Qurius about Change? Customer event report

MD Mark Cockings opens the day's proceedings

Qurius UK kicked off its customer event on 10th March 2011 at Highgate House, Northampton with an introduction by UK Managing Director Mark Cockings.

Mark outlined his vision for Qurius to provide complete integrated systems with the support of its extensive partner network.

He then described how the $9bn of investment made by Microsoft will ensure a strong position for the Microsoft Dynamics business management platform. 

Mark handed over to Qurius N.V. CEO Leen Zevenbergen to deliver his keynote speech. Memorable points from Leen's presentation included:

• "People think about solutions to problems - not product names. That's what Qurius needs to do."
• "In the Microsoft Dynamic world, they have 20,000 partners. In that world Qurius is a HUGE multi-national."
• "We need to get bigger so we have more expertise in more fields because clients want more from us."
• "Clients say they feel how proud we are of our new offices and company. It is important to have this effect on our customers."
• Leen quoted Machiavelli: "Culture isn't just one aspect of the game, It is the game."
• "50% of jobs in the UK don't need to start at 9 o'clock. Companies should change from input oriented to output oriented."
• "Sustainablity means long-term orientation. We are creating an environment for the future."
• "The key survival elements for the future requires Sustainability, new ways of working and innovation."
• "Cloud means a huge change to the market. We have 5 CRM cloud products available now. It's cheaper, pay for what you use."
• "When they see that managers believe in the company - the clients believe in us too."
• Leen wrapped up his entertaining presentation by adding: "Everyone is invited to the Insperience Centre in Netherlands - this is our store! And we welcome you."

The delegates then took a coffee break before heading into breakout sessions with Qurius partners.

First up in the partner presentations was Mikkel Oldenburg, Partner Account Manager for TARGIT - Business Intelligence software partner. Mikkel ran through some key examples of TARGIT BI in action, showing how users can get business intelligence in fewer clicks.

Second to present was Kip Micheelson, International Channel Manager for Agiles Workflow. Kip explained that AgilesWorkflow manages tasks and priorities dynamically. This results in better control, more insight, process improvement, increased productivity and accelerated processes.

Next on the stage was Paul Crawley, sales manager for Equisys. Paul created some buzz by announcing that Equisys were giving away an Xbox 360 - asking delegates to text or email document volumes - with Qurius selecting a random winner to take away the Xbox 360. Paul enhanced his popularity even further by giving out chocolate bars! Equisys provide Zetadocs which reduces paper flow, getting documents on screen to manage processes more effectively. Advantages of Zetadocs include: Improve customer service; No lost documents; New way of working; Eliminate paper, sustainability; Quick ROI.

Paul Crawley (left) of Equisys presents a brand new Xbox 360 to Colin Park of Drimsynie (ParkVision customer)  

The next speaker was Paul Hollcraft, VP New Strategic Business of Jet Reports. Paul explained how Jet Reports enables the creation of quick and easy reports with Microsoft Dynamics NAV data with familiar Excel interface. Paul ran a raffle for a 19" screen.

The final partner presentation was by Christian Dorfner, Senior Partner Manager of Evidanza Business Information Solutions. Evidanza wants to understand customer problems and deliver solutions in conjunction with Qurius. Christian moved on to demonstrate the ease with which Evidanza drills down into key business information.

The delegates then took a break for lunch.

Following on from lunch, delegates split up into industry groups to learn more about the Qurius roadmap for 2011 and beyond for their sector.

Networking between sessions

In the Microsoft Dynamics AX breakout session in the Courtyard room, Mark Peeters of Qurius Belgium introduced the Q-Essentials applications layer. Q-Essentials provides add-on functionality for Microsoft Dynamics AX, e.g. Word Generator.

Mark Peeters went on to describe the newly-launched Q-Prism'AX, a project, installation and service management solution. Q-Prism'AX has a project cockpit which allows the complete planning of logistics and finance processes, with error alerts to highlight issues. Furthermore, the solution supports Earned Value Management requirements to measure project performance.

The next speaker was Steve Wardhaugh, who provided a perspective on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, which is due for release in Q3. Steve delivered a very interesting presentation on its new functionality.

Mark Breeden wrapped up the AX breakout session with a summary and Q&A session. He described how he is looking to build long term relationships with the AX customer base.

Meanwhile in the Recycling and Waste Management breakout session in the Annerley room, Jason Fazackerley explored the new features of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2. Jason then went on to explain the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Roadmap for the coming years. Ian Barker followed this up with a demonstration of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 in action, showing the features and benefits of the Role Tailored Client for Recycling and Waste Management customers.

The Holiday Parks breakout session was led by Jamaine Campbell in the Syndicate B room. Jamaine discussed how the various partner products can add value to ParkVision by streamlining business processes and delivering strong return on investment. After also touching on the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Roadmap, Jamaine outlined the role of Cloud services in the future of holiday park management software.

Everyone was reunited in the main room and Ben Lomax presented a Microsoft Dynamics CRM snapshot as the event entered the final session. He started with the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yru5CkANOKA.

Ben Lomax discusses the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Next up to the stage were Emily Stone (Partner Account Manager) and Phil Newman (Business Technology Advisor) from Microsoft.

Phil Newman started his presentation "The future of Microsoft Dynamics" with a look at what we were all expecting to have in the future when we young. Who didn't want a hover board from Back to the Future 2?

Phil Newman from Microsoft talks about what we expected to see in the future when we were young 

Following on from Phil's presentation, Microsoft Partner Account Manager Emily Stone highlighted five industry trends for the future, including a Microsoft Research study on Gaming principles and ERP. Emily showed the delegates an impressive list of household name organisations using the Microsoft Cloud technology. In regards to Microsoft's R&D programme, Emily assured us that we should all read about Microsoft research on the Microsoft Office Labs web site: www.officelabs.com.

After Emily finished, we were back to Mark Cockings to close the day, thanking everyone for their time and effort in making the customer day a success.

The delegates went back to their rooms to refresh themselves before the evening dinner.

Dinner was held in the Baronial Hall and the comfort, splendour and history of the room matched the grandeur of its name.

After the day of concentrating and dealing with serious work issues, guests were able to let their hair down and enjoy an evening of fine food and wine. Mark Breeden had the idea of playing a wine-tasting-meets-Call-my-Bluff game, which went down very well (along with the wine!).

Wine tasting in the Baronial Hall

We would like to extend our thanks to all customers and partners for taking time out of their schedules to attend the customer day. We hope that the customers who could not attend will be able to join us for our next event.