Microsoft's industry accelerators for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform don't simply appear. Rather, they are the result of extensive collaboration with partners willing to share their years of experience and intellectual property to help develop standardized data models and feature sets. In the financial services sector, VeriPark has contributed to that effort, contributing to the development of the recently launched Banking Accelerator. Our guest on this episode, Wim Geukens, managing director of VeriPark Europe, explains that committing some of the company's most valuable IP to an open source initiative like an industry accelerator wasn't an easy decision. And while they may be losing some advantages, there are advantages to helping Microsoft shape its industry model, too, he says. The company also continues to move ahead with efforts to offer more high value capabilities for financial services firms, in areas like language processing and facial recognition. We also discuss Wim's recent articles for MSDW on approaching the requirements of omnichannel customer engagement in the banking and insurance sectors. One reason the articles work so well is that, unlike generic statements on the importance of improving customer experience, they take on real and addressable challenges like integrating legacy solutions and prioritizing the availability of customer information at key moments. Show Notes: 2:30 – Approaching omni-channel customer experience needs for specific industries 4:30 – The insurance industry's unique requirements 5:50 – Are insurers eager to re-invent themselves through innovation and a modern architecture? 10:15 – VeriPark's evolution as an industry-focused vendor 13:45 – What does an industry-focused approach mean when designing and marketing a solution? 18:00 – Does leading edge technology have a place in financial industries? 19:00 – Why work with Microsoft on the banking accelerator initiative. 23:00 – The broader industry effort around the Microsoft Business Applications platform 26:00 – What's next for VeriPark's investment with Microsoft? Blending what's possible and what's realistic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXXvVcMwij4