#72. Michael Nunes asks, "When multiple systems are being delivered by different parties, I find that we have to design the details upfront, then use agile for the delivery of the Dynamics 365 systems. Is this your experience too?" Michael's question has two layers that we address in this episode: upfront design and team composition. Upfront design is based on three assumptions: We can know all the requirements upfront. We can design all the components upfront. There won't be any changes. We cha...
Feb 15, 2021•13 min•Ep. 72
#71. Daniel Kerridge says, "I'm the only developer in my team so I just wondered if there's a special version of Scrum that works in that scenario." There are three sets of accountabilities in the scrum team: the product owner, the scrum master and developers. But how many developers do you need? In the previous version of the Scrum Guide, the recommended minimum number of developers to have a cross-functional team was three. But that minimum was removed from the 2020 Scrum Guide. Guy's & St...
Feb 08, 2021•7 min•Ep. 71
#70. Dan Madden , a program manager at Acensus, asks, "What’s the best way to help bridge that gap between [IT and] the business and ultimately the end-users?" In this episode, you'll learn about the five characteristics of Dynamics 365 and Power Platform projects that have a close relationship between business and IT so that there's no gap in your business applications initiatives. Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Customery on LinkedIn 🟦 Neil Benson on LinkedIn MY ONLINE COU...
Jan 29, 2021•8 min•Ep. 70
#69. In this episode, Andreas Dutz, Business Development Manager at HSO from Bavaria, Germany, asks, "Have you defined what agile means? Are your teams trained in the Agile Manifesto and are your teams applying it today?" The Manifesto for Agile Software development has some flaws you should be aware of. Instead of memorising it and applying it word for word, your teams should consider it and devise your own Manifesto for No-Code/Low-Code Application Development . Resources Andreas Dutz on Linke...
Jan 20, 2021•10 min•Ep. 69
#68. What does the structure of a scales business application project look like? What groups and roles do you need when you've got 50 or more team members working together for a year or more to build a large, complex application? In this episode, you'll learn about a model project structure so that you can compare it to yours or use it as a baseline when establishing your own enterprise project team. Resources 6 Roles Every Enterprise Business Applications Project Should Have poster Large-scale ...
Jan 12, 2021•15 min•Ep. 68
#67. In this Q&A episode, Stephen Price , Digital Solution Architect at ITK Consulting in Canada, asks, "How should we manage scope creep within a sprint in an agile project?" The scope of our product is defined by the product backlog, and the scope of our project is a subset of the product backlog. Both are managed by the product owner: the single person responsible and accountable for the product backlog. In my Dynamics 365 and Power Apps projects, the product owner also manages the projec...
Dec 28, 2020•21 min•Ep. 67
#66. Matt Venamore , scrum master at RACQ, asks about how to handle data migration on agile Dynamics 365 projects. My recommended approach is for the data migration team to conduct a proof-of-concept or prototyping exercise (just like many business apps teams do) to uncover challenges, test their assumptions and learn as much as possible about the data. Then work closely with the business applications team to iteratively and incrementally prepare the data and the migration procedures. Resources ...
Dec 15, 2020•10 min•Ep. 66
#65. Neil discusses the five most important changes in Scrum Guide 2020 for Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 teams: It's less strict and less about software One team (except when there're multiple teams) Commitments clarified - the Product Goal No more roles Increments Customery Academy's course, Scrum for Microsoft Business Apps , will be updated in time for the new Scrum.org Professional Scrum Master certification assessment on 9 January. You can get $100 off if you join before 31 Dec...
Nov 30, 2020•17 min•Ep. 65
#64. Carolle Bruce , Director of Information Technology at Avcorp Industries in Vancouver, asks, "What's the best argument for when senior management says, 'All this agile stuff is great but I don't see why you'd have a scrum master on your project when you could have an agile PM instead.'?" There are some important differences between the role and responsibilities of a project manager and a scrum master. But in Scrum, the role that is closest to the role of a project manager in a traditional pr...
Nov 23, 2020•9 min•Ep. 64
#63. David Mochrie , a Power Platform consultant at Magnetism in Auckland, asks, "Should we have a standard set of user stories for Dynamics 365?" A long time ago, I tried to make it easy to write detailed user interface design specifications for Dynamics CRM using a wireframe prototyping tool called Axure RP Pro . I spent hundreds of hours building replicas of hundreds of Dynamics CRM screens that I planned to reuse over and over again in my specifications. But it didn't work out that way for m...
Nov 16, 2020•7 min•Ep. 63
#62. Anand Kushalnagar , a project manager at Nexon Asia Pacific in Sydney, asks, "At the moment, we are using a hybrid implementation approach for our projects. How can you deliver Dynamics 365 business central projects in a fully agile methodology when there are so many dependencies between the various modules?" You can transition to Scrum gradually by introducing one or two agile practices to your team each sprint. ERP teams working on Dynamics 365 Business Central, Finance & Operations, ...
Nov 09, 2020•7 min•Ep. 62
#61. Mark Llewellyn , Director of Technology at Osmosys Software Solutions in London asks, "How can you be sure you've captured all the requirements?" Traditional approaches, like Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step, pretend that we can capture all the requirements upfront at the start of a project before we've started development. Upfront requirements analysis doesn't work. You can't capture requirements by writing them down, and you shouldn't try to uncover requirements before your users know somethi...
Nov 04, 2020•6 min•Ep. 61
#60. This year, Scrum is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To celebrate, the Scrum Guide 2020 is being published at a free global launch event at 10:00 EST on Wednesday 18 November 2020. Click here to register for the Scrum Guide 2020 launch event The launch event is being hosted on Zoom, and the largest Zoom plan has an attendee limit of 1,000. Register for the event today, and join the session early to make sure you can get in. I expect the Scrum Guide 2020 to be even leaner and simpler to hel...
Nov 03, 2020•7 min•Ep. 60
#59. Neal Carty , a Business Solutions Consultant at Traction On Demand in Toronto asks: How does the Professional Scrum Product Owner certification compare to the Professional Scrum Master certification, and is it relevant for Dynamics 365? What's the best way to acquire the knowledge required for PSPO certification? How can we accelerate our learning and avoid high-fees for generic, in-person PSPO courses? Can we mix certifications between Scrum.org and Scrum Alliance? Resources mentioned in t...
Oct 21, 2020•10 min•Ep. 59
#58. I had to fire a client this week. I felt terrible that I wasn't able to help, yet relieved that I stuck to my approach and my principles. Listen in to find out what happened. Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Customery on LinkedIn 🟦 Neil Benson on LinkedIn MY ONLINE COURSES 🚀 Agile Foundations for Microsoft Business Apps 🏉 Scrum for Microsoft Business Apps 📐 Estimating Business Apps Keep experimenting 🧪 -Neil...
Sep 28, 2020•14 min•Ep. 58
#57. Join me with Ana Inés Urrutia de Souza , a Dynamics 365 HR consultant at FourVision and a rising star in our Power Platform community. Ana shares the story behind the amazing Dynamics 365 for Talent application her team deployed at Centria, in Lima, Peru. Ana came from an HR administrator role and today is an HR application functional consultant at FourVision. Ana's project team created a Dynamics 365 for Talent companion app using Power Apps to enhance the recruiting process at Centria. HR...
Sep 14, 2020•22 min•Ep. 57
#56. The biggest online community event of the year, Dynamics Con 2020, is just around the corner: Wednesday 9 to Thursday 10 September. I'm joined in this special episode by a special guest to discuss this special event -- the event's director, Molly Fuschel . You can register for free today at DynamicsCon.com . I'm presenting "Tell Me a Story", which will be packed with proven practices for managing your Dynamics 365 or Power Apps product backlog. My session is 9am US Central Time, Wednesday 9...
Sep 02, 2020•31 min•Ep. 56
#55. In this second episode on estimating Microsoft Business Applications we answer your financial sponsor's two favourite questions: How long is it going to take? How much is it going to cost? If you're a Dynamics 365 or Power Platform project manager, business analyst, solution architect, pre-sales consultant, developer, or in business development, you'll find out how to answer those key questions in this in-depth episode. For full show notes and transcript, visit https://customery.com/004 Che...
Aug 24, 2020•23 min•Ep. 55
#54. I'm joined by Dani Kahil , Microsoft Business Applications practice lead at Empired, who shares the story behind one of his client projects, Lives Lived Well. How the Lives Lived Well CRM project started with a review of the high-level requirements Adopting Scrum gradually during the course of the project The benefit of having a scrum master (or a project manager) who is familiar with Scrum Dani's advice for Microsoft customers who are new to the product owner role Using a blend of partner ...
Jul 30, 2020•42 min•Ep. 54
#53. If you're building Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate or Power Virtual Agent applications, when and how should you be estimating your requirements, releases and applications? Check out part 2, Estimating how long and how much , to discover more about forecasting how long it's going to take and how much it's going to cost. For full show notes and transcription, visit: https://customery.com/002 We need to estimate our requirements for two reasons: time and money We d...
Jul 14, 2020•29 min•Ep. 53
#52. For this special episode, I asked 15 industry leaders how they were coping with the coronavirus restrictions and what advice they'd give to their younger selves if their career was affected by the impacts of an economic recession. James Phillips Sarah Critchley Kathrine Hogseth Neil Parkhurst Mohamed Mostafa Elaiza Benitez Dian Taylor Leon Tribe Frieda Maher Dalia Raphael Andrew Bibby Lisa Crosbie Cedrick Holmes David Kohar Andrew Welch Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Cu...
Jun 18, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 52
#51. Welcome to the new Amazing Apps show. This episode is a bonus episode for previous subscribers of the Scrum Dynamics podcast explaining the reasons behind the name change and gives you a sneak preview of the new theme music. Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Customery on LinkedIn 🟦 Neil Benson on LinkedIn MY ONLINE COURSES 🚀 Agile Foundations for Microsoft Business Apps 🏉 Scrum for Microsoft Business Apps 📐 Estimating Business Apps Keep experimenting 🧪 -Neil...
Jun 12, 2020•4 min•Ep. 51
#50. Chris Kendrick is the founder and CEO of Mercury xRM , who develop recruitment software on Dynamics 365 Sales. We discuss parsing resumes (and fine-tuning your own resume), as well as entity model designs, ISV product development, implementation approaches, remote training and user adoption incentives. Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Customery on LinkedIn 🟦 Neil Benson on LinkedIn MY ONLINE COURSES 🚀 Agile Foundations for Microsoft Business Apps 🏉 Scrum for Microsoft ...
Jun 01, 2020•37 min•Ep. 50
#49. I'm joined by Gus Gonzalez and Joel Lindstrom to discuss the role of solution architects in agile teams implementing Microsoft Business Applications. We chill out on the mics and discuss: Why weren't Joel and Guz at MVP this year? Intrinsic and extrinsic solution architects What is the role of a solution architect today? Resource and delivery co-ordination Go-to person and a face for the developers Can a solution design document be dangerous Is the blueprint the new solution design document...
May 17, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 49
#48. My guest is Clément Olivier from Javista in Nantes, France. Clément was recently awarded a Power Platform FastTrack Recognized Solution Architect designation. He was one of 8 first-time Power Apps architects and 5 Power BI architects to be recognised, in addition to a new group of Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and Customer Engagement architects . It's a recognition from the Microsoft FastTrack team within the Business Apps product engineering group of a solution architect who consiste...
May 04, 2020•27 min•Ep. 48
#47. Is Scrum the best approach to use for every Microsoft Business Application? No! Join me, as we explore the Stacey and Cynefin models that help us make judgements about which types of applications are suited to a Scrum approach and which aren't. Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Customery on LinkedIn 🟦 Neil Benson on LinkedIn MY ONLINE COURSES 🚀 Agile Foundations for Microsoft Business Apps 🏉 Scrum for Microsoft Business Apps 📐 Estimating Business Apps Keep experimentin...
Apr 17, 2020•12 min•Ep. 47
#46. Ryan Ripley joins me in Amazing Apps to discuss his new book, Fixing Your Scrum . Ryan is a Professional Scrum Trainer with Scrum.org. We also discuss: The suitability of Scrum for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform projects. Is the Scrum framework appropriate for enterprise Dynamics 365 ERP projects and smaller Power Apps projects? Ryan’s advice for line-of-business managers who are taking on the product owner role for the first time in their Microsoft Business Applications project....
Mar 27, 2020•53 min•Ep. 46
#45. This is a special, bonus episode of Amazing Applications with a live recording from inside my current Scrum teams' daily scrum. Take a sneak peek as my developers share their progress with each other and adjust the sprint backlog as they learn more about what they've accomplished. Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Customery on LinkedIn 🟦 Neil Benson on LinkedIn MY ONLINE COURSES 🚀 Agile Foundations for Microsoft Business Apps 🏉 Scrum for Microsoft Business Apps 📐 Estim...
Mar 23, 2020•26 min•Ep. 45
#44. Someone sends me an "Agile is Dead" article at least once a year. Are these articles with their clickbait headlines just opinion pieces with no data to back up the authors' claims or are they well-researched and thought-provoking journalism? Here's one, Agile software development is dead. Deal with it . It was written by Jason Bloomberg and published in SiliconANGLE. I have some fun with the author's claims that agile software is dead because it's 19, is impossible to scale, and promotes ex...
Feb 09, 2020•11 min•Ep. 44
#43. EY Kalman , also known as the CRM Ninja, joins me in this episode of Amazing Apps to reveal the critical factors behind the success of his Dynamics CRM project at Orbis Investments. Listen in as he reveals his critical success factors on this project. Resources EY Kalman on LinkedIn TheCRMNinja on Twitter TheCRM.Ninja website TheCRMNinja on YouTube Orbis Investments website Support the show CONNECT 🌏 Amazing Apps website 🟦 Customery on LinkedIn 🟦 Neil Benson on LinkedIn MY ONLINE COURSES...
Jan 21, 2020•48 min•Ep. 43
