From Clippers to Lumber, D365 Is Innovating Business, but Lookout for New Phishing Attacks
In episode 8 of the “Inside Dynamics Communities” podcast, John Siefert, CEO, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, Ryan Gonzales, Senior Sales Director, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, and Pam Misialek, Community Director, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, break down the latest stories happening inside the Dynamics community. Today’s episode features customer success stories from Wahl Clippers, US Lumber, and Lookout.
This episode is sponsored by Summit North America, the largest independent gathering of the Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem, taking place Oct. 15-20, 2023, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Register today to connect with thousands of users across the Microsoft business applications ecosystem at the for user, by user event.
Highlights
01:30 — Wahl Clipper — the inventor of the modern hair tool — migrated to Dynamics 365, explains Pam. After having previously utilized multiple ERP systems, Wahl Clipper outgrew its former systems and migrated to Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, adding PowerBI and Power Apps to the environment to “create a more holistic solution.”
05:38 — In the case of Wahl Clipper, the company is managing its supply chain through the manufacturing of its products, but is also monitoring two demand chains — that of consumers and the professional demand chain, says John. He adds that it would be interesting to see how the company is utilizing PowerBI within the F&O environment to do predictive analysis. Wahl is “more than just a clipper company,” says John. “They are a manufacturing company, they’re an e-commerce company, they are a multi-level distribution company with how you can buy their stuff,” explains John, before adding how “the complexities are really interesting when you peel the onion back and think about how F&O can actually work.”
07:43 — Ryan shares a story from US Lumber, a company founded in 1988 and made up of over 4,000 employees. In 2020, the company acquired a few other businesses, and with that adoption came “all these different software and ideas being thrown at them for other companies.” US Lumber partnered with a business to build a new CRM but failed. That is, until, congruentX came in and successfully build US Lumber a new CRM system. The Senior Manager at US Lumber stated that “the people at congruentX feel like partners rather than salespeople,” explains Ryan.
10:34 — Adding to Ryan’s point, John says that he liked the “best practices section” in US Lumber’s overview, which discussed the four approaches congruentX is taking to build the CRM system:
- Provide expertise in the use and management of the CRM system
- Solve problems and reduce complexities in the system
- Support the transition of CRM systems and the implementation of projects
- Deployed as a subscription service model to provide as-needed support
Ryan says these points suggest the importance of the ability to adapt.
13:11 — John raises an example of Lookout, a cybersecurity company featured on Acceleration Economy’s Top 10 list of Cybersecurity Enablers, just came out with new research called the Global State of Mobile Phishing Reports. The data comes from over 210 million devices that Lookout protects and suggests that 2022 was the year with the highest rate of mobile phishing attacks. According to the research, 30% of personal and enterprise users are exposed to phishing attacks every quarter. Since 2021, mobile phishing rates have increased by 10% for enterprise devices and over 20% for personal devices.
14:36 — Lookout identified a seven-fold increase in “vishing” (voice phishing), “smishing” (SMS phishing), and “quishing” (QR code phishing). John adds that this underscores the multi-pronged approach attackers are taking to steal this data.
15:41 — John says he brings this up because “when we talk about Wahl Clipper, when we talk about US Lumber, the one thing both companies have in common is mountains of customer data, financial data, manufacturing data, and any of those phishing attacks could expose a ton of that critical data.” When thinking about “quishing,” John notes that “all of the sudden, that same device that you’re using in a restaurant to look at a menu is the same device that you’re using to house critical data within your corporate network.”
17:23 — Before wrapping up today’s episode, the hosts give a special shoutout to Steven Chinsky, a key member of the community and a leader in the Business Central user group, who was just made an MVP by Microsoft. Big congrats to Steve!
