Over my career I have helped many people get a pay rise. I have also received help to get a pay rise myself when a manager realised that I was not paid what he perceived I was worth. I want to talk about what I have found works and the choices you needed to consider if you plan on getting yourself a pay rise.

We are only two weeks away from the largest community summit in the Microsoft Business Applications calendar for 2019. This is actually a combination of three events across the week of 15th October 2019 in Orlando, Florida.

In this post I want to discuss setting up your CORE TEAM, and the skill sets needed to be represented in that team for success.

When it comes to building Power Apps, I have a model that I follow to help me think about how the Power App should be constructed?  The starting point is the story.

Is it time to consider your future and make sure your chosen career is full of opportunities for advancement?

Last year I read a book by Simon Sinek called Start With Why. I like the idea of starting with why when it comes to creating a product as an ISV and taking products to market.

Microsoft Flow is one of the foundation tools that make up the Microsoft Power Platform. It is a tool that was born in Microsoft Azure. One of the founding creators of it was a guy by the of name Stephen Siciliano. He was working on a project called Azure Logic Apps.

In the past couple of months, I have had an increasing number of people asking me to coach them in their careers. Although I have coached people in the past, I have not been coaching for the past year.

This Saturday just passed I had the pleasure of speaking at Power Platform Saturday in Oslo Norway, organized by MVP Marius Agur Hagelund Lind. I love the way the community came together for this event.

When I look for content on how to become a successful Independent Software Vendor (ISV) for Microsoft Business Apps, I come up short. So, I thought it was time to create some. There are many reasons for embarking on this journey.

Microsoft Business Application Summit 2019 announced another build tool – AI Builder. As many of you know, the world of Microsoft Business Applications has changed. Those that have been in the industry for some time will remember talking about Dynamics CRM, and then Dynamics 365. Although Dynamics 365 was the starting point, today it is just a PowerApp operating on the Power Platform.

First, let me start by saying sorry for this post. It has been boiling for a while, and everyone I speak to does not seem to have the authority to address it in Microsoft.

In Part 1 I highlighted the need for Microsoft partners to focus on an industry solution, how to decide which industry to focus on, and how to establish a “beachhead” to dominate that industry. In this post, I’ll share ideas for creating interest within the industry you’re targeting and how to build credibility through references and industry engagement.

In my sixteen years of working in Microsoft Business Applications and twenty years of working for Microsoft Partners I have never come across a partner that has said “we have more leads than we can handle, we have more opportunities than we can pursue, we are making more money than we know what to spend it on”.

“500 million apps are going to get created in the next five years.” Think about that. That's more apps than the last 40 years.

There are now about 26 different applications that make up the Microsoft Business Applications suite of products. I am not suggesting you need to learn them all, but you do need to decide where will you be focusing.

Being a firm believer in a growth mindset of learning and in designing the life I want, even if it goes against cultural norms.

These are two products that I love; Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn. Back in the day, I wrote a step by step guide on how to get them both working together – long before Microsoft started flirting with the idea of owning their own social network.

For years, businesses and organizations have needed custom software applications to carry out day to day business. Applications that are unique to an industry, and sometimes unique to the way a company operates within that industry, are commonly known as Line of Business Applications.

Now that Microsoft has launched the Power Platform with Common Data Service (CDS) at its core, it’s time to evolve how we build line of business applications.