D365 PP UG 10/12/2024
We had a great introduction from Matt Beard and Tricia Sinclair about the day and some logistics.
I really appreciate this, as I’m always wondering where to go and where I should be at things like this and it can get a bit overwhelming for me. So thank you for that. I also really love the app that gives you access to the schedule for the day.
Also, who are those two cheeky chaps. Haha.
There was some news that Andrew Bibby is stepping down as the chair of the London user groups. This was a bit sad. Andrew has given me multiple chances to speak at the user group and this has massively helped my confidence over the last couple of years and I really really appreciate that. Good luck in your next community venture Andrew.
First session was two people from Microsoft presenting about the -
Microsoft business application roadmap.
The main themes in this session were that Copilot is the UI for AI and Personal agent creation in copilot studio is going to be the new frontier.
Being honest, I wasn’t sure about some of the videos that were used in this session, I’d much rather real life demos
This was an interesting slide. After the Tik tok style videos had finished. I can see this being a very practical use case for customers of D365 field service.
Then there is scheduling operations agent. The presenters showed a demo (non AI created yay!), which shows someone using this tool to be able to select an automated updated schedule. This would definitely help in operational issues where scheduling is tricky.
Then the fire alarm went off.
Just a test though. I think. I mean man’s not hot.
Copilot can also integrate with the schedule board. These are coming Wave 1 2025.
Next we headed to D365 Contact Centre momentum.
Unfortunately the audio in the lecture theatre was pretty difficult to understand parts of the presentation which was a bit of a shame.
I think presenters really need to think about the audience they are presenting to. Showing AI generated audio to videos is not the way to go at sessions like this. It’s a bit of a shame.
There was some demo showing the communication panel in D365 customer service and how copilot understands the window context to provide actionable insights.
I wonder if it would ever be possible to have the copilot agent injected but not visible to the customer in customer service <> customer communication panel ? This would truly then be in context, where the customer support agent wouldn’t need to look in two different places.
A better video showcasing an implementation by a company called Vivid. Was very interesting and no AI robotic voice. Bonus.
There was a link to some nice assets to help with bids and go to market activities for D365 Contact centre:
I thought the last side was very pertinent. Microsoft really needs to ramp up this security aspect when it comes to AI. So really great to see.
ADHD interruption
This sign on the toilets really made me laugh reminds me of that song “Blinded by the light” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.
“Blinded by the light
Revved up like a douche
Another runner in the night”
Crafting responsive canvas apps - Keith Atherton.
Now for some engaging content. Keith is an artist when it comes to presenting. He has so much knowledge to share and he is able to do it in an amazing way.
In this session we explored the intricacies of designing responsive canvas Power Apps, ensuring seamless user experiences across diverse devices and screen sizes.
Keith said there wasn’t gonna be many slides. Happy days. Unlike my session later.
Keith gave us an overview of what responsiveness was. This was a good way to set the scene for the people listening in the room. He showed the Microsoft store website and showed how when resizing a browser window, elements resize and reduce depending on the screen resolution.
Keith explained about the twelve column grid system from bootstrap. This number is really important because it’s easily divisible by 2, 3, 4 and 6.
Franco Musso who was in the room also explained how the bootstrap website actually hides the left and right nav bar when it is shrunk. Impressive when companies apply their own thinking to their own websites. Good to see.
Keith then went on to show a model driven app. Model driven apps, out of the box, are responsive. We then switched to canvas apps. Keith showed how you can add new screens with different layouts that are available.
Keith then had an amazing canvas app that he has already created to show different types of responsive elements. Notable here is how canvas apps employ containers to assist with responsiveness.
I’ve always found responsiveness hard to implement in canvas apps. I recommend anyone working regularly with canvas apps, this session from Keith is a must watch.
I think if we had been doing a drinking competition , the chosen word for drinking would have been “containers”. I heard Keith use the words “a container, containing containers”. Class work.
Keith reminded me of a website, I reckon I have been in this page more than a 1000 times:
This is a great page on Microsoft Learn to help you learn and understand responsiveness in canvas apps.
Keith also talked about some real life projects where thinking about responsiveness and asking the question to the client to find out what devices they are using and importantly any settings in the device that can influence scaling or resolution.
Overall this was a great session. Keith has a way of explaining things so calmly and passionately. I’ve learnt a lot from this session alone today.
Four pillars of Business Central to Dataverse Integration - Phil Kermeen and Andy Wingate.
Unfortunately for Phil he had lost his voice, so over to Andy for the majority of this session.
I wanted to come to this session, as I really don't know enough about Business Central.
Phil talked about how the Dataverse data structure is quite different to what is in Business Central. For example Account in Dataverse, and Vendor and Customer in Business Central, so what does the integration need to do here. As with most things in consultancy, it comes down to communicating and translating business requirements to the technical world.
"Canvas apps can be full of code" - interesting comment, your thoughts?
This session was about explaining the differences between Business Central architecture and other architectures, for example the Power Platform. APIs are one example. Dataverse has the web API, but Business Central has multiple APIs based on the pages inside the system.
BC also has a native sync app, this is a wizard to help you connect to BC. The sync app is much simpler to setup than dual write. One of the major differences between dual write and sync app, the integration mapping is handled by BC. Cool ! For example Account record gets created in Dataverse, the native sync will help you get that account over to the Vendor/Customer table.
Overall this was a pretty good session, I have a feeling these guys aren't lovers of the Power Platform in general, but a mixed view in this world is what is required, appreciate the candidness.
LUNCH BREAK
Went out with Paul Murana for a Cornish pasty from London Bridge station. It’s very cold, so warming up the hands was a great idea. Paul also told me an interesting story of when he visited the History of Cornish Pasties museum, yep, it exists.
Apparently the reason why they have the big thick crusts, is because in the mines, miners get so dusty that they can hold the crust and not get any coal dust on the juicy fillings or the golden flaky pastry.
Everytime I speak to Paul I learn something. Today was no exception.
It was also nice to chat and catch up with people from ANS - Jason, Andy and Paul ;)
Adopting AI: Navigating Challenges, Unleashing Potential - Areti Iles
Next up Areti’s session on Adopting AI. We recently had Areti on the Sprint Zero podcast. So I was particularly looking forward to this.
Areti spoke about the history of AI by the showing the AI timeline.
Areti went on to explain the threats of AI adoption, including not being able to realise ROI and security and governance models.
It was also interesting to see that there are cybersecurity threats where AI is starting to creep into the top list. But these can be combatted with erm AI, quite paradoxical.
The next slide was showing the bell curve of the 5 stages of AI maturity. Note the 36% of users are at the Implementing stage. Also the average age of the company is an interesting material. The younger the company the higher propensity of them being at the Realising stage.
Areti also talked about governance when it comes to AI. One of the most important parts Areti explained was to have a centralised AI inventory. What this means, is to make sure every AI solution is well documented and also reviewed when anything changes. Areti explained that without that documentation, troubleshooting and finding out what is happening when a company’s AI estate gets large, it will be very hard to govern and monitor.
Another great session. Packed full of insights. Thanks a lot Areti !
Next.
Navigating the Power Platform Administration Centre: Optimising your environment. Chime Okure
I have heard good things and seen good things from Chime Okure on LinkedIn, so although I am quite used to this topic I wanted to come and check his session out.
When I have gone to sessions that I think I know a lot about, I always come out learning something new.
It was a whistle stop tour of PPAC.
It was good to see the new Admin UI. Chime made a good point that it looks very much like the Fabric studio:
Someone is gonna have a good time updating all the images in the Centre of Excellence toolkit Microsoft Learn pages with that one.
There is also a recommendations section in the Action section, accessible from the green left hand nav. I really like this new PPAC experience. I will be turning this on.
Some really good questions in this session touching on security baselines. I’m writing this live so I will need to find out more about this question at the end.
My session
My session is next. Whoop whoop. I’m a bit nervous and a bit hot. Always get so hot before and during a session. Let’s hope I don’t melt.
A few moments later.
I had a great time presenting. I didn’t actually race through it as much as I have done in other presentations.
I felt like this presentation was probably the best one I’ve done. I felt like I really connected with the audience.
Thanks so much for taking the photos Keith and Areti.
I always find the interactions after my sessions so rewarding. This was no exception. A guy came and spoke to me and explained how he was getting on with his ADHD medication and I explained to him that I am waiting for medication to start. Really timely conversation.
Thank you so much to the organisers and the sponsors for putting this event on. I always meet some amazing people and always learn so much.
Thanks.
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