Microsoft gaining confidence in its performance, volume goals for Dynamics ERP and CRM channel

Microsoft has set a goal of doubling Dynamics revenue over the next three years, and incentives toward growth like pay for performance and volume licensing  have begun to show early successes that should reduce many of the concerns voiced in the last year, the company believes.

Volume licensing for Dynamics AX, which allows customers to buy the ERP product under the umbrella of their enterprise agreement (EA) with Microsoft, has shown positive results so far, especially in the last five months, says Microsoft  vice president of Dynamics enterprise sales Doug Kennedy.  Increasing demand for these volume deals has given partners confidence that declining margins and fees will be offset by more the boost in business.

"The message I delivered was that there are a lot of upper mid-market customers who buy their licenses on an enterprise agreement (EA), and won't even talk to you if they can't buy [ERP] that way," said Kennedy in a recent interview. "There was some doubt, but that flipped 5 months ago when what I said would happen did indeed happen. Companies began opening their doors, partners have been getting wins that they never would have before."

Kennedy's assertion stands in contrast to the kinds of concerns partners have voiced in the past year.  As we wrote a few months ago, the fear for smaller Dynamics AX resellers was that too many of their customers and prospects would opt for EA deals, making it difficult for many smaller AX (and CRM) resellers to  compete for good opportunities.

"Customers in the enterprise and mid-market especially are buying into Microsoft's vision and a it has become a viable ...