Microsoft Dynamics NAV Extensions – What steps to take (3/3)

Last blog of the “My-view-on-Extensions” series. If you haven’t read the previous ones, here you can find both:

• Microsoft Dynamics NAV Extensions – Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
  
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV Extensions – Concerns
  

So, after you struggled through these previous two posts .. what do I think we should do now .. . Well, before I do that, let’s talk a little bit about “Innovation”

Let’s take cars as an example. Just totally from the top of my hat .. let’s take Porsche and Tesla. As the pictures illustrate – quite similar cars.

Now, we all know that we just can’t keep driving on fossil fuels. Dinosaurs are extinct. These fuels will as well run out at some point … and let’s not forget what they do to the environment! We know that .. but many of us neglect it, because numerous reasons. Sure, Tesla has got quite a price tag. But all in all, it’s the same TCO as an Audi A4 (in Belgium – calculated over 5 years) .. . It’s not per se the price tag that makes people not choose for Tesla or any EV for that matter. Many rather put more money in a Porsche, which smells and makes a lot of noise. While the TCO is much higher – and they are equally fast (well .. Tesla is much faster .. but let’s just assume Porsche did one thing right…:p).

Why? Because people tend to keep hold of what they know and are familiar with. In the world of EV cars, there are a few concerns:

• Range anxiety: Tesla can only drive 350km – and when depleted, you need to wait for an hour to charge it. This is something we are not used to. “This is something that would change my way of driving. So this is bad… .” Well, you know, I was afraid for it as well when I bought my Tesla. But after 30000 km, I must say that I still didn’t lose one single minute at a gas station. How much time would that Porsche-driver have lost after 30k km, you think? Sometimes, concerns are based on assumptions – and we all know the danger of assumptions..
• No noise: “I like the sound of my Porsche. Loud and all .. .” Well, I like the sound of mine: none. Nothing more relaxing than no noise. It’s strange in the beginning .. but let’s face it .. no noise is the sound of innovation. Something you’ll enjoy when you get used to it. It’s difficult to form a objective opinion of something you never experienced.
• Battery Power Loss over time: I have seen Tesla’s with 200000 miles and only 6% degradation. I did NOT know that on the moment I ordered mine. Sometimes, you just need to have a little faith in a company – and reason like: that company (Tesla, Microsoft, …) only benefits from it when it’s successful. So they probably thought about stuff I’m concerned about.. .
• Autopilot: “I like to drive myself – don’t want the car to drive for me”. Well, guess what, you still can drive yourself with a Tesla :-). You don’t HAVE to use every single bit of an innovative feature .. but you can! And most likely, it’s best that you do. Driving on Autopilot behaves better in traffic, because quite frankly, the autopilot doesn’t fall asleep, and always pays full attention. Don’t deny innovation – go for it!

Anyway, don’t know if this comparison makes sense to you. It does to me. This is how I am. I give innovation a chance. Extensions is innovation, and we’re in the middle of it. Change is usually for the best. So suck it up, accept it, stop whining and go with the flow!

So, what should we do now?

Well, as said, NAV 2017 Extensions are in my opinion good to go to create Extensions for Dynamics 365. Go for it, do it, don’t hold back :-). I know I’m gonna!

If you don’t have a Dynamics 365 approach, you need to determine for yourself if Extension development makes sense in your situation. I can see many opportunities where you can upsell your vertical in your multitenant offering. I can even see possibilities in On Premise business. I created an Extension for our product, which we are now “upselling” on premise. Across multiple different products even. Why not? It works! And because of the type of the extension (you can compare it with the WaldoNAVPad – although it’s not that one :-)) I know it’s never going to be a problem. Not in upgrading. And if so .. I’ll maintain it as expected.

And if you don’t see any use for it just yet, then still you should dive into it. Make yourself familiar! Not only with Extensions, but also with VSCode for example. We all know it’s coming. What I’m doing to make myself familiar with VSCode: I’m doing all my PowerShell in it. It’s not ideal for PowerShell (I miss my in-app shell – but the community is working on that, I read :-)), but I did learn some bits and pieces that makes my VSCode-life somewhat easier .. and guess what, by the time Microsoft releases this new development environment, VSCode will have no secrets for me (I hope)!

So, stop wasting time with reading this blog, and get yourself familiar with Microsoft Dynamics NAV Extensions!  Or like my good friend Daniel said: “move your feet or lose your seat”