Convergence 2015: What does a broader business customer focus mean for Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM?

With Convergence 2015, Microsoft broadens the event's scope while working to preserve the value and pedigree that the Dynamics ERP and CRM attendees have come to expect. The event has undergone some changes, organizers freely admit, but the changes should result in a richer overall message and a re-calibrated experience, not a reduction in the benefits that veteran attendees and sponsors have come to expect

From an event content perspective, the most visible change will be the approach to the keynote and general sessions, which will focus more on business value concepts and de-emphasize specific product information. Dynamics products are still the core of the event, organizers says, and sessions focused on features and roadmaps will still be there to accommodate as many attendees as necessary. But the event is now about the ideas and vision first and the products - Dynamics as well as other Microsoft commercial offerings - second.

Depending on whom you talk to in the Dynamics partner channel, changes to the event could be seen as a sign of good or bad things to come. The broader messaging, product focus, and general Microsoft visibility could signal a breakthrough for Dynamics into the Microsoft mainstream. For the pessimists, the same factors could be cause for concern that some products and interest groups could be de-emphasized and lose critical mass at the event.

What's new about the 2015 lineup

This year's updates to Convergence make it a component of Microsoft's four event lineup for commercial business customers and partners. Following Convergence in March, Microsoft will run Build, the Windows developer conference from April 29 to May 1; Ignite, the enterprise IT conference, from May 4 to 8); and Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) ...