Directions EMEA 2022: Highlights from Hamburg

Highlights from Hamburg

A month on since attending Directions EMEA 2022 in Hamburg. And what an event it was! It was my first-time attending Directions and I’m still feeling enlightened by the whole experience. This year happened to be the 15th edition of Directions, with over 3000 people attending. Travelling alongside was our General Manager Valerie Clarke and Greta Rusteikaite from our support team, who was also new to Directions.

The opening keynote had us all excited as Mike Morton provided us with an insight into how Business Central was performing and highlighted the fact that it was “one of the two best performing products in Dynamics 365” which was great news to hear on the opening day.

There were key announcements being made regarding the roadmap of Business Central, along with new features, functionality, licenses, and pricing being announced. Most notably, the news that the integration between Teams and Business Central has been extended. Users will no longer require a BC license to read data within teams, as this is now possible using your standard MS365 licence. There were also announcements on a new Bridge to the Cloud 2 offer, which is available from Jan 1st and price reductions for add-on environments being announced.

Community Portal

The new Community Portal was also introduced. A platform that provides the community with a means of staying in touch outside of the Directions events. A place to share news, information and discuss hot topics. Groups have been created for Women in Dynamics and Young in Dynamics to allow the community to share ideas and keep the momentum going for these initiatives.

Diversity and Inclusion

It was an event that kept giving, with glimpses of exciting new features being shown throughout the conference. However, features and functionality aside it was amazing to see the drive towards diversity and inclusion amongst the Dynamics community with the Young in Dynamics and Women in Dynamics initiatives.

In fact, myself and Greta were both invited to Directions as part of the new Young in Dynamics initiative that was introduced at this year’s event. An initiative designed to tackle key issues such as lowering the average age within the community and hiring and retaining young talent for the future. This has already had a positive impact within 4PS UK, as we have already made a start on implanting our very own Young in 4PS group to address these issues internally.

As well as this, I had the pleasure to witness the success of Women in Dynamics, where the focus was really on promoting gender equality and diversity within the community. This year, Directions hosted the first edition of Women in Dynamics Awards where we recognised and celebrated multiple categories including Leadership, Rising Stars and Diversity and Inclusion. It was fantastic to have both of my colleagues nominated for awards. Greta being nominated for Rising Star and Val who finished as runner up for the Leadership award.

I would like to say a huge congratulations to Vicky Critchley and the team for their efforts with Women in Dynamics and would like to encourage everyone to get involved and Sign The Pledge to support the cause.

Overview

Overall, I had a fantastic time at Directions, spending time with my colleagues from both the UK and NL as well as connecting with members from the community. Directions also provided me with the opportunity to speak with 4PS co-owner André Overeem, where we spoke about a range of topics including Business Central, Oasis and touring Europe, this was only made possible through Directions. At the end of the week, I left feeling well informed with a sense of excitement for what’s to come. The journey back to the UK was filled with an airport brainstorming amongst myself, Val and Greta, where we discussed what we had learned and how we can incorporate young in dynamic’s within 4PS, amongst other key topics.

About Directions 4 Partners

Directions 4 Partners is the independent community for Microsoft Dynamics 365 partners from the ERP and CRM channels. It is organised for partners by partners. Directions EMEA is one of the highlights of the Microsoft Dynamics year and it’s the place where Microsoft present new releases and partners can connect, share knowledge, and grow together.

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