Dynamics NAV

Two more Microsoft Dynamics NAV books

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twomorebooksAs reported by Marq, two more Microsoft Dynamics NAV books have been published by PACKT this week: Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 SP1 Programming Cookbook by Matt Traxinger and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Administration by Amit Sachdev and Sharan Oberoi. With Vincent’s and Chandru’s Sure Step book announced yesterday, this makes for three Microsoft Dynamics books in a single week. Three books a week, not a bad score. Congratulations guys!

I’m now going to pre-order my copies, and you should do the same. As Marq says, buy the books, enjoy the knowledge!

Last week, there were three Dynamics communities announced. This week, three books are announced. Do you see a trend here, or is it only me? What’s going to happen next week? I don’t even dare thinking…

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SQL Server Configuration Recommendations for Microsoft Dynamics NAV

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Microsoft Dynamics NAV Team Blog has just published a mega-useful post about recommendations for configuring Microsoft SQL Server for optimum Microsoft Dynamics NAV Performance. If you haven’t yet, you should check it here.

The blog post delivers a PDF document summarizing certain important parameters, configuration settings and suggestions for improving and maintaining a speedy SQL Server for your NAV installation. The recommendations have been written for x64 version of SQL Server 2005 SP3, SQL Server 2008 SP1 and SQL Server 2008 R2. The document was compiled by Michael De Voe, a Senior Premier Field Engineer at Microsoft specializing in performance, scalability, infrastructure and high-availability for in NAV and AX.

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Error With Exposing Currencies As Web Services

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If you try exposing Page 5 Currencies as a Web service in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009, and then consuming this web service through a .NET application, you are almost guaranteed to encounter some unhelpful and generic XML errors that give you absolutely no clue about what exactly, where and why, went wrong.

Here’s an example of the error:

There is an error in XML document (1, 3634).

The error took me a while to debug and pinpoint the source, but in the end I managed to find a neat solution which I find worth sharing here, just in case somebody out there is scratching their had over it.

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When Should You Purchase The NAV License?

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Microsoft Partners often postpone the actual purchase of the customer’s NAV license until the project is fairly close to go-live. In the meanwhile, they do the development and the testing on-site (or off-site) using their own partner license.

I’ve heard arguments (or better: excuses) to engage in this practice, and I have a very strong opinion on this. So, when is the right moment to actually purchase the NAV license for your customer?

Well, regardless of the fact that 1) you are contractually obliged to purchase the license for your customer at the first moment they get in touch with the solution (which is fairly early in the project), and the fact that 2) you are violating your licensing agreement with Microsoft if you deploy your partner license on third party’s infrastructure, there is 3) a fairly compelling technical reason why you might never want to even try doing any project work involving customer with your partner license.

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Learn About Web Services at WinDays 10

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WinDays is here again. Year over year, it’s hard to come to terms with the time and how quickly it’s passing by. (Or is it just me getting old, and preferring to ignore that fact?)

Anyway, this year is the tenth anniversary of the first WinDays, and the only one I ever attended as a tourist. This year the conference is split into two events: WinDays technology and WinDays business. Technology part is for geeks, Business is for suits and ties. Even though my personal interests have shifted slightly from geek towards suits and ties, I’ve again nominated a presentation (and got a speaker’s slot at the conference) in the technology part of it. Once a geek, always a geek 🙂

This year I’m speaking about Web Services in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009. It might seem no news for many of you, but in my country NAV 2009 has not yet even been localized, and with the localized release coming soon there could not have been better timing for this presentation. I’m going to show the potential and simplicity of web services, and again try to convince people that ERP as we know it is slowly dying, and is soon to be replaced by an even uglier beast.

See you in Rovinj!

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Van Vugt’s dynamiXs

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A year ago I used to run a monthly roundup of NAV blogs and give you a short gist of who said what. Then I got lazy and stopped blogging on the weekly basis, and boy what a mistake I did – because some nice new blogs appeared in the meantime. I am somewhat ashamed that I learned about this blog only recently, but there is a gem out there you shouldn’t miss: Van Vugt’s dynamiXs.

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Parallel or serial?

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Long time no see, eh? I know I’ve promised to write about a lot of stuff here, and I see this queue of you hardly waiting to read my next topic on process manufacturing, but I am just far too lazy to think it out thoroughly. So, an easier one, but still about manufacturing.

I spent this week delivering two courses about manufacturing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Usually, these trainings are gatherings of partners who discuss geeky stuff over coffee breaks. This time, it was kind of different – there were two people from the customer front, and it was really amazing to listen to customer perspective when learning about standard NAV.

One of the points raised today, in the midst of closing of Manufacturing II course, was about parallel routings. Do we do them, or do we not. A tough one, indeed.

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NAV Decisions 2009 is over, but not quite

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NAV Decisions 2009

Did you have a chance to attend the NAV Decisions 2009 virtual conference? If yes, how did you like the event? To me, this was a great experience. It wasn’t the first virtual conference I was a part of, but it most certainly was the best.

But if you didn’t have a chance or time to be there (virtually), you don’t have to worry. Even though the conference is over, the website and all the content will be available for three more months. So, until midnight of January 15, 2010, you can still visit the conference website, register and watch and listen to any of the presentations delivered.

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NAV Decisions – an event you should NOT miss

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On October 14th you should not miss the NAV Decisions 2009 virtual conference organized by MSDynamicsWorld.com, the independent authority for news and views on Microsoft Dynamics.

NAV Decisions 2009 is a virtual conference & tradeshow for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Professionals seeking implementation strategies, thought leadership, and best practices for maximizing the value and effectiveness of their organization’s NAV platform and initiatives.

The best news about the conference is: it’s absolutely free.

I am one of the featured speakers at the conference, and my session titled “Sure Step Methodology in Agile Environment: Delivering More ERP Value in Less Time” will focus on an ever-hot topic of generating value through ERP.

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My new career path – independent consultant

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It’s official now, and it’s time I announce it here: after two years at Microsoft I’ve decided to take the helm of my career and venture into the realm of independent consulting. Two days into it, and all I can say about it is: what have I been waiting for this long?

While at Microsoft, I had a chance to work on some very exciting projects, I was sitting at the source of information, and the thrill of being able to know about all the news and developments before anyone else is priceless.

But the thrill of being able to work on my own, to pick my own projects, to take on completely new challenges, was even more priceless.

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