Back in 2005 Joost was working as an SEO consultant for large corporations. He was one of those people making a lot of money by simply selling his knowledge at an impressive hourly rate. In his spare time however, he wrote about SEO in the blog he had created in WordPress. At that time WordPress was known for their blog websites and had a market share of approximately 3% (today about 33,5% of all websites are created in WordPress).

It was not until 2007 that Joost launched his first free SEO plugin. The initial success of these plugins surprised him, as shortly after he created some basic plugins, they were already used by some 100.000 users.

In 2011 he combined the different plugins he had created before and officially launched Yoast. The company’s mission is SEO for Everyone, to give everyone the opportunity to rank in the search engines. They use the freemium model to launch their plugins. The free plugin enables both large companies as well as small websites to attract the traffic they desire.

It took until 2013 for the first paid Yoast plugin to be introduced into the WordPress repository. The free versions still exist and have all the basic tools. However if you would like to work more efficiently, get rid of the advertisements or get some additional functionality then you make sure to use the paid version. in 2015 they decided to stop their consultancy business and solely focus on the plugin and everything around it, as the paid version of Yoast was already earning more than the consultancy business.

Only 1 in 10 users is actually using the extended paid version of the app.

And now? Yoast SEO has a market share of about 45% in WordPress, they had a turnover of 10 million euro in 2018, and a team of over 100 people are working on their SEO tools.  An interesting fact is that only 1 in 10 users is actually using the extended paid version of the app. So you need to think big; do not just limit yourself to your local market, but think globally.

Joost’s 7 tips to build a successful app-business

1.      Make sure that it is an actual “itch you are scratching”

Let’s clarify the itch-part first. Often people start creating a tool because they believe this is a potential money-maker. They build first and think about how to market this at a later stage. However, if you start with a proper “itch”, a problem you or one of your clients have experienced, it is easier to decide on what is important to resolve in this problem as well as make improvements at a later stage.  “Make sure to build a solution to a problem that you or your customers are experiencing. This will make it much easier to promote and sell to other customers” according to Joost. Avoid building something because you have received one request for a specific feature, stay focused on the bigger picture and what you would like to achieve.

2.      Optimize for the platform you will launch your product on

It goes without saying that having your own website with more information on you as an organization is important. However make sure to focus on optimizing for the platform you will launch your app on. For Dynamics partners this refers to the platform: Microsoft AppSource

How does this platform work? What can you do to be a featured app? What can you do to be one of the top searches? And get reviews. Joost stresses the importance of the platform over your own website. “Ranking via Google is something that can take years. Make use of the power of the App store or for Dynamics partner Microsoft AppSource as well as the ranking within Google of this store to be found. And make sure to put your efforts of profiling your solutions in the Microsoft AppSource. People will have already decided whether they will buy your products or not when in the app store. Your own website can online strengthen them in their decision for your tool.”

 3.      Make your clients true ambassadors

Your clients are your main asset; make sure to get and to stay in contact with them. Ask them to sign up for your newsletter, write a review, be vocal about what they like or do not like about the product. Yoast is actively asking their users to write reviews about their products. Make sure your newsletters are relevant to the actual users of your app or plugin. And equally important according to Joost is to interact in the different discussions on social media such as user groups and make sure to be involved in these discussions.

Dynamics 365 App Clients True Ambassadors

If you have a smaller group of larger clients, organize a round table or a network session with them to get their feedback. Or think about a small conference, as you want to keep them hooked and happy with your products.

Use Social Media to follow you customers on the different user groups and join the discussion.

Make sure to be available for your users. With 9 million websites worldwide using the Yoast plugins, they have a support team of some 25 people who provide around-the-clock support. Make sure to also check which way of communication works best, is it an e-mail, a chat, or even support by phone.

4.      Have a great UX

Spend ample time on a good user experience. Within Yoast currently 80% of development time is spent on UX. Your application should be easy and very user-friendly. If it is not clear where something can be found or how it is done, you will see an immediate increase in questions for the support desk. Or even worse, people who cease to use your app. So, make sure to make the necessary UX investments.

5.      Keep up the research

At Yoast they are constantly doing research; on the competition. What are they up to? How do they do it? As it only takes one person who does what you do better to lose your pole position. Research the market; what if Microsoft updates Dynamics 365, what will happen to your app? Connect with suppliers, join internet fora, Facebook communities, anything that can help you to be and stay relevant for today’s and tomorrow’s market.

6.      Think big

The world is your marketplace, so do not limit yourself to the local market. Use the Microsoft platform to be available worldwide and deliver a stellar experience, not just in the app but also on the level of support. That specific problem you encountered could also be experienced by a user in India or Brazil.

7.      Just do it!

No, this is not just us copying Nike’s slogan, but just get started and do it is Joost’s advice. If you have found the itch you would like to solve, get started, don’t think about it too long, but use trial-and-error to achieve your result. And make sure to ask feedback, lots of feedback.

Plans for the future

Yoast is always looking at ways to stay the leader in the world of SEO plugins. So, when asked about his plans for the future, Joost immediately gave some great examples of what they are currently working at.

First readability; they had already started and will keep on working on the readability features of the plugins. Readability ensures that text is understandable. Not just to us humans, but also for the algorithms. “We have noticed that understandable texts got ranked higher than those who scored lower on readability.  We initially hired one linguist to help in this endeavor. Currently we already employ 12 linguists to improve the logic behind the readability features in the main 6 languages for our SEO plugins. Many new features come from all the research done by these linguists. In the future we are looking to expand our readability feature to 20 languages, such as Japanese and Bengali as that would allow us to expand our market even more.”

Currently they are also working together with Google and Bing on live indexing. Now it can still take up to 48 hours before your content is scanned and visible via search engines. What if Yoast would send a ping to Google and Bing as soon as you launch your page? The pages are then picked up and indexed straight away. The pros are numerous, but there are also some large security concerns to tackle. “To be part of such a team of passionate people that work hard to make this work, without thinking about immediate revenue is absolutely great”, says Joost.

The most important is to just get started.

When asked for some final advice for the Dynamics 365 partners and their apps, the most important is to just get started, think like a startup and stay passionate about your solution. The world is your marketplace.

Update on Dynamics 365 Business Central 9 May 2019

/in , /by

This series of webinars is intended to share the latest information on Dynamics 365 Business Central. Both from a technical, functional and business perspective. Besides sharing information, we will also update on the services portfolio from QBS group to assist on the road to Dynamics 365.

Watch here the Webinar update of the 9th of May 2019.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Update

Interview on QBS group getting shareholder majority in 1ClickFactory

/in , /by

QBS GROUP TAKES THE MAJORITY OF 1CLICKFACTORY SHARES

Microsoft Value Added Distributor and Indirect CSP QBS group (www.qbsgroup.com) has recently acquired the majority of the shares in her strategic partner 1ClickFactory (www.1clickfactory.com). A good reason to set up an interview with Soren Fink Jensen, CEO of 1ClickFactory, and Michael Hartmann, the CEO of QBS group. This article will dive into the prospering relationship and this intensified collaboration, along with the radical changes in today’s markets for business applications including ideas on how partners should react.

Exactly what has happened with this recent collaboration?

Soren: Until recent, 1ClickFactory was owned by three major shareholders, being a private investor from Lithuania, the management of 1ClickFactory and QBS group. QBS group entered into our company as a shareholder back in 2017 up until present with a minority share. With this collaboration, QBS group has acquired the shares of the private investor and combined with their initial share, the company now is the major shareholder in 1ClickFactory.

As management of 1ClickFactory, we’re of course very happy that the share of the private investor is bought by QBS group, as they are supporting our business, and not by a random third party. We will continue and intensify our strategic co-operation with QBS group in a simplified setting with just two shareholders.

So our collaboration now moves from a ‘strategic alliance’ to a ‘strategic partnership enforced by ownership’.

 

What is the motivation of QBS group to make this move and where does this fit into the strategy?

Michael: We’d like to see QBS group as the backbone for Microsoft Dynamics 365 partners. Over the last few years we have clearly moved away from the traditional model at the very beginning of the company, which was taking care of the transaction part. Over time we have extended our portfolio to also support our partners in non-core activities like marketing, pre-sales and training. Today, the whole Microsoft Dynamics partner channel is in a huge transformation phase. One in which technical and functional capabilities and capacities are more important than ever before!

Think about the transition of partner add on solutions to extensions. But also, the experience, methodologies, tooling and capacity you need to migrate the huge worldwide Dynamics NAV customer base to Dynamics 365 Business Central. We consider 1ClickFactory as the perfect strategic technology partner for our company! But also for our current and future partners – both VAR’s and ISV’s.

Now that QBS group owns the majority of the shares, the financial results of 1ClickFactory will be consolidated into the results of The IT Channel Company, the holding company of QBS group.

 

What is it that 1ClickFactory and QBS group match so well?      

Soren: Both companies are true partner focused organisations. Both have a ‘Microsoft only’ strategy. And both companies are laser focused on Microsoft Dynamics only. No other Value-Added Distributor in the worldwide Microsoft channel can claim this. Our deep functional and technical qualities and capabilities combined with the sales and marketing skills of QBS group plus their wide international distribution network create a great fit!

Michael: Our combined strengths, talent and capabilities create a true ‘one stop shop’ for Microsoft Dynamics partners who want to thrive in the new cloud era.

 

Soren, for those who don’t know your company yet – can you update us on what 1ClickFactory does and where the company is today?

1ClickFactory is a Dynamics 365 software ‘factory’. Our high-quality Microsoft Dynamics 365 upgrade, development and training services together with our leading Microsoft Azure managed hosting service, help Microsoft Dynamics partners offer better business value to their customers delivering solutions on-premises and/or in the cloud. Unlike the traditional ERP service providers who offer this type of service through 1:1 sourcing of people, we take responsibility for the projects and use automation tools.

We have performed 500+ Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX upgrades, 300+ development projects and we also serve 5,000+ NAV users on Azure. 1ClickFactory is a Microsoft ISV Development Center that is Gold Certified in Enterprise Resource Planning, Application Development and Cloud Platform. We are a global business currently delivering our services to 300+ partners in 40+ countries.

In the last 18 months of working together strategically, QBS group has helped increase the number of partners using 1ClickFactory services by 13 percent. By working even closer together we will be able to provide even more value to partners. There are three areas where we have seen increased demand during 2018:

  1.  The move of IP to extensions where the QBS group and 1ClickFactory concept of Ready to Go and the value it provides to partners has played a big role
  2. Knowledge around how to implement and customise Dynamics 365 Business Central
  3. How to migrate customers toward Dynamics 365 Business Central in the Cloud and On-premise.

Together we have many of the answers on how partners can do this the most affordable way with the least risk, given the newness of the Dynamics 365 platform.

 

Well Michael, maybe you can give our readers a quick update on QBS group as well? 

QBS group drives the largest community of Microsoft Dynamics partners worldwide. Today we’re active in 22 countries where we support over 600 Microsoft Dynamics partners to improve their businesses.

The services of 1ClickFactory have already been a cornerstone of the value that QBS group delivers to its partners. The further integration of the 1ClickFactory services into the partner engagement, will strengthen the unique position that QBS group has as an indirect CSP.

While QBS partners are migrating their IP and their existing customers to Dynamics 365, they are facing challenges in their capacity and capability to do that on time and in quality. 1ClickFactory is helping many QBS partners already to provide the additional skills and capacity to exceed customer expectation via our Upgrade Service.

Since SaaS is not always the optimal solution for customers to bring their business applications to cloud, QBS partners take advantage of the 1ClickFactory hosting services to provide business applications through private cloud environment.

So while QBS group continues to onboard new partners into the QBS community, 1ClickFactory is the technical service backbone that will help partners to provide a superior cloud offering.

 

How does this more intensive co-operation work out geographically?

Michael: There are some overlaps in markets that we both serve. Here we will align our salesforces, intensify the knowledge transfer and build joint Go-to-Market programs, like the ‘Ready to Go’ program. An interesting observation is that neither of us can build and execute these kinds of programs alone. But together we can do it.

Then there are also markets where only one of us is active today. Last year, QBS group made a start in several markets in Middle-East & Africa (MEA). However, our focus is still mainly in Europe. 1ClickFactory is also active in Europe. On top of that, the company has activities in the US and in Asia and has plans to do additional investments in these regions shortly. Potentially we can use this situation to introduce each other’s services in new countries and regions going forward.

How did Microsoft react on this change?

Michael: The Microsoft Corp people are very positive about this move! They see the combination as a great asset for their worldwide partner channels: two partner-focused specialists that combine their strengths to facilitate the ongoing growth of Microsoft Dynamics 365!

Soren: Here I would like to add that the 1ClickFactory specialists work closely together with the engineering departments at Microsoft Corp.

 

In your opinion, what should the partner channel do to protect the 160,000+ Dynamics NAV customers worldwide and guide them to Dynamics 365 Business Central?

Michael: We see that this huge customer base consists of several sub groups. There are customers looking for private hosting and other customers will prefer a re-implementation based on a full-blown SaaS offering. And surely, there will also be Dynamics NAV customers who are forced to continue their On-premise solutions for some more time due to legal or infrastructural matters. We believe that the Dynamics partner channel needs partners that can both consult and help them based on a ‘one stop shop’ offering.

Soren: I believe that we must pay attention to bringing value to the older part of that customer base, and especially those customers without maintenance contracts. These customers will wonder what the price of a cloud migration is. For sure they would like to receive fixed price offerings, and after that they will want to know what the cost is of staying current. At 1ClickFactory, we’ve developed intelligent tooling and processes to help these end-users and their partners out. We offer an Upgrade Analyzer  that helps partners create fixed price and fixed date offerings.

On top of that we are building an Extension Maintenance Service that helps customers to stay current with their customizations – also based on fixed price. We strongly believe that these services are both unique and valuable and they will also support our partners to make them even more successful, also when they need to migrate to the Cloud!

Finally, what can the Microsoft Dynamics partner channel expect from the two companies in their new setting?  

Soren: The Microsoft Dynamics partner channel can expect a continuation of the existing strategies. With the same familiar faces on both sides of the companies, so that will stay the same. What will change is an even more tightly knit collaboration in the execution of the strategies. The partner communities can expect stronger and more attractive offerings, including offerings around the domain of PowerApps.

Michael: To make these words tangible: we have scheduled a first meeting with the leadership teams from both companies shortly to discuss and create a three year joint business plan. We’re all looking forward to a great collaboration with multiple benefits for our partner communities!

 

What does the latest Dynamics 365 Business Central Update (April ’19) mean for Europe, Middle East & Africa?

/in , /by

The April 2019 Business Central Licensing Guide has recently been released, but are there differences from the previous ones? In short, yes. What we would like to do is highlight the important ones for you. In this blog, we have highlighted excerpts from 2 different Microsoft sources to which we have included the links below:

*Excerpts of information have been used from:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Licensing Guide for April 2019 & https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/business-applications-release-notes/April19/dynamics365-business-central/
(Should you wish to have a copy of the latest licensing guide, please drop me an email and I will be more than happy to send it through to you.)

Dual Use Rights (Awesome news!)

This has been a bone of contention for people looking at moving to Dynamics 365 Business Central. In the original Licensing Guide, which was released at the time that Dynamics 365 Business Central was released in MEA, it stated categorically that there were no Dual Use Rights. Microsoft had changed this with the release of Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premise release in October last year. However, there wasn’t all that much clarity around whether the versions were identical with all the same features and also, how do the Dynamics 365 Business Central licenses get deployed in a traditional On-Premise environment. In short, no the versions are not identical for Cloud and On-Premise. The on-premise version was made available to assist partners and their customers that are not ready to take the jump to the cloud just yet but to allow them to have a more seamless move to the cloud when they are ready. This is probably the best initiative yet, as the move from Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premise to Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud end up being almost seamless with the time to deployment dropped substantially with next to no snags (as long as the on-premise implementation has been completed according to Microsoft Best Practices). In some cases, partners may want to deploy both types of instances simultaneously for their customers at the same time. This might be done to help with running private Dev/Test deployments in Microsoft Azure. With the Dynamics 365 Business Central Dual Use Rights, users licensed with the required User SL do not need to purchase additional CALs to access Server instances.

Users or devices licensed with Dynamics 365 SLs have use rights equivalent to a CAL for the purpose of accessing equivalent on-premise workloads. With Dynamics 365 the server license is included with the SLs. Licenses for all supporting servers (e.g., Windows Server and CALs) must be obtained separately.

Users or devices licensed with the following SLs may access the on-premise Dynamics 365 Server software provided via dual use rights:

Once the Business Central cloud subscription has been activated via CSP, a customer account will be created in PartnerSource Business Center (PSBC) with the equivalent user SLs. The customer can access their on-premises / dual use rights license key (flf. format) by logging into Customer Source, selecting the ‘My Products and Services’ link from the dropdown menu, and then clicking on the ‘Registration Keys’ link beside the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central product.

*Note: The on-premises license file is valid as long as the cloud subscription is active.

When you update your online subscription (for example, reduce the user count), you and/or your customer are required to download a new on-premises license file from PartnerSource Business Centre (PSBC) to reflect the changes made on the cloud subscription.

So, what are the Powerful new features for business users

Microsoft is pushing productivity to the next level by delivering a smooth and fresh experience to all customers of Dynamics 365 Business Central, whether using the web interface in the browser or the modern Windows App for desktop. Combining modern trends around web-based applications and the complex requirements of the Dynamics 365 Business Central customer led to multiple improvements addressing productivity of a busy user.

Among those many changes, Microsoft have enabled even more keyboard-centric scenarios (keyboard shortcuts) around the important features of the product, keeping in mind speed of data entry and analysis, such as quick entry usage and personalization, sorting lists using the keyboard, and navigating around data fields and groups. Microsoft have introduced several improvements to features related to the customer context, such as a contextual work date indicator. Microsoft have also added options enabling advanced users to be even more productive – such as the focus mode, improved search, and the new option of inspecting the table data behind a page (formerly About This Page). They have also addressed feedback related to filters in Excel export (adding an easy Open in Excel option), common auto-save experience (which includes a new autosave indicator), and modern interface elements, such as the refreshed action bar and all-product navigation.

Additionally, Dynamics 365 Business Central becomes more intuitive thanks to an advanced personalization experience and easing and more intuitive ways of discovering new features. This includes refreshed action menus and groups across the product but also the ability to personalize those to suit a user’s preference.

What are the performance, reliability, and scalability enhancements?

No matter which industry, nor the size of a small or medium-sized business (SMB), users demand a reliable service and platform on which to run their business, collaborate, and deliver on their responsibilities. Along with the wave of innovative new features, Microsoft invested massively in increasing the performance, reliability, and scalability of Business Central, across the platform and business application.

Business Central runs much faster with a focus on typical business scenarios and usage patterns. The experience in the browser is more responsive thanks to on-demand loading of page elements, server resources are optimized for fast user interaction, and the database has been tuned to handle more data and load it faster.

Users will experience a more stable service because upgrades are scheduled to suit the individual business, users will no longer be interrupted by maintenance during working hours, and they also matured service health practices to ensure maximum uptime for customer. Users requiring assistance now have a single screen through which to find self-help material, share ideas with the community, and request support that has also been streamlined to reduce response time.

The Business Central security team works tirelessly behind the scenes to safeguard the security of customers data. In addition to continual improvement of the security infrastructure and processes, Microsoft ensure Dynamics 365 Business Central continues to meet ISO27001, ISO27017, ISO27018, SOC 1 & 2 Type 2, HIPPA BAA, and FERPA industry security and privacy compliance standards. For more details and a list of all certificates, see https://aka.ms/d365-compliance-list.

What about having the base application as an app

Microsoft are making investments in the platform to make it easier for ISVs to get into the cloud. They will achieve this by splitting the big application that we have today into a system app and an app on top of that as an extension, compiled in AL using Visual Studio Code. The below image shows the move that will be happening as of October 2019. This means that partners will have to start making the necessary changes to enable current customisations to function with the next release of Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Data and AI Functionality Enhancements

The last major investment for the April release is starting the course into the Data and AI future. The only platform that will matter in the next decade is the data platform and the only cloud that will matter is the AI cloud. We need to ensure that we have data sanity, which means that we need to make investments into storing the product data into Common Data Service (CDS) for Apps. The first will be to strengthen and prepare integration with Dynamics 365 for Sales through CDS for Apps, then ensure Business Central data contributes to intelligent insights (notes synching, late payment prediction) in AI for Sales apps, and finally that Business Central users get intelligent insights generated by Dynamics 365 Sales Insights (predictive opportunity scoring).

Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Member License Update

The only change to the Team Member license is that a Team Members application module may not be customized with more than 15 custom entities available to the Dynamics 365 Team license*

*Customization is only allowable if it does not result in a change to core purpose of the specified scenario

Default Subscription Capacities Update

The only change in the subscription capacity is that the database storage has changed from being unlimited to a maximum of 80GB. Any additional storage is charged in addition to the subscription amount paid. Highlights of capacities below:

Production Instance 1 Included
Non-Production Instance None
Database Storage 80GB (Was unlimited)
External Accountant Licenses 1 Included
Companies Unlimited
Cortana Intelligence 1800 seconds per month/tenant

At QBS group we thrive on staying at the cutting edge of the Dynamics solutions so that we can best advise our partners. Go on, get in touch with us and take advantage of all the benefits of joining the QBS group family. With over 600 partners currently, it shows that QBS group are definitely Partner Fanatics!

Follow me on LinkedIn to keep up to date on what we do and visit the QBS group Info Center which is always updated with new training courses that we deliver to our partner network as well as loads of awesome information from our teams worldwide. If you feel we can add some extra value to your team, reach out to me at lolsen@qbsgroup.com.

Happy ERP’ing.

Press release: QBS group becomes majority shareholder of 1ClickFactory

/in , , /by

Leusden, The Netherlands, April 2019

 

QBS group and 1ClickFactory join forces

As of March 2019, QBS group has acquired shareholder majority of 1ClickFactory. This is a further strengthening of the already established collaboration and is an important step in the strategy of QBS group and 1ClickFactory to enhance their offerings to the Dynamics partner channel.

Michael Hartmann, CEO, QBS group:
“We consider 1ClickFactory as a perfect strategic technology partner for both our companies, but also for our current and future partners. We’re all looking forward to a great collaboration with multiple benefits for our partner communities!”

The collaboration between QBS group and 1ClickFactory have intensified during the last 18 months. A milestone was reached when QBS became Territory Representative for 1ClickFactory in the DACH region – and subsequently also in Benelux January 1, 2019 – and now this is taken to the next level.

With Dynamics NAV no longer available for new customer sales (as per March 31, 2019) there’s no two ways about whether partners need to get fluent in Dynamics 365 Business Central. Whether this is about moving existing solutions, acquiring skills and knowledge on Dynamics 365 BC or whether it’s concrete technical assistance with migrating existing customers – the tightening of the relationship between QBS group and 1ClickFactory will be a huge benefit for partners in this transformation journey.

Soren Fink-Jensen, CEO, 1ClickFactory:
“Both companies are true partner focused organisations. Both have a ‘Microsoft only’ strategy. And both companies are laser focused on Microsoft Dynamics only. No other Value-Added Distributor in the worldwide Microsoft channel can claim this. Our deep functional and technical qualities and capabilities combined with the sales and marketing skills of QBS group plus their wide international distribution network create a great fit! The partner communities can expect stronger and more attractive offerings, including offerings around the domain of PowerApps.”

The need for professional and specialized assistance from an Indirect CSP provider, knowing the ins and outs of Dynamics, is evident. Technical assistance and advice have always been and will always be needed. With this important strategic announcement, QBS group and 1ClickFactory move into a league of their own when it comes to capacity and coverage to serve the Dynamics partner channel.

 

 

For more information, please reach out to:

Anne Jakobsen, Global Communications @ QBS group or

Soren Fink-Jensen, CEO, 1ClickFactory

 

About QBS group:
QBS group is the largest and fastest growing, international network of Microsoft Dynamics partners. We support our partners – Resellers and ISV’s – with services aimed at growing revenue, lowering costs and improving profitability. We are an official Value Add SMB Distributor for Microsoft Dynamics. We currently support over 600 partners in 22 countries.

About 1ClickFactory:
1ClickFactory is a Microsoft ISV Development Center Gold Certified in Enterprise Resource Planning, Application Development and Cloud Platform. We are a global business currently delivering our services to 300+ partners in 40+ countries. Our high-quality Microsoft Dynamics 365 upgrade, development and training services, together with our leading Microsoft Azure managed hosting service, help Microsoft Partners offer better business value to their customers delivering solutions on-premises and/or in the cloud.

L’équipe QBS group Mid Europe rencontre 1ClickFactory

/in , , , /by

Depuis le début de l’année, QBS group représente 1ClickFactory au Benelux. Il s’agit dès lors de la 2e région où QBS group constitue le point de contact exclusif de 1ClickFactory. Toutefois, quelle est l’action de 1ClickFactory et de quels avantages nos partenaires QBS group peuvent-ils bénéficier ? Nos collègues Werner et Raymond se sont rendus dans les locaux de 1ClickFactory afin de se former à l’utilisation de ses différents services.

1clickfactory QBS group

1ClickFactory excelle notamment dans la fourniture de services aux partenaires disposant de ressources limitées. Parmi l’éventail de services proposés par 1ClickFactory, deux exemples méritent d’être soulignés:

Mise à niveau pour NAV/Dynamics 365 Business Central

Consiste en l’installation de la dernière version complète dont dispose 1ClickFactory. Pour en savoir plus sur le service de mise à niveau

Provisionnement automatique pour Microsoft Dynamics NAV/Business Central sur les services Azure

Héberger un environnement Dynamics sur Azure se révèle parfois une tâche complexe. Ce service permet de déployer votre environnement Dynamics sur Azure en quelques étapes. Pour en savoir plus sur les services Azure de QBS

1ClickFactory a mis une personne de contact à la disposition spécifique de nos partenaires du Benelux : Ausrine Isodaite (ausrine.isodaite@1clickfactory.com). Celle-ci est prête à répondre à vos questions depuis les locaux de 1ClickFactory.

Update on Dynamics 365 Business Central 11 April 2019

/in , /by

This series of webinars is intended to share the latest information on Dynamics 365 Business Central. Both from a technical, functional and business perspective. Besides sharing information, we will also update on the services portfolio from QBS group to assist on the road to Dynamics 365.

Watch here the Webinar update of the 11th of April 2019.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Update

Monthly Dynamics Channel Partner Call

/in , , , , , /by

QBS Group are Dynamics partner fanatics and we believe communication is key to ensure you are the best informed Dynamics partners! Therefore, the third Friday of each month QBS Group along with guest speakers will be discussing top of mind subjects in this one hour call. You will have the opportunity to have your burning questions answered and get the complete low-down of all things Dynamics.

Pre-recordings and new dates for your diary:

2022

January 21st, 2022  Recording Available

February 18th, 2022 Recording Available

How to inspire your customers as an IT Business Partner?

/in , /by

These days, IT innovation develops faster than ever before in history. While that opens great opportunities for organisations all over the world, it also creates a lot of stress since failure is not a realistic option (anymore).

Here are some of the dilemma’s for your prospects and customers:

  • We know we must modernise our business processes to stay relevant. But how to change the organisation? And what is the best timing?
  • How can we measure the expected continuity of the vendors on our shortlist?
  • How can we motivate our team members to put full energy into the project?
  • Should we migrate to the cloud now or is it better to wait?
  • We want our staff to be more agile in their thinking and their ability to change. But how do we get there? And what is the exemplary behavior needed from the management?
  • How can we avoid that Digital Transformation turns into ‘just another IT project’ with even more complexity?
  • How can modern IT tools support us in putting our customers first?

Where are your customers today?

In order to keep up with the competition, your projects must be successful in the first attempt. With a short Time-to-Value. Unfortunately, most of your existing and future SMB customers don’t have the knowledge, the persuasion nor the power to take the best decisions. Most of them select and implement for the first or second time in their lives. As a result, that creates big uncertainty. So it’s no wonder that ‘No Decision’ has developed into everybody’s biggest competitor these days!

Customer education

Modern and innovative Microsoft Dynamics partners focus on educating their customers and help them prepare for Successful Projects. Rather than pushing their solutions. This attitude not only helps them to create more leads and win more deals. It also secures the right support from their customers’ top-management when implementing these solutions.

About this webinar

In this free, 40 minutes webinar, Guus Krabbenborg will share his observations and the results he has achieved by his extensive customer education activities. He will inspire you regarding the best way to approach customers and prospects. Next to that, he will also position three different education formats. And shares the options he sees for your company to start delivering one or more of these formats yourself shortly. Guus has been delivering ERP and CRM Masterclasses to potential buyers ever since 2005.

This is a webinar that you definitely don’t want to miss!

how to inspire your end customers
Watch the webinar how to inspire your end customers (video 40:00)