Is Microsoft doing all it can to make Dynamics 365 the crown jewel of its enterprise business? Not like it used to, says industry analyst Joshua Greenbaum of Enterprise Applications Consulting. In a recent article he called out the company for what he sees as a reduced investment in marketing the product line to analysts and prospective customers. Less access for analysts to product executives and the product community has been “a damn shame,” he wrote, describing Dynamics as stuck in a “cone of silence” that is “ keeping Dynamics out of a deal flow that by rights it should be deep in the mix of.”

For their part, Microsoft officials have already stated they don't agree with Greenbaum’s assessment and cite new events like the "Business Forward" customer and prospect event series, which is expanding globally and aims to present the big picture on Microsoft's commitment to Dynamics.

But Greenbaum's perspective on the matter, as he explains in this episode of the podcast, accounts for the unique role analysts serve as advisers to software buyers who are thinking not just about features and functions, but about committing to the future performance of a software vendor and its larger technology ecosystem.

In this episode of the podcast, topics include:

• 4:25 – Why Dynamics should be a showcase at Microsoft
• 6:00 – The state of the analyst relations program for Dynamics
• 11:30 – What bets are software buyers making on enterprise software?
• 14:00 – The multi-cloud world that customers are trying to make sense of
• 20:45 – Can Dynamics serve to open up larger Microsoft opportunities?
• 25:30 – Microsoft remains strong as an enterprise tech competitor
• 28:45 – The importance of Microsoft-run conferences among competitors