After writing two well-received new pieces analyzing Microsoft’s current position relative to its SMB business solutions partner channel and product line, James Crowter, director of Technology Management in the UK and a blogger and MVP, joins us to recap Directions EMEA 2017 and preview Summit Nashville 2017.

Show Notes:

• 4:00 – How to adapt to Microsoft’s decisions around the Dynamics 365 SMB space
• 5:50 – Directions EMEA review – did it meet attendee expectations?
• 8:50 – Microsoft’s approach to developing new strategic plans before and after Directions US
• 12:30 - Looking ahead to Summit Nashville 2017 – will the latest announcements resonate with users?
• 14:20 – For NAVUG, is NAV 2017 still the focus at Summit?
• 17:15 – Will Microsoft update its Dynamics 365 message for existing users this year compared to Summit US 2016?
• 20:50 – Are existing Dynamics customers receptive to the latest tech announcements?
• 24:20 – What new Msft tech will users respond to?
• 29:40 – How does a partner help Dynamics customers digest what they are hearing at an event like Summit?
• 36:15 – Roadmap updates and whether they will have a positive impact on customer sentiment and partner opportunity.

While good security and audit practices tend to remain steady, the real world conditions, from regulation to criminal activity to technology enablers, mean that organizations can never feel safe with last year’s policies. In this episode of the podcast, we talk with Andy Snook, Mark Polino, and Alex Meyer of Fastpath, the authors of the newly released Security and Audit Field manuals for Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, Enterprise edition. We talk about the effort to release these titles, what they learned in the process, and what companies should be paying attention to these days. GDPR is one of the big topics, but Equifax, Yahoo, and interstate alcohol sales are all up for discussion.

Show Notes

• 4:00 – Casting the vision for two new books on security and audit
• 8:30 – Does writing a book broaden your knowledge of the software about which you write?
• 11:45 – How to adapt a book to software updates like GP 2018?
• 13:20 – How do enterprise software vendor product choices inform security decision making?
• 14:00 – How are companies responding to and preparing for GDPR?
• 17:30 – What should you be asking vendors at a conference exhibit hall?
• 19:00 – Does GPDR really impose different demands for buyers or security vendors
• 22:30 – Can good security practices co-exist with a world of purpose-built apps?
• 26:00 – Is the social security number still viable in the US?
• 31:00 – The road to Summit Nashville 2017

After an eventful week at Directions North America, Steve Mordue of RapidStart CRM joins us to look back at the impact of some key announcements for partners, especially those who sell Microsoft Dynamics 365 customer experience apps. Since this episode was recorded, Microsoft has clarified even more of its Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM application plans, while keeping most elements of the plan essentially on track.

Episode notes:

• 2:15 - How is Microsoft going to market now?
• 5:00 - How partners will adapt to changes in Microsoft’s enterprise software model.
• 7:00 – Dynamics 365 Sales app – what we know about the two tiers
• 10:00 – Reviewing CRM executive Q&A session at Directions NA
• 17:00 – Where is the CRM strategy sitting today?
• 19:00 – Will ERP and CRM apps move forward in closer alignment, including with Common Data Service (CDS).
• 20: 15 – Will Dynamics evolve as a platform play with CDS? With XRM? With NAV?
• 27:30 – Microsoft’s challenge of encouraging product-focused partners to sell the full suite
• 37:45 – Why SaaS Dynamics offerings will eclipse on-premises
• 45:00 – The timing issues between in-person conferences and Microsoft’s software planning cycles

This episode was taped live on location at Directions North America 2017. Todd McDaniel of software firm Dynavistics and the Enterprise Software Podcast joins us to chat about the first two days of the event: the good, the bad, and the somewhat puzzling. We share some first impressions on Microsoft's broad range of updates (keeping in mind there are more to come).

Topics include the future of Dynamics NAV as Dynamics 365 “Tenerife”, AppSource announcement like the introduction of customer reviews and partner services listings, some updated plans for the CRM apps for both SMB and enterprise, and a few reflections on how the North American Dynamics partner channel might interpret this week's event, including SMB ERP partners who sell GP or SL.

Microsoft MVP and Dynamics 365/CRM expert Gus Gonzalez has charted his own path to serving customers. And while the six-time MVP’s knows that some of his choices are a little unconventional, like his willingness to take on fixed-fee projects at the firm he founded, Elev8 Solutions.

But Elev8's work is grounded in years of experience around what works for Dynamics customers and partners on projects. On this MSDW Podcast, we discuss Gus’s experience in the field, his decision to found Elev8, the Microsoft MVP program Gus's own CRM MVP Podcast, and the Dynamics 365 roadmap.

Show notes:

• 1:30 - The origins of Gus’s career in CRM;
• 5:30 – Why Elev8 Solutions is different than past CRM firms Gus has worked at;
• 7:15 – How to identify CRM customers with the right characteristics for success;
• 13:30 - On saying no to customers – before or during a project;
• 16:00– What happens when a prospective customer’s culture is not there?
• 22:00 – Training partners on Dynamics 365/CRM
• 26:00 – Do consultants utilize the available learning resources (like Dynamics Learning Portal)?
• 30:00 – Why all your consultants should aim for Dynamics 365 certification
• 32:15 – Should more CRM pro's go for MVP status?
• 33:30 – What pushes MVPs to achieve and maintain their title?
• 36:30 – The wrong and right way to try to reach MVP status
• 45:00 – Things that MVP could change, in Gus’s view
• 50:00 – Dynamics 365 technology of interest in 2017 and beyond (professional services, LinkedIn, and more)

Last week’s Dynamics GP Tech Conference at Microsoft’s Fargo campus was about more than the next new release. Sure, GP 2018 was discussed, but our guests, Microsoft MVPs Belinda Allen of njevity, Mariano Gomez of Mekorma, and Mark Polino of Fastpath, say the event was a well-rounded dive into the technology that should matter to any GP partner or consultant preparing for what’s next in the Microsoft ecosystem. Deep dives into GP tech was part of the event, but so were Power BI, PowerApps, Flow, and other cloud-centric tools.

• 1:05 – GP 2018 was a part of the conference, but it took a backseat to other opportunities to focus on tech.
• 5:00 – Why sessions about the GP web client were valuable
• 10:20 – The importance of web-based reporting (and the role of MR)
• 12:00 – Who attends GP events in Fargo?
• 14:30 – The role of PowerApps, Flow, and other Microsoft tech as part of the GP cloud story
• 16:40 –Microsoft employees that work with various Dynamics products
• 19:30 – Summarizing the sessions run by Belinda and Mariano – Power BI, OData, Dexterity, and more.
• 25:00 – Other standout sessions
• 26:00 – How are GP customers doing?

This week’s guest, Guus Krabbenborg, has worked with Dynamics products and partners for almost twenty years. He has had several roles in that time, including a role at Navision before the Microsoft acquisition. But Guus’s current role as a co-founder of QBS Group puts his team’s venture at the center of Microsoft’s partner channel transformation. MSDW has documented QBS Group’s growth over the last four years, working as a distributor of sorts, with an approach that has been broadly adopted by Microsoft’s partner team.

Guus is also a long time documentarian when it comes to major Microsoft events like Inspire. As with WPC before it, there will soon be a new report coming out about the latest event (there is also a webcast coming up), so this was also a great time to catch up and learn more about his latest observations.

Show notes:

• 2:00 – The evolution of the Dynamics partner channel and Guus’s role
• 4:10 – Why a single country in western Europe was too small for starting up a “Master VAR”
• 8:50 – On the competitive concerns of Dynamics VARs on joining an SMB distributor/CSP/Master VAR
• 10:30 – Why do VARs buy into QBS Group’s model?
• 14:45 – What does size and scale mean for Dynamics VARs and ISVs and their investments in marketing?
• 17:30 – Reflections on Inspire 2017, several weeks later
• 20:15 – Why Inspire was not so big on product news, and why that might continue
• 22:40 – The future of Microsoft’s distribution policy for Dynamics
• 23:45 – What percentage of Dynamics partners will be directly managed going forward?
• 26:00 – What does the disti world look like today, and how will traditional Dynamics partners adapt to Dynamics 365?

Harald Horgen of The York Group has worked on and around Microsoft channel programs for over a decade. Vendor and reseller priorities have change in that time, and in the last few years Microsoft’s focus has been on driving higher cloud technology consumption.

Horgen believes the newest approach, via One Commercial Partner and related platforms like Partner Center, will bring more discipline to Microsoft’s channel efforts, but not without some risks. ISVs looking to establish a channel of their own within the Microsoft ecosystem must be disciplined, practical, and strategic, says Horgen. Not all business owners will adapt to meet the challenges of this new phase of channel challenges.

Show notes:

• 3:15 - How long has P2P been on Microsoft’s agenda?
• 8:00 – Microsoft’s goals with the One Commercial Partner program
• 9:40 – What AppSource means for partners
• 10:30 – What should ISVs do now to address Microsoft’s changes?
• 13:20 – How ISVs should evaluate prospective reselling partners
• 17:00 – Triangulating between an ISV, a channel partner, and Microsoft
• 20:45 – How well are ISVs adapting their products to match with Microsoft’s direction?
• 22:00 – The importance of Azure consumption and Office365 activitation
• 23:30 – Why Harald has a pessimistic view of the future of the big distributors in the Microsoft channel
• 28:00 – Why dropping margins will drive a repositioning of channel partners
• 30:30 – Why partners are less willing to invest in new solutions today than in the past

On this episode, we speak with Afshin Alikhani, chairman of Retail Realm, a software distribution and development company specializing in the retail sector with a focus on distributing Microsoft’s Dynamics RMS, AX for Retail, and 365 for Retail, as well as their own related retail solutions.

Afshin founded Retail Realm in the 1990s and has expanded its reach around the world. He has seen the business landscape shift over that time, and he believes the Microsoft channel is at a major transition point. Veteran firms are re-considering their strategy and there are big challenges for new entrants. And amid these changes, the retail industry continues to be one of the fastest evolving for new technology for businesses of all sizes.

Show notes:

• 2:15 – How the role of Microsoft partners is changing in FY 2018 in light of new programs, models
• 4:30 – Is consolidation in the channel inevitable in the Dynamics channel, and is it the same at the enterprise and SMB spaces?
• 8:10 – Do SMB retailers know what kind of solutions they need?
• 11:30 – Microsoft’s challenge of building up the next generation of retail SMB offerings via Dynamics 365.
• 15:10 – Why does Microsoft care so much about retail?
• 18:45 – Where do SMBs go today for a Microsoft-based retail solution?
• 21:00 – The opportunity (and risks) of moving from Dynamics RMS to AX/365
• 26:00 – What are retail channel partners focusing on in SMB if Msft doesn’t have something for them today beyond Dynamics RMS?
• 28:30 – Why ERP vendors are buying retail solutions rather than developing them.
• 29:45 – How will Microsoft Partner Center help SMB partners?
• 33:00 – Will Microsoft really change its account management following the reorg?
• 34:45 – What’s new and exciting in retail tech in the Microsoft space.

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Our guest this week is Andrew King, CEO of WebSan Solutions, a Microsoft partner with offices in both Toronto and Indiana that provides Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions. Andrew last joined us a year ago, so this was a good opportunity catch up, following Microsoft Inspire 2017. Like everyone else at the partner channel event, Andrew was paying close attention to Microsoft’s guidance, as well as the program and product news that impacts the Dynamics channel.

Show notes:

• 3:00 – What Microsoft’s re-organization means for partner priorities around breadth of technology supported.
• 6:30 – Are Microsoft’s expectations and partner perceptions about market demand coming into line?
• 7:10 – On winning a Microsoft Canada Impact Award for marketing
• 10:00 –Partners have new ideas for Microsoft on Dynamics 365 pricing
• 15:00 – How are Dynamics 365 Business Edition sales going? WebSan may have the largest volume so far.
• 20:00 – What are existing Dynamics customers taking away from the latest news?
• 25:00 – Why Microsoft’s verticalization push has become more credible to partners.