The Elephant in the Room at Convergence Copenhagen 2008: The Economy's Impact on Dynamics Growth
One question on the minds of most of the 4,000 participants at Convergence Copenhagen 2008 last week was this: what will be the effects of the current financial turmoil on our business?
Among the Microsoft officials in attendance, it was mostly an unspoken question.
Only Kirill Tatarinov, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Business Solutions, addressed it to any significant degree, in his keynote address last Wednesday, and he didn't get very specific.
"The world feels like a different place," since the last time Dynamics users, partners, and ISVs assembled in Orlando last March, he said. "The world has experienced some difficult economic conditions."
He ventured that the current economic problems are different from those of the past, and will require that Microsoft and its partners and ISVs think more broadly to justify the software's adoption by prospects and upgrades by users. "Just reducing costs is not going to cut it," he said. "The number-one thing we must deliver is shareholder returns."
Out on the exhibit floor, a number of ISVs and partners said they saw evidence of the financial problems right there in front of them, in reduced attendance and slower traffic, despite Microsoft's claim that attendance was about the same as last year, at 4,000.
"Last year (at Convergence Copenhagen 2007), you couldn't get to the buffet tables," said one ISV rep. "The lines were so long, we had to go to other rooms in the back to get at the food. This year, there's no problem getting at the food, no lines to speak of."
Another complained that prospects are delaying decisions on upgrades or new purchases of Dynamics products. "Instead of committing by the end of this year, more are now saying they'll make their decisions early ...
Among the Microsoft officials in attendance, it was mostly an unspoken question.
Only Kirill Tatarinov, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Business Solutions, addressed it to any significant degree, in his keynote address last Wednesday, and he didn't get very specific.
"The world feels like a different place," since the last time Dynamics users, partners, and ISVs assembled in Orlando last March, he said. "The world has experienced some difficult economic conditions."
He ventured that the current economic problems are different from those of the past, and will require that Microsoft and its partners and ISVs think more broadly to justify the software's adoption by prospects and upgrades by users. "Just reducing costs is not going to cut it," he said. "The number-one thing we must deliver is shareholder returns."
Out on the exhibit floor, a number of ISVs and partners said they saw evidence of the financial problems right there in front of them, in reduced attendance and slower traffic, despite Microsoft's claim that attendance was about the same as last year, at 4,000.
"Last year (at Convergence Copenhagen 2007), you couldn't get to the buffet tables," said one ISV rep. "The lines were so long, we had to go to other rooms in the back to get at the food. This year, there's no problem getting at the food, no lines to speak of."
Another complained that prospects are delaying decisions on upgrades or new purchases of Dynamics products. "Instead of committing by the end of this year, more are now saying they'll make their decisions early ...
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