Looking Back at 2010 and Forward to 2011

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It’s been another whirlwind year for the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Community. Today will be my last blog posting for 2010, and like last year I want to call out ten key initiatives, announcements, programs, etc. Again, five are from the past 12 months, while the others touch on hot topics for 2011.

2010

  • Near the start of the year, we announced the launch of the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Academy. Within the academy, Microsoft offers a diverse range of role-based learning products designed to help you and your teams excel in key business disciplines.
  • Whilst not necessarily new to 2010, PartnerSource North America website was created in late 2009 to provide more country specific content to United States and Canadian partners. Make the switch from PartnerSource Global English today!
  • In the spring, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 made its debut. To coincide with the new release, Microsoft introduced the 3 users for $1 promotion. Through this promotion many partners were able to spark the interest of many prospects that weren’t progressing through the sales cycle.
  • With the launch of Community 2.0 came a host of additions and upgrades, but for partners one of the most prized is the creation of the 'private partner ' community. The private partner community allows partners to consume sensitive content in the form of blogs, video and partner-to-partner interactions behind the wall.
  • On October 27, 2010, we announced enhancements to the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Strategy as part of the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN). As you may know many of these changes happen over the next several months. Please take some time to thoroughly review the content.

2011

  • The much anticipated Business Leader Roadshow continues to build on the tradition of the ‘not-to-be-missed’ series by taking partner business owners to the heart of what the Cloud means to their Microsoft Dynamics practices. The workshops happen in January, so register today!
  • Join us online for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 global launch event on Thursday, January 20, 2011. We will also have several Microsoft and partner-sponsored events across the United States.
  • Save the date and join us for Convergence 2011 April 10-13. Registration is now open.
  • Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 is slated for release in the second quarter of 2011. Visit the launch portal on PartnerSource for key resources.
  • Microsoft Dynamics AX ‘6’ is planned for release in 2011. Review the current Statement of Direction for more information.

As always, it’s been a pleasure serving you the latest and greatest Microsoft Dynamics news and insights through this blog, and I look forward to more in 2011!!!

--Kevin