Microsoft Business Applications Summit Preview: The hands-on event aims for unified vision across broad product line

Since Microsoft announced the first annual Business Applications Summit, which kicks off on July 22, the Dynamics community has been awash in theories about the event's purpose, goals, and attendee experience.

The event, which represents Microsoft's most direct conference effort in the Dynamics 365 space in several years, is meant to reflect the direction of the company's business solutions portfolio, says Kati Quigley, senior director of marketing communications for Microsoft business applications.

"The event represents a transition and evolution from the Data Insights Summit, which focused on Power BI, to expand to PowerApps, Flow, and Dynamics 365," Quigley said in an interview.

The agenda is designed to appeal to a range of hands-on roles, from line-of-business analysts through to more technical roles like systems engineers, and content reflects that with everything from beginner to advanced sessions. "The coverage is fairly broad, but it is truly for those rolling up their sleeves and making applications work for businesses," she says.

So will this event be the re-birth of Convergence, the Dynamics community's beloved business solutions-focused conference that ended in 2015? No, but organizers say that Convergence was one of the primary influences in designing this event. Specifically, Microsoft is hoping to harness the positive community experiences at those events - and resulting sentiment - in the context of the new event's agenda and goals. Sessions will be run primarily by Microsoft employees - one reason they chose to hold the event in Seattle - but MVPs and partners will also participate. And Microsoft has enlisted Dynamic Communities, the company that manages a range of user groups, from Dynamics 365 apps to Power BI, to help plan community engagement elements of ...