10 years inside the Dynamics world

Back in May 2010 I started to work with Dynamics CRM 4.0 so it's 10 years that I know this software. I spare you the history of the product (you can find many articles about the subject) but I share some of my "adventures" during these years.

It's true that the first impact with Dynamics CRM 4.0 was not good, I clearly remember thinking "I can write a better software than this" (no you don't, Guido of 10 years before) mostly because Dynamics CRM was only compatible with Internet Explorer at the time and this was a big hiccup at least for developers.

But after some weeks I understood the real power (at least for me): a RAD environment with tools like views and advanced find and a security role system rocking also today.

I am a big fan of XRM and for me the fact that the platform was focused on Sales and Customer Service has always been secondary, the ability to create custom entities, custom attributes and having a back-office without writing code was extraordinary (and yes, you no-code/low-code/citizen developers, I did these things before they were cool). Of course CRM 4.0 and recent versions require a developer when you want to extend the platform, for example I created and used many auto-numbering solutions before Microsoft implemented its own (to be honest I still create some solutions when the auto-numbering functionality needs to be very specific, but this is another story).

In a certain way working with Dynamics put me in the "easy" spectrum of development, at the time I started very few people know what a CRM was for, what was in the market, how they can be customized, etc etc. I was definitely not the cool kid working all the day with <put your favorite technology of that years here>. Today is different, many people know the platforms involved, their role and finally also who develop for these systems are respected more than the past (I am looking at you Stack Overflow, and the failed idea to have a site just for Dynamics).

Back to my story, after working for two years with an Italian partner I quit my job, tired of Dynamics CRM. The reason I quit was not Dynamics but in a certain way I expressed my feelings towards the product ("I don't want to work with Dynamics", "I do always the same things", probably I thought these things as well) and made it the official excuse.

It was the summer of 2012 and after the holiday period I decided to search a new job. Having 2 years experience with a product (that I was confident with) wasn't so bad, in the end I moved to a different country (Finland) and I started to work for my current employer.

I already wrote before that the main reason for me to appear inside community forums and opening my blog was the change of work. Under a new employer I was eager to prove that I know Dynamics, and I was happy to share JavaScript or C# code to help fulfill some of the requirements I read around.

January 2015 due to my contributions I was awarded as Microsoft MVP, it didn't open me new work opportunities but it allowed me to know and meet in person many of the other people working in this area, that shared their ideas, built amazing products or released open source tools used by everyone.

If you ask me today what means to continue to be an MVP, for me is to be in contact with them. Nothing is forever but I hope that 10 years later we can still meet and be like we just met yesterday, despite being an MVP or not.

December 2017 was when I started my newsletter Dynamics Weekly. During the previous years many new contributors appeared inside the different communities meanwhile my efforts towards the community were decreasing. Nothing wrong with that, life and work took more time and I prefer to blog when I have something to say, blogging just for "collecting points" has never been my attitude.

I also noticed that the product evolved in areas that I barely touched and I was missing important content, stay up to date with the changes should be an essential part of the work and I wasn't doing that.

Dynamics Weekly main goal is this one, to give a glimpse of what is happening in the Dynamics world especially to me. What I do every week to go trough the various sources is something I push myself to do, isn't someone else to push me to do. Sharing it as a newsletter is a way to remind me of doing it and if someone else find it useful along the way I am happy too.

Regarding this aspect I want to make a specific example: I am not an expert of Power Automate, I rarely use the product but thanks to my newsletter I have an idea of the people involved in that specific community, what can and cannot be done with the product, etc etc. For me is Power Automate, for someone else we can say the same thing for Virtual Agents or Dynamics for Marketing, Power Platform is huge, no doubts about this.

My last post on my blog is about the first year anniversary of PCF Gallery. I can probably write the same things I wrote for Dynamics Weekly. PCF (Power Apps Component Framework) is something that was under the radar of developers for a long time. All the controls listed are open-source and having a place to see them I believe to be an important part for the people involved: developers and end-users.

What I just described were the "public" aspects of my experience, but during these 10 years happened a lot more: failed and successful projects, quarrels and great friendships with colleagues, hours and hours spent using the product, knowing its limitations and the potential. My life would be a lot different if I didn't meet Dynamics CRM 4.0 back in 2010, being one of the turning points I had in my past, a bit strange to include a software but this is what happened to me. 人生なんていつも からまわりばかり