Dynamics Profile: New NAV MVP Franz Kalchmair thrives in international Microsoft community

Newly minted Microsoft Dynamics NAV MVP Franz Kalchmair, who hails from Austria, is such a hardcore Star Trek fan that he writes his blog using the alias Jonathan Archer, the captain in the series Star Trek: Enterprise.

Kalchmair recalls that in one first-season episode, Archer responds to criticism of his actions during Enterprise's first 10 months in space.

"We're going to stumble, make mistakes...I'm sure more than a few before we find our footing. But we're going to learn from those mistakes. That's what being human is all about."

That quote sums up much of what it means to Kalchmair and others to be a Dynamics MVP - learning from one's mistakes, then sharing that knowledge with the fellowship of the Dynamics community.

Currently, Kalchmair works as a Dynamics NAV engineer and consultant for an Austrian Dynamics NAV partner. "I do the technical part, programming and I also do upgrades and installations for customers," he says.

For many years, Kalchmair, who has a degree in computer sciences from Kepler University in Austria, worked as a .NET software architect. Then about five years ago, he decided to make a change.

"I found a new area, the ERP area, and then there was a job opening at a company that was looking for a NAV developer," he says. "Although at that point I didn't have any experience with Dynamics NAV, I got that job and I learned the product very fast."

After he was hired, Kalchmair set about learning the application.

"I am an autodidact," he says. "I learn by myself. I try ...