Community Summit North America 2021: Why We’re Looking Forward to It

If you are a Microsoft business application user–Dynamics 365 Finance/AX, CE/CRM, Business Central, NAV, GP, SL, Power BI, Power Platform, and the list goes on–you have heard of or maybe even attended Community Summit North America, which has been held annually in some form (various product-specific events have been assimilated throughout the years) for decades. It is the largest independent Microsoft ecosystem event, which has always put the focus on the user (it began as a User Group Summit). Here are some reasons HSO is going to Community Summit 2021:

How many sessions did you say?

Thousands come together at Community Summit North America to learn from and network with product and industry experts, key Microsoft players, ISVs (independent software vendors) that build add-ons for Microsoft products, and other users. This year, the event is back in person and will feature 3-1/2 days packed with 600+ sessions that cover every Microsoft Dynamics version plus the Power Platform. Yes, you heard it: 600+ sessions geared for every role, including business, technical, analyst, and consulting. To give you an idea of the breadth of content being covered, here’s a high-level breakdown of session categories:

• 20+ Case studies
• 200+ Live demos
• 16 Panel discussions
• 360+ Presentations
• 4  FastChats and Fireside chats

What we’re excited about at Community Summit

There are so many to choose from that it’s hard to narrow down, but here are two sessions in particular that we’re looking forward to. Call us biased, but both are being presented by HSO’s own Mike Hammons:

Swimming in Azure Data Lake with Dynamics 365 CE – Tuesday 1-1:50 PM: Microsoft recently introduced the Export to Azure Data Lake functionality (now called Azure Synapse Link), which simplifies data replication from Dynamics 365 to external storage. Data lakes store large amounts of data at a lower cost than traditional SQL-based storage. With a few clicks, you can link your CE (Dataverse) environment to a data lake in your Azure subscription and synchronize entities with it. In this session, Mike demos this functionality, walking through configuration and discussing how to take advantage of it. Learn more…

Take a Dip into Azure Data Lake and Synapse with Dynamics – Thursday 10 – 10:50 AM: The Dynamics family of applications are provide direct integration to Azure Data Lake for reporting and integration. Azure Synapse is an analytics service that brings together data integration, enterprise data warehousing, and big data analytics. In this session, Mike focuses on reporting and analytics, including the benefits of Azure Data Lake and Synapse, as well as how to enable it in each of the environments: Dynamics Finance, CE, and BC. He will also demonstrate how to enable the push to Azure Data Lake and how to quickly start using it for reporting and analytics using Power BI, dataflows, and Synapse. Learn more…

But it’s not all work…

Community Summit North America will be a busy few days, but there is some fun planned, too:

• Welcome Reception: Tuesday, 5-8 PM @ the Expo Hall – Meet the HSO team at booth #1836
• Women in Technology Panel & Reception: Wednesday, 4–5:30 PM @ Marriott Marquis Houston Altitude Rooftop & Pool Deck
• GP-Exclusive Events: Wednesday, 6:30 PM–2 AM @ Marriott Marquis Houston Altitude Rooftop & Pool Deck, House of Blues
• Special Event: Thursday, 3-5 PM @ the Expo Hall

We want to meet you at Community Summit

If you’re attending Community Summit North America, be sure to stop by our booth (#1836) during the Welcome Reception and open Expo time or one of Mike’s sessions and say hello. We’ll be featuring HSO’s Application Management Services.

HSO is not a typical managed services provider. We’re not a reactive order taker; we’re a strategic advisor, invested in the health and success of your business. We look beyond the traditional IT perspective for ways to optimize the business value you’re getting from your Microsoft investment.

We’ll be at Summit for those looking for smart, experienced professionals who can help solve problems and identify opportunities they might be missing out on, regardless of what version they’re on or how they’re structured—in one city, one state, or around the world.

“We like to meet the customer where they’re at,” says HSO’s Co-President, Jack Ades in Aaron Back’s interview, “What’s hot with HSO for Community Summit 2021?” 

Won’t make it to Houston?

No problem! We understand these are uncertain times.

Whether you can come see us in person or will participate in Community Summit virtually, we invite you to check out our FREE Microsoft Dynamics or Power Platform Licensing Evaluation. 

Learn more and sign up