What does it mean to be an ISV in the Microsoft business applications channel these days? With so many aspects of that particular type of partner relationship in flux today, there is no single answer. Yet another sign that things are not what they used to be: the most recent Inc. 5000 list, which featured only five or so partners from the Microsoft Dynamics channel down from nearly twenty in 2017.

While magazine "best of" lists are a generally terrible way to measure anything, at least this one has a bit of quantitative data to use as a starting point for a discussion. So on this MSDW podcast episode, we speak with Mike Dickerson, CEO of ClickDimensions, one of the Dynamics-focused ISVs on this year's list. They reported over 100% growth over the last three years.

As Mike tells us, there is no single reason for the drop on the Inc list. But with the massive changes underway in this space, both with the products and the partner strategy, there is plenty to consider in terms of what is changing, why, and how ISVs can position themselves for the future.

Show Notes

• 3:00 – What has allowed ISVs to grow historically in the Dynamics space?
• 6:00 – What might have caused the dropoff in high growth ISVs in this space, as measured by the Inc. 5000?
• 11:15 – Is it a problem for Microsoft if fewer ISVs in their channel are growing?
• 13:30 – What does growth mean to ISVs vs VARs?
• 18:30 – How much influence does Microsoft have as a partner vs as a competitor?
• 22:30 – The multi-faceted art of planning for change in the Microsoft channel
• 27:15 – Can newcomers to the Microsoft business applications channel find real growth opportunities today?
• 30:00 – How businesses can make the most of their marketing automation investments.