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At WPC 2016, Nadella Calls For Move Away From Software Suites, Toward Roled-Based Apps and Services

by Jason Gumpert
Editor, MSDynamicsWorld.com

Satya Nadella at WPC 2016 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella kicked off the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2016 today with a promise to help partners deliver "purpose-built, role-specific, task-specific" services and apps using the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform together with Office 365 and other Microsoft cloud tools.

In his keynote, Nadella said Dynamics 365 represents Microsoft's effort to "get away from suites to plan by role" when it comes to digital tools. That vision will require partners to combine Dynamics solutions with custom apps and workflows using PowerApps and Flow, Nadella said, as well as reporting, machine learning, and analytics, and Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

And later this week at WPC, Microsoft is expected to explain more about the roll-out of Project Madeira as a production offering. The SMB-focused finance, operations, and sales solution should be a key component of Dynamics 365 in the "Business" (SMB) segment.

Microsoft has previously advised that Project Madeira will launch first in the US. But there are unconfirmed rumors that Microsoft has advised partners in advance of WPC that it will also launch Madeira in Canada and up to four European countries in the near term.

Update: Microsoft has announced a public preview for Project Madeira in Canada.  

In a demo at the keynote, Microsoft stepped through an IoT and field service demonstration that utilized a range of products including:

  • Power BI for dashboards and device monitoring;
  • Elements ...

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About Jason Gumpert

As the editor of MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason oversees all editorial content on the site and at our events, as well as providing site management and strategy. He can be reached at jgumpert@msdynamicsworld.com.

Prior to co-founding MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason was a Principal Software Consultant at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), where he implemented solutions, trained customers, managed software development, and spent some time in the pre-sales engineering organization. He has also held consulting positions at CSC Consulting and Monitor Group.

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