TO OUR CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY PRESENTATION 
TODAY. I'M PAUL LANGOWSKI, I AM 
A MEMBER OF THE, WAIT NOR THIS TITLE, 
THE MICROSOFT DYNAMICS 365 FOR FINANCE 
AND OPERATIONS FASTTRACK TEAM. AS 
PART OF THAT, THOSE OF YOU THAT 
ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH FASTTRACK, 
I'M GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND 
ON THAT. WHAT WE HAVE GOT, WE HAVE 
PLANNED FOR TODAY, WE HAVE GOT COUPLE 
OF OUR ESTEEMED CUSTOMERS WITH US 
TODAY. BELIEVE AKUMA AND PCL CONSTRUCTION. 
WHAT WE'LL DO, AND WE'LL INTRO EXCUSE 
FOLKS AS WE GO THROUGH THE PRESENTATION. 
START IT OUT SAYING, BASIC INTRODUCTION 
ON YOUR COMPANY AND STUFF, AS WE 
GET INTO THE PRESENTATION. SO WE 
HAVE WITH ME, DANA BOURQUE, ALSO 
AN ARC FREQUENT ON THE FASTTRACK 
TEAM, SHE LEADS THE AMERICAS FOR 
US. WE HAVE MIKE VASSIL, WITH AKUMA. 
AND WE HAVE KAARE BORAAS WITH PCL. 
WE'LL GET INTO THEIR STORIES. WHAT 
WE PLANNED AS A LAYOUT, WE WILL 
HAVE THEM TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT 
WHAT THEY DID FOR THEIR ORGANIZATIONS, 
WITH DYNAMICS 365, AND TALK ABOUT 
THE THINGS THAT THEY HAVE LEARNED. 
SOME OF THE SUCCESS STORIES, WORKED 
WELL, WHAT DIDN'T WORK, THEN WE'LL 
COME AFTER EACH ONE OF THOSE STORIES, 
AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW 
THE THINGS THEY EXPERIENCED, IN 
THEIR IMPLEMENTATIONS, MAP TO THE 
BEST PRACTICES THAT WE SEE AS A 
FASTTRACK TEAM. WE'LL GO THROUGH 
THE AKUMA CASE STUDY, THEN PCL. 
I DID MENTION I'D TALK A LITTLE 
BIT MORE ABOUT FASTTRACK. LET ME 
GET A QUICK SHOW OF HANDS ON A COUPLE 
OF THINGS. WHO ARE MY PARTNERS IN 
THE ROOM? CUSTOMERS? OKAY THAT, 
MEANS THERE IS A FEW PEOPLE THAT 
JUST SHOWED UP FOR THE PRESENTATION, 
NEITHER, THAT'S OKAY. WHO HERE HAS 
WORKED WITH MICROSOFT FASTTRACK? 
OKAY, WE HAVE A FEW. LET ME EXPLAIN 
ABOUT FASTTRACK. FASTTRACK IS AN 
INVESTMENT THAT THE PRODUCT GROUPS, 
THE DYNAMIC 365 FOR FINANCE AND 
OPERATION, CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, 
POWER APP TEAMS, MAKE AN INVESTMENT 
IN A TEAM OF ARCHITECTS THAT ARE 
CONNECTED TO THE ENGINEERING TEAM. 
WE'RE PART OF THAT PROCESS OF BUILDING 
THE PRODUCT, UNDERSTANDING THE FEATURES 
THAT ARE COMING TO MARKET. BUT WE 
ENGAGE WITH CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS 
TO ENSURE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES OF 
THOSE IMPLEMENTATIONS. REALLY, THE 
CORE OF THE JOB, IS ABOUT BEING 
A PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION SO 
WE CAN AGGREGATE PATTERNS. WHAT 
WORKS WELL, WHAT SHOULD YOU STAY 
AWAY FROM. THOSE PATTERNS AND ANTE-PATTERNS. 
WE REBROADCAST TO THE FIELD, PARTNERS 
AND CUSTOMERS, BRING THEM BACK TO 
THE ENGINEERING TEAMS. TRY TO INCORPORATE 
THOSE LEARNINGS INTO THE PRODUCT 
TO MAKE SURE WE'RE PRODUCING SOFTWARE 
AND SERVICES THAT ARE GOING TO BE 
EASILY AND EFFICIENTLY CONSUMABLE 
BY THE MARKETS. THAT'S A LITTLE 
BIT OF WHAT WE DO. AND WHERE OUR 
CONNECTION TO THIS PARTICULAR PRESENTATION, 
IS BOTH CUSTOMERS UP HERE WITH A 
PART OF THE FASTTRACK PROGRAM. THEY 
HAD FASTTRACK ARCHITECTS THAT ENGAGED 
WITH THEM ON THEIR IMPLEMENTATION 
TO PROVIDE HOPEFULLY, HOPEFULLY 
TIMELY GUIDANCE ALONG THE WAY, AS 
WELL AS HELP ENSURE WHAT THEY HAD 
SPECIFIC NEEDS, TO BRING IT BACK 
TO THE PRODUCT GROUPS AND REACT 
AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. EL OH HAND 
IT OVER TO MIKE, LET'S START TALKING 
ABOUT AKUMA AND WHAT YOU HAVE DONE 
FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION USING THE 
DYNAMICS PRODUCTS. >> SURE. THANK 
YOU. SO I'M NOT A PROFESSIONAL PRESENTER 
LIKE PAUL, YOU HAVE TO BEAR WITH 
ME FOR A BIT I EE MIKE VASSIL, AWORK 
AT OKUMA AMERICA CORPORATION. I'M 
GOING TO TALK ABOUT MY COMPANY QUICKLY, 
AND THEN THE PROJECT THAT WE EMBARKED 
ON ABOUT 2 1/2 YEARS AGO, STARTING 
THE IMPLEMENTATION. ONE YEAR LIVE 
ON JULY 1. ANNIVERSARY IS COMING 
UP SOON FOR US. FIRST EVERY PRESENTATION 
WE DO, WE ALWAYS SHARE OUR MISSION, 
VISION, VALUES. AT OKUMA WE PASSIONATELY 
SHARE CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE. THE PILLARS 
THERE, ARE WHAT WE LIVE OUR DAY-TO-DAY 
LIVES BY AT THE COMPANY. THIS PROJECT 
REALLY ENTAILS EACH ONE OF THESE. 
LEADING WITH THE SERVANT HEART COMMITMENT 
TO QUALITY, VALUING MEANINGFUL MEMBERSHIPS, 
IF YOU THINK ABOUT MICROSOFT AND 
YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR IMPLEMENTER, 
WHO YOU'RE WORKING WITH TO GET SYSTEMS 
IN PLAY, AND THEN OBVIOUSLY MAKING 
IT FUN. NOT EVERYBODY WOULD SAY 
IMPLEMENTATION IS FUN, THEY'RE LONG, 
GRUELING, I HAD A FULL HEAD OF HAIR 
BEFORE WE STARTED. AND WE WERE ABLE 
TO GET THROUGH
IT. AND KEEP OUR 
WITS ABOUT US. SO, IN COUPLE OF 
SLIDES YOU WILL SEE THE SCOPE OF 
OUR PROJECT. WE HAVE ABOUT 225 PEOPLE 
AT OUR
OFFICE IN THE U.S.
WE'RE OWNED BY OKUMA 
CORPORATION IN JAPAN, PUBLICLY 
TRADED ON THE STOCK MARKET IN 
JAPAN. 
WE HAVE 20 TO 25 NAEBS RESIDE IN 
THE U. S. AND WORK HAND IN HAND 
WITH US IN THE OFFICE, WE'RE IN 
THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. WE SERVE 
AEROSPACE, DEFENSE, AUTOMOTIVE, 
CONSTRUCTION, OIL, ENERGY, MEDICAL, 
ANYTHING IN THE WORLD THAT'S CUT, 
ANY METAL THAT'S CUT ANYWHERE IN 
THE WORLD, MOST LIKELY IS DONE ON 
A MACHINETULE, AND AN OKUMA MACHINE 
TOOL IS ONE OF THE 
LEADERS. EVEN 
MICROSOFT IS A CUSTOMER OF OURS, 
THEY BUY MACHINES IN ORDER TO CUT 
MOLDS TO MAKE THE CASES FOR SURFACE, 
DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. AT OKUMA 
AMERICA, WE SUPPORT NORTH AMERICA, 
CENTRAL AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, 
THE ENTIRE LEFT SIDE OF THE PICTURE 
UP HERE. OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE THE PARENT 
COMPANY IN JAPAN, SISTER COMPANY 
IN GERMANY, THEN WE HAVE OTHER OFFICES 
THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE IN CHINA, THAILAND, 
AUSTRALIA, AND MANY OTHER PLACES. 
SO REAL QUICK, JUST ABOUT THE HISTORY 
OF OKUMA, WHEN WE STARTED, IN 1898, 
WE ACTUALLY WERE MAKING NOODLEMAKING 
MACHINES. WE WEREN'T MAKING LATHES, 
GRINDERS, MACHINING CENTERS. THEY 
WERE MOODLE MAKING MACHINES. WE 
HAVE SOME IN THE MUSEUM IN JAPAN, 
PRETTY NEAT LOOKING THINGS. IN THE 
EARLY 1900s, WE BEGAN CREATING OUR 
FIRST LATHES, THEN WE MORPHED INTO 
THE PRODUCTS THAT WE OFFER TODAY. 
IN 1987, WE OPENED OUR OFFICE IN 
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA. THAT'S 
HOME TODAY AND IT WILL BE HOME FOREVER 
FOR OKUMAN2018 WE CELEBRATED 120 
YEARS IN BUSINESS. QUITE A LONG 
TIME FOR THE COMPANY. THIS PROJECT 
IS PROBABLY OUR BIGGEST DIGITAL 
TRANSFORMATION IN THE COMPANY. THE 
NEXT SLIDE SHOWS YOU HOW THE COMPANY 
EMBRACES TELL NOLG. IN JAPAN -- 
TECHNOLOGY. WE WERE AWARDED THE 
GOOD FACTORY AWARD. THE COMBINATION 
OF THE IOT AND THE AUTOMATION AND 
THE GREEN PIECES OF THE FACTORY 
THAT WE PUT TOGETHER, THE GOVERNMENT 
IN JAPAN RECOGNIZED OKUMA, AND ARE 
LEADING TECHNOLOGY, ESPECIALLY IN 
PUTTING INTO PRACTICE WHAT WE TALK 
ABOUT FOR OUR CUSTOMER. THIS IS 
A VERY BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR US. 
SO, WHY DID WE MAKE THE CHANGE, 
WHY DID WE WANT TO CHANGE OUR LIVES? 
WE HAD ABOUT 20 DIFFERENT BUSINESS 
SYSTEMS THAT WE WERE KIND OF PIECING 
TOGETHER TO RUN OUR BUSINESS ON 
A DALY BASIS. OUR CORE ERP WAS BOND 
4C4, OBSOLETE FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS 
WE HAD IT. COULDN'T INTEGRATE NIGHT, 
WOULDN'T TALK TO ANYTHING, AND WE 
JUST MADE IT WORK. WE RECOGNIZE 
FOR OUR BUSINESS TO GROW, WE NEEDED 
TO BE AGGRESSIVE AND GET IN FRONT 
OF TECHNOLOGY. THE NEXT GOAL OBVIOUSLY 
WAS TO STAY CURRENT WITH TECHNOLOGY. 
WHEN YOU LIVE 10, 15 YEARS AND NOT 
ABLE TO REALLY GIVE YOURSELF ANY 
SPEED ENHANCEMENTS, TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENTS, 
YOU HAMSTRING YOUR BUSINESS. IT 
IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR US TO 
BE ABLE TO SCALE UP AS OUR BUSINESS 
GROWS. AND BE AGGRESSIVE IN THE 
MARKETPLACE. WE WANT TO BE THE AGENTS 
OF CHANGE IN OUR INDUSTRY, AND WE 
WANT TO MAKE OUR COMPETITORS' DAYS 
MISERABLE. THE BEST WAY TO COULD 
THAT IS TO BE SPEEDY AND FAST.
OBVIOUSLY, 
WE WANTED SPEED AND AGILITY BENEFITS 
FROM IT. BECAUSE WE HAVE A REALLY 
LEAN WORKFORCE. WITH 225 PEOPLE 
AND THE VOLUME OF MACHINE TOOLS 
THAT WE SELL AND SUPPORT AND AFTER-MARKET, 
SPARE PARTS, WE COULD EASILY JUSTIFY 
PROBABLY OF COURSE 350, 400 EMPLOYEES. 
BUT OUR CULTURE IS SUCH THAT WE 
NEVER WANT TO WALK SOMEBODY OUT 
THE DOOR. WE ALWAYS WANT TO MAKE 
SURE THAT WE ARE HEALTHY, FIT, AND 
DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR OUR EMPLOYEES 
AT ALL TIMES. WE EXPECT A LOT OF 
OUR PEOPLE BUT I THINK THEY TRULY 
ENJOY THE COMPANY. WE WANTED ONE 
END-TO-END SOLUTION, HAVING 20 DIFFERENT 
SYSTEMS ALL TRYING TO PLAY, IT'S 
MISERABLE FOR OUR I. T. DEPARTMENT, 
IT'S MISERABLE FOR THE USERS. I 
WOULD FORGET BY LOG-INS EVERY OTHER 
DAY FOR EVERY SYSTEM THAT WE HAD, 
LIFE WAS NOT FUN. THE SECURITY AND 
CLOUD STORAGE, WE TRIED TO SUPPORT 
YOU WILL OF OUR OLD SYSTEMS ON-PREM. 
WE HAVE VERY SMALL I. T. DEPARTMENT, 
MAYBE ABOUT FIVE OR SIX PEOPLE. 
AND THEY WERE TASKED WITH TRYING 
TO KEEP ALL OF OUR OLD TECHNOLOGY 
RUNNING, WE RECOGNIZED THAT WE WEREN'T 
GOING TO GROW THE STAFF TO SUPPORT 
ALL OF OUR SYSTEMS, BUT WE NEEDED 
TO INVEST IN THE CLOUD. ALSO GIVE 
US SOME STRONGER SECURITY. AND THEN, 
THE FINAL ONE IS THE LONG-TERM GOAL 
OF UNIFIED AND ACCURATE REPORTING. 
I'M SURE IT'S PROBABLY NOT AN UNCOMMON 
ISSUE. PEOPLE ARE TELLING STORIES, 
EVERYBODY IS USING DATA, BUT ALL 
USING DIFFERENT DATA AND TRYING 
TO TELL THE SAME STORY. OUR VISION 
IS WE WANT ONE TRUTH. AND WE WANT 
EVERYBODY TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT 
TRUTH FROM ONE DATA SOURCE. WE'RE 
MAKING THE INVESTMENTS AND POWER 
B. I. , DATA WAREHOUSE AND DIFFERENT 
THINGS LIKE THAT IN ORDER TO CONTINUE 
TO GET TO THAT POINT. I MENTIONED 
THE FUN THAT WE HAD. WE DID EVERYTHING. 
I WILL VOLUNTEER MYSELF IF ANY OF 
ARE YOU GOING THROUGH IMPLEMENTATIONS 
OR ABOUT TO KICK OFF FEEL FREE TO 
REACH OUT, I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO 
SHARE A LITTLE BIT OF SOME OF THE 
BEST PRACTICES WE HAD. WE PUT A 
CPQ IN, ENTIRE F AND O OTHER THAN 
THE HUMAN RESOURCES SECTION. GUTTED 
THE SHAREPOINT SYSTEM. IN THE CLOUD. 
BLUE STAR P. O. M. THIS IS A SKIN 
ORE THE CRM THAT ALL OF THE FOLKS 
SELLING IN THE FIELD ARE COMING 
DIRECTLY INTO THE SYSTEM. DOING 
ALL OF THE COMMERCE WITH US. PLACING 
MACHINE ORDERS, SPARE PARTS ORDERS, 
INTRING CASES WITH US, FIELD SERVICE 
CASES. WE HAVE THE FIELD SERVICE 
MODULE. I CONSIDER THAT PART OF 
CRM. IF I THOUGHT LOPPINGER I CAN 
ADD FOUR OR FIVE THINGS TO THIS. 
THIS IS JUST A QUICK SNAPSHOT OF 
SOME OF THE HIGH WIRE ACTS WE TRIED 
TO DO DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION. 
ONE OF OUR GOALS, WE WERE IN A HIGHLY 
MANUAL LABOR BUSINESS. EVERY TIME 
WE SOLD A MACHINE WE WOMANUALLY 
CREATE PART NUMBERS IN THE SYSTEM, 
DO THE CART WHEELS JUST TO PROCESS 
A TRANSACTION. WHEN WE MOVED WE 
WANTED IT ALL AUTOMATED, WE WANTED 
THE SYSTEM TO KNOW WHAT WE WERE 
DOING AND CREATE PART NUMBERS FOR 
US SMARTLY, USE THE BRAINS AND THE 
STRENGTH OF THE SYSTEM TO TAKE THIS 
NONVALUE ADDED WORK OUT OF THE WORLD. 
IF I REDREW THIS TODAY YOU'D PROBABLY 
SEE 30 MORE LIENS OF DATA MOVING 
BACK AND FORTH. THIS GIVES THE ABILITY 
TO BE EXTREMELY FAST WHEN WE'RE 
SELLING IN THE FIELD. WE WANT TO 
COME IN AND GET A SPECIAL DEAL, 
DO SOMETHING TO AFFECT THE CUSTOMERS 
AND MAKE THEIR LIVES BETTER. WE'RE 
EXTREMELY FAST NOW. SOME OF THE 
OTHER PIECES OF INFORMATION, WHAT 
WENT WELL, WHAT DIDN'T GO WELL. 
AS YOU WOULD THINK, EVERYTHING WASN'T 
PERFECT EVERY SINGLE DAY. THE ORIGINAL 
PROJECT PLAN WAS TOO SHORT. YOU 
SA THE SIZE OF WHAT WE DID, WE THOUGHT 
WE COULD GET IT DONE IN A YEAR F 
WE WENT BACK, WE'D PROBABLY THINK 
ABOUT 18 MONTHS. THAT'S WHAT WE 
ENDED UP LANDING ON WAS 18 MONTHS. 
I COULD CONSIDER THAT A TWO-YEAR 
IMPLEMENTATION MIGHT HAVE MADE SENSE. 
18 MONTHS WAS RIGHT ON THE SPOT 
WHERE IT WAS TIME TO GO BEFORE WE 
STARTED HAVING DIMINISHING RETURNS 
ON THE TEAM. WE WERE EARLY ADOPTERS 
OF C. E. S. WHEN WE STARTED THE 
PROJECT IT WAS BRAND NEW. WE MADE 
A BUSINESS DECISION, WE DIDN'T WANT 
TO PUT ANYTHING IN THE MIDDLE OF 
THE SYSTEMS. WE KNEW WHERE MICROSOFT 
WAS GOING AND WE WERE, I DON'T KNOW 
IF WE WERE NUMBER ONE, WE WERE RIGHT 
AT THE FIRST EDGE OF CDS. WE HELPED 
MICROSOFT AND MICROSOFT HELPED US 
WORK THROUGH SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, 
ORIGINAL ISSUES. AND I THINK THAT 
THE SYSTEM IS WORKING PHENOMENALLY 
TODAY. WE HAVE SYSTEMS OBSOLETE, 
IT'S HARD TO PULL INFORMATION FROM 
THEM. THE INFORMATION YOU GET ISN'T 
ALWAYS ACCURATE. THE AMOUNT OF TIME 
PULLED THE DATE, A FIXED IT, PULLED 
IT AGAIN, PUT IT BACK. I SAY IT 
DIDN'T GO WELL. THAT WAS PROBABLY 
THE BIGGEST POINTS OF CONTENTION 
DURING THE PROJECT. PEOPLE WANTING 
TO YELL AT EACH OTHER, PRESSURING 
EACH OTHER TO GET IT DONE. YOU SEE 
LATER, THAT WAS ONE OF OUR BEST 
THINGS WE DID. IT WAS OUR BUSIEST 
SALES YEAR IN THE HISTORY OF OKUMA 
AMERICA. WE'RE CHANGING THE WHEELS 
ON A CAR WHILE YOU DRIVE 70 MILES 
AN HOUR. THAT'S WHAT WE DID FOR 
A YEAR AND A HALF. WE HAD OUR GREATEST 
SALES YEAR EVER. MOST VOLUME, AND 
EVERY AREA OF OUR COMPANY, WE XHEEPTLY 
TRANSFORMED OUR ENTIRE BUSINESS. 
THE FACT WE HAVE ANY SANITY IS QUITE 
A MIRACLE. AND THEN CORE TEAM ATTRITION. 
WE LOST KEY PLAYERS DURING THE PROJECT. 
AS YOU SEE AS I GO DOWN A LITTLE 
BIT INTO WHAT WENT WELL, EXECUTIVE 
SPONSORSHIP AND OWNERSHIP OF ISSUES 
AT BUSINESS PROCESS OWNER LEVEL. 
WHEN I TALK ABOUT THE EXECUTIVE 
SPONSORSHIP, THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
COMPANY AND THE CFO, THEY WERE FULLY 
ENGAGED WITH THE TEAM DURING THE 
ENTIRE PROJECT. THEY MADE SURE THAT 
THE ENTIRE COMPANY KNEW HOW IMPORTANT 
THIS PROJECT WAS TO OUR FUTURE. 
WHEN YOU HEAR IT FROM THE HIGHEST 
LEVELS OF THE COMPANY, LIVING THE 
MISSION VALUES WITH YOU, IT MAKES 
PUTTING IN A LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA, 
THE LONGER DAYS, THE LONGER WEEKENDS, 
EASIER. DURING THIS PROJECT WE LOST 
OUR CONTROLLER. THE PERSON THAT 
STEPPED INTO THE PROJECT TO HELP 
US GET OVER THE LINE WAS THE CFO. 
SHE WORKED WITH US, GO LIVE WEEKEND 
IN THE OFFICE, MAKING SURE THE DATE 
WAS GOOD, THE LEDGERS WERE GOOD, 
INVENTORY DOLLARS WERE RIGHT. THAT 
IS HUGE FOR THE EMPLOYEES. THE MULTIPLE 
DATA MIGRATION POOLS AND MOCK CUTOVERS, 
THE FASTTRACK TEAM HELPED WITH US 
THAT PROCESS. WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT 
WE DIDN'T KNOW DURING THE PROCESS. 
DOING THESE TEDIOUS TASKS REPETITIVELY 
UNTIL YOU MASTER IT, EXTREMELY, 
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. TASK SCRIPTS, 
WITH 365. EVERYTHING YOU DO YOU 
CAN TRACK IT, GIVES YOU PICTURES, 
TEXT IN THERE, TELLS YOU WHERE YOU'RE 
CLICKING, WHAT YOU'RE DOING. YOU 
CAN ADD NOTES NIGHT, IT'LL PUT IT 
INTO A WORD DOCUMENT. FOR US THE 
TRAINING PIECE WAS HUGE. ABILITY 
TO DOCUMENT WHAT WE WERE DOING IS 
HUGE AND EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. WE'RE 
A SALES AND SERVICE ORGANIZATION. 
CERTAIN REGRESSION TESTING, TESTING 
COMPANIES MIGHT NOT DO DON'T WORK 
NOW EVERY COMPANY. REPLICATING A 
DAY IN THE LIFE IS THE BEST TESTING 
METHOD. I'LL SELL A MACHINE TO A 
DISTRIBUTOR, PUSHAL THE WAY THROUGH 
TO WHERE WE INVOICE IT, COLLECT 
CASH, AND TRACE THAT, THROUGH THE 
ENTIRE SYSTEM. THEN I WILL HAVE 
A PROBLEM WITH IT, SAYING I NEED 
FIELD SERVICE, AN ANSWER ON MY CASE, 
THEN I ORDER SPARE PARTS ON THAT 
MACHINE AND DO ALL OF THESE THINGS 
CONNECTED. THEN TAKE A SNAPSHOT 
AND MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING WENT WELL. 
THEN LAST AND FINAL PIECE IS THE 
MICROSOFT FASTTRACK SUPPORT. AS 
THE EARLY ADOPTERS OF CDS WE WOULDN'T 
HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT THE 
FASTTRACK TEAM'S HELP. TO THIS DAY 
WE REACH OUT AND ASK QUESTIONS AND 
ASK FOR SOME HELP ONCE IN A WHILE 
WHEN SOMETHING IS NOT GOING THE 
WAY THAT WE THINK IT SHOULD. THEIR 
UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT WAS PARAMOUNT. 
AT MY COMPANY WE RECOGNIZE IT AND 
WE APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH. AS A 
TRUE PARTNERSHIP. STRONG EXECUTIVE 
SPONSORS. SOME ONE INTERNAL THAT 
CAN DRIVE THE ORGANIZATION AND RESPECTED 
THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION. I SOUND 
LIKE I'M TOOTING MY OWN HORN BUT 
ME PRESIDENT ASKED ME TO DO IT. 
YOU NEED SOMEBODY HERDING CATS AND 
GETTING EVERYBODY INTO THE ROOMS 
THEY NEED TO BE AND HOLDING THEM 
ACCOUNTABLE. THAT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT 
YOU HAVE SOME ONE MINING THE STORE 
ALL DAY LONG. THIS ONE IS HARD, 
IMPLEMENTATION TEAM, HAS TO BE YOUR 
STARS. CAN'T BE THE PEOPLE WHO MIGHT 
BE EXPENDABLE FOR SOME TIME. HAS 
TO BE THE SUPERSTARS. OTHERWISE 
YOU WON'T GET THE SYSTEM YOU WANT. 
IDENTIFY LONG TERM STRATEGIC PARTNER 
FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION. FOR US, 
WE WORKED THROUGH HI TACHIE SOLUTIONS, 
WE USE THEM FOR SUPPORT AND ALL 
OF OUR HIGHER LEVEL PROJECTS THAT 
WE CAN'T DO OURSELVES. MULTIPLE 
TATE DA POOLS, YOU WANT THAT GO 
LIVE EK WEEKEND TO BE AS SMOOTH 
AS POSSIBLE. MULTIPLE MOCK CUTOVERS. 
THIS IS DIFFERENT IN OUR WORLD, 
THIS IS A BUSINESS-DRIVEN IMPLEMENTATION 
VERSUS I. T. DRIVEN. SOMETIMES IT'S 
HARD TO GET THE BUSINESS TO BUY 
IN WHEN I. T. IS TELLING THEM TO 
DO SOMETHING. WHEN YOU HAVE THE 
BUSINESS SIDE TELLING THE COMPANY 
WHAT WE'RE DOING IT'S EASIER TO 
GET THE BUY-IN AND DRIVE THE TEAM. 
LAST BULLET, THE PEOPLE ON THE TEAM 
IS A TOUGH LIFE. IT'S NOT ALWAYS 
FUN. AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO 
TAKE CARE OF THE TEAM. WE FOUND 
CREATIVE WAYS TO RECOGNIZE THE PEOPLE 
ON THE TEAM IN DIFFERENT WAYS. BE 
IT MONETARY, OR SPECIAL RECOGNITION, 
DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. THAT 
IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. THAT IS 
ALL I HAVE RIGHT NOW.
THANK YOU. 
>> THAT'S TERRIFIC. [APPLAUSE] I'LL 
GO AHEAD AND HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE 
IMPRELIMINARY DAYS BEST PRACTICES 
THAT MIKE SURFACED. THERE WERE SEVERAL. 
I'LL PICK THREE. WE'LL GO AHEAD 
AND GO THROUGH 
THOSE. GOVERNANCE 
AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT ALL STARTS 
THERE. I'LL STEP BACK AND DESCRIBE 
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PROJECT GOVERNANCE. 
AT A HIGH LEVEL, THIS INCLUDES THE 
COORDINATION, PLANNING, CONTROL 
OF A PROJECT. POOR GOVERNANCE LEADS 
THE RISK AS WELL AS ALLOW THE TEAM 
MEMBERS TO LOSE SIGHT OF THE OBJECTIVES 
OF THE PROJECT. AM I HUMMING? POOR 
GOVERNANCE CAN PUT THE ORGANIZATION 
AT RISK. ALSO ALLOW THE TEAM TO 
LOSE SIGHT AT THE OBJECTIVES OF 
THE PROJECT. CHANGE MANAGEMENT IS 
THE APPROACH THAT AN ORGANIZATION 
TAKES AND USES TO PRO PAIR AND ADOPT 
TO CHANGE. THIS INCLUDES THINGS 
LIKE CHANGES TO POLICIES, PROCEDURES, 
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. EFFECTIVE 
CHANGE MANAGEMENT RELY OSGOOD COMMUNICATION, 
TRAINING, AND ACTIVE REINFORCEMENT. 
ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS, 
SUCCESSFUL GOVERNANCE AND CHANGE 
MANAGEMENT, AT OKUMA WE HAD GREAT 
EXECUTIVE CHAMPIONS. IT WAS A LARGE 
PROKT EKT THAT IMPACTED EVERY BUSINESS 
PROCESS IN THE COMPANY. VIRTUALLY 
EVERY PERSON IN THE COMPANY WAS 
IMPACTED BY IT. AND CHANGE AND GOVERNANCE, 
RESPONSIBLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE 
IMPLEMENTATION WAS SUCCESSFUL. SPOJ 
SORES MAINTAINED THE FOCUS OF THE 
PROJECT AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. THAT 
TRICKLED THROUGH THE ORGANIZATION. 
THEY PROVIDED CLEARLY DEFINED ROLES 
AND RESPONSIBILITIES. AS WELL AS 
TIMELY DECISION MAKING. OKUMA ALSO 
BUILT A TEAM THAT WAS ONE TEAM, 
INCLUDED A LARGE INTERNAL TEAM, 
IT INCLUDED TEAM MEMBERS FROM THEIR 
PARTNERS, THEIR IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER, 
INCLUDED TEAM MEMBERS FROM THEIR 
ISV PARTNERS, AND INCLUDED TEAM 
MEMBERS FROM MICROSOFT. THE PROJECT 
LEADERSHIP PROVIDED VERY CLEAR COMMUNICATION, 
VISIBILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND 
RISK MANAGEMENT. THIS ALLOWED EVERYONE 
TO WORK TOGETHER AND DO THEIR BEST 
WORK. SO, NUMBER TWO, MIKE GAVE 
REALLY GOOD EXAMPLES OF THIS ONE, 
IS DATA MIGRATION BEST PRACTICES. 
AND MIKE HIT ON SEVERAL OF THESE. 
DATA MIGRATION IS ONE OF THE MOST 
COMMON AREAS OF DIFFICULTY AND REASONS 
FOR DELAYED GO LIVES IN IMPLEMENTATION 
PROJECTS. SEEMS SIMPLE. BUT IT'S 
NOT. THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT RECOMMENDATIONS 
HERE ON HOW TO MAKE YOUR DATA MIGRATION 
SUCCESSFUL. I'LL COVER A FEW OF 
THEM. THE FIRST ONE IS LEAVE HISTORY 
IN THE PAST. MIGRATING HISTORY IS 
PROBLEMATIC F YOU THINK ABOUT SOMETHING 
THAT MAY SOUND SIMPLE LIKE VENDOR 
INVOICE HISTORY. YOU HAVE TO THINK 
ABOUT HOW IT BECAME HISTORY. AND 
WE STARTED WITH A VENDOR INVOICE, 
BUT MAY HAVE BEEN MATCHED TO A PURCHASE 
ORDER THAT MAY HAVE BEEN MATCHED 
TO A PURCHASE RECEIPT, THAT MAY 
HAVE HAD PREPAYMENTS, THAT MAY HAVE 
HAD DISCOUNTS. AND THEN ULTIMATELY 
HAD ONE OR MORE PAYMENTS. WHAT WOULD 
NEED TO BE DONE IS ALL OF THOSE 
THINGS WOULD NEED TO BE CONSIDERED, 
AND AT LEAST THE INVOICE AND THE 
PAYMENTS THAT SETTLED THE INVOICE 
WOULD NEED TO BE THERE. YOU HAVE 
TO THINK ABOUT HOW THAT'S GOING 
TO WORK, HOW ALL OF THOSE PIECES 
COME TOGETHER AND HOW YOU VALIDATE 
THAT DATA. BECAUSE THE HISTORICAL 
DATA THAT'S INACCURATE IS REALLY 
WORSE THAN NOT HAVING ANY HISTORICAL 
DATA. START EARLY. START THIS PROCESS 
EARLY, PROJECT TEAMS OFTEN DELAY 
DATA MIGRATION, THINKING THAT THE 
DATA SCHEMEA IS YET TO BE DE FIND. 
THEY DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT 
THE FULLY QUALIFIED DATA STRK TUR 
LOOKS LIKE. THIS IS A MISTAKE. DATA 
MIGRATION SHOULD START AT THE BEGINNING. 
START WITH WHATEVER YOU CAN. ANALYZE 
THE SOURCE DATA, REVIEW THE DATA 
STRUCTURE AND QUALITY OF THE SOURCE 
DATA, DEVELOP REPEATABLE EXTRACTION 
PROCESSES FOR THE SOURCE DATA. DATA 
CLEANSING, DEDOWNING, ALL OF THESE 
CANNING DONE AHEAD OF TIME AND PUT 
NEW A BETTER POSITION FOR A GOOD 
DATA MIGRATION. LEARN THE TOOLS 
THAT ARE AVAILABLE, LIKE THE DATA 
MIGRATION FRAME WORK. AND EVEN THOUGH 
THE SCHEMEA ISN'T 100 ACCURATE AND 
THE KATE A STRUCTURE ISN'T LIKE 
IT'S GOING TO BE WHEN YOU GO INTO 
PRODUCTION, THERE'S STILL A LOT 
OF VALUE IN SEEING YOUR OWN DATA 
IN THE SYSTEM. SO, USING MIGRATED 
DATA FOR TESTING, IS ANOTHER GREAT 
POINT, ANOTHER GREAT BEST PRACTICE. 
SO, IT ISN'T REALLY A VALID TEST 
IF YOU DON'T USE YOUR OWN DATA. 
WOE ALL LOVE QUINTOSO DATA, FOR 
FINANCE AND OPERATIONS AND IT'S 
USEFUL. BUT YOU DON'T WANT TO TEST 
WITH IT. YOU NEED TO TEST WITH YOUR 
OWN DATA TO CREATE A VALID TEST. 
WHEN YOU BUILD A NEW TEST ENVIRONMENT, 
YOU HAVE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO 
TEST YOUR DATA MIGRATION PROCESS. 
AND YOU CAN ALSO PRACTICE THE DATA 
VALIDATION PROCESS. AND THEN USING 
THAT MIGRATED DATA IN THE TESTING 
PROCESS, YOU WILL NATURALLY FLUSH 
OUT ADDITIONAL ISSUES. OKUMA RAN 
SEVERAL DATA MIGRATIONS. SO THIS 
PROVIDED MANY BENEFITS. FIRST IT 
ALLOWED THEM TO VALIDATE THE DATA. 
IT ALSO ALLOWED THEM TIME TO TUNE 
THE DATA, FOR PERFORMANCE. WE HAD 
SOME EARLY DATA MIGRATION LOADS, 
I THINK THERE WAS ONE THAT WAS ACTUALLY 
TAKING DAYS TO LOAD. AT THE BEGINNING 
OF EARLY DAYS, EARLY TIMES THAT 
THE MIGRATION WAS PROCESSED. I THINK 
THIS WAS THE BILL OF MATERIALS. 
OF COURSE TAKING CHAOS CUTOVER WEEKEND 
IS NOT GOING TO WORK. IT WAS ALSO 
JUST PROBLEMATIC FOR REFRESHING 
TEST ENVIRONMENTS AND EVERYTHING 
ELSE. WE GOT TO WORK ON TUNING THAT 
AND GETTING THE PERFORMANCE IN ORDER 
AND EVENTUALLY GOT IT DOWN TO SOME 
HOURS. THAT WAS A MUCH MORE MANAGEABLE 
APPROACH. IF OKUMA HADN'T STARTED 
THE PROCESS EARLY, THE PERFORMANCE 
ISSUES WOULDN'T HAVE SURFACED AND 
WE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THE TIME TO 
GO AND ADDRESS THOSE. SOME TEAMS 
WAIT UNTIL VERY LATE IN THE PROCESS 
AND THAT'S WHEN WE RUN INTO ISSUES 
WITH DELAYED GO-LIVES DUE TO DATA 
MIGRATION. AND THEN THE LAST ONE 
I'LL SAY IS INCLUDING WHAT OKUMA 
IS THEY ALSO PLANNED AND EXECUTED 
MULTIPLE MOCK CUTOVERS. MOCK CUTOVER 
IS BASICALLY A PRACTICE RUN FOR 
YOUR PRODUCTION CUTOVER. IF YOU'RE 
GOING TO CUT OVER TO PRODUCTION 
ONCE, BUT PRACTICING A COUPLE OF 
TIMES IS A GREAT WAY TO GET EVERYBODY 
COMFORTABLE WITH THE STEPS, THE 
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS, THE TIMING OF 
EVENTS. OKUMA DID A COUPLE OF THESE 
AND IT REALLY HELPED TO MAKE SURE 
ALL OF THE MIGRATIONS COULD BE MANAGED 
IN THE TIME ALLOTTED. IT ALSO GIVES 
THE TEAM A LOT OF COMFORT AND CONFIDENCE. 
HAVING A GOOD CUTOVER PLAN, ALL 
OF THE DATA MIGRATIONS ARE LAID 
OUT, AND ORGANIZED, AND YOU HAVE 
SPECIFIC TIMINGS FOR HOW LONG THOSE 
ARE GOING TO TAKE, WHO'S GOING TO 
PERFORM EACH STEP, WHETHER THAT'S 
THE EXTRACTION, LOADING, OR THE 
VALIDATION OF THE DATA IS VERY IMPORTANT. 
AND THE LAST ONE I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT 
IS TO TAKE A BUSINESS PROCESS FOCUS. 
IMPLEMENTATION THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS. 
BEGAN IN PRESALES. HAVE A CLEAR 
UNDERSTANDING OF THE BUSINESS PROCESSES 
THAT WILL BE IN SCOPE FOR YOUR IMPLEMENTATION. 
FROM THERE YOU CAN APPROACH THE 
SYSTEM DESIGN HOLISTICALLY. NO GAPS 
IN THE PROCESS. APPROACH ANALYSIS, 
DEFINITION IN THE CONTEXT OF A BUSINESS 
PROCESS. USING DEV OPS OR EXCEL 
OR SOME OTHER TOOL TO COLLECT BUSINESS 
REQUIREMENTS, A BUSINESS PROCESS 
STRUCTURES THE CONVERSATION. AND 
IT HELPS TO BRIDGE THE GAP IN NOMENCLATURE 
BETWEEN BUSINESS AND SYSTEM. ALSO 
HELPS TO MINIMIZE MISSED REQUIREMENTS. 
ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE A FULL SET 
OF REQUIREMENTS. IF YOU HAVE THE 
PROCESS TO FRAME THE FLOW, YOU CAN 
TAKE A STEP BY STEP APPROACH WITH 
THE BUSINESS USERS AND MAKE SURE 
THAT EACH REQUIREMENT IS CAPTURED 
AT EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS ALONG 
THE WAY. AND THEN ONE OF THE BIG 
THINGS THAT OKUMA DID FROM JUST 
A PROJECT ORGANIZATION STANDPOINT 
IS THAT THEY ASSIGNED BUSINESS PROCESS 
OWNERS TO EACH OF THE PROCESS AREAS 
IN THE IMPLEMENTATION. SO NECESSITY 
HAD MANUFACTURING SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE, 
CRM AND ENGINEERING. BUSINESS PROCESS 
OWNERS WORKED WITH THE PROJECT TEAM 
AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO ENSURE 
THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF 
THE BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS AND TO 
ENSURE THE SOLUTION FIT FOR THE 
BUSINESS NEEDS. THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE 
FOR DECISIONMAKING AND IN THEIR 
PROCESS AREAS, THEY WERE ULTIMATELY 
ACCOUNTABLE TO THE SOLUTION QUALITY 
AND THE SIGNOFF. SO OKUMA ALSO AS 
MIKE MENTIONED, ALSO DEVELOPED TEST 
SCRIPTS USING TASK RECORDINGS FOR 
EACH PROCESS. AGAIN, JUST CONTINUING 
ON THE THEME OF USING THE BUSINESS 
PROCESS THROUGH THE ENTIRE IMPLEMENTATION. 
LATER IN TESTING, THEY CONNECTED 
THE VARIOUS PROCESS TESTS TOGETHER 
TO CREATE END-TO-END TESTS WHERE 
THEY WERE ABLE TO TEST ALL THE VARIOUS 
SCENARIOS THAT ARE IN THEIR BUSINESS. 
THIS MEANT THEY HAD TO EACH OF THE 
MACHINES THAT ARE MADE IN THEIR 
MANUFACTURING FACILITY, THEY HAD 
DIFFERENT TESTS, DIFFERENT MACHINES 
WITH DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS AND 
DIFFERENT TEAM MEMBERS INVOLVED 
IN THE PROCESSES. THIS GAVE THEM 
A GREAT WAY TO TEST AND ENSURE THAT 
THE SOLUTION MET ALL OF THEIR REQUIREMENTS. 
THEY HAD THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES. 
THE TASK RECORDINGS ALLOWED THEM 
TO STREAMLINE THEIR TRAINING PROGRAM. 
PROVIDE A GREAT SET OF DOCUMENTATION. 
THANK YOU, COREY. POLLUTION PLACE 
THANK YOU, KAARE. >> HELLO? I'M 
KAARE BORAAS, FOR YOU NONSCANNED 
NAIFIANS, IT'S PRONOUNCED "COREY. 
" I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THE 
CONSTRUCTION APPLICATIONS WE USE 
AT PCL. KIND OF THE LIAISON BETWEEN 
OPERATIONS THAT USES OUR SOFTWARE 
AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY THAT BUILDS 
AND MAINTAINS IT. ALSO, THE CHAIR 
OF THE AX USER GROUP IN EDMONTON 
AS WELL. PCL. SO WE ARE THE LARGEST 
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY IN CANADA. 
SEVENTH LARGEST IN THE UNITED STATES. 
WE HAVE LOCATIONS IN ABOUT 31 REGIONS 
IN NORTH AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, AND 
THE CARIBBEAN. WE HAVE ANNUAL CONSTRUCTION 
REVENUE, A LITTLE OVER $8 BILLION. 
WE'RE ENTIRELY EMPLOYEE OWNED. WE 
BUILD EVERYTHING FROM RESIDENTIAL 
OFFICE BUILDINGS, BRIDGES, ROADS, 
ARENAS, STADIUMS, AIRPORTS, REFINERIES, 
PRETTY MUCH ALL TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
THERE I FOUND THE MIKE, I GUESS. 
SO, WE DON'T HAVE A VERY TYPICAL 
DYNAMIC 365 PROJECT. SO WE CALLED 
OUR PROJECT P. M. 4-PLUS, WHICH 
STANDS FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT, IT'S 
THE FOURTH ITERATION OF PRODUCT 
THAT PCL BUILT FOR THEMSELVES. THE 
PLUS MEANS IT'S TAKING THREE OF 
OUR APPLICATIONS AND COMBINING IT 
INTO ONE. DYNAMICS IS NOT OUR ERP 
SOLUTION, WE USE J. D. EDWARDS AS 
OUR EUROPEAN FINANCIAL SYSTEM. WE 
ARE ACTUALLY CLOSER TO BEING ISV 
PARTNER THAN WE ARE A TYPICAL MICROSOFT 
DYNAMICS CUSTOMER. WE USED DYNAMICS 
365F AND O AS A DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM 
TO BUILD CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT 
APPLICATION. CURRENT SOLUTION IS 
OVER 15 YEARS OLD. THREE SOLUTIONS, 
ALL CUSTOM BUILT BY PCL MANY YEARS 
AGO. SERVER-BASED, SO EVERY PROJECT 
THAT STARTS UP NEEDS AN I. T. GUY 
TO GO OUT AND SET UP A SERVER, AND 
CREATE THE CONNECTIONS BACK TO THE 
HEAD OFFICE. MOVING TO THE CLOUD 
WAS A BIG DRIVER FOR THIS PROJECT. 
THE EASE AND FLEXIBILITY OF DEVELOPMENT 
WAS ANOTHER MAJOR DRIVER. IT IS 
UNUSUAL PROJECT. I HAVE ABOUT 20 
YEARS OF ERP IMPLEMENTATION EXPERIENCE 
BEFORE I WAS HIRED TO TAKE OVER 
THIS PROJECT. YEAH, NOTHING LIKE 
I'VE EVER BEEN INVOLVED WITH IN 
THE PAST, WHERE I WAS ASKED BY MICROSOFT 
TODAY TO TALK ABOUT THE CUSTOMER 
SUCCESS STORY. I CAN'T SIT HERE 
AND TALK ABOUT THE PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS 
WITH MANUFACTURING OR PROCUREMENT, 
WE'RE NOT USING THOSE MODULES. THE 
MODULES THAT WE ARE USING ARE CUSTOM 
BUILT BY US FOR US. TALKING ABOUT 
THOSE THINGS AREN'T REALLY GOING 
TO BE 
RELEVANT. I'LL TALK ABOUT 
DIFFERENT THINGS, THE SUCCESSES 
ON HOW WE USE DYNAMICS TO BUILD 
THIS PRODUCT. HERE'S OUR ENVIRONMENT 
STRUCTURE WHICH FOR MANY DYNAMIC 
CUSTOMERS IS PROBABLY OVERKILL. 
BUT WHAT HAPPENS IS WHEN YOU BUY 
LICENSES OF DYNAMICS, MICROSOFT 
GIVES YOU A FEW INSTANCES, MULTI 
BOX INSTANCES. YOU QUICKLY FIND 
OUT YOU NEED MORE. GET BY WITH THAT, 
IF YOU HAVE A PHASE 2 OR PHASE DEPLOYMENT 
YOU MIGHT NEED EXTRA ENVIRONMENTS. 
WE ARE BUILDING OUR OWN PRODUCT, 
EVERY QUARTER RELEASE A NEW COLLECTION 
OF FEATURES IN THE PRODUCT. BASICALLY 
HAVE OUR PRODUCTION PATH THEN WE 
HAVE WHAT WE CALL A V-NEXT PATH. 
THE NEXT RELEASE. YOU KNOW AS YOU 
CAN SEE, WE HAVE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTS 
THAT EVERY TWO WEEKS WE DO SPRINTS, 
WE RELEASE WHAT IS DEVELOPED TO 
THE TEST ENVIRONMENT, RUN THROUGH 
FEATURE TESTING, AND EVERY THREE 
MONTHS WE PUSH THAT TO ONE OF OUR 
STAGING ENVIRONMENTS AND RUN THROUGH 
A FULL REGRESSION TEST OF OUR SUITE 
OF FEATURES TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING 
STILL WORKS. ONCE THAT PASSES WE 
HAVE A RELEASE CANDIDATE TO GO TO 
PRODUCTION, AND WITHIN ABOUT A WEEK 
PERIOD, WE PUSH THAT THROUGH THE 
PRODUCTION PATH AND UPGRADE THAT 
WHOLE PATH INCLUDING GETTING CURRENT 
WITH MICROSOFT UPDATES. THIS ENVIRONMENT 
STRUCTURE GIVES US THE FLEXIBILITY 
TO HAVE MULTIPLE RELEASE PATHS GOING 
AT THE SAME TIME. ALONG THOSE LINES 
JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR CO-BRANCHING 
APPROACH HERE AS WELL. A LITTLE 
BIT DUMBED DOWN, BUT WE HAVE THREE 
ACTIVE BRANCHS. DEVELOPERS ARE DALY 
CHECKING THINGS INTO THE DEVELOPMENT 
BRANCH. EVERY TWO WEEKS THE ARCHITECTS 
PULL THE COMPLETED CODE FROM THE 
KEV BRANCH INTO THE TRUNK. AND WE 
CREATE A RELEASE THAT GOES TO OUR 
TESTING ENVIRONMENT FOR FEATURE 
TESTING. R THREE MONTHS WE CREATE 
A RELEASE BRANCH, AND EVENTUALLY 
BECOMES OUR PRODUCTION BRANCH. IN 
REALITY WE HAVE A FEW MORE BRANCHS, 
WE HAVE THE PRODUCTION BRANCH, TO 
SUPPORT PRODUCTION, THEN THE NEXT 
RELEASE IS ALSO CONCURRENTLY THERE. 
SUPPORTS IT WITHOUT IMPACTING THE 
NEXT RELEASE, ABLE TO CREATE AND 
PLAY HOT TICKSES FIXES ON THE PRODUCTION 
BRANCH. JUST LIKE DMIB ELSE DOING 
DYNAMICS IMPLEMENTATION, TESTING 
IS IMPORTANT. SO, AS I WAS MENTIONING, 
WE'RE DOING TWO WEEK SPRINTS. AT 
THE END, WE'RE TESTING THE FEATURES 
THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN THE SPRINT 
AT THE END OF THREE MONTH RELEASE 
PHASE WE DO A FULL REGRESSION TEST 
OF THE 
PRODUCTS. YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE 
SITTING WITH ABOUT 2, 500 TEST CASES 
AS PART OF OUR REGRESSION TEST. 
WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF AUTOMATING 
THOSE JUST KIND OF EARLY STAGES 
WITH THAT. WE HAVE A LOT OF AUTOMATION 
ON UNIT TESTS, 5, 000 OF THOSE THAT 
GET EXECUTED ON CHECK-IN BY THE 
DEVELOPERS. THEIR CODE GETS VALIDATED 
EVERY TIME THEY DO A CHECK-IN. ACTIVELY 
WORKING ON AUTOMATING THE EE CONGRESS 
TESTING. I MENTIONED THAT WE HAVE 
GOT THREE TO FIVE TESTERS SPENDING 
THREE TO FOUR WEEKS DOING OUR REGRESSION 
TEST, WHICH IS A HUGE CHUNK OF TIME AND EFFORT. 
GETTING THAT AUTOMATED AND FASTER 
IS DEFINITELY HIGH ON OUR LIST OF 
THINGS THAT WE NEED TO GET DONE. 
ALL OF OUR TEST CASES ARE MANAGED 
IN AZURE DEV OPS AND THE MICROSOFT 
TEST MANAGER, WE ARE ABLE TO PRODUCE 
NICE REPORTS ON EXECUTION AND PASS 
RATES AND ALL OF THAT STUFF. OTHER 
THING THAT'S RELEVANT TO ALL AX 
IMPLEMENTATIONS, DYNAMICS IMPLEMENTATIONS 
ARE ROLLOUT STRATEGY. THIS IS OUR 
CURRENT ROADMAP. IT ACTUALLY STARTED 
PROBABLY A YEAR AND A HALF BEFORE 
THIS INDICATES. WE STARTED WITH 
PILOTING WITH ONE PROJECT IN EDMONTON. 
YOU KNOW, WE WORKED THROUGH ISSUES 
WITH THAT PROJECT AND SLOWLY ADDED 
A COUPLE MORE PILOT PROJECTS. LAST 
NOVEMBER WE STARTED REALLY ROLLING 
OUT THE SOLUTION TO THE BUSINESS. 
WE PICKED SIX DISTRICTS, SO AS I 
MENTIONED BEFORE WE HAVE ABOUT 31 
LOCATIONS, WE PICKED SIX OF THEM. 
WE ASKED THEM TO EACH PICK TWO SMALLER 
PROJECT AND ONE MAJOR PROJECTS. 
AND USE IT FOR SIX MONTHS, GIVE 
US FEEDBACK. WE WOULD HELP THEM 
LEARN HOW TO USE IT, FIX ISSUES, 
AND AFTER THE SIX MONTHS THEN WE 
ASKED THEM TO START USING IT FOR 
ALL NEW PROJECTS. WE'RE REALLY AT 
THAT STAGE RIGHT NOW, FIRST SIX 
DISTRICTS HAVE STARTED USING P. 
M. 4 PLUS OR PRODUCT FOR ALL NEW 
PROJECTS, WE STARTED TRAINING FIVE 
NEW DISTRICTS. THOSE FIVE NEW DISTRICTS, 
AGAIN, STARTING WITH THREE PROJECTS 
ARE GOING TO SPEND SIX MONTHS USING 
IT, THEN EXPECT TO USE IT FOR ALL 
NEW PROJECTS, THEN THREE AFTER THAT 
AND SO ON. SO THE GOOD THING ABOUT 
THIS, ALLOWED US TO GET A MINIMUM 
VIABLE PRODUCT OUT TO A SMALL GROUP 
OF USERS, GET FEEDBACK, INCORPORATE 
IT INTO THE SOLUTION, BUILD KNOWLEDGE 
OUT IN THE BUSINESS. PART OF THIS 
ROLLOUT STRATEGY IS ALLOWING US 
TO KEEP MAKING THE PRODUCT BETTER. 
BUT ALSO GIVES THE DISTRICTS TIME 
TO LEARN SO THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO 
SUSTAIN THEMSELVES. ALSO GIVES MY 
TEAM TIME TO ENGINEER OUT PROBLEMS 
AND BE ABLE TO SPREAD THEIR TIME 
AMONG THE VOLUME OF PEOPLE. SO RIGHT 
NOW, WE HAVE ABOUT 350 USERS BY 
THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WE WILL HAVE 
3, 000 TO 4, 000. PLUS THAT DOESN'T 
EVEN COUNT THE SORT OF CRAFT HOURLY 
PEOPLE, WE HAVE 10, 000 OF 
THOSE. 
PLUS A LOT OF COLLABORATION WITH 
OUR SUBCONTRACTORS, OWNERS, ARCHITECTS. 
LOTS OF USERS OF THIS APPLICATION. 
HERE'S A FEW TIDBITS OF WHAT DIDN'T 
GO WELL, WHAT DID GO WELL, AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 
OUR PRODUCT IS A CUSTOM SOLUTION 
SO WE STARTED OUT USING THE PROJECT 
MDUAL IN DYNAMICS. QUICKLY FOUND 
CHALLENGES WITH THAT, WITH SECURITY. 
ON A LARGE BILLION DOLLAR PROJECT, 
PARTNERING WITH OUR FIERCEST COMPETITOR, 
WE HAVE SECURITY BY PROJECT. EXTERNAL 
PARTIES AREN'T SEEING THE DETAILS 
OF THE PROJECT THEY BET AGAINST 
US AND LOST ON. WE IMPLEMENTED SECURITY 
WHERE EVERY PROJECT IS A LEGAL ENTITY. 
THAT TOOK A LONG TIME TO REALLY 
UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING 
THERE AND GET MICROSOFT ONBOARD 
WITH THAT APPROACH. WE WORKED WITH 
THE FASTTRACK TEAM AND A BUNCH OF 
-- THEY HOOKED US UP WITH THE RIGHT 
PRODUCT ENGINEERS HERE TO MAKE THAT 
DECISION. MAKE US AND MICROSOFT 
UNDERSTAND IF THERE IS GOING TO 
BE IMPACTS ON PERFORMANCE, THINGS 
LIKE THAT. YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW MANY 
COMPANIES WE WILL HAVE IN FIVE, 
TEN YEARS. WE WERE ONE OF THE FIRST 
TO JUMP TO AX7 AT THE TIME. WE STARTED 
ACTUALLY THIS PROJECT ON AX2012. 
AS SOON AS THE CLOUD VERSION WAS 
OUT, OUR CIO WAS A CLOUD-FIRST GUY. 
SO WE WERE ONE OF THE FIRST TO MOVE 
TO THE CLOUD VERSION. WE'VE WORKED 
WITH MICROSOFT ON THE PROCESS FOR 
RELEASES AND UPDATES OVER THAT WHOLE 
TIME, ABOUT 3 YEARS NOW. AND SOME 
CASES WE ARE WAITING FOR FIXES THAT 
WE WERE TOLD WE WERE GOING TO BE 
IN RELEASE AND THE RELEASE NEVER 
CAME. THAT WAS A BIT OF A CHALLENGE. 
NOW IN THE OPPOSITE CHALLENGE, MAY 
4 WE RELEASED OUR VERSION OF THE 
PRODUCT AND GOT CURRENT WITH MICROSOFT 
UPDATE ON MAY 4. PRETTY MUCH ON 
THE SAME DAY NECESSITY RELEASED 
ANOTHER UPDATE. WEEK AND A HALF 
LATER THEY RELEASED ANOTHER UPDATE. 
THEN WE HAD TO OPT OUT TWICE WITHIN 
ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF. THAT'S 
BEEN A BIT CHALLENGING BUT I WAS 
EXCITED TO GO TO THE ONE VERSION 
SESSION TODAY AND LEARN ABOUT THE 
CHANGES IN THE RELEASE CADENCE, 
GOING TO WORK BETTER WITH OUR QUARTERLY 
RELEASES. NOW WE WON'T HAVE TO DO 
ANYTHING SPECIAL LIKE THIS WEEK 
OF INTERIM REGRESSION TEST TO GET 
CURRENT. THE OTHER CHALLENGE WITH 
THE COMPANY OF OUR SIZE IS FRYING 
TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF 3, 000-PLUS 
USERS. WE HAVE A GROUP OF ABOUT 
A DOZEN PEOPLE. VERY DIFFERENT PROJECTS. 
WE HAVE $20, 000 OFFICE RENOVATION 
PROJECTS TO MULTI BILLION DOLLAR 
REFINERY PROJECTS. TRYING TO MEET 
THE REQUIREMENTS OF THOSE TWO DIFFERENT 
TYPES OF PROJECTS IS PRETTY HARD. 
THAT WAS DEFINITELY A CHALLENGE. 
OUR APPROACH OF THAT MINIMUM VIABLE 
SOLUTION HEMMED US WITH THAT. WE 
CONCENTRATED ON A SPECIAL TYPE OF 
PROJECT TO BEGIN WITH, MEET THE 
REQUIREMENTS, THEN KEPT ADDING FEATURES 
OVER TIME. HUGE BENEFIT WAS MOVING 
TO THE CLOUD. ONSITE SER R, COLLABORATING 
WITH PARTNERS AND SUBCONTRACTORS 
AND THINGS LIKE THAT, IS PRETTY 
HARD ON THE OLDER TECHNOLOGY. HAVING 
A SOLUTION IN THE CLOUD IS A HUGE 
BENEFIT. USED TO TAKE US A WEEK 
OR TWO TO SPIN UP A NEW DEV ENVIRONMENT 
WHEN A DEVELOPER JOINED OUR PROJECT. 
NOW TAKES A COUPLE OF HOURS. ENTER 
A COUPLE OF FIELDS IN LCS AND WAIT. 
ALLOWED US TO REDUCE THE INFRASTRUCTURE 
EE SOURCES AND EVEN THE KNOWLEDGE 
OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE RESOURCES. 
MADE THINGS EASIER ON THE CLOUD 
SIDE. AS FAR AS THE PROJECT TEAM 
IS CONCERNED, WE HAD A BUNCH OF 
DEDICATED RESOURCES FULL TIME TO 
THE PROJECT. THEY HAD DEEP KNOWLEDGE 
OF OUR BUSINESS. WE HAD A NUMBER 
OF TECHNICALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE 
WITH EXPERIENCE OF DYNAMICS WHICH 
HELPED. EVEN THOUGH WE'RE BUILDING 
A CUSTOM SOLUTION, TRYING TO MAKE 
IT LOOK AND FEEL LIKE THE REST OF 
DYNAMICS. KEEP CONSISTENCY WITH 
WHAT THE NATIVE PRODUCT LOOKS LIKE. 
WE'RE WORKING WITH THE FASTTRACK 
PROGRAM, WE MEET WITH OUR SOLUTION 
ARCHITECT EVERY OTHER WEEK. WE HAVE 
A PARTNER, INNOVATE, THAT ADDED 
A BUNCH OF TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE 
WITH DYNAMICS FOR US. AGILE APPROACH, 
TWO YEARS AGO WE HAD OUR FIRST RELEASE 
WITH THE PILOT PROJECT, WE'RE NOW 
ON RELEASE 10, WE EE ADDING NEW 
FEATURES, LISTENING TO THE BUSINESS, 
AND WE'LL KEEP DOING THAT LIKE WE 
DID WITH THE PREVIOUS PRODUCTS, 
20 YEARS OLD NOW. WE WILL KEEP ADDING 
THINGS, KEEP ON THE MICROSOFT ROADMAP, 
AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT STUFF 
AS WELL. AS FAR AS RECOMMENDATIONS 
FOR OTHER DYNAMIC 365 PROJECTS, 
FOCUS ON THE CRITICAL THINGS. WE 
EASILY GET DISTRACTED BY THINGS. 
IT'S EASY TO LOOK AT THE ONE-OFF 
SITUATION AND GET DISTRACTED FROM 
THE IMPORTANT THINGS. STAY FOCUSED, 
MAKE SURE EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT BEING 
FINISHED LOOKS LIKE. WE SET A SMALL 
SCOPE FOR OUR FIRST RELEASE AND 
TRY NOT TO GET DISTRACTED BY THE 
OTHER THINGS. WE KNEW WE WEREN'T 
FULFILLING EVERY REQUIREMENT. IT'S 
HARD FOR THE BUSINESS USERS TO UNDERSTAND, 
THEY THINK IF THEY DON'T GET IT 
NOW THEY'LL NEVER GET IT. I'M TEACHING 
THEM EVERY TWO WEEKS THAT NEW THINGS 
ARE COMING, SHOWING THEM EVERY TWO 
WEEKS THAT NEW THINGS ARE COMING, 
STARTING TO UNDERSTAND THAT AFTER 
A COUPLE OF YEARS OF THAT HAPPENING. 
PEOPLE, WE HAVE GOT STRONG EXECUTIVES 
THAT ARE BEHIND THIS PROJECT. PEOPLE 
ON THE TEAM ARE DEDICATED TO THIS 
PROJECT. LAST THING, DON'T FORGET 
ABOUT TRAINING AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT. 
WE HAVE 3, 000, 4 HUH USERS IT'S 
HARD TO ACCEPT CHANGE, TO BE READY 
TO USE SOMETHING NEW. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE 
THAT EFFORT. IT'S AN IMPORTANT PART 
OF ANY PROJECT, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T 
DOING A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT LIKE WE 
WERE. >> AWESOME! [APPLAUSE] >> 
I'M GOING TO WRAP UP WITH A FEW 
BEST PRACTICES, THAT I THINK WE 
OBSERVED IN THE PCL EXAMPLE. I'M 
GOING TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL. 
ONE OF THE THINGS, SHOWED YOU THAT 
VERY IMPRESSIVE ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY, 
HE SAID YOU'RE GOING TO START WITH 
THE TWO ENVIRONMENTS THAT MICROSOFT 
GIVES YOU OUT OF THE BOX, PROBABLY 
NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH. I'LL AGREE 
WITH THAT. EVEN THOUGH I'M FROM 
MICROSOFT. PEOPLE ALL THE TIME ARE 
SAYING, IT'S BEEN DONE, IMPLEMENTED 
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS WITH THE BUILD 
ENVIRONMENT. PEOPLE OFTEN SAY WHY 
DON'T YOU JUST GIVE US, IT'S NOT 
ENOUGH. AVA RIGHT OF DIFFERENT NEEDS. 
GIVE US THE RIGHT SET OF ENVIRONMENTS 
TO GO LIVE. THE ANSWER IS, IT REALLY 
DEPENDS ON YOUR IMPLEMENTATION WHAT 
YOUR ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY NEEDS 
TO BE. WHAT YOU REALLY START WITH 
IS THE PROJECT PLAN. IF YOU ARE 
AWARE OF A PROJECT PLAN AND LOOK 
AT THE PARALLEL ACTIVITIES THAT 
HAPPEN AT ANY GIVEN POINT, THOSE 
ACTIVITIES LIKELY HAVE NEEDS FOR 
DIFFERENT TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT, CONFIGURATION, 
TESTING, DATA MIGRATION, WHATEVER 
THOSE ARE, YOU NEED TO HAVE THE 
RIGHT NUMBER OF ENVIRONMENTS THAT 
YOU CAN CAN HAVE THE RIGHT SETS 
OF PEOPLE OPERATING IN AN ENVIRONMENT 
THAT'S NOT GOING TO DISTURB OR CONFLICT 
WITH OTHER FOLKS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION. 
FROM INITIAL BUILDUP, GETTING READY 
FOR PRODUCTION TO THE SERVE ENVIRONMENTS 
I MIGHT NEED. I WOULD ENCOURAGE 
YOU TO DO, BEFORE YOU RUN OUT AND 
BUY A BUNCH OF ENVIRONMENTS, I SAW 
THE PICTURES OF KAARE'S ENVIRONMENT 
STRATEGY, BEFORE YOU REPLICATE THAT, 
STEP BACK, LOOK AT YOUR PROJECT 
PLAN, FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU NEED. 
THAT'S WHAT YOUR ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY 
SHOULD BE BASED ON. ONE SIZE DEFINITELY 
DOES NOT FIT ALL. APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 
MANAGEMENT. SOME OF YOU PROBABLY 
LOOKED AT THIS, AT THE EXAMPLE THAT 
COREY GAVE AND SAID THAT'S FAIRLY 
COMPLEX. HE SAID THEY DUMBED IT 
DOWN. HAVING A GOOD STRATEGY AROUND 
APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT 
IS KEY TO A PROJECT. WE HAVE SEEN, 
I'VE WORKED WITH MULTIPLE CUSTOMERS 
WHERE THEY WENT LIVE, STARTED WORKING 
ON PHASE TWO, HAVEN'T ACCOUNTED 
FOR MULTIPLE CODE BRANCHS, THEY 
HAVE A PROBLEM IN PRODUCTION. THEY 
NEED TO PUSH THE HOT FIX THROUGH 
THE ENVIRONMENT. THEIR BRANCHS ARE 
ALL FULL OF CHANGES FOR PHASE TWO. 
THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN TEST THIS 
IS TO MERGE IT WITH PHASE TWO CHANGES 
AND GO THROUGH A COMPLETE END-TO-END 
TEST, HAVING THAT'S STUCK IN THERE 
CAN GO INTO PRODUCTION, THAT TAKES 
A LONG TIME. HAVING THAT RIGHT STRATEGY 
THAT WILL GIVE YOU FLEXIBILITY WITHOUT 
OVERCOMPLICATING BUT ALLOWED TO 
YOU MANAGE YOUR BUSINESS IS THE 
KEY. I'VE ALSO SEEN PROJECTS WHERE 
EVERY DEVELOPER HAT THEIR OWN BRANCH 
A COMPLETE MESS. I'VE SEEN SCENARIOS 
WHERE FOLKS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT 
BRANCHING IS FOR, WE CREATED BRANCH 
ONE, TEMPERATURE BRANCH, DEV 1 THROUGH 
7, MERGE THIS, MERGE X. HAVE A CLEAR 
CON SIZE STRATEGY THAT THE DEVELOPMENT, 
BUILD CONFIGUREMATION MANAGEMENT 
TEAMS UNDERSTAND TO GET THE RHYTHMIC 
APPROACH. YOU KNOW HOW THE CODE 
IS GOING TO MOVE TO PRODUCTION. 
YOU KNOW HOW A HOT FIX, MICROSOFT 
OR YOUR OWN TEAM MOVES THROUGH YOUR 
ENVIRONMENT. BE CRYSTAL CLEAR AND 
CRISP ABOUT THOSE STRATEGIES. TESTING. 
LACK OF TESTING IS THE NUMBER ONE 
PROBLEM WITH EVERY IMFILMTATION 
OUT THERE. EVEN THE -- IMPLEMENTATION 
OUT THERE. THERE CAN ALWAYS BE MORE. 
IT'S FAIRLY COMMON FOR PEOPLE TO 
DO VERY LITTLE TESTING THROUGHOUT 
IMPLEMENTATION AND TRY TO JAM EVERYTHING 
INTO THE END IN A BIG USER ACCEPTANCE 
TEST. THE RIGHT STRATEGY IS TO CONSIDER 
A BUILDUP, AND WE SHOULD HAVE HAT 
OUR PYRAMID SLIDE HERE, FEW SLIDES 
WE TALKED ABOUT, THE BUILDUP OF 
YOUR TESTING REQUIREMENTS, AS YOU 
TEST YOUR REQUIREMENTS, THROUGHOUT 
THE COURSE OF IMPLEMENTATION. YOU 
CAN'T IN A UAT ESPECIALLY IF YOU 
CONFINE THAT UAT TO A COUPLE WEEKS 
AT THE END OF THE IMPLEMENTATION, 
DONE 8, 10, 12 MONTHS YOU WILL NOT 
BE ABLE TO GET 100 CODE COVERAGE 
WITH A BUNCH OF WIS PEOPLE DOING 
A USER ACCEPTANCE TEST IN THE LAST 
TWO TO FOUR WEEK OF THE PROJECT. 
THINK ABOUT EARLY ON IN THE PROJECT, 
ONE, THAT EVERY REQUIREMENT GETS 
TESTED AT SOME POINT. FOR THAT, 
I NEED TO HAVE TRACEABILITY OF MY 
REQUIREMENTS. REQUIREMENTS THROUGH 
TO BUILD OR CONFIGURATION TEST TO 
THE TEST SCRIPTS. I SHOULD LOOK 
AT TESTING THOSE VERY FINE REQUIREMENTS 
AT SOME POINT, AT LOW LEVEL. BUILDING 
THOSE TESTS UP, THOSE REQUIREMENTS 
TESTS, UNIT TESTS, UP INTO PROCESS 
TESTS. EVERY PROCESS TEST WHEN I 
RUN A SALES ORDER. SCENARIO THROUGH 
A SALES ORDER, I MAY NOT LOOK AT 
EVERY SINGLE REQUIREMENT. EVERY 
TURN OF PAYMENT THAT I DEFINE IN 
THE SYSTEM, I SHOULD AT SOME POINT 
CHECK THAT IT'S IN THERE. WHEN I 
RUN A PROCESS FOR BUILDING SALES 
ORDERS I MIGHT NOT RUN 50 SALES 
ORDERS TO SELECT EVERY DIFFERENT 
PAYMENT PLAN, TYPE OF TERM OF PAYMENT. 
I BUILD UP TO SCENARIOS AT THE PROCESS 
LEVEL. THEN I CONNECT THOSE PROCESSES 
IN A SET OF END-TO-END TESTS. INTEGRATED 
TESTS. I'LL HAVE A SET OF THOSE, 
PROBABLY THE SUPER SET, OF THE END-TO-END 
PROCESS TEST, THAT WILL BE MY USER 
ACCEPTANCE TEST. THEN I MAY TAKE 
THAT SAME SET OR SUB SET THAT LOOKS 
LIKE SORT OF A SMOKE TEST, OR ABSOLUTE 
CRITICAL SET OF FUNCTIONS THAT, 
I AUTOMATE IN THE REGRESSION TEST. 
AS I GO THROUGH CONTINUOUS UPDATE, 
AS I GO THROUGH HOT FIX, MICROSOFT 
OR COME FROM YOUR DEVELOPMENT TEAM 
THAT I HAVE THAT SET IDEALLY AUTOMATED. 
CONSIDER ALL OF THE DIFFERENT TESTING, 
YOU COME TO FIND OUT, THIS IS ONE 
OF THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO 
GREATLY IMPACT YOUR ENVIRONMENT 
STRATEGY. BASED ON YOUR PROJECT 
PLAN, THE TYPES OF TESTING YOU ARE 
DOING IN PARALLEL, THE TEAMS GOING 
TO BE DOING THAT, IT WILL IMPACT 
THE NUMBER OF ENVIRONMENTS YOU NEED 
TO HAVE AVAILABLE AT ANY GIVEN TIME. 
IF YOU ARE DOING AN AGILE OR HIGH 
VELOCITY CONSTANTLY PRODUCING CODE, 
TESTING IT, WHILE I HAVE THEY ARE 
PEOPLE DOING PROCESS TESTING SCENARIOS 
I HAVE TO HAVE MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTS 
TO DEAL WITH IT AT THE SAME TIME. 
OTHERWISE I'LL DO NOTHING BUT MOVING 
PEOPLE IN AND OUT OF ENVIRONMENTS 
AND DISRUPTING PEOPLE. DECREASE 
TIME-TO-VALUE. KAARE TALKED ABOUT 
THE AGILE APPROACH, 10 ROLLOUTS 
OR 10 RELEASES AT THIS POINT. EACH 
ONE BUILDING UP ON THE LAST. THEY 
STARTED WITH THE SIMPLE TEMPLATE, 
FOR THE -- I'LL SAY IT RELATIVELY 
SIMPLE, IT WASN'T ALL THAT SIMPLE. 
IT MAY BE A BIG SET OF WORKLOADS, 
BUT IT IS A MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT 
THAT'S PUT INTO IDEALLY THE LEAST 
RISKY PART OF YOUR BUSINESS. SO 
THAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM THAT AND 
BUILD ON TOP OF IT. WHEN I GOT INTO 
ERP, WHICH IS ABOUT 2003, WE WERE 
IMPLEMENTING AX2. 5 AND 3. 0. AND 
IT WASN'T UNCOMMON TO SEE YEAR-LONG, 
TWO-YEAR-LONG, SOMETIMES THREE-YEAR-LONG 
IMPLEMENTATION CYCLES. THE TECHNOLOGY 
DIDN'T CHANGE THAT OFTEN. IT WAS 
CHANGING BUT DIDN'T CHANGE THAT OFTEN. 
TODAY, IF YOU SAID I'M GOING TO 
HAVE A FEWER-YEAR IMPLEMENTATION 
OR THREE-YEAR OR TWO-YEAR IMPLEMENTATION, 
FROM THE POINT THAT I STARTED TAKING 
REQUIREMENTS, THE POINT I GO LIVE 
AND RECOGNIZE VALUE, THE REALITY 
IS THE TECHNOLOGY SET IN WHAT YOU 
CAN DO, THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE 
BUSINESS IS GOING TO HAVE REVVED 
FOUR OR FIVE TIMES IN THE TWO-YEAR 
SPAN. WE NEED TO BE MORE SUCCINCT, 
MAKE SURE WE'RE BEING AGILE IN THE 
WAY THAT WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY 
AND DELIVER. WE CAN BE IT AREATIVE 
INSIDE OF THE PROJECT, SINGLE DELIVERY 
TO PRODUCTION, BE ITERATIVE. HAVING 
CYCLES WHERE I TAKE THE REQUIREMENT 
FROM THE BUSINESS STAKEHOLDER AND 
REALIZE THAT IN THE SYSTEM AND SHOW 
IT TO THEM, DECREASE THAT CYCLE 
TIME SO THAT I DON'T LOSE TACIT 
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BUSINESS PROCESS 
TO THE POINT WHERE I'VE DESCRIBED 
IT TO THE POINT WHERE I VALIDATED 
IN THE SYSTEM. ADDS VALUE TO BUILDING 
THE SYSTEM. DECREASING THAT SCOPE 
IN TERMS OF YOUR, WHAT YOUR GO LIVE 
IS, WHAT THE RELEASE IS GOING TO 
BE, HELPS YOU REALIZE THAT BUSINESS 
VALUE FASTER. ONCE AGAIN, ONE SIZE 
DOES NOT FIT ALL. YOU CAN'T SAY, 
LISTEN, I SHOULD NEVER DO A BIG 
BANG, WHAT IS A BIG BANG? MIKE AND 
HIS TEAM DID SORT OF, I WOULD SAY 
A FAIRLY BIG BANG, RIGHT, THEY IMPLEMENTED 
A BIG CHUNK OF THE BUSINESS. YOU 
MAY HAVE TO DO THAT, BECAUSE IF 
I HAVE A SINGLE MONOLITHIC SYSTEM 
I HAVE BEEN ON FOR 15 YEARS AND 
THE GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO SHUT THAT 
SYSTEM DOWN AND I MAY HAVE DEAD 
MINES AND CONSTRAINTS, I HAVE TO 
SHUT THAT SYSTEM DOWN BY A CERTAIN 
POINT. 
I CAN'T CHOOSE TO PULL ONE PIECE 
OUT. EVEN IF I COULD, IT MIGHT NOT 
BE ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE TO PULL 
IT OUT AND BUILD ALL OF THE TEMPORARY 
SCAFFOLDING BACK TO THE REST OF 
IT WHILE I WAIT TO PULL THE SECOND 
PIECE AND THIRD PIECE. I MAY NEED 
TO PULL THAT SET OF PROCESSES AND 
FUNCTIONALITY AND IMPLEMENT THAT. 
IF I'VE WAITED 15 YEARS, I MIGHT 
NOT WANT TO TAKE THAT FIRST OPPORTUNITY 
TO ADD ALL OF THE BELLS AND WHISTLES. 
TO CATCH UP FROM THE LAST 15 YEARS 
OF INNOVATION IN THE FIRST RELEASE. 
KLTURALLY IN IS -- CULTURALLY IN 
BUSINESS YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THAT 
SCENARIO, PEOPLE DON'T HAVE WHAT 
I CALL PHASE FAITH IN A PHASE TWO. 
BUSINESSES WHERE IMPLEMENTATIONS 
HAVE BEEN A CHALLENGE. EVERYONE 
TALKS ABOUT, WE'LL RELEASE THIS 
OVER 3 OR 4 PHASES. THE FIRST PHASE 
IS SO COMPLEX AND IT GOES POOR, 
AND YOU DON'T GET -- NEVER GETS 
STABILIZED, YOU NEVER GET TO PHASE 
TWO. DECREASE THE FLEXIONITY OF 
PHASE ONE, DELIVER WELL, SO CAN 
YOU GET TO PHASE TWO AND ITERTIVELY 
MOVE THE BUSINESS FORWARD. ONCE 
AGAIN THAT, NEEDS TO BE SORT OF 
SHAPED TO YOUR BUSINESS REALITY. 
THE MORE THAT YOU CAN DECREASE THAT 
SCOPE OF THOSE INITIAL RELEASES, 
BE ABLE TO RELEASE IT IN AN ITERATIVE 
FASHION THE MORE VALUE YOU HAVE. 
OKAY, SO WE HAVE ABOUT EXHAUSTED 
OUR TIME. WHAT I'LL DO, RIGHT NOW, 
I KNOW FROM THE LAST SESSION, THEY 
DON'T ACTUALLY KICK YOU OUT IMMEDIATELY. 
SO UNTIL THE PEOPLE IN THE SECURITY 
