After tense week, Microsoft pledges to re-examine Dynamics 365 Tenerife launch plans

After a rollercoaster week that included a first look at Dynamics 365 Tenerife and a subsequent partner backlash over its delayed rollout and radical go-to-market strategy, Dynamics ERP general manager Marko Perisic worked to address concerns today by laying out several ways in which Microsoft would adjust its launch plans.

Perisic took the stage on the final day of Directions North America 2017 to assure partners that he and his team had heard their feedback this week. That input would influence some of the remaining decisions around the Tenerife release, including some potential course changes.

"I can see now, from a distance, very clearly," Perisic told the 800 attendees in a closing presentation today on reflecting on Sunday's introduction to Tenerife. "We're in a situation where have this fantastic product...[But we had to listen] and get curious about what [partners] are thinking. How are they feeling? That seems to be almost as important because [the Tenerife plan] has deeply impacted how people felt about the product and the business."

Perisic noted four main types of feedback that he said Microsoft will work to address following this week's event.

First, he said, Microsoft is still considering its options related to a white label approach to Dynamics 365 Tenerife.

"We heard the feedback that [white labelling] is not going to work for multiple reasons," Perisic said. "You decided to be a Microsoft partner to be under the Microsoft brand, and pulling the [rug] out devalues that proposition against competitors. ...