The Microsoft partner opportunity with Dynamics 365/CRM: An interview with Tony de Freitas

Microsoft partners that want to sell and deploy Dynamics 365 CRM apps or add-on technology know they must keep up with Microsoft's roadmap, incentives, and channel priorities. But what can any individual firm do to keep its strategy relevant and in step with Microsoft's?

This spring I interviewed Microsoft's Tony de Freitas as part of my Extreme365 Business Report to gain some direct input from one of the people responsible for channel strategy and programs for Dynamics 365. de Freitas's is responsible for helping transform the Microsoft Dynamics 365 channel and scale the ecosystem in delivering end to end intelligent business applications in the market. He has been working at Microsoft since 1993, with a small break of one year in between. The main topic of our interview was, of course, the overall partner business transformation.  

Guus Krabbenborg: Tony - in your opinion, what is the status of the transformation process in the Dynamics partner channel today?

Tony de Freitas: "Well, the answer really depends on the view of the channel type that you look through. Today, the CRM view differs from the ERP view or even the ISV views based on the level of maturity of the partners and the respective solutions. I do see a difference in partner maturity in developing and delivering Dynamics 365 solutions in the market. One thing is for sure; there is an acceleration in our ecosystem to cloud solutions. Generally spoken, most partners are on their way to shifting their traditional business models to the SaaS world. And ...