CRM News: 3 Reflections on User Group Summit North America 2019

The annual North American gathering of Microsoft Business Applications Platform users and partners alike has concluded for another year. User Group Summit North America 2019 was the biggest such event yet, and I had the privilege of both attending and presenting at this exciting conference. Here are my top three takeaways from a jam-packed week in sunny Orlando, Florida.

1. The Power Platform is more prevalent than ever. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but with each Microsoft event I attend, the focus on a low code/no code platform becomes more significant. The rise of the citizen developer has been an incredible movement to both watch and be a part of. This year saw an increase in the number of sessions that focused on getting started with Power Apps or Flow, allowing new users a thorough look into the future of the Microsoft stack. One session that really stood out to me was by Mallory Lawhorne and Aidan Kaskela on upgrading from workflows to Flow. This session, like most other Power Platform sessions, was packed as the community learns to flex and grow with Microsoft’s ever evolving new technology. Workflows are being phased out and it is important to start converting any background processes to flows. With the most recent Flow update, you can now trigger child flows from within a flow. We are getting ever closer to fully replacing workflows!

2. Community is king. Anyone who knows me knows that community is very near and dear to my heart. This is most evident at Summit each year when I get to reconnect with many members of the Microsoft community that I have interacted with throughout the year. A huge part of this is the ability to swap and share our experiences with various aspects of the Business Applications Platform. This includes and is not limited to building apps and flows on the fly! Without a deep connection to the community, we’re only as good as our Google skills. User Group Summit is a prime opportunity to meet and connect with other Microsoft users.

3. We love our partners more. An essential part of attending Summit as an ISV is the opportunity to connect with our partners and give back some love! It is important to everyone at ClickDimensions that we always prioritize and take good care of our partners because they have been such a critical part of our success over the years. To demonstrate our gratitude at this year’s User Group Summit, we took our partners to China for the evening at Disney’s EPCOT. We had an incredible night celebrating the release of ClickDimensions Intelligent Dashboards, by enjoying incredible desserts and watching amazing performers throughout the night. We want our partners to know that we will always love them more and at ClickDimensions, we are dedicated to providing you everything you need to maximize your partnership with us. The amazing events are just the cherry on top!

If I could sum up the week in one photo it would be from our group balloon ride at Disney Springs. During a ClickDimensions after party, the group learned I had a fear of heights. To help me overcome my fear, we all banded together and took a balloon ride together. Being part of the Microsoft community means more than just having a network of colleagues – it will also introduce you to some incredible new friends!