eXtreme365: Promises around Microsoft One Commercial Partner, Dynamics 365 roadmap reach cautious partner ears

Microsoft has worked for well over a year to gather momentum for the Dynamics 365 product line, and the presence of product and partner teams at eXtreme365 this week helped reinforce a positive message for the future, even as Microsoft remains in the midst of massive organizational change.

Dynamics partners are starting to understand the scope of the transition that the software giant is working through with the launch of its One Commercial Partner (OCP) initiative/organization and less severe adjustments in R&D. Outreach and conversations between Microsoft and Dynamics partners this week at eXtreme365 may have led to a better appreciation for the challenges all parties face, but also an understanding of just how far Microsoft still needs to go to before they can claim to have played a part in accelerating partner success.

"[We have] put lots of effort into trying to take everything Microsoft can offer and bring it together to leverage it," Microsoft corporate vice president of One Commercial Partner Ron Huddleston told partners at eXtreme365 this week. "We've brought together all the experts, resources, tools, and programs. That is One Commercial Partner. We brought them together aligned to three motions that align to you the partner, not Microsoft."

Shining a light on OCP

One Microsoft manager remarked to partners this week that OCP could represent the biggest sales re-organization that any corporation has undergone. And partners seemed to agree. Positive feedback around OCP points to its simple approach (at a high level, at least) to streamlining Microsoft's support of partners on activities that matter - build practices and offerings, go to market, and sell. Criticism centers around to the vast uncertainty some partners still feel about if ...