1-3 November 2023
Directions EMEA 2023
Directions EMEA is the "Go To" place where Dynamics partners share the future. It's the preferred global community for collaborating and learning from Microsoft, MVPs, ISVs, VARs and their peers. The focus is on helping the SMB market unlock its full potential in technical, business development and strategy with ERP, CRM, and Cloud solutions, including the Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and Azure.
In this session we’ll learn how you can grow your business, recruit top talent, and increase profitability! All that’s needed in return is learning how to take the step from diversity ally to advocate, which is what this session is all about. Spoken from a male perspective, join Søren Alexandersen (Microsoft) and Steve Brooks (Pax8) as we look at how you can move from being a passive supporter of women in tech to a true advocate. Now, we’re no experts on this, so this is not a session where we tell you what you’ve been doing wrong. This session is focused on positive change and there’s no time like the present to start this journey. We will share and reflect on our own missteps made along the way, what we learned, and how we try to do the right things. We also talk about some of the unconscious biases we are all subject to, that often make us unaware of our shortcomings as allies and prevent us from realizing our true potential, individually and as businesses. The Dynamics industry is not immune from the business challenges of 2023. Market consolidations and inflationary pressures are just some examples of factors forcing best-in-class businesses to constantly reinvent themselves. Taking a more active approach to diversity and inclusion holds a large part of the answers to those challenges. Join us for inspiration on how to take the next step, whether you are a business leader, someone early in your career, or someone wondering how you can do more.
Speakers:
Søren Alexandersen
Principal Product Manager - Microsoft
Søren is an customer onboarding champion and a veteran in the industry, with 27 years of mapping business processes with user desire and technology under his belt ⭐⭐⭐ He has been around the block: In IT departments primarily in manufacturing companies, developing ERP, internal consulting Worked for various XAL/AX/NAV partners in as a systems integrator, developer and consultant Run his own systems integration partner company for 7 years And finally - when he couldn't resist the attraction of Microsoft any longer - joined in 2016 In the Business Central engineering team he drives the investments in making customer onboarding easier, owns the HR module, and cares a lot about the setup experience of Business Central ⚙️✅ He is passionate about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and is a board member of Women in Dynamics ❤️💚💙💛 In between all of this he enjoys playing in a hard-rock band as a semi-professional musician 🎵🤘🏼
Søren Alexandersen
Principal Product Manager - Microsoft
Søren is an customer onboarding champion and a veteran in the industry, with 27 years of mapping business processes with user desire and technology under his belt ⭐⭐⭐ He has been around the block: In IT departments primarily in manufacturing companies, developing ERP, internal consulting Worked for various XAL/AX/NAV partners in as a systems integrator, developer and consultant Run his own systems integration partner company for 7 years And finally - when he couldn't resist the attraction of Microsoft any longer - joined in 2016 In the Business Central engineering team he drives the investments in making customer onboarding easier, owns the HR module, and cares a lot about the setup experience of Business Central ⚙️✅ He is passionate about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and is a board member of Women in Dynamics ❤️💚💙💛 In between all of this he enjoys playing in a hard-rock band as a semi-professional musician 🎵🤘🏼
Steve Brooks
Senior Director of Partner Enablement Experience @ Pax8. Former CTO @ Bam Boom Cloud
I'm Senior Director of Partner Enablement Experience at Pax8. Pax8 acquired Bam Boom Cloud on 1 February 2023, where I was the CTO. I have over 10 years' experience working with small and medium businesses. With a varied background as a chartered accountant, consultant and CTO, I have seen lots of businesses and lots of systems. I now put that experience to work in making the Microsoft stack more accessible to SMBs. As part of Pax8, we're laser focused on helping our partner and being the world's favourite technology marketplace.
Steve Brooks
Senior Director of Partner Enablement Experience @ Pax8. Former CTO @ Bam Boom Cloud
I'm Senior Director of Partner Enablement Experience at Pax8. Pax8 acquired Bam Boom Cloud on 1 February 2023, where I was the CTO. I have over 10 years' experience working with small and medium businesses. With a varied background as a chartered accountant, consultant and CTO, I have seen lots of businesses and lots of systems. I now put that experience to work in making the Microsoft stack more accessible to SMBs. As part of Pax8, we're laser focused on helping our partner and being the world's favourite technology marketplace.