Microsoft Dynamics NAV and GP MVPs Weigh In On Project Madeira: A Mix of Caution & Excitement

Earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled Project "Madeira", a new cloud offering hosted by Microsoft that is accessible through Office 365. Based primarily on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the solution is currently in preview mode, but is set to be rolled out in the fall.

Recently, Dynamics NAV MVP Mark Brummel and Andrew Good, CEO of Dynamics NAV partner firm Liberty Grove Software, hosted "Getting Ready for Project Madeira," a webinar and panel discussion centered around Project Madeira. The panel consisted of several Microsoft Dynamics MVPs. Joining Brummel and Good were:

• Erik Hougaard of E Foqus Denmark A/S - Dynamics NAV MVP
• Erik P. Ernst, a freelance Dynamics NAV consultant - Dynamics NAV MVP
• James Crowter of Technology Management - Dynamics NAV MVP
• Mark Polino of Fastpath - Dynamics GP MVP

After a demonstration of Madeira by Good, members of the panel offered their takes on Microsoft's new offering.

Erik Ernst, from Denmark, said Project Madeira reminded him of Project Green, an effort started by Microsoft in 2003 to migrate its four newly acquired Dynamics ERP products (Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, and Solomon) to Microsoft technology and convert them to a single code base while still keeping the best features of each product.

However, Microsoft ultimately killed Project Green after discovering that its existing ERP customers were not all that receptive to the project, as reported in this 2007 blog post from blogger and analyst Frank Scavo.

For Ernst, the introduction of Madeira as a SaaS solution is a sign of Microsoft's long term direction with regard to SMB ERP. 

"As I ...