MVP Insights: Elif Item on the Process and Impact of MVPs, Community Summit Sessions

Welcome to “MVP Insights,” a podcast that explores the universe, ideas, and opportunities of the brightest stars in the Microsoft business applications ecosystem. 

In episode 44, Giuseppe Ianni hosts Elif Item, founder and CEO, Item by Item, who has been a Microsoft MVP for two years. They discuss how Microsoft MVPs make a difference in the community as well as upcoming sessions at Community Summit North America.

Key Takeaways:

• Joining the MVP community: Over the past two years, Elif has been on her Microsoft MVP journey, primarily focusing on Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365FO) training and adoption. She worked in the partner space before starting her own company. She has been a consultant, then moved to project management, and then became a director, which helped her recognize her passion for training and adoption. “It’s been an amazing journey, and I didn’t even know who MVPs were, what they did, but the MVP community is just an amazing community.
• Maintaining MVP activity: Elif describes MVP as a status or an award provided by Microsoft on a yearly basis. At the beginning, you have to be nominated by another MVP or someone from Microsoft. “Honestly, when I did it, I didn’t know what I was getting into,” she shares. It’s a continuous process; every year, you have to reapply and submit all the activities you do. While it can be a challenging process, it keeps everyone more engaged. If you are passionate about something in the D365 world, Microsoft appreciates the time MVPs spend to help enhance the Dynamics community.
• Summit NA sessions: At Community Summit North America, Elif will be conducting an Academy session, “Building a D365 Training Plan with Integrated Change Management,” with Stephanie Lavinskas. “Our goal is to make it very interactive…We’re basically going to cover how a D365 project is run by an implementation partner.” They will have exercises and challenges for various steps of a project. Elif is hoping attendees will walk away with great insights and hands-on tools when they return to their own implementations. Elif will be presenting other sessions at Community Summit:
  • “Getting Educated in D365 FnO” with Rachel Profitt and Nigel Cox
  • “How Can Training Help to Migrate from GP or AX2012 to D365 FO?”
  • “Boosting User Adoption: How Inolex Built a Sustainable D365 Training Program for Long-Term Success” with Anthony Bracco and Eric Davis
  • A short presentation during the Women in Tech (WIT) Luncheon on the theme “She Builds”
• Evolution of adoption: Being an MVP has given Elif an opportunity to have an impact on training and adoption throughout the community. She notes that it’s made a difference to even just educate Microsoft on adoption challenges. “They are aware that there are adoption challenges, but sometimes they don’t know the details about it.” Elif has been having many conversations since becoming an MVP to educate users and partners on terminology and implementation methodology.