Microsoft stresses rapid response in launch of Business Apps Summit virtual conference

Microsoft Business Applications Summit 2020 reaches its final form today, delivered as a virtual event. Today's online experience, which replaces an event planned for Dallas (and originally Anaheim), will include product updates across Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform and, Microsoft promises, a chance for attendees to network and ask Microsoft representatives about the product line.

The framing of the event reflects this moment in time and the unprecedented upheaval that nations and organizations face as a result of the coronavirus and COVID-19.

"In these past weeks, every business has shifted focus to adjusting to new and unexpected challenges, and doing so at lightning speed," writes Microsoft corporate vice president Alysa Taylor in a blog post coinciding with the start of the event. Microsoft business applications have served a range of needs related to the crisis, she points out, from custom Power Apps for screening and medical scheduling to volunteer coordination. Microsoft has produced reference solutions for inventory tracking and care monitoring.

The global crisis has forced much of the world into remote work scenarios. Taylor noted that Microsoft customers with Dynamics and Power Platform solutions at hand are better-positioned to adapt to both the public health emergency and the economic crisis by calling on the products they may already have on hand. For example, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Customer Service, Commerce (presumably for its e-commerce capabilities) all have the potential to help organizations improve remote working conditions and address customer and market pressures.

Taylor also encouraged the use of the Dynamics 365 app for Teams.

"Your sales and ...