Executive Q&A: Acting on the evolving Microsoft Dynamics SMB partner opportunity

Like other veterans of the ERP space, Søren Fink-Jensen, CEO and founder of 1ClickFactory, a Microsoft cloud solutions and services provider, has witnessed the IT landscape's shift over the last decade. Many organizations no longer employ dedicated IT personnel. But they also may not yet have a plan for how they will operate in a tech world geared increasingly toward cloud-based software and services.

As the economics of business software change, Microsoft Dynamics SMB (NAV, GP, SL) resellers are actively working to reshape their businesses - or at least they should be, Fink-Jensen believes. Change could take the form of adding competencies and building partnerships. But it also could be a matter of upgrading project management capabilities to cope with different challenges of today's clients.

In practical terms, the most pressing question to Fink-Jensen is "how resellers specifically can really make money in a cloud first world." He has his own views, of course, but Dynamics NAV partners and others will also be looking for that guidance from Microsoft. In this interview, the next in our Executive Q&A series, he offers more insight into how Microsoft SMB customers and partners should adjust their perspective and tactics to succeed in a world focused on cloud-based solutions.

MSDW: Can you talk about the process of identifying business opportunities within the Microsoft channel for 1ClickFactory?

Søren Fink-Jensen: Yes. We have to start with the DNA of what 1ClickFactory is. We work with upgrades, right? When I started the company in 2009, that core idea was to ...