Summit 2019: A New View from Kim Congleton

Didn’t make it to Summit this year? We’re sharing a series with our team’s experience and insights from Summit 2019. Kim Congleton, who was awarded with a 2019 All-Star Award at Summit, shares her thoughts:

As part of the programming committee for Summit I’m always excited for the conference and can’t wait to attend sessions.  This year I was excited but also wondering how users would continue to embrace Business Central and the latest release.

I was very excited with the release of wave 2 – there are some great changes to the modern client.  For example, users can now do the following:

• Add Links to Navigation Menu
• Resize columns easier
• Save and personalize list views – It’s back!
• Multitask across multiple pages
• Explore the capabilities of Business Central (think departments view for your role)
• Enhanced excel integration
• Filter by multiple values

Two of the biggest changes with the wave 2 release is the discontinuation of the windows client and AL-based programming.  With that in mind I tried to hit as many of the sessions in the Architecture and Development track to see how people are dealing with the change.  Full transparency, I was lucky enough to partner with Jason Wilder to cover more of the sessions for the Architecture and Development track – we wanted to really focus on sessions that would address these changes. (So – a little tip for your next Summit – divide, conquer, then re-group to really expand your learning)

As I sat in sessions and listened to speakers present on the changes, it was obvious that many people were excited by the changes, and then there were some that were not excited.  Consequently, change management was a theme that kept running through my head as I sat in those sessions.  For some, the introduction of BC has represented a huge change and shift in what customers are doing.  You can use all sorts of analogies like “who moved my cheese”, etc. but I heard someone say, “but it’s not NAV”.  And they are right: It’s not NAV as we know it.  It’s something that takes a different approach and a new perspective.  Any company that is upgrading to BC needs to be honest with themselves: are they ready for the change, and do they have the right attitude?

I was lucky enough to present with Trevor Johann on how his company has fully embraced BC and how successful they have been in making the transition. There several reasons they have been successful in their transition, and here are some of the primary ones:

1. They focused on the BC functionality, not the fact it’s different that NAV
2. They proactively managed the change with their people
3. They are owning the technology and becoming the experts

Trevor’s company focused on how their processes can be supported by what BC offers out of the box.  They are not trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.  There may be some rounding of corners but for the most part they are focusing on staying true to what BC offers.   They have embraced the technology and have worked very hard to educate and learn as much as they can about BC.  They have invested in their people and training them to be ready for the changes.

I’m always going to be the person who wants to be on the bleeding edge of technology and to me BC is a new technology to learn and support.  BC is the future and it’s a brave new world for all of us.

What does the future hold with the application?  Microsoft is actively seeking ideas and votes on those ideas.  If you want to see what features are being requested or have input into the product check out the Microsoft Ideas Portal here.

Interested in hearing more from Summit 2019? Take a look at recaps from Mark Rhodes and Cari Corozza.